YouTube Taking on Cable

The portable ecosystem just got a whole lot better.

A cloud DVR with unlimited storage? Sign me up.

Wired

GOOGLE JUST JOINED the “skinny bundle” TV war with YouTube TV, a paid subscription service that streams a slew of premium broadcast and cable networks to your mobile device, tablet, computer, and anything with Chromecast.

Just $35 a month gets you six accounts and access to live TV from more than 40 providers including the big broadcast networks, ESPN, regional sports networks and dozens of popular cable networks. Subscriptions include cloud DVR with unlimited storage, AI-powered search and personalization, and access to YouTube Red programming. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki calls it the evolution of television, and a bid to “give the younger generation the content that they love with the flexibility they expect.”

YouTube's Live Streaming up 80% in the last year

TubeFilter.com

The big uptick in live viewership was catalyzed in part by an expanded investment on YouTube’s part. The video site has recently adopted several changes to encourage its creative community to utilize live broadcasts. Most significantly, it enabled direct streaming from its mobile app, a feature that emulates the primary services of apps like Periscope and YouNow. The result has been a 130% increase in the number of posted YouTube live streams over the past year. “When consumers think about video, whether that’s on-demand or live, they think of YouTube,” Mohan said. “Live is one part of the picture.”

How Streaming is Changing Sports Watching

It's quiet out there, which is normal for pre-announcement season. There will be a lot of activity to report on in the first part of September.

This was tweeted by MicroVision yesterday. 

Streaming video is where it's at for PicoP -- your big screen wherever you are. More and more people are using mobile streaming.

The ecosystem for MicroVision's PicoP is primed and ready -- which is a critically important thing for the adoption of new technology.... and leads to things like the instant crazy success of Pokemon Go.


Microvision Twitter


New York Times
Something amazing may be happening: Television broadcasters may start viewing their content the way the rest of us do — as something you watch, plain and simple, without caring what screen it’s on. And as something you want to see on your terms. Now.

If so, it’s going to be a very big deal for an industry that still thinks it’s special.

As Sapna Maheshwari writes, the Olympics seemed to show NBC, which had the rights to broadcast the Games in the United States, that people increasingly want to see live events as they happen.

Perhaps a half-million people a day watched the events on live streams, and a disproportionate number of those were probably in the coveted group of 18- to 34-year-olds.

Project Loon to Indonesia

The ecosystem for a new product is extremely important. If a product lands in  the right place at the right time, mass adoption can be very swift.

The best quick example is the fax machine. It was a great machine, but it's adoption had to be relatively slow. If you have a machine that can send and receive documents and no one else has one, then your machine doesn't do you any good. Early adopters would have purchased pairs of them - one for each remote office.

Look at virtual reality. If there are virtual reality headsets, they can be the most awesome devices ever created, but if there isn't any content for them, they will fail.

Now look at PicoP. Big screen in a small package. For it to succeed -there has to be content. There is a HUGE amount of content that's available online and accessible through mobile devices. 

The other essential is bandwidth. Widespread networks that can deliver the content to mobile devices. In much of the world this isn't a problem. In other parts of the world it's a significant problem.

Google is working on a solution to this that we should pay attention to. They are going to provide access to all of Indonesia in a very unique way, and apparently very soon.

Google Project Loon - DNA India

Indonesia is the fourth country following Brazil, New Zealand, and Australia, where Project Loon will beam down internet access to smartphones. The balloons fly about 20km above the Earth's surface, moving with the wind to reposition, and forming one large communications array. This technology is particularly useful in countries like Indonesia, which is a collection of about 17,000 islands with mountains and jungles in between, making it difficult to install cell towers or fibre optic cables.

ChinaTopix

Project Loon at Google
 

Verizon - $5 BILLION Invested in Streaming Video

From Nasdaq

Maybe they know something about PicoP and its utility with mobile devices and the trend towards mobile from fixed.

This service will be free to users and supported by advertising.

Whatever you may think of PicoP -- it will be greeted on arrival with a primed and ready ecosystem for its adoption.

Have SONY and Verizon been coordinating their efforts? The timing couldn't be better if they planned it that way.

Five Billion invested, with the biggest cellular network -- and they're worried about the competition.

Verizon is preparing to launch its free, ad-supported streaming video service called Go90 later this month. Adoption of the new application will be closely watched by investors, given that the company has dedicated considerable resources to building its streaming video and mobile advertising capabilities, via a series of acquisitions over the last two years at a cost of roughly $5 billion. There is a larger trend to watch here as well; the service should provide an indicator as to how combining an ad platform with a wireless carrier pans out. Below we discuss Verizon's growing interest in mobile content and advertising and the prospects of the new streaming application.

Advertising spending is moving away from traditional media such as newspapers and TV, onto the Internet and mobile devices. Total digital ad spending is expected to increase 15% to $58.6 billion in 2015, according to research firm eMarketer, and mobile ad spending is expected to rise 50% to $28.7 billion.

Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/will-verizons-streaming-video-service-catch-on-cm522614#ixzz3mZ8msQ4V

PlayStation Video Update - Download for offline viewing

One of the things I've been looking for to make the environment for PicoP most accommodating is a way to download desired content to the mobile device for playing later.

Streaming is not always convenient, efficient or possible. I've been eager to see that means of retaining some content on the mobile device is both possible and easy.

Looks like now we have that too.

Xperia Blog

World Cellphone Use by Country

This information popped up in a conversation on InvestorVillage. The specific reference is here. (I cleaned it up a little so the display would be better.) 

