Looks like Google TV will finally get its premiere. The Wall Street Journal is reporting the Android-based TV UI will debut at the search giant’s I/O Developer conference in May. Google has apparently lined up hardware partners, including Sony, Intel and Logitech (with Samsung mulling a move too). Alongside Google’s Fiber Communities broadband project, it is beginning to put together the pieces to make a move into the video to the home market in much the way it’s tackled mobile.
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Google TV — and TV apps play — ready for debut
Comcast shows strength with video, broadband, VoIP adds
It may be the “worst company in America” (according to a cheap shot from Consumerist.com) but Comcast otherwise is having a very good week, reporting Q1 earnings today highlighted by across-the-board growth. Revenue grew to $9.2 billion for the quarter, up 3.8% versus a year ago. Diving deeper into subscriber numbers, the cable operator added 427,000 digital video, 399,000 broadband and 273,000 VoIP subscribers for the quarter — in the process growing total revenue per video customer to $122.98, up 6.3%.
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TV ‘primetime’ crosses over-the-top lines
Is online video starting to get its own primetime — one that coincides with traditional broadcast primetime hours? According to a new report from Scan Scout, that may just be the case. The report found that 24% of all videos streamed in March were watched in the primetime hours between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., with the very peak broadcast prime time hour — 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. — also being the most active for both streams and unique viewers across most types of video content.
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Youtube, Netflix, Hulu turn up over-the-top heat
Lots of proof this week that over-the-top content – especially if its content that people actually want to watch, which up to now hasn’t always been the case – has almost unlimited potential to shift viewing habits: (more…)
Verizon FiOS bundles up for spring
Firing a competitive shot across the bow, Verizon this week delivered a set of bundles for its FiOS video and high-speed broadband services. Among the highlights: a triple-play bundle of 40 HD channels, 15 Mb/s upstream Internet service and FiOS voice service for $99.99 per month, a $10 per month savings (on a two-year contract). New FiOS customers also get some new freebies, including either free multiroom or standard DVR for six months or free movie packages for six months. Verizon also debuted some new bundles for both large business and small business services.
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Orange UK cries uncle, turns broadband network over to BT
Structural separation has been a U.K. mandate for some time, but business pressures have forced Orange UK into a drastic move: The carrier is halting the build of its own broadband fiber network and will instead lease services from competitor BT. According to press reports, France Telecom-owned Orange cited poor uptake and low demand for its broadband services as impetus for the decision. The company currently has 840,000 broadband customers in the U.K.
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Pair-bonded VDSL in the offing from AT&T?
From the depths of BroadbandReports.com’s user boards comes word of a customer in Connecticut reporting the availability of U-verse service via pair bonded VDSL coming to his neighborhood. The user lives 3600 feet from the nearest video access box and hadn’t been able to get U-verse previously but was told by an AT&T rep that pair bonding had arrived — and so had U-verse for this customer. For now, that’s just one person’s word — but an interesting rumor at that.
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AT&T gets new logo; Verizon mocks Comcast Xfinity
Well, the economy must be recovering and competition heating up because all of a sudden big telecom players are arguing about … branding, advertising and marketing. Taking the lead is AT&T, which according to Ad Age is undergoing a major rebranding under the banner “Rethink Possible.” The re-branding is at least in part about creating separation from last year’s ad battle with Verizon Wireless over the iPhone, coverage maps and more. VZW looks like it’s going to remain feisty, however. Broadband Reports tells of a new series of Verizon ads mocking Comcast’s own rebranding effort with its Xfinity service repackaging. Which will fare best: the high or the low road?
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First ‘Android TV’ app makes an appearance
While Android-based set-top boxes have been rumored, it appears the first official Android-powered TV has now been announced. A Swedish start-up, People of Lava, debuted the Android-powered TV with a fancy name: Scandinavia. It will apparently ship next year, have a 42-inch high-definition LED screen and cost between $2700 and $3400. While Android mobile devices are an obvious play for Google, it remains to be seen if Android TVs make sense. Even Apple, with its glitz and marketing power, has had a hard time making a going of Apple TV.
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Brightcove gets more funding to find online video role
Online video tools provider Brightcove scored another $12 million in funding this week (with its overall funding passing the $100 million mark), showing there’s plenty of promise, if not yet “monetizable” reality, in online video. Brightcove’s funding comes as the Apple iPad lands, and it’s no coincidence. BrightCove made a splash recently with a solution to help Web publishers develop cash out in a small acquisition last week.
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