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MOG arrives on iPhone, Android with 8 million songs but no multitasking mode (update)
The name may sound like something out of a Final Fantasy game, but we hear it stands for Music On the Go, and today MOG is doing the name proud by bringing a wide swath of streaming music to Android and iPhone. $10 a month gives you access to over 8 million songs, and during a completely unscientific impromptu testing session, that number actually included a reasonable amount of most everything we'd want. Of course, you don't get to keep any of the 320Kbps MP3 files, merely store local copies on your phone for as long as you pony up, and even on Android (where we take task switching for granted) the merest jump to web browser stops those tracks cold. (MOG says it's working on it, at least for the iOS 4 version.) We were also disappointed to find out the MOG Radio feature is nothing like we were told -- rather than a Pandora you can tune to specific artists, the feature just seems to filter your existing queue. Playback options were also lacking in this early version (like volume and jog sliders) but at least MOG's got a slick, robust discovery mode, and with this many songs to choose from that's a very good thing. Both versions should be live immediately with three-day, no commitment trials, and there's a press release after the break if you still need more info. Update: It turns out our difficulties with MOG Radio were due to a buggy preview build; downloading a fresh version of the app this morning, the Pandora-like functionality worked just fine.
Sony bringing on-demand movies to Aussie PS3 owners, MUBI doing similar in Europe
International PlayStation 3 owners have long since enjoyed spoils unavailable to North American consumers (PlayTV, anyone?), but one area where they're lagging is the availability of on-demand films. Thanks to a couple of serendipitously timed announcements, PS3 owners in Australia, New Zealand and far-flung corners of Europe will soon have a couple of new options for bringing digital movies to their television via their favorite Sony-branded game console. For starters, Sony itself will be launching the hotly-anticipated Australian on-demand movie rental / purchase service on Thursday, which will offer up (initially, anyway) 600 titles, though the breakdown of HD vs. SD isn't given. We're told that around 50 new movies will be added each month, and after paying the rental fee, you'll have a scant 48 hours to ingest it as many times as you so desire. In related news, MUBI will also be bringing a similar service to a smattering of overseas nations. So far as we can tell, this is what a child would look like if parented by Facebook and Vudu, and the concept is admittedly intriguing. Unfortunately, HD streams won't be available at launch, but hopefully it'll get with the program in short order. Speaking of the program, hit those source links for more details on both.
Screenshots emerge of Steam Linux client, BeOS wonders if it's next
There's some old adage referring to smoke and fire meant to explain this phenomenon, but frankly, we're too focused on the promise of the future to go and look it up. Merely weeks after the Steam for Mac beta proved that Linux support may be in the works, along comes this: two glorious screenshots proving as much. 'Course, nothing much about this situation has changed, but having pictorial evidence that a Steam client exists in some stage for Linux is a boon for hopefuls. A Phoronix reader managed to snag a capture of the client working its magic early on, and while it's pretty obvious that it's not ready for primetime, we're just stoked to see that there's legitimate reason to believe such an app is on the way. Hang tight, Penguin Nation -- your Steam should be just about the bend.
Vudu starts offering special features with Avatar
What does the Vudu HDX version of Avatar have that the Blu-ray version doesn't? That's right, special features. Typically you don't get 'em with a digital download, but Vudu figured the release of Avatar is the perfect time to change that forever. We're not exactly sure what features will be available, but at free, they are priced just right. This is yet another sign that Hollywood is warming up to digital delivery -- the first sign was that digital download customers don't have to wait another 28 days like Redbox and Netflix -- and Vudu also reminds us that if you want to stream Avatar in HD it is them or the Playstation as all the other streaming services will only offer the movie in SD -- we don't know about the Playstation service, but Vudu's HDX certainly qualifies as real HD. Another pictures of the Vudu interface after the jump.
MOG bringing unlimited music streaming to iPhone and Android, Rhapsody taking iPhone music offline
While we all wait patiently for Apple to concoct its own subscription-based, unlimited music streaming service (hello, Lala acquisition!), MOG is jumping on the opportunity right away. Er, almost right away. Down in Austin this week, the company announced that an iPhone and Android app would be out "in early Q2" in order to bring unlimited music streaming to both operating systems for $10 per month. We're told that a catalog of seven million songs will be available, but there's no way to know if 6.99 million are of the "no one cares" variety. At any rate, your monthly fee will also allow unlimited streaming from the desktop, but alas, you'll be left with nothing but hollow memories should you ever stop ponying up. In related news, Rhapsody has announced (video after the break) that offline playback support is coming to the iPhone, with the updated app expected to be passed along for Apple's confirmation "shortly." Granted, the Rhapsody to Go subscription is $5 per month more than MOG's option, but with all this competition popping up, we wouldn't be shocked to see that slide lower in due time.
