YouTube subscription fees to arise

YouTube will start experimenting with charging subscription fees for some of its branded content following its partnerships, announced at Mipcom, with European TV content providers to feed 60 new channels.

Over-the-top-TV - (OTT)

According to new findings and forecasts from research group TDG, which reports that paid-TV subscriptions topped out at about 101 million in 2011, remained virtually unchanged in 2012, and will sink to less than 95 million by 2017.

What will really accelerate the demise of pay TV is when consumers adopt new OTT technology -- from Apple and Intel -- as their primary entertainment services, according to Greeson.

Over-the-top-TV - (OTT) Over-the-top-TV - (OTT) - Over-The-Top Home Entertainment Media - Electronic device manufacturers are providing DVD players, video game consoles and TVs with built-in wireless connectivity. These devices piggy back on an existing wireless network, pull content from the Internet and deliver it to the TV set. Typically these devices need no additional wires, hardware or advanced knowledge on how to operate. Content suited for TV can be delivered via the Internet. These OTT applications include Facebook and YouTube.

Internet-connected TV (Connected TV, Broadband-enabled Television, Network-connected Televisions, Web-enabled TVs, Internet-to-television Video Services, Broadband-Enabled TV, Web-enabled Television Platforms, TVs Enabled for Internet Video, Web-connected Smart TV.) - Internet-connected TVs are television systems (typically HDTV) that can adequately display some or more Internet content. This content may be in the form of walled gardens. These may be TVs networked to broadband enabled set-top boxes, media centers, media center PCs, PCs or other consumer devices. For networking, digital media adapters, digital media receivers or media extenders may be utilized. Often these advanced systems are interactive. Using a wireless keyboard and mouse combination might be an option as is the case with a Media Center PC. Other types of interactivity may include using your voice to change the channels (interactive voice response {IVR}), and perform video searches etc. With the point and click option, viewers point their remote at an area of the TV screen for interactivity.

Google prepares Search 2.0

Google's ultimate goal is to build something like the Star Trek computer, able to directly and instantly answer users' queries. read more...

Cable Companies Stepping It Up for Internet TV

Wow this internet TV is getting better and better day by day!

As new Internet TV players look to invade the living room, some cable and satellite operators are stepping up their embrace of Web technology to jazz up aging interfaces and head off subscriber defections.

At the Consumer Electronics Show Monday, Cox Communications Inc., the third-largest cable operator by subscribers, unveiled a new Internet-enabled set-top box and iPad app with Cisco Systems Inc. to allow customers to search live TV channels as well as third-party online video outlets through a single guide.

The Atlanta-based cable company says it plans to integrate video services like Netflix Inc. into the set-top box and an iPad app over the course of this year, so customers can surf through live TV and streamed content all in one place.

Other pay-TV providers, including Dish Network Corp. and Comcast Corp., are making similar moves to soup up the TV experience. The action largely comes in response to the proliferation of online video available outside the cable ecosystem, including streams from Netflix and other offerings like Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime and television networks' apps and websites.

Many cable and satellite companies are also trying to appeal to subscribers who are turned off by clunky set-top guides and instead prefer Web-video devices that offer far more attractive interfaces.

Some apps, Internet-connected TVs, game consoles and Web-TV boxes such as Roku Inc.'s offer ways to search through and stream online content to the TV set. But television watchers often have to juggle multiple remotes and switch to different inputs to go between Web video and live cable television through their set-top boxes.

Guides and search features that cover all the options in one device have become a consumer's Holy Grail.

Cox's new integrated set-top box and guide promises to eliminate those pains for at least the subscribers who opt to buy the new box, which is likely to cost $5 to $10 on top of their monthly cable subscriptions.

Steve Necessary, Cox's vice president of video, said "not every single app known to man" will appear in the new set-top, but he says he plans on integrating with popular online video services, as well as music apps possibly like Pandora.

Those partnerships will arrive over the course of this year, he said.

Comcast, the biggest cable operator, is already rolling out similar cloud-based functionality through its X1 set-top box in select markets, but it hasn't integrated apps from online video outlets and says it has no imminent plans to do so.

Dish on Monday also showed off the next generation of its Hopper digital video recorder, which is using Internet-based technology to widen its customers' viewing options.

The satellite operator unveiled a new Web-based feature enabled by Sling Media Inc. that will allow Dish subscribers who pay for the new Hopper box to watch all recorded content and live TV channels on any device anywhere in the world that has an Internet connection.

One catch is that only one device at any point per household can be using Sling to watch live TV outside the home.

"We see that Internet delivery of content is probably going to become a very important aspect at some point in the future," said Vivek Khemka, Dish's vice president of product management.

The Hopper's integration with Sling and Dish's existing partnership with Roku means that "now we have technology that allows us to stream live linear television over the Internet."

Dish said the new Hopper box also has a feature to allow viewers to download DVR recordings onto their iPads so that they can watch programs while traveling, for example, on an airplane without any Internet. Any one recording can only be transferred once to a single device to prevent piracy, Dish executives said.

While Dish didn't negotiate with content owners for that right, Comcast also released a similar download feature last month for certain shows and has been negotiating with several programmers for that right.

So far, some premium channels like Liberty Media Corp.'s Starz and CBS Corp.'s Showtime have agreed, although Time Warner Inc.'s HBO is notably absent from the list.

