YouTube is said to be making headway on an online television service that doesn’t require a cable subscription (via The Information). With a launch in the next six to nine months, expected partners include ABC, CBS, and ESPN at this point. It was first reported back in May that the “Unplugged” service would cost under $35 per month.
According to a report from Variety, Google might be working with manufacturers to add Google Cast functionality directly into TVs, without the need for Android TV. Vizio is rumored to be the first partner to adopt this model where the TV becomes just a ‘dumb’ screen.
Continuing on the trend to reboot old media franchises, X-File is back on television after 14 years. The six part miniseries combines the modern topics of government surveillance and spying with the old alien searching sci-fi themes. While watching the first episode, we noticed that the titular characters of Mulder and Scully are using Google’s Nexus devices.
Samsung’s enormous Galaxy View tablet miniature television was made official a couple of weeks ago, and now it’s starting to appear at a variety of retailers across the web. If for some reason your home needs one of these behemoths, you can now grab the View at Amazon, B&H Photo Video, Best Buy, as well as Samsung’s site, all starting at its $599 MSRP.
With the View, you’ll get an 18.4-inch full HD 1080p display, the Exynos 7580 octa-core 1.6 GHz processor, 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage, which can be expanded an extra 128GB via microSD. There’s also a 5,700mAh battery, stereo speakers, Bluetooth 4.1, and a 2.1-megapixel front facing camera. The Galaxy View runs Android Lollipop out of the box, sadly.
If you haven’t yet treated your TV to a Chromecast stick to stream content from your Android devices, Google would really like you to do so. The company has been playing with its mix of freebies again, with $80 worth on offer if you buy between today and 19th April.
Current offers include three-month trial subscriptions to Google Play Music, DramaFever and Sesame Street GO, as well as one month of Qelio Concerts and a free Play Movies rental thrown in – and you can even save a few bucks on Amazon at the moment …
Expand
Expanding
Close
The subscription-based video on demand market could see a significant shake-up this year as it was reported that YouTube has started to negotiate licensing deals for its own service to compete with services like Netflix and Hulu.
Variety quoted an unnamed YouTube partner as saying that the company not only wanted to discuss a licensing deal, but was extremely aggressive in its approach.
An exec at one YouTube partner says reps from the vidsite reached out late last year about an SVOD licensing deal. But the offer came with a warning: If the partner didn’t agree to the terms of the subscription service, it would be excluded from any future ad revenue — a tactic YouTube has used in dealing with independent music companies that refused to get onboard with Music Key.
This is the same approach YouTube was said to have taken to persuade independent music labels to sign-up for the company’s subscription music service …
Expand
Expanding
Close
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnQ5gE4Rbxo&ab_channel=disneyjunior]
Google and Disney teamed up to create a new kids show with a focus on getting young viewers interested in computer science, the LA Times noted in a report today. The show, Miles from Tomorrowland, was created by Disney Junior with Google engineers sitting in as consultants.
The two companies are especially focused on getting girls interested in technology by featuring female characters designed to change kids’ perception of the industry. From the Times report:
In “Miles From Tomorrowland,” Loretta is a super cool older sister/computer whiz sidekick who records data from the adventures and discoveries and can find the answer to almost anything with the assistance of a special wrist device known as “the bracelex.”
One episode has Loretta writing code that helps her find another planet.
The show’s creator says that his cooperation with Google has shown him that “you can do anything with coding”—a message Disney hopes to instill in its audience. Miles from Tomorrowland premieres on February 6th.
Google’s diminutive and cheap Chromecast is making strong headway against its competitors according to a report today by Parks Associates. Priced at $35 but now going for just over $20, the dongle, which is controlled by Apps on iOS and Android devices rather than a traditional remote has passed the almost forgotten Apple TV and is closing in on the king of streamers, the Roku. Roku and AppleTV represented two thirds of the market last year but with entrants like Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire TV/Stick, the two dropped to around half the market.
The research finds Roku is still the leading brand with 29% of sales, but Google Chromecast (20%) has supplanted Apple TV (17%) in second place. New entrant Amazon Fire TV is in fourth place with 10%. Consumer content choices are also increasing, with Showtime and Sony planning to launch their own OTT video services to compete with Netflix and HBO.
“Nearly 50% of video content that U.S. consumers watch on a TV set is non-linear, up from 38% in 2010, and it is already the majority for people 18-44,” said Barbara Kraus, Director, Research, Parks Associates. “The market is changing rapidly to account for these new digital media habits. Roku now offers a streaming stick, and Amazon’s Fire TV streaming stick leaves Apple as the only top player without a stick product in the streaming media device category.”
Sticks are where it is at it would seem. Conversely, Google’s Nexus Player, introduced in October, has yet to make a blip but it might also show up in results next year.
Samsung has announced Flow, providing seamless transfer of content, work in progress and phone calls between different Samsung devices.
People today use multiple devices in their daily activities: phones, tablets, laptops, smart watches, TVs, and more. But the way we work is still device-centric. We still use one application, within one device, with data that is tied to that application and device.
Samsung Flow is a platform that enables developers to create seamless transitions across devices, so that people can change devices in the midst of an activity and continue right from where they left off.
Flow is compatible with anything that works with Android’s Share feature: if content can be shared with other apps, Flow can be used to to hand it off to other devices …
Expand
Expanding
Close
A few weeks back, Sling announced that it was updating its Android phone app with ability to stream content to a Chromecast-enabled television. Noticeably missing at the time was an update to the company’s Android tablet app. This morning, however, Sling has started rolling out an update to Slingplayer for tablets with all the features its phone counterpart got last month.