Theaters brought in more cash than Discs last year
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Theaters_brought_in_more_cash_than_Discs_last_year'; During one of the worst economies our parents have ever seen, according to Adams research, people spent $9.97 billion to get out of the house to see a movie last year -- up 10 percent from 2008. At the same time, Disc sales (DVD and Blu-ray included) were down 13 percent to $8.73 billion -- which wasn't down nearly as much as most consumer goods. Now we know what you're thinking, all those digital downloads must be cutting into Disc sales, but you're wrong. In fact despite plenty of growth, VOD via cable and satellite services brought in $1.27 billion, while digital downloads only managed $0.36 billion -- so yeah not even 5 percent of what Discs brought in. What probably did cut into Disc sales more than anything else though was rentals, which rose 1.8 percent to $8.15 billion -- no wonder Warner made a deal with Netflix and other studios withheld titles from Redbox. Overall Hollywood fared pretty well totaling $28.38 billion on features movies alone so while there are a few potentially disruptive technologies out there, so far none have been.
GameStop to start testing game downloads early next year
GameStop has been dropping hints about its digital download plans for a little while now, but it looks to have done its most extensive and official talking about the matter yet at the recent BMO Capital Management Digital Entertainment conference, where it confirmed that it will start testing the program "early next year" with kiosks in an unspecified number of stores. That program will apparently work in conjunction with services "such as Microsoft Corp's Xbox Live and Sony Corp's PlayStation Network," and will focus primarily on add-on content rather than full game downloads. Why's that, you ask? Well it seems that GameStop thinks "a large market for full game downloads is not imminent, (but) the add-on downloadable market will grow" -- a view that some would obviously beg to differ with.
Prepare for digital music from the Beatles -- but not on iTunes
In a limited run of 30,000 units, Apple Corps Ltd. will be releasing the Beatles' remastered catalog for your consumption in a green apple USB device. Unfortunately, I didn't say anything about iTunes in that sentence... It looks like the Apples still can't play nice together, so we're left to dream that one day the Beatles collection will make it to the big download cloud in the sky. Our sister site, Engadget, reports that these drives are available for pre-order now but will not ship until December 7th in the UK and December 8th in the US for $279.99. The 16GB USB drive will include the Beatles' 14 stereo tracks in FLAC (for the audiophiles in the audience) as well as the rest of their collection in 320 Kbps MP3s. The drive will also include 13 documentaries about the studio albums, expanded liner notes, re-touched album art, and several rare photos. What does all of this mean? The Beatles' record company basically created a massive iTunes LP without iTunes. According to The Beatles' website, there's a special Flash interface for consumer interaction with the extra content. Some would say that this is just another stepping stone in the road to online distribution... while that may be true, I'm getting tired of all the back-and-forth. I own a good majority of the Beatles albums on CD and have already ripped them into iTunes. I expect that most anyone who really wants these in their iTunes library has already gone through the motions to accomplish that. I could pay the $280 for a USB drive, or buy all of the CDs from Amazon.com for half that price and spend several hours putting them on my computer. Sure, sure, I'm not getting the officially remastered files from the Beatles themselves... but I'm willing to make that sacrifice. Even still, this may be the perfect Holiday gift for the Beatles fanatic in your household. (Honey, I don't want one.)
Hulu might be looking to subscriptions to turn digital pennies into digital dollars
Other than the lack of HD content, Hulu is a pretty slick service -- in fact it is a glimpse of our content dream, whatever you want, whenever you want. But according to NBC Universal's TV chief, Marc Graboff, Hulu is still looking for ways "to turn those digital pennies into digital dollars." Although the technology for digital delivery has been around for some time, actually making money on it has been another story. Hulu is determined to make it work though and is trying all kinds of things "like adding inventory (more advertising) or creating a subscription model with different windows" -- now when he says Windows, he doesn't mean the things we look out of, he means limited availability of shows. We'd argue that release windows are currently the worst part of all the digital delivery services today, but as much as we hope Hulu figures it out, based on our own polls, most aren't willing to pay a subscription for Hulu's current offerings.