As PicoP powered projectors are going to be primarily cellphone accessories whether embedded or otherwise attached to the cellphone, this is a good analysis of the market for MicroVision's PicoP.

It is particularly noteworthy that the market for cellphones is nearly as large as the entire population of the world. And in numerous places they have significantly more cellphone connections than people. 

Also of note is that cellphones are commonplace in second and third world countries, much more so than I expected. 

In some of those places -- where people are unable to afford the price, space and electric bills to support a regular television set, they will be able to afford an accessory PicoP -- and access media like western audiences through their cellular devices. 

Our potential market is gigantic and ready for the product that MicroVision can deliver with its partners.

Rank	Country or region	Number of mobile phones	Population	Connections /100 citizens	Data Year
	World	6,800,000,000+	7,012,000,000	97.1	2013
01	China	1,276,660,000	1,369,811,000	93.2	2014
02	India	960,579,472	1,267,402,000	77.5	2015
03	United States	327,577,529	317,874,628	103.1	2014
04	Brazil	284,200,000	201,032,714	141.3	2015
05	Russia	256,116,000	142,905,200	155.5	2013
06	Indonesia	236,800,000	237,556,363	99.7	2013
07	Nigeria	167,371,945	177,155,754	94.5	2014
08	Pakistan	140,000,000	180,854,781	77.0	2014
09	Bangladesh	126,870,000	157,497,000	80.5	2013
10	Japan	121,246,700	127,628,095	95.1	2015
11	Germany	107,000,000	81,882,342	130.1	2013
12	Philippines	106,987,098	94,013,200	113.8	2013
13	Iran	96,165,000	73,973,650	130.0	2013
14	Mexico	101,339,000	112,322,757	90.2	2013
15	Italy	88,580,000	60,090,400	147.4	2013
16	United Kingdom	83,100,000	64,100,000	129.6	2013
17	Vietnam	72,300,000	90,549,390	79.0	2013
18	France	72,180,000	63,573,842	114.2	2013
19	Egypt	92,640,000	82,120,000	112.8	2013
20	Thailand	69,000,000	67,480,000	105.0	2015
21	Turkey	68,000,000	75,627,384	89.9	2013
22	Ukraine	57,505,555	45,579,904	126.0	2013
23	South Korea	56,004,887	50,219,669	111.5	2014
24	Spain	55,740,000	47,265,321	118.0	2013
25	Argentina	56,725,200	40,134,425	141.3	2013
26	Poland	47,153,200	38,186,860	123.5	2013
27	Colombia	49,066,359	47,000,000	104.4	2013
28	South Africa	59,474,500	50,586,757	117.6	2013
29	Algeria	33,000,000	35,000,000	94.2	2013
30	Taiwan	28,610,000	23,197,947	123.3	2013
31	Kenya	28,080,000	42,000,000	71.3	2013
32	Venezuela	32,019,086	30,163,157	106.2	2014
33	Peru	33,000,000	30,000,000	110.0	2013
34	Romania	26,000,000	21,438,000	123.5	2010
35	Canada	28,217,707	35,675,834	79.1	2014
36	Morocco	36,550,000	33,818,662	113.6	2015
37	Netherlands	20,000,000	16,515,057	121.1	2013
38	Australia	30,200,000	22,700,000	133.0	2013
39	Saudi Arabia	46,000,000	27,137,000	169.5	2013
40	Malaysia	30,379,000	28,250,000	143.8	2014
41	Sri Lanka	22,123,000	20,771,000	107.0	2014
42	Chile	21,000,000	17,094,270	122.9	2013
43	Nepal	18,240,670	26,620,020	86.8	2014
44	Ethiopia	18,000,000	85,000,020	21.8	2013
45	Guatemala	17,571,895	14,713,763	119.4	2013
46	Ecuador	15,900,000	14,300,000	111.2	2013
47	Portugal	13,400,000	10,562,178	126.9	2013
48	Hong Kong	17,445,581	7,264,100	240.2	2015
49	Belgium	11,822,000	10,414,000	113.6	2013
49	Hungary	11,561,890	9,908,798	116.7	2013
50	United Arab Emirates	17,132,724	8,410,763	203.7	2014
51	Sweden	11,194,000	9,103,788	122.9	2012
52	Bulgaria	10,655,000	7,600,000	140.2	2008
53	Israel	9,319,000	7,310,000	127.5	2008
54	Finland	9,310,000	5,457,429	170.4	2013
55	Singapore	8,106,700	5,399,000	150.1	2015
56	Denmark	7,000,000	5,543,819	126.2	2008
57	Azerbaijan	7,000,000	8,900,000	78.7	2009
58	Jordan	6,010,000	5,950,000	101.0	2010
59	New Zealand	4,922,000	4,430,000	111.1	2012
60	Mongolia	3,500,000	2,980,000	117.4	2013
61	Estonia	2,070,000	1,294,486	159.9	2012
62	Lebanon	2,720,000	4,224,000	64.4	2010
63	Lithuania	4,940,000	2,955,986	167.1	2013
64	Cuba	1,300,000	11,200,000	11.6	2011
65	North Korea	2,000,000	24,451,285	8.3	2013
66	Panama	6,900,000	3,405,813	202.5	2013
67	Malta	452,515	554,651	122.6	2013
68	Zimbabwe	13,518,887	13,060,000	103.5	2014
69	Montenegro	1,103,698	620,029	178.0	2014
70	Ireland	5,770,638	4,581,269	125.9	2015