When the Chromecast originally launched more than a year ago, early buyers were offered three free months of Netflix as a bonus. That offer quickly ran out, but various other deals have popped up since. Now, Google is giving anyone who buys a Chromecast from October 1st through the end of the year two free months of Hulu Plus.
Hulu Plus currently runs $7.99, meaning that you’re getting a $16 value with your Chromecast purchase. While Hulu may not have quite the selection of Netflix, that’s still a great offer when the Chromecast only costs $35 to begin with.
The offer will be redeemable through chromecast.com/offers during the set-up process for new Hulu Plus and Chromecast users beginning October 1st. Keep an eye on 9to5toys.com for the latest Chromecast deals, as well.
YouTube today announced on their blog that they’re officially rolling out a new UI for YouTube on TVs, which will allow for easier navigating on the big screen. The update will roll out to all media devices connected to a television, such as Android TV, Roku, possibly Apple TV, and game consoles in the coming weeks, but YouTube is saying that Xbox One users will start to see the new UI today.
The channels you subscribe to and videos you care about will be a click away with a guide on the left side that’s just like the guide you see on YouTube on your computer, phone, and tablet. When you sign in, you can jump to all the latest videos from your subscriptions and recommendations in the What to Watch section, or pop on a playlist you’ve liked such as Blogilates’ Cardio AB Attack and turn your TV into a workout buddy.
Google today updated its Chromecast website with a few notable and worthwhile enhancements. Previously on the site, you could only view a selection of the apps with Chromecast support, but with today’s refresh, you can now view all of the apps with support for the streaming stick. That number has been growing rapidly recently, but there is a search option on the new site, as well. Though, the search functionality is still rather limited and not as robust as the Play Store.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7nqP8AvXUg]
The ultra-simple setup offered by Chromecast leaves them vulnerable to being hijacked, with an attacker able to direct any content they want to your TV, says a security analyst – who proved the point by building a box to Rickroll any Chromecasts within wifi range …
Expand
Expanding
Close
At I/O last month, Google announced that Android users would soon have the ability to mirror their device’s screen to their TV via a Chromecast. Today, thanks to an update to the Chromecast app, the feature is finally live. In a post on the official Android Blog, Google explained that the feature is still in beta and warned users not to be alarmed if it didn’t work properly 100% of the time.
If you’re not familiar with Popcorn Time, it’s an app that allows you to stream movie and TV show torrents without any of the hassles usually associated with torrents – what you get is an interface which looks just like Netflix or Hulu. Thanks to a popular forked version, you’ll soon be able to watch that content on your TV when Chromecast support is added …
Expand
Expanding
Close
Google is developing new ways to connect your mobile devices to its Chromecast and one of these alternative methods will be through ultrasonic sounds. The company recently announced support for off-network casting during its I/O developer conference in San Francisco and Chromecast engineering manager John Affaki said during a presentation that Google was looking to refine the platform’s social experience.
If you’re an Instagram user with a Sony Smartwatch 2, Sony has you covered. The snappily-named Smart extension for Instagram app allows you to view notifications and read friends’ comments on your photos.
The app gets integrated into Smart Connect once installed. You can choose an update frequency ranging from 15 minutes to three hours, and the watch will then vibrate to indicate Instagram activity, displaying details on the display.
The app is a free download from the Google play store.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DfrPAAaSLU]
Amazon’s new Fire TV set-top box may seem like every other solution on the market, but there’s one big difference. Fire TV has built-in gaming features that will allow you to play compatible Android games that are available within Amazon’s app store. The bad news is, if you’ve previously purchased any of the compatible titles from the Google Play Store, you’ll need to repurchase them from Amazon. Check out the video overview above for an overview and demo of Fire TV gaming.
Rumors that Amazon’s set-top TV box will double as a games console have been lent weight by photos of a Bluetooth controller claimed to have been discovered in an overseas regulatory filing by Zatznotfunny.
The wireless Bluetooth controller features a gaggle of controls, including both shoulder buttons and triggers, in addition to media playback transport controls. And we give Amazon credit for using Android-esque icons for home, menu, and back …
Expand
Expanding
Close
Streaming TV is heating-up. Amazon looks set to launch its TV box in March, we’re expecting Apple to announce a new Apple TV box in April, and Google is reputed to be not far behind with a Nexus-branded box.
So-called cord-cutting – people who give up their cable TV subscriptions in favor of streaming content over the web – is growing in popularity. Mobile TV viewing on tablets is increasingly common.
All of which makes me wonder whether we’re witnessing the beginning of the end of live TV … ?
Expand
Expanding
Close
Image: digitaltrends.com
Amazon’s TV box, which the company is believed to have been working on for around a year, is to be launched next month, according to unnamed content distribution sources cited by re/code. It had originally been expected to be launched in time for last year’s holiday sales.
People I’ve talked to who are partnering with Amazon believe the company is aiming for a March rollout […]
Sources tell me Amazon’s box will be powered by Google’s Android operating system, which is also not a surprise — Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets use a “forked” version of Android …
Expand
Expanding
Close
With Chromecast supported by an increasing number of apps, Google has created an official support forum for the $35 device.
Judging by the number of posts made on the first day (assuming they’re not all made by Google employees), it looks like it could prove a popular resource. Though a good starting-point for anyone new to the dongle is our own how-to setup guide.
Koushik Dutta, Cyanogen Inc co-founder and developer of the AllCast app that allows Chromecast streaming of local photos and video from your phone or tablet, has posted the above meme graphic hinting at the ability to mirror the entire Android screen to a TV.
Dutta had previously suggested that the functionality might be coming to Android officially …
Expand
Expanding
Close
