A variety of laptops, smartphones, tablets and ebook readers arranged. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Juniper Research says tablet purchases, direct carrier billing implementation to fuel growth
By ECM Plus staff
ECM Plus +++ Annual revenue generated from content delivered to mobile handsets and tablets is set to rise by nearly US$25bn over the next three years, reaching US$65bn by 2016, according to a new report from Juniper Research. Continue reading
Jailbreaking now ok for ‘smart’ phones
Copyright Office Announces Exemptions to Mitigate DMCA Harms
San Francisco – The Electronic Frontier Foundation has won renewal of critical exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in a new ruling, including the upholding of jailbreaking rights for smartphones – and new and expanded legal protections for video remixing. Continue reading
Filed under BYOD, Content Creation, Content Management, Content management system (CMS), Content Monetization, Content Protection, Content Provision & Creation, Content Security, Content Syndication, Digital asset management, Digital Media Management (DMM), Digital rights management, Digitization, Enterprise Content Management, Industry News, Legal, Media asset management, Mobile Apps, Mobile communication, Mobile Content, Multichannel Delivery, Software, Streaming media, UGC - User-generated content, Video Content Management & Delivery (VCM), Web publishing management
Yo-ho-ho! ‘Tis the season of goodwill to all men.DownloadBuyer.com has over ten grand’s worth of software to give away throughout December
By ECM Plus staff
ECM Plus +++ DownloadBuyer, the online software store, is to give away £10,000 worth of software for Windows and Mac OS in their ‘Christmas Lucky Dip’ promotion.
Jon Silvera, managing director commented: “DownloadBuyer.com continues to see strong growth. To celebrate, we pulled together a massive prize pot donated from participating vendors and are both proud and excited to pass these on to our customers as a thank you over the Christmas period. So along with many half price offers over Xmas there’ 50/50 chance to pick up a totally free product on top”. Continue reading
Image: For Inspiration Only via Flickr
Kiosked image bank to monetize online content
By ECM Plus staff
ECM Plus +++ In-content online ad platform provider Kiosked has launched a ‘free’ Image Bank that the company said can enable online publishers and creatives to earn on the acquisitive ‘impulses’ their content may engender.
According to the company, the free app can can be freely downloaded and creators get paid for their images. Apparently, the Kiosked Image Bank is free to use without infringing any copyrights, the company said. Continue reading
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From silver screen to touchscreen, online video causing a revolution in the the movie industry. (Picture: L-R: vzaar’s Ken Moss, Oliver Stone, vzaar CEO Stephen McCluskey. (c) ECM Plus)
British online video platform streaming hits HD
By PAUL QUIGLEY
ECM Plus +++ Hollywood film director Oliver Stone, npw a shareholder in the British-based online video delivery platform vzaar, said this week he now believes the internet is becoming an rising ‘force in the world of film’. Continue reading
Metacafe partners for syndicated video content
By ECM Plus
ECM Plus +++ RealGravity, the video platform that integrates syndication, publishing and monetization, has just teamed up with Metacafe the video entertainment site to syndicate its catalog of original short-form video content to publishers.
According to the firm, the platform will simplify the way online video publishing and syndicators work by combining a network-oriented online video platform (Network OVP), a content marketplace and an ad server with built-in yield optimization. Continue reading
NAB Show in Las Vegas
Session to examine distribution of TV content across new platforms
By PAUL QUIGLEY
ECM Plus +++ This year’s NAB Show is to take on the challenging issues of the day in mass media, with a new super session given over to what it calls the ‘Connected TV’, which is set to feature industry pundits opining on their take on a ‘new Internet’ and the video devices that are impacting the maisntream media’s television fate.
2011’s NAB Show promises quite a paradigm shift for content creators with the debut of a the Super Session examining the new ways in which content is delivered to people and the ramifications such developments have on the mainstream media TV’s future. Continue reading
Filed under 4G, Content Categorisation, Content Curation, Content Delivery, Content Delivery Networks (CDN), Content Management, Content Monetization, Content Provision & Creation, Content Syndication, Digital Media Management (DMM), Industry News, Media asset management, Mobile Apps, Mobile Content, Social Content Management, Streaming media, Trusted Content, Workflow
Content monetisation events garners widespread suppor
ECM Plus – Last January, Europe’s media and content owners met in London to discuss the one question on everyone’s mind: how can you generate revenue from digital content?
