VOTW: Fake Apple Stores
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, July 25, 2011 · 
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And last but not least, our video of the week (VOTW). Last week Reuters reported about a series of fake Apple Stores in China. They look so real that even the store employees, who wear authentic Apple T-shirts and branded name-tags, believe they work for the real Apple. The story began when an American woman currently living in Kunming, China, posted an article with accompanying photos on her blog BirdAbroad.
Now the fake Apple stores have their own Taiwanese cartoon news video, which has become very popular online.
Apple Considers Hulu
Posted by Steve Fravel on Friday, July 22, 2011 · ·
Although the company declined to publicly comment, Apple is said to be in discussions concerning a possible bid for online video site Hulu. Last week, the owners of Hulu — Walt Disney Co., News Corp., Comcast and NBC Universal — confirmed that the ownership of Hulu was definitely in play.
A possible Hulu acquisition would provide Apple with a new subscription service featuring more video. Currently Apple provides video for it’s popular iTunes customers on an on-demand rental basis rather than a subscription. Comcast, Disney and News Corp. have built a program rights extension of five years into the sale, creating a strong potential alternative to Netflix.
Estimates are that Hulu will command more than $2 billion.
For more, see this Bloomberg News article.
VOTW: Apple’s iCloud
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, June 13, 2011 · ·
And last but not least, our video of the week (VOTW). At the Apple Worldwide Development Conference on June 6, CEO Steve Jobs introduced iCloud, Apple’s widely anticipated digital media storage platform.
OTT Wars: Apple, Amazon and Google
Posted by Jesse Ward on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 · ·
Apple's new video device and service
The video device market is heating up as new entrants battle it out for the consumer’s attention and a share of the $180 billion global TV advertising market.
Last week Apple unveiled a new generation of Apple TV, an Internet-connected set-top box which will stream content from Apple’s iTunes store, eliminating the need for storage or syncing. The new Apple TV is a small black box that features an HDMI port capable of 720p output, OpticalAudio and Ethernet.
Apple will offer first-run HD movie rentals for $4.99 and HD library titles for $3.99. Apple also offers standard definition movies for $3.99 for new releases and $2.99 for library titles. Rentals be watched within 30 days; once you begin watching a movie, you need to finish it within 24 hours.
Perhaps most importantly, Apple has negotiated for streaming TV rentals from News Corp.’s Fox, The Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, ABC Family and Disney Channel, and BBC America. HDTV rentals will cost 99 cents per show and be available for 48 hours after purchase. Read more
Apple and Google Developing Rival Pay-TV Services
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, August 30, 2010 · ·
The Financial Times is reporting that Google is developing a pay-per-view system that will allow users to stream movies for about $5 each. Google, the parent-company of You Tube, is reportedly in negotiations with major Hollywood studios and the service could go live before the end of the year.
The service will likely integrate with the soon-to-be-released GoogleTV platform which is slated to be embedded in a variety of televisions and set-top boxes made by Sony and Logitech.
Google faces stiff competition from the likes of Netflix, which early this month signed a five-year deal worth nearly $1 billion to stream movies from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM, and Apple, which offers movie rentals through its iTunes service and is rumored to be developing a new TV rental service. Read more
Apple Unveils iPhone 4, Video Calling and Netflix App
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, June 7, 2010 · ·
During a keynote address at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the new version of the iPhone hardware, iPhone 4. Despite media supposition leading up to the event, the device will still operate over AT&T’s 3G network. Read more
To iPad or Not to iPad?
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, April 5, 2010 · ·
The much anticipated Apple iPad multimedia device was released this past Saturday and, according to the company, more than 300,000 people purchased the device during the first day of sales, about in line with industry expectations.
The iPad has received middle of the road reviews, with techies lamenting the fact that it does not offer multitasking functionality, support for Adobe Flash, camera or ichat capabilities, an HDMI port, and, unless you go with a pure WiFi model, it’s still dependent upon AT&T’s 3G network. Many analysts also questioned the need or use for the device.
Yesterday I trekked on down to the Apple store and took the gadget for a test run. Read more