Vevo
Latest
The former head of Intel's internet TV project winds up at Vevo
Back in the day, there was a hope that OnCue, Intel's long-mooted internet TV service, would be the ultimate cord-cutter product, but a lack of support from both inside and outside the company killed it. It didn't take long after the project's assets were sold to Verizon for its charismatic leader, Erik Huggers, to skip out in search of pastures new. Now, Bloomberg is reporting that the executive is about to become the new head of music video network Vevo. According to sources, the music video outfit is banking on Huggers to turn the business into more than just a subset of YouTube where teens can find Taylor Swift videos.
Age ratings for UK music videos start appearing on YouTube and Vevo
Last summer, the UK government said it was working with the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to bring age ratings to music videos available online. The scheme is intended "to help parents protect their children from some of the graphic content in online music videos," by grading them in the same way movies and video games are -- based on the amount of sex/drugs/rock and roll depicted. As part of a pilot program to see how this might work, the labels Sony, Warner Music and Universal have been running any video they suspect may deserve a 12, 15 or 18 age rating by the BBFC for judgement. And today sees the first batch of ratings being adopted by pilot collaborators YouTube and Vevo.
Bravo, you've opened Pandora's app on Xbox One
The Xbox One was originally announced as a console that would bring games, movies, television and other entertainment together in one place. Recently-instated head of Xbox Phil Spencer may be more about the "games" part of the equation, but that doesn't mean the console has stopped supporting its secondary functions. Case in point: This week, the Xbox One has received apps for Pandora, Vevo, Bravo, Telemundo and Popcornflix. If you're unfamiliar with any of the above, here's a quick rundown: Pandora is an online music service that creates playlists based on the input you give it. Enter "Aerosmith" for example, and you'll wind up with a station that plays classic rock. If you like to engage your eyeballs at the same time as your eardrums, Vevo hosts a collection of music videos to enjoy. Bravo Now is an app that lets you watch full episodes of Bravo programming such as The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce. The Telemundo Now app operates on the same concept: Log in with your service provider and watch full episodes of Telemundo novelas, shows and specials. Popcornflix is a free video streaming service that hosts hundreds of films at no additional cost. Enjoy your music and movies, señors and señoritas. [Image: Microsoft/Pandora]
Your Xbox One now plays Pandora radio and Vevo music videos
You haven't had many choices for streaming music on the Xbox One so far; you've largely been limited to Xbox Music or the occasional YouTube mix. You'll have some proper options very shortly, though. Apps for both Pandora's internet radio service (US-only) and Vevo's music videos (in 14 countries) are reaching the game console this week. The two apps don't have any surprising Xbox-specific features in store, but they'll definitely help if you need some tunes for your next house party. And don't worry, movie and TV fans -- you'll get a few apps as well. Bravo Now and Telemundo Now let American TV subscribers stream shows from those networks on demand, while Popcornflix gives North Americans "hundreds" of free movies. If your Xbox One doubles as your media center, you're in for a treat in the days ahead.
PhonTunes stores your favorite YouTube music in one place
PhonTunes Free is a clever app for iOS that organizes all the music and music videos on YouTube in one neat and tidy location for you to browse and enjoy. It has sections for popular videos, genres and even your own personal video library to store all of your favorites. The app requires iOS 7.0 or later. PhonTunes Pro is also available in the App Store or US$1.99 and removes the advertisements. Everybody likes a good music video to accompany an equally good song. YouTube, thanks largely to music video service Vevo, houses almost any music video you search. However, since YouTube is home to virtually every other type of online video that exists, finding and filtering down to just your favorite songs and music videos can sometimes be a hassle. PhonTunes makes a solid effort to fix this. Open PhonTunes and you're greeted by a "Discover" page. Here you find the "Popular" tab, which lists all of the most popular music videos along with their thumbnails, as well as the "Genre" tab, which lets you browse music videos all over YouTube by genre. Those of you with an eclectic taste should be pleased as there's a bountiful selection of genres from rap to country to avant-garde. A search function is available as well where you can type in a specific artist or song to find results on YouTube. Unfortunately, this searches all of YouTube rather than narrowing down to just music. For instance, upon searching for Taylor Swift's new music video "Shake It Off" I received a result for Grace Helbig merely stating her thoughts on the song in a review. Another quick search for "Ice Bucket Challenge" in this app quickly revealed that music is far from the only form of content this app surfaces. Tapping the plus icon next to any video listing adds it your own collection of favorite videos, accessible through "My Videos" at the bottom of the app. Additionally, using the batch management feature in My Videos allows you to select multiple videos for deletion or to add to a custom playlist. As for the videos themselves, the player does them justice. They play in HD (when on a good connection) as one might expect and I actually think I like the player in this app better than Apple's default in iOS 7. It's simple, easy to understand and doesn't have that blurred translucency which I never cared for as part of the video player UI. For some reason though you have to tap an icon to expand to full-sized landscape mode. It seems easier to just use the iPhone and iPad's built-in accelerometers. All in all, PhonTunes is a convenient solution for collecting and watching music videos on your phone. There are more popular competing apps like Vevo with similar functionality, but Vevo is limited to its own library while PhonTunes can play anything on YouTube, Vevo included. Other than the fact that you'll occasionally run into YouTube videos completely unrelated to music, PhonTunes Free is worth a download.
