Boxee: Cut Your Cable, With Our HD Antenna


Boxee in January will give viewers another reason to cut the cord: live TV functionality.

The company has announced a live TV dongle that lets viewers watch ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox in HD without a monthly fee. The device, called the Live TV Stick, costs $49 and is available for preorder. If you don’t have reception in your area, though, the Live TV Stick won’t work.

In a blog post, Boxee reasoned that many viewers were on the fence about canceling their cable subscriptions because they’d miss live sports and live TV shows such as Dancing With the Stars, “but these things are all available on broadcast TV channels like ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC for free, over the air in HD.”

Boxee, which lists for $199, lets you watch TV shows, movies and web content on your TV. Users can access content from Vudu, Netflix and YouTube, among other sources. When introduced last November, the Boxee Box was initially clunky, but an HTML5 upgrade in May improved the user experience.

More About: abc, boxee, cbs, Fox, Media, nbc, netflix, TV

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/11/16/boxee-to-add-live-tv/?utm_source=feedburner&ut...

Sony to Launch Internet-Based TV Service? [VIDEO]

Sony is said to be preparing an Internet-based TV service that would stream content over connected TVs, PlayStations and blu-ray players and compete with cable television.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the electronics giant has approached a number of media companies about content deals for the service, including NBC Universal, News Corp and Discovery Communications.

Learn more about what Sony might have in store in the video above. Would you ditch your current cable provider for an Internet-based offering? Have you already? Let us know in the comments.

More About: mashable video, sony, television

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/11/16/sony-internet-tv/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_me...

How Transmedia Storytelling Is Changing TV


Lisa Hsia is Executive Vice President of Bravo Digital Media.

Until now, media companies have focused on getting audiences to watch shows “live” via a TV set, where the bulk of advertising dollars are.

But transmedia storytelling — which is defined as telling a story that extends across multiple media platforms (for television, it’s going beyond the on-air show) — has the ability to upend that. “Transmedia” is one of those hot buzz words du jour, with conferences, articles and trend reports devoted to it. Yet it’s not a new concept. Star Wars, The Matrix, Dr. Who and Pokeman all expanded beyond their core franchise decades ago — to games, books and alternative realities.

SEE ALSO: The Future of Social TV [VIDEO]

In today’s digital era, there are new factors at play that make transmedia a potentially potent game-changer for how TV content is created. Think about it:

Social TV has made television a richer two-way experience with fan participation. Nielsen’s own research shows how social TV amplifies the conversation and impacts ratings. Technology has created tools that allow the user to interact and gamify content as never before (location-based, virtual goods, augmented reality, QR codes, etc). Fans’ familiarity with and desire to experience TV content across devices other than TV has exploded.

The ability to efficiently create affordable, participatory storytelling vehicles that go beyond being “bonus extras” and spreading it through different circulation channels is changing the rules and creating a potential value proposition too big to ignore. As the forefather of transmedia storytelling, USC Professor Henry Jenkins, likes to say, “If it doesn’t spread, it’s dead.”


Beyond the Second Screen


Taking advantage of this new reality is imperative for my network, both from an engagement and value perspective. We see transmedia storytelling as our next must-do in the evolution of TV, and have recently delved into our first campaign with the show Top Chef.

As contestants are eliminated, they discover their journey isn’t over. Instead of going home, they will have a chance to compete in a companion digital series that will roll out each week after the on-air episode premieres. These online shows will give the eliminated contestants a chance to earn their way back into the broadcast finale. The digital series will directly impact the outcome of the on-air show.

To experience the full dynamic of the competition, fans will be enticed to watch both TV and digital platforms. Our aim is to appeal to the Top Chef enthusiast with the deeper, more meaningful content they crave, as well as create discoverable online content that will pull casual fans into the fold.

The goal is to flow content from platform to platform and to bring in the fans along the way — both the diehard and the casual. This is something that has not been possible until the scaled adoption of smartphones, tablets, social networks and gamification tools like Bunchball and GetGlue.

By unifying elements with the common goal of driving engagement around this transmedia centerpiece, we’re setting out to prove that all metrics — ratings, traffic, and social buzz — will lift. We are not only trying to increase the value of the proposition in terms of engagement, but also in terms of ROI for our long-term sponsors.

If we can prove that engagement and value is increased exponentially by integrating storytelling seamlessly across media platforms, we all win — fans, content creators, advertisers. My department at Bravo will no longer be “digital,” but official “multiplatform enablers” that are seamlessly porting storytelling content wherever it best fits and wherever the best value proposition is derived from.


More Innovation Ahead


TV is on the cusp of a transmedia revolution, and there are many interesting experiments in the works.

Syfy has a show coming out called Defiance where a story is told on TV and in a video game: different cities with shared characters and events.

Tim Kring, one of the modern day pioneers of transmedia with his work on Heroes and Conspiracy for Good, is producing Touch for 2012. Here’s hoping that Fox embraces his rabble-rousing transmedia tendencies.

