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Sky Kids is a simple tablet app for junior streamers
Kids have never been better served by content providers than they are today. Between Netflix, YouTube, DisneyLife and others, competition for the attention of younger members of the household is fierce. Not one to be left behind, Sky grew its on-demand library of kids TV significantly last year, not long before it revealed it was working on a standalone app to put it all in one place. And nine months later, the Sky Kids app is now ready for your tyke's bumper-bound tablet.
Time Warner fights Netflix by offering TV seasons on-demand
Time Warner isn't shy about its disdain for online-only video services like Netflix, which threaten its revenue from old-school TV providers. However, it's not just going to sit around and gripe -- it's planning to do something about it. The media giant's channels are asking studios to grant them rights to offer full seasons of shows through cable and satellite companies' on-demand services. The hope, as you might have gathered, is that you'll stick to your expensive TV subscription knowing that you can marathon whole seasons like you can on Netflix, Hulu and other services that are friendly to cord cutters.
Food delivery apps face lawsuits over employee benefits
The fight over employee benefits when it comes to app-based on-demand services continues. The Chicago Tribune reports that food delivery companies GrubHub, DoorDash and Caviar were all hit with separate lawsuits in San Francisco this week. The suits allege that each failed to offer employee benefits after treating them like full-time workers. In other words, the companies misclassified employees as contractors. If that sounds familiar it's because Uber facing a similar lawsuit in San Francisco over its drivers. In fact, the same attorney that represents plaintiffs in proceedings with Uber and Lyft is working with the delivery drivers in these three new cases. Like Uber, the suits against GrubHub and DoorDash are class actions while the demand arbitration request with Caviar is on behalf of a single driver. Based on the filings, GrubHub allegedly treated its workers as employees but failing to offer proper benefits like reimbursements for gas, parking and phone data. It also allegedly failed to meet wage requirements and offer overtime pay. [Image credit: Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
ITV's Hub is its answer to BBC iPlayer and All 4
As more and more households embrace online TV services, broadcasters are changing the way they deliver content in order to better fit around their audience. Last year, the BBC updated the iPlayer website and apps, followed by Channel 4's rebranded All 4 portal in March. Now it's ITV's turn. The company announced today that it will scrap the existing ITV Player and ITV.com website and roll them into a new entity: The ITV Hub. It will house all of the channels you'd expect (ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, CITV and ITVBe) and you'll be able to either watch live or stream on-demand via a smartphone, tablet, PC, connected TV or set-top box.
Sky's new Kids section is a direct shot at Netflix
When the little ones are having a temper tantrum, kids TV is often your best line of defence. In the UK, that used to mean switching on CBBC or CITV, but in the internet age Netflix and YouTube rule supreme. After all, it means you can find the exact show or movie that's likely to put a smile back on the little tikes' faces. That could spell trouble for Sky, so the broadcaster is revamping its child-centric on-demand offerings. A software update rolling out to all Sky+HD boxes this week will put a new "Kids" tile on the homepage, providing instant access to on-demand shows and movies, kids TV recordings and live channels such as Cbeebies and Nick Jr. In addition, Sky is expanding its library of on-demand episodes from 700 to 4,000 over the coming months. It'll include new morsels of SpongeBob Squarepants, Dora the Explorer and Ben 10, as well as cult favourite Adventure Time. YouTube appeals because it's (mostly) free, but if you've been stressed out before trying to find a decent clip online, you might want to try grabbing your Sky remote next time.
Freeview's new on-demand service will be called Freeview Play
It's been eight months since we first become aware that Freeview is looking to take on YouView with a new on-demand service, but since then we haven't heard much about it. Thankfully, the company has decided now is the right time to share a little more information, which includes what the connected service will be called. Freeview Play will offer consumers the choice of live television and on-demand TV when it launches later this year. Like Freeview, Play will be subscription free and will be integrated in connected TVs and set-top boxes, although we don't yet know what it will look like. We do know, however, that with support from Freeview shareholders Arqiva, BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Sky, you can expect iPlayer, ITV Player and the new All 4 brand to be available on the service when it launches, finally letting you catch up on all the stuff you missed.
How to be smart about Uber and Lyft's surge pricing
Uber and Lyft's universally-hated surge pricing model, which drives fares up depending on rider demand, will once again help ring in the New Year. And don't be surprised if that leads to plenty of social media kvetching. If you don't want to be that person surprised by an unexpectedly bill along with your morning hangover, there are a few preventative measures you can take. Just like it did last year, Uber warned users with an email and blog post about tonight's inevitable surge pricing. If you want to take a regularly-priced Uber, your best bet is ordering a car before 12:30am, or after 2:30 am. And that timing would likely make sense for Lyft as well, which didn't offer any advice about how to avoid higher rates. The easiest way to avoid surge pricing is indeed the most obvious: Think ahead to avoid the crowds. Or, you know, take a normal cab or public transportation. (Flywheel is also running a $10 flat-rate promotion for standard cabs in some West Coast cities.)