Digital Content Monetisation Europe focussed on key changes that can be made by organisations to a digital value chain in order to contribute to solid digital ROI.
Over 300 attendees joined over 60 senior expert speakers from across music, film, broadcasting, publishing, gaming and sports to uncover successful strategies. Continue reading
Content: Picture: extraface
Multi-dimensional monetization affiliate commerce exchange to monetise and federate gateway for mobile value chain.
BY PAUL QUIGLEY
ECM Plus – Wmode’s new ACE platform builds on its existing billing and payments technologies for wireless carriers, the company said, by expanding the service offering to include mobile service providers, app providers, and content providers.
According to Wmode, organisations are able to connect together, enabling commerce between them and end-users, by providing a suite of app store functionality.
Some of the platform’s highlighted functions include: identity management, subscription management, payment processing and settlements, affiliate merchandising, analytics and reporting.
The ACE Identity Management features include federated IDs across multiple applications, a common user authentication platform, and a digital locker, Subscription Management incorporates service access control and end-user self-serve management, while Payments and Settlements focuses on settlements of transactions between multiple parties, flexible billing, eWallet, virtual currency, stored value services, and incorporating loyalty programs. The Affiliate Merchandising engine contains bundling, promotions, coupon codes, affiliate codes, dynamic business models, app discovery services, and many other techniques that enable users to find and sign up for suites of apps. Finally, Analytics and reporting includes tracking, data mining and transactional reporting of all services and applications.
Terry Hughes, head of market development at Wmode said: “Today’s app stores typically have a limited set of relationships between the store provider, the merchant and the end user; ACE enables multiple parties to connect together to integrate, bundle, price, deliver, collaborate and innovate, knowing that the complexities of payments, tracking, reporting, analytics and fulfillment are being taken care of. To deliver this, ACE leverages some of the ICT industry’s best-of-breed technologies including digital authentication, federated ID management, subscription services, advanced payment processing and settlement tools, and affiliate marketing systems.”
Wmode said ACE is targeted to help wireless carriers, app store providers, major brands, and service providers who want to monetize interconnected and complex mobile value chain.
Filed under Asset management, Business Process Management, Content Categorisation, Content Delivery, Content Management, Content Monetization, Content Provision & Creation, Content Security, Content Syndication, Customer Relations Management (CRM), Digital Media Management (DMM), Digital rights management, Enterprise Resource Planning & Management, Media asset management, Mobile Analytics, Mobile Content, Telecommunications, Vendor News
Image via Wikipedia
Samsung becomes first hardware manufacturer to integrate AIR 2.5 into TVs and Blu-ray players
BY PAUL QUIGLEY
ECM Plus – BREAKING NEWS – CES Show, 2011 Las Vegas, Nevada: Samsung Electronics and Adobe are teaming up to embed Samsung’s Smart TV platform to be the first to integrate support for Adobe AIR 2.5 for TV.
According to the duo, developers will now be able to build, distribute and monetise standalone applications through Samsung’s Smart TV applications store, Samsung Apps.
The companies said they hoped that the integration of AIR for TV with Samsung’s Smart TV platform would create new opportunities for Adobe Flash Platform developers to use Adobe Creative Suite 5 to author content for AIR for TV.
All of Samsung’s 2011 Smart TVs and Smart Blu-ray players will include support for Adobe AIR for TV, the companies said.
“Content publishers want to extend their reach from smartphones to the largest screen in the home, all without sacrificing the unique context and experience of each screen” commented Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO of Adobe. “Samsung is the first device manufacturer to embrace Adobe AIR for TV, and together we will enable developers to extend media applications, social games and other forms of rich content to televisions and a wide range of Samsung devices.”
