Apple announced that it will stream SXSW events via VEVO, a rare partnership with Google-related products that banks heavily on streaming video and SXSW’s popularity – particularly in light of streaming’s rise in popularity and YouTube’s attempt to break into streaming music and video services with auto play. For SXSW, Vevo apps presently available on iOS and Apple TV will allow users to watch the festival live across devices. As with past years viewers will be able to watch through the iTunes store. It’s a sign of the times, really, that Apple needs to get its content across as many devices as possible, to get to viewers wherever it is that they want to be watching. As we’ve seen at SXSW so far, content that puts audiences first is winning.
Category: Percolate
Beats Music Releases Public API
In a move to overtake Spotify, Rdio, Deezer, and others, Beats Music wants to differentiate itself from the crowd by releasing a public API to developers. The API was previously only available to specific partners and developers, thus the integration with Sonos speakers and Bop.fm. Now that the platform is more established, Beats wants to scale its product across as many devices as possible to compete with the likes of other streaming platforms, which are almost universally available across many devices. Developers will be able to write code such that users can search Beats’ library, play tracks, as well as create, update, and display custom playlists. Even as a late-comer to the streaming game, Beats has been making waves with their partnerships and immediately popular interface. Whether they can remain a force in the digital music space, however, remains to be seen.
Oscar Mayer Launches Bacon App
Oscar Mayer debuted a new experiential campaign to give bacon lovers the chance to wake up to the sound and smell of bacon in the morning. Called “Wake Up and Smell the Bacon,” the app is a combination phone app and iPhone dongle that completely takes over the phone’s alarm: the dongle plugs into the headphone jack to release bacon smell when the alarm sounds. Fans won’t be able to purchase the device, however; Oscar Mayer is only making a limited number of dongles, and fans apply for a chance to win one by taking a quiz on Oscar Mayer’s website. The contest runs through April 4th, and is another example of creative, experiential design creating a buzzworthy concept working well for brands.
Spotify Purchases The Echo Nest
The Echo Nest, the company that powers competing services like Twitter Music, Rdio, and others, is now owned by Spotify. It doesn’t mean that those services will cease to exist: Echo Nest’s API will remain accessible, says Spotify, and the Echo Nest headquarters will remain in Somerville, Mass., where they have always been. Thus many are confused exactly what this means for Spotify and The Echo Nest, but on speculation it seems that Spotify will likely leverage The Echo Nest’s system for recommending songs and filtering listeners into different genres – thus it will better be able to target relevant advertising and music to the listeners who want it the most. It’s a tenuous purchase though: Spotify now has control over the back end service that powers its chief rivals in a budding ecosystem that brands and marketers are keen to keep a close eye on. It bodes well for Spotify, but perhaps not for its competitors.
Apple To Roll Out Video iAds
Apple announced that it is rolling out new video iAds this year that will automatically play full-screen within iPhone and iPad apps. At present, mobile users need to click on a brand’s mobile banner for the iAd to be activated, whereas the new ads are “interstitials,” and will likely feature at moments of transition – between different levels of a game, for instance. Because the system is so new, it remains unclear how Apple intends to sell these ads; it has been rumored that Apple wants to launch an ad exchange, but details are scarce. iAds have been a contentious feature for Apple since their inception, and the price-per-unit has dropped over the years from $1 million to $100,000. Apple is surely looking enviously at Google’s $243 million in ad revenue in 2012, as compared to their own $125 million; it’s not a quick fix however, as advertisers will likely look to test into the medium slowly but surely. Nonetheless, this represents a big step forward for mobile ads in perhaps the most coveted space of digital advertising.
Flipboard Purchases Zite From CNN
Flipboard purchased the personalized news app Zite from CNN, while CNN and Flipboard agreed to a partnership to launch digital magazines based on the channel’s shows through Flipboard. The deal, worth a rumored $60 million, will make Zite available as a magazine to Flipboard’s 90 million users – not to mention the eyeballs that CNN will be hoping to acquire through this deal. While Facebook’s Paper has been dominating the news-aggregation app headlines recently, Flipboard was certainly in the space first, and presents a more personalized product – something that CNN will have recognized – and has raised around $161 million in three funding rounds. In combination with Zite and CNN magazines, Flipboard now has access to a more main steam source of readers and users, positioning it for even broader adoption and true competition with Facebook’s Paper.
Twitch Goes Mobile
Twitch today announced the release of the mobile software development kit, which will let developers add livestreaming and screen capturing to mobile games. In addition to broadcasting gameplay and audio, the Twitch SDK allows video and audio capture from the phone itself, meaning that gamers can still get themselves on camera, as many do online already. The mobile SDK also provides for the ability to upload and share video, while simultaneous video archiving is also included – a feature currently only available through Twitch’s PC offering. Twitch’s mobile app has been installed over 10 million times, with an even split between Android and iOS, meaning that the company has a readily accessible mobile market. Though no date has been confirmed, the product will be on the market soon. For the most successful social gaming network, the step to mobile seems obvious, if extremely potent.
Roku Cross-Platform Streaming Stick Drops To $50
In late 2012, Roku announced its first Streaming Stick. Priced at $99, it only worked with Roku-Ready TV’s. Not surprisingly, it didn’t sell very well, with limited use-cases and few ways for consumers to connect with the device. For the 2014 release, however, Roku made sure to develop a much improved product. It works via standard HDMI, and it comes pre-packaged with a remote. For a $50 price point, it’s $15 more expensive than Google’s Chromecast, but practically speaking it’s nestled in the same range. For that extra $15 you get many more content sources: PBS, Showtime, and over 1,000 niche programming channels have partnered with Roku. The Stick also ships with Roku’s proprietary apps, and from a design perspective, it shifts the universal search function to the forefront of the user experience. This April, cordcutters have yet another way to distance themselves from traditional cable packages, and Roku is making the shift easier and easier.
HBO Go Comes To PS3
Though much of the tech world might have moved on to PS4 and Xbox One, many consumers still utilize and will continue to purchase PS3’s and Xbox 360’s – if for the price more than anything else. So to target the streaming, console-owning market, content providers will have to provide some backwards compatibility. This is exactly what HBO has done today, as it announced that its HBO Go app will finally be available on PS3. Though it’s still working on apps for the next-gen consoles, those will surely come soon. And when they do, it will mean that HBO’s exclusive and well-developed second screen content will be readily accessible to gamers and and cord-cutters alike. It’s a sign that the networks are finally beginning to understand that untethering their content from the traditional models of cable and set-top-boxes is something that consumers are not only asking for, but accepting with open arms.
Skype Comes To Outlook.com
Microsoft launched Skype for Outlook.com worldwide, a bold expansion and integration of the chat service into its email client to mount perhaps the first full-fledged challenge to email and chat monopoly of gmail and hangouts. Though the service arrived in specific parts of the world in August, Microsoft has only now adopted world-wide distribution. The feature allows you to connect with other Skype users directly from the Outlook.com inbox, and users can install a plugin that enables the Skype integration with Outlook’s account. The plugin now provides for almost universal browser and Mac support, as well as HD video calling so long as both users have HD compatible displays. As Skype continues to play a bigger role in Microsoft’s consumer-facing strategy, Microsoft is hoping to rope users – and thus eyeballs – into its modernized platforms. And with Skype on Microsoft’s side, it’s a very viable possibility.