Comcast allows up to three devices to download any one show, with a limit of 10 downloaded programs per device at any one time.

A Dish spokesman declined to discuss the operator's agreements with programmers and said that it is "part of our overall belief that customers want choice and control over their content."

Several Internet video technology startups present at CES noted the heightened pace of Web video innovation among cable and satellite operators.

"If you look at what has happened in the last two or three years, companies like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu proved that it's possible to deliver a video business over the Internet," said Jeff Miller, chief executive of ActiveVideo Networks, which is testing a cloud-based guide delivered to older-generation Comcast set-top boxes in Chattanooga.

"Nothing breeds innovation like competition," he said.

Cox and Dish also demonstrated recommendation features Monday. Cox's new guide will come equipped with a personal recommendation engine that creates profiles for up to eight different people in a household and recommends items to watch based on their preferences across live television, on demand content, and third-party video apps on the Web. Dish showed off a feature called "what's hot" that aggregates real-time data from Dish viewers to promote trending television programs. That feature integrates into the set -top box and into a new Dish app for tablets that combines guide data with social media.

A big caveat, however, regarding the features on the new set-top boxes is that they don't address the hundreds of thousands of cable and satellite subscribers who still have older set-top boxes and their antiquated guides.

"There's a ton of legacy systems you have to address," said Braxton Jarratt, chief executive of Clearleap Inc., a company that helps media companies deliver Internet video. "The complexity is pretty massive."

source

(AE) Analog Entertainment Online TV Channel

Analog Entertainment (AE) Analog-TV is broadcast on the SimpleME TV, Fox CT and DishNetwork. Plus they produce unique reality show and movie trailers. About Analog Entertainment online TV channel - Internet television (otherwise known as Internet TV, or Online TV) is the digital distribution of television content via the Internet.

"Analog Entertainment" (AE) Presenting Our Online TV Channel Network that can be watched on Personal Computer and lap top plus your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, Windows phone, Android, Symbian, Palm OS, or Blackberry.

Stop by TV CHANNEL ONLINE.com and watch the shows. TV Channel Online Click Here

Below is a trailer of just a few production done by Analog Entertainment for major TV shows.

EPIC PROMO OF THE 2 COMPANIES ANALOG ENTERTAINMENT & OUTCAST FILMS COMING TOGETHER

Hands-on with the tablet-PC-game console

By Rich Brown and Scott Stein, CNET

LAS VEGAS--Gaming hardware usually takes a backseat at CES, but this year seems to be an exception. We've already seen Nvidia's blockbuster Project Shield handheld Android/PC game streaming device. Today Razer announced the Edge PC gaming tablet, and we took a good long look and play with it along with Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan at this year's CES.

Razer teased the tablet at last year's CES under the code name Project Fiona. The company then conducted a crowd-sourcing campaign in which gamers provided Razer with feedback about the specs they'd like to see in a mobile PC gaming device.

It’s an innovative approach, but the result is what you could probably guess anyway: the Edge splits the difference between hard-core gaming PCs and tablets with a full-fledged Windows 8 tablet running an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce GT640M LE graphics. It looks...well, it looks like a tablet. But, under the hood, it has the guts of a high-powered gaming ultrabook.

If the specs are perhaps predictable, it's the accessories that help it stand out. Read More...

A free app that could save your life

Ping4 alerts you if you're in the vicinity of severe weather or breaking news

Best of CES People's Voice

CNET once again presents the official awards program of CES. The awards recognize the best products at the show, including a Best of Show award and a People's Voice award, as voted by you, the CNET audience. Vote now for your favorite one gadget out of all our finalists.

Finalists were announced Wednesday, January 9, at 10 A.M., PST Winners will be announced Thursday, January 10, at 11 A.M., PST People's Voice Nominees Click Here

The top 12 tech stories of 2012

Get updated on IBM Software & Hardware Products for 2012 ... click here

The top 12 tech stories of 2012
By Heather Kelly, CNN
(CNN) -- In the tech world, 2012 was the year of the reboot. Older, established tech companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo and Nintendo all tried to restart their brands with bold new products and fresh blood in the executive suites.

Facebook struggled with its new life as a publicly traded company, and Instagram, the photo-sharing network it acquired in April, was dragged along for the ride.

There were inspiring stories, such as the Internet coming together to protest anti-piracy legislation. And there was darker news, like the Israeli military live-tweeting its strikes against Gaza.

And as always, the world's dominant and most closely watched tech company was all over the news. Apple did a little bit of everything in 2012, from hit new products (the iPad Mini) to high-profile failures (Apple Maps) to some old-fashioned courtroom drama in its patent war with Samsung.

Here are our picks for the top 12 tech stories of 2012. What did we leave out? Let us know in the comment section below.

Windows 8 tablet can compete with iPad

Apple's map hiccups

Instagram users revolt over privacy

Former Facebook prez talks IPO mess

Microsoft's big push READ MORE CLICK HERE

Protect Your Online Privacy Tips

10 Incredibly Simple Things You Should Be Doing to Protect Your Privacy By Kashmir Hill | Forbes

1. Password protect your devices: your smartphone, your iPad, your computer, your tablet, etc. Read more...