Week of July 14, 2008

More On Amazon's New Video Service

Friday, July 18, 2008

Amazon's new Video On Demand service is a major step forward. Consumers can buy or rent shows without having to download the entire video and without having the programming tethered to a specific computer. The first two minutes of the show or movie will start streaming as soon as a customer clicks on the link. To see the entire video, viewers will have to pay.

Customers will have their purchases stored in Amazon's Your Video Library, which will enable them to view the show or movie from any computer. The service will offer shows and movies from virtually all major studios. The lone exception is ABC/Disney.

Amazon to Offer Streaming TV Shows & Movies

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Amazon is about to launch a new Video On Demand service that will offer streaming TV shows and movies. Streaming is the key word, differentiating their service from other online offerings that involve downloads. Amazon's efforts to dominate the video space include deals with TV makers to make direct access to the Amazon store available through the TVs. Amazon already has such a deal with Sony for its line of Bravia HD sets.

Amazon's forays into digital media have been mixed. Its original video download service, Unbox, was considered a disappointment. But in the music world, its download service has taken off. While a distant #2 to iTunes, Amazon, the DRM-free mp3 download service has gained traction in less than a year.

iPhone 3G sold out in 21 states

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The hype has borne itself out and the consumer demand for the new lower-priced 3G iPhones is real. The Fortune Apple 2.0 Blog reports that the iPhone 3G is now sold out in 21 states.

Google/Viacom and anonymity

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

One of the headlines from the Viacom/Google copyright infringement lawsuit was that Google was required by the judge to provide to Viacom the user information of Youtube videos. This included user names, IP addresses, and videos watched. There was an immediate outcry that providing this information would compromise the privacy of every Youtube user. While Viacom has sent out press releases saying that it won't prosecute others based on data collected from Google (ostensibly for copyright infringement of uploaded videos), that didn't allay many fears.

Today, Google and Viacom agreed that Youtube could remove identifying information in the transfer of data. Instead of user names and IP addresses, users will be identified by unique but random ID numbers. This satisfies the criteria of the judge (identifying what Youtube knew about users uploading copyright infringing videos) while preserving individual privacy.

Guns N' Roses Game The System

Monday, July 14, 2008

This Fall Guns N' Roses plan on debuting their new single, "Shackler's Revenge," in the video game, Rock Band 2. The single, from the long-awaited album, Chinese Democracy, will be the latest in a string of creative launches by bands. Video games have become an increasingly important aspect of the music business.

The most popular titles routinely sell more copies than hit albums, so placement on the game soundtrack guarantees great reach and multiple impressions. This has been true for a number of years with releases such as the annual John Madden NFL football games from EA, but has accelerated since the debut of the music-focused games Guitar Heroes and Rock Band.