DCM Europe 2011 – 24-26 January 2011, Millennium Gloucester Hotel, London
ECM Plus – Receive a 10% discount when you register with promotional code ‘ECM’. Register online at http://www.dcm-eu.com, call +44 20 7067 1867 or email info@dcm-eu.com
Digital Content Monetisation is the only event in Europe to focus on key changes you can make to your digital value chain to contribute to solid digital ROI.
Join over 114 senior experts from across TV, gaming, music, film, broadcasting, publishing, and sports to uncover successful strategies.
You’ll meet key speakers from content owners and media services including:
TV4, ITV, Bauer, Turner, Channel 4, SKAI, BSkyB, Warner Bros, Universal Pictures, LoveFILM, FilmFlex, News International, le Figaro, The Telegraph Group, The Guardian, Konami, Electronic Arts, SEGA, SCEE, Blitz Games, Penguin, Pan MacMillan, Random House, Real Madrid, Euroleague Basketball, WTA, Rugby Football League, Facebook, Mumsnet.com, Youtube, Spotify, SeeSaw and We7.
We have recently done a series of interviews with DCM speakers. Get an insight into what they have to say on the issues affecting media and content owners in monetising their content:
Henning Lindblad, VP Digital Marketing, WTA – discussing expanding the global reach of a sports brand, plus the critical role of social media in monetisation
Cosmo Lush, VP Digital Business Development, EMI Music – speaking about what devices excite him right now, how paywalls will revolutionise the way we pay for content and how the music industry has responded to piracy.
Trevor Albery, VP EMEA, Anti-Piracy Operations, Warner Bros – explaining how commercial, legal and anti-piracy teams can work together to combat illegal file-sharing.
Keep checking back as we will be adding more speaker interviews over the next few weeks.
You can also get a flavour for our DCM events by viewing video footage from our DCM New York event which took place in October. You can view – for free – the best panel sessions from the first day of the conference. This is a great opportunity to get your hands on some of the stories and tactics under discussion.
Register:
Online: http://www.dcm-eu.com
Email: info@dcm-eu.com
Tel: +44 (0)207 067 1867
Filed under Brand asset management, Content Categorisation, Content Delivery, Content Management, Content Monetization, Content Provision & Creation, Content Security, Content Syndication, Digital asset management, Digital Media Management (DMM), Industry News, Intellectual Property (IP), Media asset management, Mobile Content, Rights Management, Streaming media
Image via CrunchBase
PlaySpan and IP Commerce touts payment method for digital content publishers
BY PAUL QUIGLEY
ECM Plus – IP Commerce is to join forces with PlaySpan, a Monetization-as-a-Service player in a new venture to deliver PlaySpan’s monetization solutions to both social and digital content developers via IP Commerce’s managed services platform.
According to IP, the partnership will also enable so-called ‘last-mile innovation’ for the $2.1 billion digital goods market for social and digital content developers to attract, convert and retain more customers by offering a large variety of secure and convenient in-app payment methods bundled within segment-specific Workflow.
Templates contain value-added services, modules and business rules enabled through IP’s managed services platform.
“The relationship with IP Commerce marks a significant merchant growth opportunity for PlaySpan’s Monetization-as-a-Service platform” commented Karl Mehta, CEO of PlaySpan. “Their established connectivity with leading acquirers and 360-degree platform approach allow us to immediately add valuable new distribution channels and fast-track strategic business agreements without technology lag times and associated costs.”
Alfred ‘Chip’ Kahn IV, CEO, IP Commerce added: “Our acquiring and processing partners are increasingly focused on targeted market segments because different software developers need different tools and Value-Add Services. PlaySpan’s pioneering approach and global reach into the digital goods segment, coupled with a growing demand for digital content monetization solutions, makes them the ideal partner to facilitate strong growth in this integrated payments market segment.”
PlaySpan said its monetization solutions is now used for more than 1,000 online games, social networks, and online videos. Their ‘Monetization-as-a-Service’ platform could also enables digital publishers and developers to generate new revenue streams and grow ARPU.