UK tries to protect kids by rating music videos like movies
While David Cameron's broadband filters are doing an admirable job of shielding Britain's young eyes from adult content, the government reckons it can do more. That's why, as from October, it'll treat music videos like movies and begin placing age ratings on them. The Prime Minister announced the new program during a speech yesterday, noting that the government will work with the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to "protect [..] children from some of the graphic content music videos" hosted on YouTube and Vevo.
Apples and Oranges: Amazon moves into the Apple TV space
Those of us who have been waiting for an Amazon Prime channel to finally show up on their Apple TV now have an explanation as to why it never arrived. Today Amazon introduced FireTV (US $99), an Amazon set-top box that seems perfectly situated to compete with Apple TV. Amazon cited a 350% growth in their video streaming service as their basis for entering this market. With a quad-core processor, a dedicated GPU, and 2GB of onboard RAM, the new unit's specifications compare extremely favorably against both Apple's latest unit as well as Roku. Standout features include enhanced "MIMO dual-band WiFi", a slick user interface, built-in Karaoke, and voice search. The box is about the same form factor as an Apple TV, with a small but much more solid-looking remote. The unit will offer many of the same channels, or "apps" in the Amazon parlance. These include Netflix, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, SHO Anytime, Bloomberg, and Vevo. Streaming music services including Pandora and iHeart Radio should follow soon after launch. A feature called "X-Ray" will provide additional details about what you're watching as you watch it. This extra information is delivered to your Kindle Fire HDX tablet for tight product-line integration. There's also some sort of AirPlay equivalent on offer for watching slideshows of your tablet- and cloud-based photo collections. Apple has to be taking notice of Amazon's latest move. From the Kindle to the TV, Amazon is striding boldly into an arena of consumer content that Apple first pioneered with iTunes and Apple TV. If anyone can transform content delivery from a hobby to a business, Amazon can. FireTV's easier interaction style and spoken commands (yes, I struggle with entering text on Apple TV -- especially when I have to re-enter my WiFi network password) should set a new bar for streaming set top. Apparently there's even a mic built into the remote. I found the interface screenshots to be cleaner than the somewhat confusing menu system I currently see on my Apple TV unit.They're full of bright clear images that feel like a well thought out, navigable system -- and probably a bit of a WiFi hog. So how will Apple react? Certainly that $99 price point for Apple TV has got to give or the Apple unit needs a major refresh. If Apple intends to stay in this "hobby", I would expect an interface overhaul and perhaps some Siri support to stay competitive. I also would think they'd need to open a third party SDK, the way that Amazon will with its open HTML and Android ecosystem. At launch, you'll be able to download and play Minecraft, The Walking Dead, Monsters University, the Amazon exclusive Sev Zero -- all on your TV.
Google's latest search tweak encourages you to watch more YouTube music videos
As clever as Google's search is, finding official YouTube music videos is often harder than it should be, hampering efforts to successfully get your soft rock fix. In a new change rolling out now, the search giant has made it easier to surface such videos by giving the top playable link its very own card. While Google cunningly displays a video player as the top result, it actually directs you to YouTube (and other sites like Vimeo or Dailymotion) to serve legitimate uploads by music labels and the inescapable VEVO. It's definitely a step in the right direction, but Google hasn't totally nailed the implementation and often displays fan-made videos or doesn't show one at all. Despite the rise in legal music-streaming sites, Google's well aware YouTube still beats Spotify et al in terms of total users, which is probably why it's readying its own music-subscription service.
Google Chromecast adds 10 new apps to its streaming arsenal
For users of Google's $35 Chromecast dongle, the inclusion of HBO Go was pretty much the final piece of the holy streaming trifecta (the others being Netflix and Hulu Plus). Now, however, Google's opting for quantity over quality and adding 10 new apps to its Chromecast-friendly suite. So what's in that grab bag of apps? Well, beyond just supporting its own Chrome browser, Google's now made media casting easier by supporting Plex, RealPlayer Cloud and Avia. But there's also a host of music and video content hubs, like Revision3, VEVO, Red Bull.TV, Viki, Songza, PostTV and BeyondPod, that can now cast straight to your HDTV. Don't fret if you're not seeing the apps update just yet -- Google's said the roll out should take place over the "next few days."
Vevo outfits Samsung Smart TVs with native app, HD music videos and more in tow
Perusing music selections in video form with Vevo is about to get easier for owners of Samsung Smart TVs. The streaming content provider has announced an app that brings HD music videos, live performances and other original programming to those displays and the outfit's Blu-ray players. Access to Vevo TV, search, genre stations, playlist functions and category browsing can now be done from the comforts of a sofa with remote in hand. Countries with Vevo content availability tallies a baker's dozen, so you'll want to make sure you reside in one of those locales before getting too excited about streaming "Wrecking Ball."
