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'Westworld' season 3 trailer sets the stage for an AI battle
HBO has released a new trailer for the upcoming third season of Westworld. It shows Dolores, Maeve and Westworld's other characters leave the confines of the park that defined so much of show's past two seasons. Additionally, we see more of the futuristic city we saw glimpses of in the first trailer HBO shared last July. There's also the suggestion Maeve and Dolores will come into a conflict, with a mysterious new character instructing the former to find and kill her fellow android. To top it all off, an orchestral version of "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses accompanies the latter half of the trailer.
BBC iPlayer reaching Windows Phone within 'weeks,' will catch up with Sherlock on your Lumia (update: perhaps not)
We've see BBC iPlayer reach many devices over time, but it's been conspicuously absent on Windows Phone. Nokia has stepped into give us some relief, and it's now promising that a port of the TV catch-up service will be ready for your Lumia 800 "in weeks." Good news no doubt, although Nokia's encyclopedic knowledge of British TV streaming is also dashing hopes of using the Sky Go mobile app on Windows Phone anytime soon: the same Nokia rep doesn't see Sky being ready for a "good few months" at the earliest. As such, you'll have no problems keeping up with Doctor Who and Sherlock when they're airing, but we wouldn't count on watching live football matches for awhile. Update: Pocket-lint is reporting that it quizzed the BBC over this issue and got a firm denial about a Windows Phone version, which suggests that The Inquirer's report, or its Nokia source, may have made an illogical deduction.
Aereo gets unfair competition claim dismissed, still faces two claims of copyright infringement
Aereo's mini-antenna arrays started streaming OTA television broadcasts in Gotham a couple months ago in spite of the lawsuit filed by a few of New York's local stations to stop them from doing so. Today, it was able to dismiss its opponents' state law unfair competition claim under the theory of federal preemption. Essentially, Aereo argued (and the judge agreed) that the anti-competition claim was actually an attempt to vindicate the broadcasters' rights to control the performance of their copyrighted materials. Because those rights are granted under federal law, the state law claim was preempted and dismissed from the lawsuit pursuant to the Copyright Act. Despite this courtroom victory, Aereo still has a lot of legal legwork to do, as it still faces two copyright claims that could still shut down the OTA streaming party. Stay tuned.
Sky TV to offer cable access via broadband in the UK
Unlike its unflinching US equivalents, News Corp-owned Sky TV is readying its service for availability via broadband, rather than solely through traditional cable box delivery. The company announced plans today to bring a mixed on-demand/pay-per-month streaming service to the UK in the coming months -- a move we've yet to see made on this side of the Atlantic from any major cable provider.Sky's first step is competing with the likes of Netflix and LoveFilm with an on-demand video service, as well as a pay-per-month unlimited option. And that service is set to expand not long after the initial "first half of 2012" launch time frame, with sports and entertainment offerings said to be coming "soon afterward."What does any of this have to do with gaming, you wonder? Well, silly, Sky TV is offered via both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and the plan going forward is to continue that support on "a wide range of connected devices, including PCs, Macs, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, games consoles and connected TVs." It's unclear how currently available apps will be affected, but we'll assuredly see more from the UK TV provider as we move through the first half of 2012.
Reuters: Microsoft's TV subscription plans 'on hold'
After years of hearing about Microsoft's poorly hidden plans for offering streaming TV subscriptions through the Xbox 360 (among other devices), Reuters is reporting that those very plans are currently stuck in a holding pattern. According to "people familiar with the discussions," Microsoft built out an infrastructure for delivering television, but upon finding out how much it would cost to deliver currently broadcast-exclusive content, walked away from talks. "They built Microsoft TV, they demoed it for us, they asked for rate cards but then said 'ooh ah, that's expensive,'" the piece quotes one "senior media executive" as saying with regards to the negotiations. That doesn't mean that the plans are a total wash, just that they're currently not progressing. Still, some avenues for live television are currently available and coming soon to Microsoft's Xbox 360, including a limited selection from several cable providers, as well as the just announced partnership with Newscorp which will bring Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and more to the console. Update: Microsoft has issued this statement regarding the Reuters report, "We don't comment on rumors and speculation. Microsoft is committed to working with the world's leading TV and entertainment providers to bring their offerings to Xbox and transform the TV experience with the power of Kinect. We are continuing to launch the more than 40 new entertainment partners we have already announced, including a wide range of live and on-demand TV on Xbox. Moving forward, you can expect to see more of the world's leading entertainment providers coming to Xbox."
Rumor: Zune Marketplace revamped on Xbox 360 as streaming video service
Microsoft's Zune Marketplace may be getting a new business directive in the coming months, as a report this morning suggests that the current service on Xbox 360 will soon offer a streaming subscription option. Anonymous sources in Microsoft's Redmond, Washington homebase tell The Daily that the Zune-branded service will become an additional source of streaming content alongside the Xbox 360's current Netflix and Hulu Plus options. Could this be the service Microsoft announced during its E3 2011 press conference, and has yet to speak about with any specificity? Or is it some derivation of the rumored Xbox Live Diamond project? That remains unclear, but with the company's plans to launch some form of streaming television on Xbox 360 this fall, it stands to reason we'll hear more about what's actually going on in the not-so-distant future. Update: Microsoft tells us it "doesn't comment on rumors or speculations," as expected. We'd also like to point out that while Microsoft's Zune Marketplace has had the ability to stream content for some time, today's rumor specifically pertains to a subscription for the Marketplace content to be streamed.
Rumor: Xbox LIVE Diamond TV service to be announced at E3
With E3 set to kick off in less than 48 hours, rumors are once again flying about Microsoft's press conference news. A report at WinRumors pins Microsoft as revealing an Xbox Live-based streaming television service in the US, previously rumored to be codenamed "Orapa" (after a diamond mining town in Botswana, Africa). Further, the report suggests that the codename has been changed into something more fitting, given its eponymy: "Diamond." And no, not that Microsoft product named Diamond. "Microsoft is currently in last minute negotiations to secure the necessary agreements in time," WinRumors' anonymous source added. The source details "Diamond" as a facsimile of the UK's SkyTV player currently offered on Xbox 360, though no specific networks are named, and adds that the service will likely come with a monthly subscription fee. Microsoft previously indicated its intentions to get into streaming television on the Xbox 360, but has never made any major moves. The company flirted with a Conan O'Brien deal in 2010, but the plans eventually fizzled. If "Diamond" really does exist, though, we're sure to hear about it tomorrow morning during Microsoft's E3 2011 presser.