Its payments product, UltimatePay delivers over 85 global payment methods in 180 countries including credit cards, mobile payments and PlaySpan’s ULTIMATE GAME CARD, the multi-game pre-paid card available in over 50,000 retail locations across North America and a growing list of countries worldwide.
Image by Karl Mehta PlaySpan via CrunchBase
“PlaySpan’s pioneering approach and global reach into the digital goods segment, coupled with a growing demand for digital content monetization solutions, makes them the ideal partner to facilitate strong growth in this integrated payments market segment” added PlaySpan’s Mehta.
Enterprise mobility moves content outside to the cloud
Mobile enterprise market in 2011 drives strategic business growth and brand loyalty;
BY PAUL QUIGLEY
ECM Plus – Mobile apps vendor Antenna has just published its ‘Top Five Trends’ for the mobile enterprise in 2011, with its predictions for the prevalence of mobility.
According to Antenna, the mobile enterprise market will significantly expand during 2011, driven by what is calls the continued ‘consumerisation’ of the enterprise and the proliferation of smarter mobile devices.
It said that businesses will make use of mobile and social technologies to provide instant gratification for users, offering ‘relevant information’ and dynamic content at the point of need.
Antenna also said this would see services and goods with deeper end user insight and a more personal touch, for what is dubs as ‘deploy happiness’ to ‘a world with increasingly connected, passionate and engaged employees and customers’.
The rationale for this, or ‘the foundation that underpins and enables these advancements’ as Antenna puts it, will be a so-called ‘mobile cloud’.
As IT organisations simplify the integration of mobile into existing technology infrastructure, choosing to ‘consume’ mobile applications and services in a hosted, on-demand model will be a key trend, Antenna claims, rather than by building the mobile infrastructure and platform themselves.
Antenna said the top five mobile enterprise market trends will be:
1. Mobile is the Mortar
Many industry analysts predict smartphone sales will eclipse PC sales by 2012. Tablets such as the iPad, those powered by Android, and soon RIM’s PlayBook are being adopted at unprecedented rates. Antenna has already seen a sharp uptake in enterprise tablet interest, and 2011 will prove to be the first year of significant tablet deployment, which will likely come at the expense of laptops. The mobile channel will become seamless, as enterprises integrate mobility with their ‘bricks and clicks’ operations. Mobility is not a separate channel but one that has the unique ability to drive new growth to Web and physical storefronts, augmenting growth, driving new revenues, and deepening customer relationships with the brand.
2. The Mobile Cloud Reigns
Cloud-based mobility (a set of hosted services, typically powered by a mobile enterprise application platform or MEAP) will allow businesses and service providers to offer a ‘switch in the cloud,’ enabling them to build, publish, manage and secure mobile apps and content and scale mobility projects much more rapidly and cost effectively. As mobile apps proliferate for employees, customers and partners, enterprises will look to deploy their own branded app stores for greater application management, control and protection of the brand.
3. Mobile Commerce Ka-Chings
In almost every industry, but especially in retail, mobile apps will enable mobile commerce to flourish. Businesses must get up close and personal with their users, understand their exact needs in real time and deliver incentives and information to get consumers into the stores and to drive them to make purchases on websites. Mobile apps that seamlessly integrate collaborative technologies, contextual and location-based information, and rich content will generate new commercial revenue streams. In addition, business intelligence, monitored and acted upon in real time, will become a key piece of the 2011 landscape as part of mobile commerce growth.
4. Mobile Marketing with Meaning
Truly hundreds of thousands of mobile apps now occupy the “appmosphere,” and the number is growing at an exponential rate. In 2010, Antenna observed a key shift: Mobile users are no longer defined purely as workers, consumers, customers or partners – they are people. To thrive in the new era of mobile marketing, which will ramp up significantly in 2011, organisations must dive into the exciting discipline of intelligently interacting with mobile users and engaging with them in more meaningful ways that make their lives just a little bit easier.