Showtime Anytime is now streaming on Xbox One
Showtime delivered its library of live and on-demand streaming to the Xbox 360 back in July, and now it's doing the same for Microsoft's latest console. Xbox One owners can now get in on the action too, as Homeland, Dexter, Californication and more are available via Showtime Anytime. As you might expect, the app plays nice with Kinect, allowing you to browse the lineup with voice and gesture controls rather than a controller or remote. It'll also let you pin whatever your current obsession is to your home screen for easy access. If you're paying for a cable subscription, access to Showtime Anytime on the console is available at no additional charge.
Vudu lends its on-demand streaming library to TiVo devices
TiVo owners who enjoy doing more than just recording TV shows just got another on-demand option. Walmart's video service, Vudu, will be available on select models soon, bringing over 100,000 movie and television selections for rent or purchase à la carte. In addition to feature films, Vudu serves up TV shows from CBS, Comedy Central, HBO, MTV, Showtime and more. Of course, the service is already available on the web, iOS, Android, Roku, Playstation, Xbox, smart TVs and Blu-ray players. The Vudu app is set to hit TiVo Roamio DVRs and the TiVo Mini "during a rolling update" in the next few weeks. Update: According to TiVo's VP of Design & Engineering Margret Schmidt the button has been pushed, Vudu and the updated Amazon Instant Video app Dave Zatz told us about are live.
Lionsgate and Tribeca are launching a video-streaming service
There's no doubt that video on demand is about to go through its own gold rush era. From giant TV networks like CBS to wireless providers such as Rogers, it looks as if everyone wants to join the fun before it's too late. Taking note of this, film studio Lionsgate and Tribeca Enterprises, the media company behind the Tribeca Film Festival, announced today they are teaming up on a new, subscription-based video-streaming platform. The service will be known as Tribeca Short List and is slated to launch sometime during the first half of 2015. You can expect a "prestigious selection" of movie content from Lionsgate, which will be curated by Tribeca with help from "leading voices in contemporary culture."
Netflix officially says 'enchanté' to France
Netflix's next big push into Europe isn't exactly secret, but its plans are finally starting to bear fruit. As announced in a not-so-subtle tweet earlier tonight, the streaming media service has finally launched in France, and it's expected to go live in five other countries later this week, too. The kicker? France hasn't exactly been thrilled with the idea of an American media company swooping in and romancing its customers with the lure of Orange Is The New Black or (the seriously excellent) Bojack Horseman. Competitors like CanalPlay, a video-on-demand service run by Canal+, have been busy fleshing out their catalogs and snapping up rights to shows like House of Cards while Numericable just gave its customers free access to hundreds of shows to boot. Still others are a little miffed that Netflix isn't technically subject to a rule that would mandate that the service offer a full 40 percent of the media Netflix provides be French in origin. Naturally Netflix knows it can't win over French hearts and minds by flouting rules, so it's busy prepping content (like the dramatic Marseille) to help get the ball rolling.
Channel 4 to replace 4oD with new 'All 4' service next year
Channel 4 basically pioneered online catch-up services when it launched 4oD for PCs eight years ago. Since then, 4oD has evolved and improved, most recently adding offline viewing for mobile devices and the ability to stream over 3G and 4G networks. Back in May, however, Channel 4 CEO David Abraham teased a "significant upgrade" to the service -- incidentally, the BBC pushed its iPlayer redesign out around the same time -- and today we're learning more about what that will entail. For starters, 4oD will be renamed "All 4" to reflect its comprehensive nature, with a new logo for good measure. It'll incorporate all the live channel feeds, on-demand content and Channel 4 shorts you can already find on 4oD, but packaged in a brand new user interface.
Dish Anywhere app now looks much better on tablets
Since the very beginning, Dish has been doing a really good job with its Anywhere mobile app. Aside from letting Hopper with Sling owners use it to view their DVR recordings, the application also offers access to a robust library of on-demand content. To that end, Dish Anywhere has now been further improved on iPad, Android and Kindle Fire tablets, with a redesigned UI and fresh discovery features that let users easily find new stuff to watch. But there's more beyond the pretty, image-heavy pages like the one pictured above. Dish made the app better in other ways, thanks to new features including a Watchlist, the ability to turn your device into a Dish remote, and more. If you haven't grabbed the update, you can do so via the App Store, Google Play or Amazon Appstore, depending on what tablet you're rocking these days.
4oD catch-up apps now support mobile streaming
While Channel 4's catch-up service 4oD has been available on mobile for a number of years, viewers were always limited to streaming their favourite shows over a Wi-Fi connection. That changed at the start of the month when the broadcaster updated its iOS app to deliver streams over 3G and 4G connections. It took a couple of weeks, but it's now equipped its Android app with the same capability. That means you can now stream full Channel 4, E4 and More4 programmes when you're on the move and enjoy "4Shorts," hundreds of clips, extras and trailers from your favourite shows. If you wanted to stream Countdown while on your daily commute, you can now do so on either your iOS or Android device.
