streaming

56 'streaming' stories May 2011 - January 2012

Vevo: Out with YouTube, in with Facebook?

Élyse Betters Jan 20 2012 - 2:19 pm PT

Facebook held at least two meetings with Vevo —the most recent one occurring within the last couple of weeks— to discuss moving the music video service from YouTube to the social network’s platform.

However, sources told CNET that the talks are “very preliminary,” and they mentioned there is one year remaining on Vevo’s contract with Google’s YouTube.

Vevo launched in 2009 and offers music videos from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music. YouTube helped launch the startup, and subsequently Vevo’s videos appear on the partner’s service, with Google and Vevo sharing advertising revenue.

Vevo features the most extensive catalog of premium music content on the Internet, and it is available in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom through its website, mobile apps, or by way of connected televisions. The service currently powers music videos on artist profiles across Facebook, and its content is syndicates to numerous online websites, including AOL, BET, CBS Interactive Music Group, Fuse.tv and Univision. Moreover, through YouTube, Vevo is accessible in over 200 countries.

Facebook is allegedly interested in an arrangement similar to the one Vevo has in place with YouTube now, which would allow the social network to stream Vevo’s music videos with the two companies sharing profits from advertising revenue…

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Roku unveils cable-free Streaming Stick as set-top box, smart TV replacement

Jordan Kahn Jan 4 2012 - 3:16 pm PT

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Set-top box maker Roku -one of Google TV and Apple TV’s biggest competitors- unveiled a new iteration of its award-winning Smart TV solution today. However, this time, they shrunk it down to the size of a USB stick that allows you to plug it right into your TVs MHL-enabled HDMI port. The device, called the Roku Streaming Stick, packs in built-in Wi-Fi, a processor, and memory, and includes all of the features currently available in their current set-top box.

According to Roku’s press release, the new cable-free, smaller form factor is ideal for delivering smart TV capabilities to consumers who typically do not replace their TVs often. That model differs from both Apple and Google, especially with Apple expected to launch an HDTV and Google pushing the GoogleTV platform built-in to TVs from vendors like Sony:

Today’s Smart TVs become outdated in just a couple of years because as software evolves the hardware needs to be upgraded to keep pace. While short hardware product cycles are expected with mobile devices such as smart phones, consumers generally keep their TVs for six to eight years. By moving the streaming platform to a stick that’s easily replaceable, consumers no longer have to worry about their large-screen Smart TV becoming obsolete before its time.

Official pricing has not been announced, but CEO Anthony Wood told All Things D the device would be available in the second half of 2012 for between $50 and $100. Roku also plans to have TV vendors bundle the Roku Streaming Stick with new TVs.

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Airtight brings Airplay support to GoogleTV, minus mirroring, DRM, and music

Jordan Kahn Dec 27 2011 - 12:50 pm PT

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A new application in the Android Market available for GoogleTVs running 3.0 and up will allow users to stream content from the iPad or iPhone using Airplay, Apple’s wireless streaming feature built into iOS.

After downloading the 99-cent app called “Airtight” to Google TV, users will be able to stream videos and pictures by selecting a device from within the Airplay UI on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch (pictured above). Unfortunately, mirroring, DRM protected video, and music is not supported. Users will of course need the latest Google TV update to access the Android Market.

Apple has nothing to do with the app, and the developers said they are looking into methods of including music and the rest of Airplay’s functionality in a future update. We will keep you posted.