5. Mobile Apps in More Flavours; Mobile Content and HTML5 on the Rise
Natively-built mobile apps will continue to grow, but app and content consumption via mobile Web browsers will also become a key component of a comprehensive enterprise mobility strategy. Pure Web or ‘thin client’ apps rely on a constant wireless connection to access content, in contrast to thick client native apps which retain data locally allowing the user to continue to work in the event of signal loss. ‘Rich apps’ that straddle this divide will become more common in 2011 as HTML5-enabled browsers become widely available. Utilising the HTML5 specification, companies can offer the best of both worlds via HTML5 apps that combine the “write once, deploy to many” capabilities of Web-based apps with the offline data access and rich UI of the native app.
However, enterprise mobile strategy in 2011 must incorporate the growth in HTML5 apps, Antenna stated, with multimedia content and mobile web usage ensuring a well-managed and secure environment exists for their deployment and use, it added.
“As businesses enter the new decade and younger people continue to shape consumer and enterprise behaviour, mobile is hands down where to invest for accelerated innovation, brand differentiation, and real shareholder value,” said Jim Hemmer, President and CEO of Antenna. “It’s a hugely exciting time and Antenna is committed to delivering innovative solutions that help our customers get ahead of the latest technology, develop trendsetting apps that spread happiness, and deliver measurable value to all businesses.”
XML - eXtensible Markup Language
XML markup data goes from unstructured to ‘smarter’ forms
ECM Plus – Dolan Company has acquired DataStream Content Solutions. which sells federal legislative and regulatory data and advanced content management systems to information businesses, publishers and governments.
According to Dolan, DataStream’s proprietary processes and technology transform highly-complex and unstructured data into valuable products and services for its business and government clients.
The acquired firm specialises in applying XML markup language to convert complex and unstructured data into ‘smarter’ forms, enabling flexible queries and dynamic database updates, Dolan said.
Dolan added that DataStream’s proprietary business lines include Legislative Impact and Regulatory Impact, as well as data management technologies which facilitate searching vast federal databases.
The firm also said they were licensed to business clients and to the U.S. House of Representatives Office of Legislative Counsel.
The company also offers other data management, conversion and analytic tools and services. Subsidiary Potomac Publishing was included in the acquisition.
Dolan said its target markets have been government, legislative and regulatory sectors.
DataStream will continue to be run by its founder and president, Mark Anstey, and its chief information architect, Ed Schulke. Both will report to The Dolan Company’s Business Information Division Executive Vice President Mark Stodder. DataStream will remain in its College Park, Maryland, offices, Stodder said.
Sad Anstey: It’s an exciting fit between our technological approach to government information and Dolan’s ability to market high-value business information and intelligence.”
DataStream’s company’s Professional Services Division provides specialised outsourced services to the legal profession through three subsidiaries. NDeX is a provider of mortgage default processing services in the US; DiscoverReady provides outsourced discovery management and document review services to major companies and their law firms; Counsel Press is the nation’s largest provider of appellate services to the legal community.
Improved workflow aids games developers
Licensing management systems help online product approvals, rich media flow
ECM Plus – Game developer THQ has just licensed Conecture’s Mediabox-PA product approvals and Mediabox-DAM digital asset management.
According to the company, it will be using the two systems for licensees and manufacturers to submit product design artwork as digital media to licensors via a central online system.
The Mediabox-PA system also enables licensors to review submitted artwork online, link comments with each artwork file and manage workflow’s order of projects and submissions between licensee-customers and their own staff.
The app can also be used by licensees to log in and review licensor comments and submit revised product designs online.
Analytics and metrics, such as data traffic, milestones, and activity are tracked and reported in real-time are also supported.
THQ said it will now be using Mediabox-DAM system to manage and deliver style guide assets related to their video games.
All products are available only as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and are pre-configured to work for specific industries.
Versaly President & CEO Matthew Feldman
File management and delivery issues solved enabling mobile marketing for media companies
ECM Plus – Versaly is to beta release its multi-channel B2B bulk video distribution platform for mobile video content syndication.
According to Versaly, VSP is a web-based service for “Content Distribution Management Systems” or CDMS, and, they say It is an extension of Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and Content Management Systems (CMSs).
The VSP was designed with a concise workflow approach to make frequent deliveries of VOD programming content to the complex and non-standard mobile market for widespread distribution on monetised mobile video portals.