Scientists are trying to help taxis beat Uber at its own game
Taxi companies aren't pleased with Uber and Lyft, but they could be making way better use of ride-sharing technology themselves, according to researchers. A study by MIT and Fujitsu examined why cabs are usually underutilized, but never available during surge periods when you need them. To combat that, they developed on-demand tech that automatically assigns vehicles three possible operating states: taxi, ride-sharing and fixed-route modes. Customers could choose one of those when they order a ride, and immediately receive the boarding times and fares, which would vary by mode. That could save passengers a lot of money, and a test on Tokyo roads resulted in operators making 80 percent more profits too. Fujitsu's goal is to see it operating in Tokyo by 2016, but it might take some convincing to get it adopted more widely. Still, why not beat the upstarts at their own game?
Five bucks will let you stream Joss Whedon's latest movie early
Joss Whedon might currently be shooting the follow-up to The Avengers, but that hasn't stopped him from making waves with another of his projects. Just moments after In Your Eyes premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, the Firefly creator announced that the supernatural love story he penned and executive produced would be immediately available to rent on video streaming website Vimeo for $5. It's a huge coup for the website and its On Demand pay-per-view service, which finds itself in a market dominated by Google's YouTube. As part of the agreement, it'll get the chance to distribute the film to fans globally for a period of 72 hours, around three months before it's due to hit theaters. Unable to attend the premiere himself, Whedon confirmed plans while taking a break from production of the Age of Ultron. "It's exciting for us because we get to explore yet another new form of distribution," he said, "and we get $5."
Sky's new program guide fuses live TV with online content
In an effort to put more content at the touch of viewers' fingertips, Sky's bringing together live TV and online content as part of a new 'Homepage' rollout for Sky+ boxes. As part of the update, the company has combined Catch Up TV, Sky Store, and Sky+ Planner for the first time, giving them equal prominence in its new tile-based electronic program guide (EPG). The reasons behind the change are clear: Sky recognized the importance of online streaming and on-demand television early on and has developed various services that can compete with Virgin Media, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and Apple's iTunes in their own right. Now it wants people to use them more. To mirror the changes on its set-top boxes, Sky says the Sky+ app will also receive an update, in which it will gain an option to turn Sky+HD boxes on and off from a mobile device. While the new Homepage will be available from today, it may take until the end of May for it to become available for all.
Vimeo On Demand celebrates first birthday, gives filmmakers money, viewers a fresh interface
Web video's growing up before our eyes, folks. A year ago, Vimeo On Demand made its debut to help content makers get paid by content consumers (that's you) directly, and, presumably, to help folks think of Vimeo as a purveyor of online video that's more Netflix and less YouTube. In celebration of its first 12 months of existence, Vimeo's making some improvements to the on demand portal's interface and announcing plans to help fund digital filmmakers. First off, joining the standard comedy, documentary, animation, etc. content categories, the site now has curated collections of videos that share common themes to help users discover new videos. And, there's a new UI, inspired by brick-and-mortar stores with "well-designed shelves," that really just makes Vimeo On Demand look more like Netflix on the web -- users get rows of content categories that each scroll horizontally to show more videos within them. Vimeo's also rolling out a My Library feature for users that keeps track of all the videos you watch, rent and buy in one place, too.
WWE Network app struts down console, mobile ramps today
The WWE Network app is now available on PS4, PS3 and Xbox 360. Announced in January, the subscription-based service gives viewers access to over a thousand hours of wrestling on-demand video content spanning the WWE's lengthy history, including archived WCW and ECW events. Subscribers also gain access to future WWE programming, including all 12 of the brand's monthly pay-per-view events such as SummerSlam and WrestleMania. In addition to the home consoles, the app also launched on iOS, Android, Kindle Fire and Roku today. Those looking to spring for the $9.99 per month subscription to watch the Attitude Era all over again will need to commit to six months with the service at minimum. Xbox 360 owners are also required to have an Xbox Live Gold subscription to use the WWE Network app. Xbox One owners will gain access to the app this summer alongside other devices. The app was developed in partnership with Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the professional baseball league's creator of the MLB.TV service and the upcoming return of the RBI Baseball series. [Image: WWE]
Time Warner Cable customers can now stream on-demand shows from A&E Networks
Sure, Time Warner Cable already provides a way to view on-demand A&E Networks programming via its set-top boxes. But in an era where watching stuff on different types of screens is key, service providers and creators alike know how important it is for people to consume as much content as possible, regardless of where they are. Today, as part of the TV Everywhere initiative, TWC struck a deal which lets its subscribers have full on-demand access to a number of channels from A&E Networks -- such as History, Lifetime and, of course, A&E. Naturally, this means being able to use the desktop site and mobile apps of each network to watch a variety of shows at any given time, including ones like Duck Dynasty, Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Swamp People and Project Runway. We should mention that, as is often the case, Bright House Networks customers will also benefit from Time Warner Cable's latest content agreement, though they won't be able to use their subscription credentials until next week. A&E Networks has a number of apps across iOS and Android, so now might be a good time to download and set them up using your TWC ID -- because, let's face it, you can't wait to binge-watch Storage Wars: Texas.
