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MercuryNews.com | 06/26/2006 | Betting on the big bundle

Actually, the big cable and phone companies want to do it for you.
They’re hoping that by investing in businesses beyond what they’re
known for, they’ll be able to offer customers bundles, or what they
call the “quadruple play:'’ Internet, television and home- and
cell-phone service, all from one company. They’re banking that
consumers will prefer the convenience of getting one bill from one
provider rather than choosing from the growing number of phone, TV and
Internet options.

Blogged with Flock

A Ring Tone Meant to Fall on Deaf Ears - New York Times

In that old battle of the wills between young people and their keepers, the young have found a new weapon that could change the balance of power on the cellphone front: a ring tone that many adults cannot hear.

eMusic ha logrado montar un negocio vendiendo música sin licencias de protección. Interesante artículo sobre esta experiencia:

Making money selling music without DRM: the rise of eMusic : Page 1

MTV and Microsoft launch URGE - Engadget

MTV and Microsoft launch URGE

Why ABC’s ‘Lost’ Is the Future of Online Media

ABC’s “Lost” has done more than any other media before it to enable interaction around a brand on multiple platforms. It is the first truly pan-media experience, and that holds lessons for content producers everywhere.
“Lost” is everywhere. It’s a television show that was born in a traditional analog world but came of age in a digital world where the very idea of “television” is giving way to the idea of ubiquitous, platform-agnostic video.

But the show’s presence extends beyond just video. Viewers interact with the brand on multiple platforms. There are Web sites devoted to translating the whispers heard on the show. People track the literary works mentioned. ABC has even created fake Web sites for elements of the show, like for the band Driveshaft.

MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | BBC unveils radical revamp of website

The BBC today unveiled radical plans to rebuild its website around user-generated content, including blogs and home videos, with the aim of creating a public service version of MySpace.com.

PC Pro: News: France considers opening up iTunes.

France may be about to legalise the use of software that cracks DRM systems so that digital content can be converted into any format. It will also force digital music stores to offer downloads in a variety of formats to that they can be played on a variety of portable devices.

The law will force Apple to loosen the restrictions on music bought through iTunes so that it is no longer restricted to the iPod. Moreover it will be perfectly legal to download a track from Apple’s iTunes Music Store, for example, and then strip out the DRM - provided you have the necessary software - so that the track can be played on any portable device.

Macworld UK - Sopranos sing on iTunes.

Sopranos sing on iTunes

Yet more TV-related shows have debuted on iTunes in the US, this time from HBO’s globally successful series, ‘The Sopranos’.

As it prepares to launch the sixth season of the series, the network is offering video interviews with the cast, show summaries, behind-the-scenes footage and audio clips through Apple’s service. Complete shows aren’t being released just yet.

HBO has also introduced similar content for three other shows: ‘Big Love’, ‘Rome’ and ‘Entourage’.

Orbital Data - WAN Optimization and Application Acceleration Solutions

Speed Up Delivery of
Your Large Digital Files

Using digital technology to create images, video, and audio saves valuable hours of production and editing time.

But if transferring these huge files across the country and around the world via the WAN is an agonizingly slow and undependable process, you’re incurring unnecessary costs and unacceptable delays.

With Orbital Data’s AutoOptimizer™ technology, your WAN becomes speedier and more reliable than ever. By constantly and dynamically applying just the right acceleration techniques, application response time improves and real-time distribution of large media files becomes a reality.

Take advantage of improved synchronization of your files and enhanced version control so your dubbing houses, post-production shops, and other partners worldwide get the content they need when they need it - wherever they may be.

Links:

Orbital Data:

http://www.orbitaldata.com/

Orbital Data - Media and Entertainment Solutions:

http://www.orbitaldata.com/solutions/indsol_4.php

Orbital Data - Forbes IT Research Library:

http://itresearch.forbes.com/detail/ORG/1102673369_280.html

Digital Rapids - Professional Video capture, encoding, and transcoding solutions

Copper

Copper combines Digital Rapids industry leading video ingest, processing, and transcoding with patented wirespeed delivery technology from Digital Fountain. Use Copper to deliver your media anywhere in the world in any format, reliably, securely, and with a tremendous speed advantage over traditional TCP based technologies like ftp.

Links:

Digital Rapids:

http://www.digital-rapids.com/

Digital Rapids - Copper:

http://www.digital-rapids.com/Products_Copper.html

Digital Rapids - Copper brochure:

http://www.digital-rapids.com/Brochures/Copper.pdf

Copper features:

http://www.egvisiononline.com/rapids_copper.htm

Telestream - Video Encoding and Delivery Solutions

Telestream’s hardware and software solutions have set the standard with the world’s leading media and entertainment companies, enterprises and government institutions for the encoding and delivery of video and audio over IP networks.

Our industry-standard ClipMail video delivery appliances, new Launch personal media delivery application, powerful FlipFactory workflow automation applications, MAP media organizers, and Flip4Mac digital media tools for the Mac, seamlessly integrate with leading systems and applications to enable cross-platform, all-digital media workflows for our customers.

By automating the ingest and transfer of media files from digital delivery services to destination systems for commercial and news workflows, Telestream’s FlipFactory solutions have dramatically improved operational efficiency for broadcast and cable companies.

Links:

Telestream:

http://www.telestream.net/

Telestream products:

http://www.telestream.net/products/products.htm

Telestream MAP:

http://www.telestream.net/products/map.htm

Telestream Broadcast & Cable:

http://www.telestream.net/solutions/markets_bc.htm

SmartJog: The Smart Way To Move Media

SmartJog offers a global content distribution service to broadcasters and content owners, providing digital store-and-forward delivery of broadcast quality programming over satellite to customers.

SmartJog delivers material in any size, any format, any time, anywhere, streamlining creative processes while optimizing theatrical, home entertainment and television distribution workflows

SmartJog provides a fully automated and monitored digital delivery system which manages end-to-end logistics and guarantees your media’s security and integrity throughout the service.

SmartJog deploys and operates a closed network of dedicated servers, installed at member facilities, and connected through a virtual private network (VPN) with a satellite downlink (as an option).

Links:

SmartJog:

http://www.smartjog.com/smartjog/

SmartJog Delivery:

http://www.smartjog.com/smartjog/smartdelivery.htm

Smartjog article @ Windows Media:

http://tinyurl.com/cgxtm

Apple and Google Vie for Video

While Google has an exclusive on NBA games, a couple of high-profile shows like CSI, and some classics like The Brady Bunch and I Love Lucy, iTunes has a boatload of hit TV shows like Desperate Housewives, Lost, The Office, and SpongeBob SquarePants.

The same is true of music videos—Google Video has a smattering of videos by Sony BMG artists, but iTunes has most of those and many more besides.