Versaly President and CEO Matthew Feldman said: “After many years of personally dealing with the complexities of distributing video to third-party revenue-generating mobile portals, we developed and are now offering our distribution solution to all mobile content providers; which will enable more content to be syndicated, which inevitably will make the overall mobile video experience better for the consumer.”
Readers interested in participating in the beta program can email VSPsupport@versaly.com including ‘beta[ in the subject line.
Image via CrunchBase
Media monetizing despite DRM debacles
ECM Plus – Verimatrix has licensed Intertrust’s Marlin digital rights management technology in a bid to secure and enhancing revenue for multi-screen digital TV services.
The company said it will provide a Marlin broadband system as part of its MultiRights product, integrated with its single security authority VCAS architecture.
Verimatrix said that the solution also includes support for secure multicast, download and streaming service delivery, incorporating the Marlin Secure Streaming Specification (MS3).
According to the company, Verimatrix is a long-term supporter of Marlin DRM via membership in the Marlin Developer Community (MDC) and the Open IPTV Forum, and a member of the founding set of partners for Marlin Partner Program (MPP) in 2008.
“Verimatrix…has played a significant role in enabling the growth of IP-based video businesses globally” commented Talal Shamoon, Intertrust CEO. “We have worked together as partners in numerous initiatives, and are delighted to see them deploying commercial solutions based on our Marlin technologies.”
Marlin is an open standard for content protection and management. Marlin is the sole security technology for numerous video services worldwide, including the AcTVila and Hikari services in Japan, Sony’s PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and more recently, the YouView video platform in the United Kingdom. In addition, Marlin DRM is being evaluated as the DRM for several other national video distribution consortia such as Singapore’s Next Generation Interactive Media Applications and Services (NIMS) project. Other standards bodies such as the Open IPTV Forum have adopted Marlin as their DRM system.
“The digital TV industry requires standards-based technology developments with solid commercial vendor follow through to fully realize the fruits of its key initiatives. We are the first digital TV revenue security company to offer a commercially-supported Marlin DRM solution for this growing range of video services worldwide,” added Tom Munro, CEO of Verimatrix.
Comparison of high-definition media
Automated digital media repository boosts content delivery platform for creators
ECM Plus – Technicolor has just launched MediAffinity digital library management to provide a fully-automated content management service for The Weinstein Company.
According to the firmm MediAffinity is a new workflow system that enables content owners to organise and protect library assets and to preserve and digitise deteriorating physical media.
The is boasts a web front-end whereby users can use MediAffinity to automate, and to access their archives and to distribute library content from within in a secure manner.
“MediAffinity provides the technology and content management innovations required to leverage assets in a digital world” commented Chuck Parker, president of Technicolor’s digital content delivery division. “The complexity and demand for more digital products is growing and MediAffinity offers an immediate-access solution that will allow our customers to avoid capital expenditures and development time related to internally building digital media management capabilities.”
Lew Rothman, executive vice president and chief technology officer for The Weinstein Company added: “We’ve worked with Technicolor for many years and we’re very excited to begin using their MediAffinity service to help us better leverage our library of titles by ingesting, preserving and distributing them with this next generation tool. We felt that Technicolor offered the best solution because it allows us to have direct control to initiate workflows and process orders through the customer-facing Web portal.”
Weinstein will be able to initiate automated digital media workflow, including transcoding and delivering content files and rich metadata to their licensees and distribution partners such as Amazon, Sony and Singtel. Content ingested for Weinstein will also be searchable, with streamable proxies for each asset.
The company said that it hopes MediAffinity will meet the needs of cable networks, syndicators, production companies, news and sports organisations, and non-profits, by providing a way to increase revenue by offering a self-managed model for automation of digital content including automated transfers, DRM-enabled global digital distribution, and a digital archive that provides multiple storage options to fit each company’s unique needs.
Video call between mobiles
Dolby proffers Media Generator for integrated quality mobile video and audio
ECM Plus – by Paul Quigley Dolby Laboratories has launching Dolby Media Generator, a professional pre-processing and encoding tool which offers content creators an integrated and simplified content processing solution for video and multichannel audio encoding.