Blockbuster On Demand goes live on TiVo boxes
We knew good and well it was coming, and now the deed has been done. As promised, Blockbuster's On Demand movie rental service has gone live on a bevy of TiVo boxes, enabling Series2, Series3, TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL DVRs to watch all sorts of releases without needing to purchase another set-top-box or tap into their cable company's VOD system. We're told that most rentals will range from $2.99 (for the classics) to $3.99 (for new releases), with the film catalog expected to expand over the coming weeks. HD aficionados will have to wait a tick before seeing any movies available in high-def, but those looking to pick up a new TiVo can now saunter into any Blockbuster retail location in order to claim one. Eager to get in on the action? Fire up your box and hit the "Video On Demand" screen from TiVo Central.
Sony PSP Go game dev taken aback by lofty ESRB rating costs
Nothing really new here -- the ESRB has been charging a nominal fee to get its saucy logos on your game for years upon years now -- but the discussion of fairness has recently surfaced with the introduction of Sony's UMD-less PSP Go. A few game developers are voicing concerns about the amount the ESRB charges (we're hearing around $2,500) in order for their titles to receive a rating, particularly when those very same titles don't have such a costly requirement in Apple's App Store. Subatomic Studios, for instance, can charge $2.99 for the iPhone version of Fieldrunners, while the same game is priced at $6.99 on the PlayStation Store. Naturally, the ESRB would love to get in on App Store ratings, but it's hard to say just how long (if ever) that cracking process will take. So, any of you devs put off by the ESRB fee? Put off enough to sidestep PSP Go development altogether?[Via Joystiq]
PSP Go Rewards program hitting DRM-laced brick wall
Needless to say, none of this applies to the Americans in attendance, but for international PSP Go buyers looking forward to taking advantage of Sony's PSP Go Rewards program, the always user-friendly DRM seems to be putting a solid kink in those enjoyment plans. According to a growing number of users at the official European PlayStation boards, an error by the name of 80109D53 is causing downloaded titles to not play back on the new handhelds. We're told that Sony is aware of the issue and is toiling away in an effort to fix things, but for now, it seems as if you can sidestep some of the risk by downloading your trio of free titles (which Sony offers if you're an existing UMD owner) directly to the PSP Go rather than sideloading 'em from a PS3. Any others having this issue? Figured out a solution? Shoot your mouth off in comments below.[Thanks, James]
85 percent of the 14 billion videos downloaded last year were illegal
A new report from In-Stat indicates what we already suspected; because of the ridiculous DRM on digital downloads, most people are opting to obtain content illegally. Consumers will come up with just about any justification because the current offerings from Hollywood are just way too draconian to buy in to. For us that is good news and we can't wait for the video industry to follow the music's lead and give up on all of this overly complicated DRM, that really just doesn't work. Like us, In-Stat believes that watermarking will become the preferred way to control the distribution of digital content. It really is win-win because while consumers are free to use the content as they deem fit, it is very easy for Hollywood to catch up with them if they decide to share it with the whole world.
Top ten rationales for illegally downloading HDTV shows
We're not saying we've ever downloaded anything off the internet that wasn't 100% on the up and up, or that we're here to judge those who have. We just thought it'd be fun to post all the various rationales we've heard over the years by those who do to justify their potentially shady activities. Some of these sound like pretty good reasons to us, but we doubt any of them would hold up in court if the MPAA ever came a knocking. Regardless, if you do download gray area content you might want to have a couple of these ready, and by all means let us know which ones we missed. I ran out of tuners on my DVR. I accidentally deleted the show. My DVR hard drive crashed. I don't get that channel in HD. My cable was out. I have satellite and it was pouring rain. I don't live in the US and the show isn't available here. I delete the shows after I watch them once. The show isn't available on Blu-ray. I live in a valley and can't get over-the-air.
Best Buy prepping an entry into the digital distribution game
Apparently Blu-ray sales aren't increasing fast enough for everyone, in its ongoing plan to not pull a Circuit City, Best Buy is reportedly in talks with CinemaNow and other, unnamed, movie services about launching a digital delivery arm as early as this summer. CinemaNow is well prepared to set up online video stores for others, with Blockbuster (bad example) and Dell already on board. Variety suggests Best Buy could market and sell Internet-connected TVs and set-top boxes that include CinemaNow access, with a shared revenue stream between the two, but nothing is final. Netflix has a hit on its hands with Watch Instantly so think it over, would you give an Insignia Blu-ray player or HDTV a second look if it could download movies?