The next, as yet unachieved milestone in transmedia is collaborative social storytelling, where fans themselves can further the plot in a pervasive, meaningful way. Smart media companies will look for ways to go beyond the “walled garden” model and turn their fans into ultimate brand ambassadors.

Whether transmedia is the new norm is still to be determined, but one can easily make the case that in today’s fragmented media landscape, it will be a must for TV to survive. Perhaps the future of TV isn’t either traditional television or digital platforms, but in collective intelligence — the feedback loop of the in-between.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mgkaya

More About: contributor, features, Media, social tv, transmedia, TV

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/11/17/transmedia-tv/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_mediu...

Facebook Reveals its User-Tracking Secrets

Facebook Privacy Image


For the first time, Facebook has revealed details about how it tracks users across the web.

Through interviews with Facebook engineering director Arturo Bejar, Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes, Facebook corporate spokesman Barry Schnitt and Facebook engineering manager Gregg Stefancik, USA Today‘s Byron Acohido was able to compile the most complete picture to date of how the social network keeps tabs on its 800 million users.

Here is what Acohido learned:

  • Facebook doesn’t track everybody the same way. It uses different methods for members who have signed in and are using their accounts, members who are logged-off and non-members.
  • The first time you arrive at any Facebook.com page, the company inserts cookies in your browser. If you sign up for an account, it inserts two types of cookies. If you don’t set up an account, it only inserts one of the two types.
  • These cookies record every time you visit another website that uses a Facebook Like button or other Facebook plugin — which work together with the cookies to note the time, date and website being visited. Unique characteristics that identify your computer are also recorded.
  • Facebook keeps logs that record your past 90 days of activity. It deletes entries older than 90 days.
  • If you are logged into a Facebook account, your name, email address, friends and all of the other data in your Facebook profile is also recorded.
  • Data about web searches and browsing habits could be used to figure out political affiliations, religious beliefs, sexual orientations or health issues about consumers. According to USA Today, this type of correlation doesn’t seem to be happening on a wide scale, but the concern of some privacy advocates is that selling data could become a tempting business proposition — both to social networks like Facebook or and online advertising players such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo that similarly employ cookie tracking techniques.

    Facebook told USA Today that it uses data collected via cookies to help improve security and its plugins and that it has no plans to change how it uses this data. It has, however, applied for a patent on a technology that includes a method that correlates ads and tracking data.

    “We patent lots of things, and future products should not be inferred from our patent application,” Facebook corporate spokesman Barry Schnitt told USA Today.

    Regardless of how Facebook is handling the data it collects through cookies, by doing so it has entered a very sticky debate about whether consumers should be able to opt out of being tracked by such methods. A proposed law that would create this option was introduced in February.

    While a recent poll found that about 70% of Facebook users and 52% of Google users were either somewhat or very concerned about their privacy, some argue that online commerce would suffer without online tracking.

    Does online tracking by companies such as Facebook make you uncomfortable? Or do you consider it and acceptable and inevitable part of being online? Let us know in the comments.

    More About: do not track, Facebook, privacy


from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/11/17/facebook-reveals-its-user-tracking-secrets/?ut...

Real-Time Data: You’re Doing It Wrong [VIDEO]

When it comes to predicting the future, Chartbeat’s CEO Tony Haile thinks you’re awful. At the Mashable Media Summit, Haile spoke about the importance of real-time data and what your business should be doing with that information.

“The more we think we know, the more expert we believe ourselves to be,” says Haile, “and the more likely we are to trust our judgment when we shouldn’t and get things wrong.”

SEE ALSO: The Return of Real-Time Social Environments

Haile talks about replacing complex future predictions with simpler ones for right now, and looking at data as an environment instead of a generated report.


The Mashable Media Summit in Pictures



Media Summit 2011



The Mashable Media Summit on Nov. 4 at the Times Center in New York City attracted professionals in digital, tech, advertising, sales, marketing, mobile and publishing from all over the world.

Click here to view this gallery.


Presenting Sponsor: AT&T


More About: data, mashable media summit, Media, real-time, Video

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/11/16/real-time-data-video/?utm_source=feedburner&ut...

20 TV Shows With the Most Social Media Buzz This Week [CHART]

Just by looking at the top television trends, you can tell awards season is upon us. The BET Hip Hop Awards and the Latin Grammys topped the cable and broadcast categories, respectively. The CMAs and MTV Europe Music Awards came in second and third in either category as well. We can’t wait to see how new Oscar host Billy Crystal affects the social TV rankings in 2012.

Also, we’d just like to say something else really quickly: Spongebob, really?

The data below is compliments of our friends at Trendrr, who measure specific TV show activity (mentions, likes, checkins) across Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue and Miso. To see daily rankings, check out Trendrr.TV


Image courtesy of iStockphoto, narvikk

More About: features, Social Media, social tv, social tv charts, Trendrr, TV

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/11/14/social-tv-chart-11-14/?utm_source=feedburner&u...