DMG also boasts authenticated and high-fidelity content that can be delivered to mobile devices.
Dolby Media Generator’s tools enable content owners, aggregators, and distributors to provide users with premium audio and video by optimising the content for more reliable and efficient delivery on bandwidth-constrained mobile devices, which, Dolby claims, will ensure higher playback quality.
“Dolby Media Generator is now more powerful with H.264 video encoding added to its advanced audio encoding and metadata capabilities to provide a fully-integrated one-stop solution” commented Rolf Schmitz, director of mobile marketing at Dolby Labs. “It brings a true end-to-end industry solution for the mobile content supply chain, is compatible with more than 800 legacy handset models, and is an ideal solution for the next-generation of multichannel entertainment devices equipped with Dolby Digital Plus, like the new Nokia N8.”
Dolby Digital Plus is capable of a coded bitrate from: 0.032 to 6.144 Mbit/s, can support from one to thirteen discrete audio channels and a low frequency effects channel, as well as sample rates of 32, 44.1 or 48 kHz at bit depths of up to 24 bits per channel,
Dolby Media Generator also provides automatic validation and repair of source media to optimize quality control and it adds a choice of metadata for more accurate tracking, reporting, and file presentation.
DMG’s advanced compression algorithms also ensure production values and the integrity of the content are maintained.
“Our aim with Dolby Media Generator has always been to provide content owners, aggregators, and distributors with the ideal tool to protect the integrity of the original content throughout the creative process and provide better control in order to deliver an exceptional entertainment experience to the consumer,” said Rolf Schmitz.
Digital music service providers such as Omnifone and Rhapsody are currently using Dolby Media Generator to optimize their extensive music libraries for online delivery.
The new online music video service Audiotube tested and has now adopted the latest version of the pre-processing and encoding tool to prepare its content for high-quality online delivery to the consumer.
“We want to make Audiotube the easiest place on the internet to discover and access independent music videos. But as people who care about the quality of music, we also want to ensure that we deliver music videos in amazing quality,” said Scott deMercado, Chief Executive Officer, Audiotube Limited. “In Dolby Media Generator, we believe we have found a solution to deliver high-quality video and audio that reflects the values of the exciting and innovative services Audiotube will bring to the market in the next few weeks. It has been a wonderful experience working alongside Dolby engineers who continually strive for perfection. Together we aim to raise the bar for online and mobile music video content consumption.”
Premium content syndicated via VOD. Picture: Catfunt
BiBC launches premium content OTT TV service for Philips
ECMPlus – by Paul Quigley – BiBC, British Internet Broadcasting Company, has launched Europe’s first premium content OTT TV service to be rolled-out using Philips specially-connected TVs.
According to the company, the premium content is available in selected countries across Europe.
BiBC said its new service offers quality, premium content from networks such as ITV, Hit Entertainment, the Cartoon Network and Boomerang via their connected TV sets. Other major brand channels will become available in the next few months the firm said.
BiBC’s premium content will be available via the Philips NetTV service, giving owners a new way to access content.
These will be available as paid for subscription channels with prices starting at £2.99 per month.
The entire process is being managed by BiBC – from content ingest to billing – enabling simplicity to be built into the user experience. All subscriptions, for instance, can be easily accessed and paid for via the BiBC app using the remote control, making it easier for the user to explore the world of OTT content.
Paul Hague, Director at BiBC said: ““We have seen video-on-demand services become extremely successful over the internet, such as with the iPlayer in the UK and TF1 in France. Now, as the new wave of connected TVs launch across Europe, consumers can turn to their traditional viewing device – the TV – to enjoy their favourite content on-demand.
“For a long time the industry has been trying to integrate the delivery of traditional TV channels seamlessly with internet content in a way that ensures quality, control and brand protection.”
BiBC added that it would through other leading manufacturers later this year.
Dead, or just pining for the fjords?
