Online Entertainment

Microsoft Packs Xbox One With Home Entertainment Power
May 21, 2013

Microsoft has officially unveiled the Xbox One, promising it will usher in a new generation of games, TV and entertainment. The One comes a dozen years after the original Xbox video game console debuted, and eight years after its best-selling Xbox 360 proved that Microsoft was a serious contender in the gaming arena. The reveal took place at an event at its Redmond, Wash., campus on Tuesday.

Microsoft May Pull the Plug on Xbox Points
May 15, 2013

Microsoft may cash in its Points virtual payment system. The company reportedly will discontinue Points in favor of a cash-based system that will accept credit and debit purchases, as well as gift cards purchased at retail outlets. Microsoft Points are the virtual currency for Xbox Live. Players purchase points, which can then be used to buy games and content.

Google Vows 'Radio Without Rules' With Streaming Music Service
May 15, 2013

Google on Wednesday unveiled Google Play Music All Access, a $9.99 per month subscription streaming music service that allows users to discover and curate music on the company's platform. The company announced All Access during the keynote of this year's I/O Developer's Conference, its annual gathering where it often publicly launches new hardware, software and product applications.

ESPN May Give Its Wireless Users an Assist
May 13, 2013

ESPN is reportedly in talks with at least one wireless carrier to help subsidize data usage for customers who stream sports video content on their smartphones and tablets. News of the possible deal comes as more mobile device users are turning to their smartphones for data-intensive activities like playing games and watching videos.

YouTube Tinkers With Subscription Model
May 10, 2013

YouTube unveiled a new subscription plan this week and announced that it will start allowing select channels to charge for monthly viewing plans. It's the first time the online video hub will charge for content. Channels including Jim Henson's TV will show episodes of Sesame Street for subscriptions starting at $2.99 per month.

Pre-Roll Ads Will Soon Know Where You've Shopped Online
May 08, 2013

Pre-roll video ads are about to get smarter, according to OwnerIQ, a digital advertising company that is adding targeting data based on consumer browser behavior to online video ads. The new targeting capabilities borrow from tactics developed for display advertising that try to zero in on a prequalified audience.

Intel Focuses Iris GPUs on Gaming, Video
May 02, 2013

Intel on Thursday announced the Iris family of graphics processor units for its forthcoming Haswell line of processors. The Iris family offers up to double the 3D performance of the chip giant's fastest mobile HD graphics solutions on its processors for laptops and Ultrabooks. It also triples the 3D performance for its R-series processors for desktops.

Amazon Box Could Be Another Ecosystem Building Block
April 25, 2013

The world's largest online retailer, Amazon, may soon challenge Apple, Google, Roku and other set-top box makers with a delivery device of its own. While cable and satellite set-top boxes remain among the most popular content delivery hubs in the living room, they have been challenged by other hardware, including game consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, which can stream a variety of content.

Netflix Plays Its Q1 Cards Right
April 23, 2013

The market is popping champagne corks over Netflix's latest earnings report. A day after the company delivered boffo results and beat Street expectations for the first quarter, its stock has soared by some 25 percent. Netflix posted net income of $3 million, compared with a loss of $5 million a year ago. Profits were 31 cents a share, far more than analysts' expectations of 20 cents.

Twitter's #Music Whistles a Happy Tune
April 18, 2013

Long before a tweet was a 140-character post on Twitter, it was a component of birdsong. Now the microblogging site is singing the praises of its new Twitter #Music, an app that will help users find tunes they'll like, based on their current preferences and songs' popularity on Twitter. The app utilizes Twitter activity, including tweets and other engagements, not only to identify the most-popular tracks, but also to detect emerging artists.

What We Think We Know About Twitter Music: Presumably Uncondensed
April 15, 2013

Twitter has officially announced its forthcoming push into the digital music space. After weeks of rumors, including one that promised such a service would officially launch over the weekend, Twitter has announced that something, indeed, is coming. On Friday, Twitter made public its music website. Then it slightly revised the wording over the weekend to say "coming soon." There is a link inviting users to sign in.

Google, EU Reach Meeting of the Minds
April 15, 2013

In an effort to appease European regulators, Google for the first time has agreed to make legally binding changes to its search results. The changes stem from a two-year investigation into whether Google abused its online search dominance in Europe. The changes will not force Google to amend its algorithm, but instead will require it to clearly label search results from its own properties.

Real-World Marauders Infest Online Games
April 12, 2013

A scenario involving cybercriminals using techniques developed by state-sponsored cyberespionage groups sounds like a plot point in a video game, but the Winnti crew aren't the villains in some new release. These Chinese hackers are very real, and online games are their target. The group has been conducting a long-running cybercrime campaign targeting online gaming companies worldwide, Kaspersky Lab reported this week.

Next Xbox May Mark the Spot for Home Entertainment
April 11, 2013

All may be revealed on May 21, when Microsoft officially unveils its next-generation video game console and follow-up to its popular Xbox 360. In the meantime, the rumor mill is churning. Xbox executive Adam Orth reportedly departed Microsoft this week after engaging in a controversial Twitter exchange related to the console's rumored "always on" requirement.

Microsoft Signals Laser Focus on Xbox With Mediaroom Sale
April 08, 2013

Microsoft confirmed on Monday that it has agreed to sell its Mediaroom IPTV platform business to Ericsson. Mediaroom is currently used to power many of the leading Internet television services. With this acquisition, Ericsson will reportedly become the leading provider of IPTV and multiscreen offerings. This move will allow Microsoft to focus its TV efforts on the Xbox platform.

The Next Big Thing in Smartphones: Multiple Video Camera Support
April 08, 2013

I've been meeting with a number of companies that build video-editing software, and I've been becoming increasingly concerned that we aren't at all ready for a world in which nearly every car and every head has a streaming camera attached to it. Regardless of whether we are prepared or not, I think it likely that the next big smartphone feature will be the ability to stream multiple cameras at once.

Baidu May Be Developing a Glassy Eye
April 03, 2013

Living up to its billing as the Chinese Google, Baidu, China's top search engine, reportedly is working on Baidu Eye, something that sounds a lot like Google's Glass. Worn like eyeglasses, the Internet gadget will be controlled by voice and will feature an LCD display that can recognize images. While these features are rumored to be up and running, the product's design and battery life are still works in progress.

All Things Appy: Top 5 iOS Video Camera Apps
April 03, 2013

Video cameras have been one of the killer hardware features in the smartphone revolution, and Apple's iOS platform for iPads and iPhones has made an important contribution to the video camera app market. Twitter's Vine lets you create arty 6-second looping videos for distribution on social networks including Facebook, Twitter and the Vine network.

Court Rules Broadcasters Can't Pull the Plug on Aereo
April 02, 2013

Aereo, a startup that streams TV content to Web-connected devices with the use of tiny antennas, won another legal battle Monday in its war with broadcast networks. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's ruling that denied 17 broadcasters a preliminary injunction against Aereo on the grounds that streaming TV content to individual subscribers does not constitute a public performance.

Zynga and Facebook's Chill Turns Icy
March 22, 2013

Zynga announced Thursday that it will be rolling out the full version of Zynga.com next week as part of the gaming company's ongoing process of decreasing its dependence on Facebook's social platform. Currently, gamers looking to play Zynga offerings such as Farmville have to sign in with their Facebook login.