TWC moves consumption-based internet billing to more markets
No, folks -- this is no prank. Time Warner Cable really is throwing caution (and public opinion) to the wind and moving forward with its evil consumption-based internet billing. If you'll recall, we heard that the operator was trialing the method -- which imposes premium rates on big broadband users -- back in early 2008, but now it seems it's quietly hoping to roll it out into more major markets. Starting this month, TWC will start gathering information on its customers' internet use in Austin, TX, San Antonio, TX, Rochester, NY and Greensboro, NC; if all goes "well," consumption billing will hit those markets this summer or sooner. We'll point you to the read link if you're interested in just how outrageous these capped plans look (particularly for internet TV viewers), but we'd be remiss of our duties if we didn't share this gem of a quote from TWC CEO Glenn Britt: "We made a mistake early on by not defining our business based on the consumption dimension." Thanks for clarifying, Glenn-o.[Thanks Kevin, image courtesy of Corbis]
Xbox Live Video Marketplace welcomes The Weinstein Company and TNA
Since Xbox Live Marketplace was already home to NBC Universal movies and TV (at home and abroad) Microsoft's seen fit to fire back at Sony's PSN announcement with the relatively incremental additions of content from The Weinstein Company and TNA, while mentioning the Video Marketplace has already served up 42 million pieces of content, with its pace doubling since the NXE debuted last year. So far at least, all of TNA's offerings (PPV events from last year) are in SD, while The Weinstein Company hasn't hesitated in tossing up Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Zack and Miri Make a Porno in 5GB 720p files for all interested. Microsoft may not be able to claim "all the major movie studios" (we're guessing Sony Pictures has made their decision on who to support) but they're still finding a way to lead the download-to-consoles race, for now.
NPD Group says discs don't have to fear downloads... yet
Pretty much falling in line with Futuresource's predictions earlier this week, the NPD Group found that the 48-percent of respondents had purchased a DVD or Blu-ray disc, compared to 2-percent who had downloaded a movie or TV show. Download-only zealots who cry foul over the lack of titles available for purchase will find little consolation in the additional 2-percent who digitally rented content. Still, physical media could take a lesson from the new kid on the block, and we'd agree that getting rid of the numerous previews on discs to mimic the "just watch the content, already" performance of streams would be a good start. Prioritize that above including more BD-Live "features," please; based on what we've seen so far, we don't think that's going to be what really pushes people from DVD to Blu-ray, no matter what the poll numbers say.
Digital distribution not expected to rule packaged media anytime soon
Whoa, vaquero -- calm your jets. This is just a projection, which may or may not prove to be indicative of reality. That said, there's still quite a lot here to discuss, particularly since we've been hearing so much hubbub over the supposed explosion of digital distribution. Media Control GfK International has forecast that sales of Blu-ray Discs will increase some 150 percent to $2.9 billion, up from $1.1 billion in 2008. For those keeping count, digital distribution only generated $1.5 billion last year, and that's including every penny made from VOD and broadband services. In-Stat analyst Michael Paxton was quoted as saying that the "bandwidth required to stream any type of HD video is way beyond what most households have," and he continued by noting that the "convenience factor is still not there for streaming media." You owe it to yourself to hit up the read link for the full report before blasting your opinion in comments below, but we suppose we can't stop you either way.
Blockbuster takes a hint, makes push for better digital distribution model
It's no secret that the movie lovers of the world are leaning more and more towards that instantly gratifying digital download option, and judging by Q4 numbers, we'd say Netflix has done a better job at exploiting that demand than rival Blockbuster. In a move we're honestly thrilled to see happen, the latter firm is apparently waking up and attempting to play catch-up. Here in the past week Blockbuster has hired on former Philips executive Kevin Lewis as Senior Vice President of Digital Entertainment, a spot that'll be responsible for "strengthening commitment to multi-channel entertainment delivery." Additionally, Robert Barr was selected as VP to Blockbuster.com, a move that signals the company's seriousness about getting its online division formidable. As easy as it is to kick the guy that's already down, no consumer in their right mind wants Netflix running this show solo -- there's a word for that type of situation, and it ain't good for your wallet.[Image courtesy of Manda Mia]Read - Kevin Lewis hireRead - Robert Barr hire