Apple ‘ground rules’ opening loosens stranglehold, dooms competition
ECMPlus – by Paul Quigley – News that Big Stevie Jobs has decided to open the kimono on Apps for developers, albeit a limited exposure to a ‘virtual open source’ paradigm for software content and app development, is tantamount to a change in religion to the Cupertino control freakery extant until today.
The commercial upshot? Android is dead. Death by a thousand cuts, the apps will always play second fiddle to the Apple corps, and what’s more, people find iXXX sexier.
Much as when Windows apps flourished back in the day, post Windows 3.0/3.1 into Workgroup era, the floodgate for apps is about to open. Bye bye Android. Competition can be cruel.
Blackberry and Apple crumble
Qriocity platfrom to handle video content, music to follow
ECM Plus – BY PAUL QUIGLEY — Sony smacked Apple and Google full in the teeth today as it opened the kimono on its compelling new alternative to the behemoth incumbents.
Sony’s new network platform service Qriocity, formerly known as Sony Online Services (SOLS), Qriocity is a network service platform that connects many of Sony’s network-enabled devices and allows consumers to enjoy high quality entertainment across multiple devices.
Via Qriocity, Sony will deliver a variety of digital entertainment content and services that are “powered by Qriocity”, including video, music, game applications, and e-books over time, and through these services, and in combination with its networked devices, Sony aims to bring new and exciting entertainment experiences to customers.
Today at the IFA 2010 show in Berlin, Sony announced that “Video On Demand powered by Qriocity™”, a premium streaming video service, will be available this fall in five European countries including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. With “Video On Demand powered by Qriocity,” customers can choose from hundreds of box office hits from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Lionsgate, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), NBC Universal International Television Distribution, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, as well as popular content from top local studios. Many movies are available in High Definition (HD) as well as Standard Definition (SD), and all can be rented at the touch of a button on Sony’s 2010 models of network-enabled BRAVIA® TVs and Blu-ray Disc™ players, and Blu-ray Home Theater systems. “Video On Demand powered by Qriocity” has been available in the U.S. since April 2010.
Sony also announced plans to introduce “Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity™”, a new, cloud-based, digital music service. Available by year’s end, “Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity” will give music lovers access to millions of songs stored and synchronized through the cloud. “Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity” will initially be available across Sony’s 2010 models of network-enabled BRAVIA TVs, Blu-ray Disc players, Blu-ray Home Theater systems , as well as PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems and VAIOs and other personal computers, and will become increasingly available on a range of Sony’s portable devices.
“Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity” brings together the features cited as most important by music enthusiasts. With access to a huge library of songs through the cloud, users can discover new music through channels personalized to their tastes on multiple devices and without the requirement to manage digital music files. The convenience resulting from this new consumer music experience will further enhance the value of music, thus creating new opportunities for the industry. Details of the service plan will be announced in the future.
“We are excited to offer our customers high quality, cloud-based entertainment experiences across many of Sony’s network-enabled devices,” said Kazuo Hirai, President of Networked Products & Services Group, Sony Corporation. “Services ‘powered by Qriocity’ will revolutionize the way that users play, listen, watch, share, communicate, learn, discover and create their digital entertainment content.
Enterprise content management, document management, knowledge management, digital asset management, compliance, governance, rich media management, web content management, it’s all here..
Filed under Analytics & Metrics, Business continuity, Business Process Management, Content Categorisation, Content Delivery, Content Management, Content Provision & Creation, Content Security, Content Syndication, Customer Relations Management (CRM), Data centres, Data storage, Disaster Recovery, Document archiving & retrieval, Document Management, Document scanning & imaging, eDiscovery, Enterprise Content Management, Enterprise Resource Planning & Management, Enterprise Search, Forms management, processing, eForms, High Availability, ILM (Information Lifecycle Management), Information Governance, Information Management, Intellectual Property (IP), Intranets & Portals, Knowledge Management, NAS (Network Attached Storage), Open Source, Private Cloud, Product Information Management, Records Management, Reporting, Rights Management, SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), SAN (Storage Area Networks), SharePoint, Virtualization, Web Content Management, Web Experience Management (WEM)
ECM Plus - The Voice of Content 