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Spotify now available to everyone in the United States, no invitation required

9to5 Staff Sep 23 2011 - 2:04 pm PT

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Spotify, a popular music streaming service from Sweden, arrived in the United States mid-July on an invite-only basis. Today, Spotify goes live for everyone nationwide, no invitation required. Users can now sign up for an account at Spotify.com and use a mobile app for Android or iPhone to stream music over wireless and cellular networks to their phones, tag songs for offline viewing, favorite tracks, share them with friends and more. What’s best, you needn’t sign up for a paid Spotify account. Thanks to a new partnership with Facebook that Mark Zuckerberg announced at the yesterday’s developer conference (more in the clip below), anyone signing up with their Facebook account gets six months of unlimited listening. What happens when the six-month free period expires?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjAr5nGzjV8]

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YouTube to live stream Rock in Rio 2011

9to5 Staff Sep 21 2011 - 3:37 pm PT

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrZRPgk1XtA]

Rock in Rio, a series of music festivals held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (and later in Portugal, Spain and other countries) will be live-streamed this year on YouTube in 24 different languages, Google made it known in a blog post. Headliners include Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Katy Perry, Elton John and Stevie Wonder. The rock fest is running from September 23 through October 2 so don’t forget to tune in to a live stream over at the Rock in Rio YouTube channel.

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Spotify lands in the United States, Android app imminent

9to5 Staff Jul 14 2011 - 8:11 am PT

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Popular music startup from Sweden called Spotify today kicked off its long-expected US operation. “We’re massively excited to be here”, the company wrote in a blog post. Spotify has been a huge hit in the UK and several other European territories such as Finland, France, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden, with a total number of subscribers in Europe topping 10 million people. The company is planning a major push to get the word out, lining up exclusive launch partners such as Coca-Cola and Sprite, Chevrolet, Motorola, Reebok and Sonos. “These brands will be launching innovative campaigns in partnership with Spotify in the coming weeks and months”, Spotify says.

Spotify lets you stream songs free of charge, with adverts, to your computer or pay a single-digit monthly fee for unlimited, ad-free streams in high fidelity (384Kbps). A Premium account is required to stream music via the Spotify app on smartphones. Music streams on demand via wireless hotspots or 3G cellular networks so you don’t have to have gigabytes of free storage to keep the files on your device.

The company celebrated launch in the United States with the release of the free Spotify for iOS app. While Spotify for Android is not yet live in the US Android Market, we expect it anytime soon so stay tuned. Why you’ll love Spotify? Because for just ten bucks a month you can play songs from their catalog of more than fifteen million tracks to your phone or computer. That’s a sizable collection even by iTunes’ standards.

And for half the price you get a Spotify Unlimited account which removes ads, but lacks other features and encodes audio in standard quality. Premium accounts can mark entire songs, playlists or albums for offline listening when there is no network coverage.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvYX_P_c__8]

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Sony releases Music Unlimited streaming app for Android

9to5 Staff Jun 16 2011 - 11:26 am PT

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Sony is joining the streaming music craze with today’s release of Music Unlimited, a brand new Android app that lets you stream from Sony’s catalog of 7+ million songs, with monthly fees starting at just four bucks for the Basic streaming plan (a pricier Premium plan is also available). From release notes:

With the Basic plan, you can access personalized channels that adapt to your music tastes and your mood and enjoy the songs in your personal library that have been previously synched from your PC. The Premium plan offers all the features of the Basic Plan, plus full access to our entire catalogue and premium streaming channels.

The Music Unlimited service is also available via the PlayStation3, Internet-connected Sony television sets and Blu-ray players. What’s best, they let you sign up for the Premium plan with a free of charge 30-day trial period. So ho ahead, grab the free download from Android Market now. Bear in mind that the app is currently available only in the United States, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Also – good luck with that PlayStation Network streaming!

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600,000 people watched yesterday's keynote stream, tune in to Day Two Keynote now

9to5 Staff May 11 2011 - 12:48 pm PT

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In addition to a whopping 160 million Chrome downloads so far, up from 70 million a year earlier, Google shared some interesting stats related to their live video feed of the keynote. Yesterday’s keynote had been viewed by 60,00 simultaneous users, topping 600,000 people at its peek. Currently, Day Two Keynote is underway. You can tune in at a dedicated Google I/O Live – it’s the next best thing to being there in person. Alternatively, check out live YouTube channel.

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