Twitter Can Predict Who’s Winning the GOP Presidential Race [STUDY]

Twitter Follower Spikes Predict Election Polls


Political candidates do better in the polls when they gain more Twitter followers, new research reveals. National polls happen all the time but it’s possible to predict when certain candidates will climb in the rankings based the rate they are followed.

Zach Green, CEO of Twitter election researcher 140elect, wrote in a blog post Friday that he anticipated this trend, but now has the stats to prove it.

“A lot of people were surprised [Newt] Gingrich is now in second place, but we’ve seen that coming since Sep. 7,” Green told Mashable. “Twitter indicates he’ll continue to pick up.”

Gingrich (visualized below) gained a slew of new followers when he announced his candidacy on May 11 and on Sept. 7 after an impressive GOP debate performance. Both events led to poll gains. The candidate’s Twitter momentum has steadily increased over the last two months, which Green predicts will lead to continued poll gains.

There are similar trends for the other candidates. Rick Perry’s Aug. 13 candidacy announcement led to his greatest spike in followers. He then rose in polls for the following two weeks. Green notes that although Perry is now talked about a great deal on Twitter, he is often mocked and isn’t gaining new followers at the same rate. It is more important to be followed than to be discussed, especially if the discussion is negative.

Michele Bachmann’s rate of new followers has been in decline since Aug. 15. She’s been falling in the polls ever since.

Mitt Romney’s three largest Twitter spikes — after his June 2 announcement, the Sep. 22 debate and the Oct. 11 debate — were all followed by growth in the polls. However, his recent Twitter decline preceded his Nov. 11 fall in polls.

Green expects to see current front-runner Herman Cain lose his lead following his sexual harassment allegations, which effected his likability and standing with women. Though he was on the rise following three of the GOP debates, Cain has lost his Twitter momentum. Green estimates Cain will drop to approximately 17% popularity in the polls.

Statistics analyst and data visualizer Lori Williams with Tableau Software combined the 140elect Twitter data with information from HuffPost Pollster, resulting in the above visualization.

What do you think of the findings? Are Twitter and polls a case of cause-and-effect or just coincidence?


BONUS: 10 Unforgettable On-Air Political Bloopers



Rick Perry: "Oops"


2012 presidential candidate Rick Perry drew a massive blank Wednesday night during CNBC’s “Your Money, Your Vote” GOP debate. On stage in Michigan, Perry attempted to rattle off three federal government agencies he would eliminate, but failed to remember number three: “Commerce, education and the … uh, um, what’s the third one there. Let’s see … ” The mental block lasted about 40 more seconds before Perry uttered, “Oops.”

Click here to view this gallery.

More About: campaign, Politics, primaries, study, Twitter

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/11/14/twitter-predict-polls/?utm_source=feedburner&u...

The Future of Social TV [VIDEO]

Technology is changing entertainment for better and for worse, according to TV Guide’s general manager and executive vice president, Christy Tanner, who spoke at the Mashable Media Summit.

SEE ALSO: Social TV: How Content Producers Can Engage Their Audiences in New Ways

TV Guide launched Watchlist, a social feature that lets users search online to see where they can find their favorite shows on TV or on other connected devices. Tanner also talked about social media’s effects on the TV-watching experience.


The Mashable Media Summit in Pictures



Media Summit 2011



The Mashable Media Summit on Nov. 4 at the Times Center in New York City attracted professionals in digital, tech, advertising, sales, marketing, mobile and publishing from all over the world.

Click here to view this gallery.


Presenting Sponsor: AT&T


More About: features, mashable media summit, Media, social tv, television, trending, Video

For more Entertainment coverage:

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2011/11/14/social-tv-media-summit-video/?utm_source=feedb...

Tincta Is a Free, Fully-Featured Programming Text Editor [Mac Downloads]

Mac OS X: Our favorite programming text editor for Mac costs $40, so we're always excited when a good and free option comes along. Tincta is just that, offering several great developer-friendly features like code syntax highlighting, line numbering, autocomplete brackets, and much more. More »


from Lifehacker http://lifehacker.com/5859325/tincta-is-a-free-fully+featured-programming-tex...

Laser Ball Is Life of the Party, Makes Regular Tennis Balls Feel Inferior


LeoneLabs on Instructables posted this fantastic how-to on adding 14 lasers to a regular tennis ball to make a Laser Ball. Why? He says that it’s fun to build, it can be done in an afternoon, and “lasers are cool.” The lasers are driven by a Teensy USB Development Board, which is stuffed inside the ball and controlled from outside with an infrared remote control. The Instructable shows you how to make your own in painstaking detail, but you can also follow the build step-by-step in this fun video. [Thanks, Luis!]

from MAKE http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/11/laser-ball-is-life-of-the-party-make...