DMDB
Posted at 10:22AM Jul 30, 2010 by
Digital Media Daily Briefing
*iPhone*
Why Can't Apple and Android Users Just All Get Along?
As the New York Observer notes under the headline "Study: People Who Own iPads Are Tiresome Hipsters With Awful Personalities" and AMNY splashed across its cover under the word "iSnobs," a report from the social personality site MyType concluded that "iPad Owners are an elite bunch." Thank God they don't make their living doing market research. The report then goes on to describe iPaddies further: "They're wealthy, highly educated and sophisticated," it states. "They value power and achievement much more than others. They're also selfish, scoring low on measures of kindness and altruism."
*Mobile*
Let’s Give Mobile Video A Little Push
The mobile video services on both my iPhone and iPad are starting to pile up, and just remembering what I have is getting cumbersome. I am sure that the video providers themselves would like to think that having multiple channels on a mobile deck is much like having a remote control that lets you rifle through the options regularly. It is not. Having discrete videos branded as ABC, CBS, Hulu, TMZ, AMC, etc. on the iPhone/iPad home pages is more like a wall of TVs -- each of which needs to be turned on, warmed up and navigated under their own interface.
The architectural differences among mobile applications, including mobile video, are not that small a matter. Users of multiple apps need to grow accustomed to different styles. Does a tap here launch a video or give me description and a play button? Can I still one-hand this phone and see the video in portrait mode, or will it force me to reorient?
I think we discovered long ago on the Web that it's the little speed bumps in information architecture that can kill usability. I still believe that people have a memory for Web sites and apps that are just a smidge more work to use than another -- and on some level this knowledge affects their frequency of use. I know that tapping open Adam Curry's Big App Show puts me a click away from today's video, while AMC is going to give me a load bar, and Hulu Plus is going to drop me thoughtfully into catch-up mode with clips of last night's late-night shows. This all affects my decisions to tap or not to tap an app open.
But all of the video apps require that I seek them out or trip over them when and if I have a sec to do a phone content check. The weakest link for mobile video has always been our memory that we have it in hand. From the time Verizon first put VCast onto the early 3G phones and Qualcomm embedded receivers with sharp reception, the problem for me has been that video on a hand set never became a reflex. This is sure to change, but video more than any other mobile medium need s a little push -- a digital push.
I was reminded of the effectiveness of push this week by a very simple, but strong, SMS-to-video campaign from video sharing service Thwapr. The company is working with the VANs Warped concert tour as well as the 2010 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival to keep both the sponsoring brands and great video content in people's faces. The user simply subscribes to get updates via SMS ("send "Warped" or "Mayhem" to 757575). Daily texts link to a mobile Web page that contains a play link and sharing tools. The three-minute clips are there every day -- and the odds are I am watching this content series and its sponsors more regularly than the content I might find in an app.
Actually, the lesson here is not just the simple distribution method. We have had many instances where SMS links to video. What actually gives this program more depth is that it is a rounded and well-crafted series with a consistent hostess/reporter. When you subscribe, the first video reply introduces her and the content of the series. She shows up every day, reporting from a different venue, and each clip gives you a strong sense of place, that you really are accessing a traveling event and getting reports from the road. In other words, the content matches the distribution method. It feels like a peer using her phone cam to report on a road trip, and it comes to you in pretty much the same way a friend would communicate.
How can mobile video publishers leverage this good example? Let me subscribe to specific programming in your well of goodies, and send me app alerts or SMS with links that pull me back in. AMC, I will take an SMS to remind me there is a new "Mad Men" clip. News providers, give me a simple way to let you push specific video topic to me so they surface outside of the app. Do all the usual TV-land cross-selling of other content when I get into your app and after I watch what I wanted, but give me what I really want first.
Move this forward by getting out of the Web model where we were all impressed at the depth and the breadth of your video libraries. On a phone, not so much. I am more interested in having the specific topics I want on video rising closer to the surface. Until I start associating the cell phone with video in the same way I already link it conceptually with text, voice and headlines, I am going to need reminding that I have a DVR in my pocket.
*Branded Entertainment*
Harrah's Entertainment Acquires Thistledown Race Track
"With this acquisition, Harrah's Entertainment looks forward to enhancing the guest experience at Thistledown--through continuing the long history of thoroughbred racing and providing our support for the Ohio Lottery's efforts to bring video lottery terminals to the track," said Peter E. Murphy, president of strategy and development, Harrah's Entertainment. "Harrah's has a long history of maintaining high standards in the gaming industry. We look forward to continuing our commitment to our guests, employees and the community in this new Cleveland operation.
" Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. is the world's largest provider of branded casino entertainment. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, more than 70 years ago, Harrah's has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now operates casinos on four continents. The company's properties operate primarily under the Harrah's®, Caesars® and Horseshoe® brand names; Harrah's also owns the World Series of Poker® and a majority interest in the London Clubs International family of casinos. Harrah's Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership. Harrah's is committed to environmental sustainability and energy conservation and recognizes the importance of being a responsible steward of the environment. For more information, please visit www.harrahs.com.
Samsung Elec to introduce Android-based tablet in Q3
Samsung Electronics Co plans to introduce tablet computers this quarter based on Google's Android operating system, joining a growing list of firms seeking to challenge Apple's popular iPad.
Global handset vendors and PC makers including Nokia, LG Electronics and Hewlett-Packard Co are moving into the new category of devices, between traditional PCs and smartphones, taking a cue from Apple.
Samsung, the world's No.2 handset maker after Nokia, said its tablet PC will have a 7-inch display, smaller than the 9.7-inch screen on the iPad, which has sold more than 3 million units since its April launch.
*Online*
Coming boom in online TV viewing
When YouTube launched five years ago, short videos were all the rage, and music videos, random comedy acts and of course adorable kittens became ubiquitous. But five years later, with online video delivery technology improving, long-form video is slowly gaining popularity. A new report from eMarketer predicts that the percentage of U.S. internet users who watch television online will explode next year, going from 58.9 percent this year to 72.2 percent next year, the largest year-to-year increase in at least three years. By 2014, that percentage will reach 77. As online video viewers drift more toward longform professionally done content, we’ll begin seeing new business models as well. More sites will experiment with paid content rather than ad-supported content, as Hulu is doing right now. Whether they will have much success remains to be seen. Paul Verna, senior analyst at eMarketer, talks to Media Life about who’s watching online video, why they’re migrating to longer-form content, and whether paywalls will work.