Apple TV 6.0 update now available, adds iTunes Radio support, AirPlay from iCloud and more
It's been expected, but now an AppleTV update has arrived. The new 6.0 firmware adds support for iTunes Radio and purchases from the iTunes Music Store. In addition, updating adds podcast syncing, viewing of shared photo streams and AirPlay from iCloud. This update gets the AppleTV feature parity with iOS 7. The new firmware also upgrades the AirPlay wireless streaming feature, so you can now play iTunes store-purchased content on other AppleTVs. The download and install was very slow for me today, likely because Apple servers are slammed with all the other updates people are doing with new iPhones and in upgrading devices to iOS 7. Apple has been enhancing the AppleTV software recently, and has added new apps for Vevo, The Weather Channel, Disney Channel and other content sources. To get the update on your AppleTV, go to Settings > General and select "Update Software." This update works on the second- and third-generation Apple TVs.
Vevo opts out of offline video on YouTube's mobile apps
When YouTube's offline viewing feature launches in November, don't expect to find Vevo on board. According to Variety, the music video service has opted out of the functionality, which will let users download videos on Youtube mobile apps for up to 48 hours of offline playback. YouTube reportedly gave Vevo and other partners a chance to opt out of the upcoming feature, so -- while Vevo is the site's biggest content supplier -- this news is hardly scandalous. It makes sense, too; the music video provider has its own apps to promote, after all.
Apple TV gets Vevo, Weather Channel, Disney and Smithsonian channels
Apple has added a number of new channels to the Apple TV today, as first noted by MacRumors. The news channels include Vevo, The Weather Channel, Disney, Disney XD and the Smithsonian Channel. Though the Vevo channel has been rumored for some time, the other channels were unexpected. Vevo has issued a press release surrounding the announcement. It reads in part: Apple TV users are sure to recognize the intuitive and efficient design. VEVO viewers are able to quickly browse videos by featured artists including all of the latest premieres. VEVO includes multiple modes of discovery -- you can watch on-demand videos from any genre or simply select any video that piques your interest. If you have something particular in mind, perform a search and we will surface what you're looking for right at your fingertips. As for the other channels, The Weather Channel allows you to set locales to view weather forecasts and also watch shows and reports. Disney, Disney XD and the Smithsonian Channel offer similar access to content, although both Disney channels seem to be US-only right now.
Apple TV update brings apps for Disney, the Smithsonian, Vevo and The Weather Channel
Rumors that Apple was about to expand the Apple TV's channel selection have just come true -- the company has quietly rolled out apps for the Disney Channel, Disney XD, the Smithsonian, Vevo and The Weather Channel. The new portals deliver the on-demand video you'd expect from their respective services. There are live components, however: Vevo fans get non-stop music videos through Vevo TV, while The Weather Channel jumps to live broadcasts during major storms. Any locally supported channels should appear the next time you use your Apple TV, although you'll need to be a qualifying cable or satellite subscriber to run the Disney apps.
Daily Update for August 21, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
WSJ: Vevo heading to Apple TV as soon as this week
In the early 1980s, everyone wanted their MTV. It was 24 hours a day of music videos interspersed with snappy repartee from cool VJs. But MTV went the direction of reality TV, and the world lost the fun of discovering new bands and songs. Now Vevo is on the way; it's a joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Group that will soon start delivering on-demand music videos and 24 hour-a-day programming via Apple TV. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Vevo Apple TV app could appear as soon as this week. Samsung Internet TVs will have to wait for a few weeks before getting the service. Vevo is designed to get music fans to watch videos and original content through its sites and apps instead of on YouTube. There's a lot at stake for the two big music companies behind Vevo -- Google takes as much as 50 percent of ad revenue generated by YouTube content. [via AppleInsider]
WSJ: Vevo TV deal signed for Samsung, Apple TV platforms
Internet music video provider Vevo launched its linear channel on mobile devices, Xbox 360 and Roku back in March, and according to the Wall Street Journal, it may arrive on the PS3, Apple TV (directly, AirPlay support came last week) and Samsung's Smart TV soon. After a rumor earlier this month from AdAge, the new report indicates deals with both Samsung and Apple are signed with a launch on the latter possible this week. That most of the people watching the streaming channel do so on TV-connected devices which, along with the desire to sell higher-priced TV ads is apparently behind the new push. The next moves for Vevo? Rolling out new channels that focus on specific genres or live music, renegotiating licenses for content, and off in the distance, perhaps a cable TV channel. For now, we'll just pencil in a shift to reality TV shows, dramas and other non-music programming for 2019 or so.
VEVO for iOS adds full AirPlay support
Popular music video app VEVO has been updated with full AirPlay streaming support. The music video-streaming app is extremely popular among teenagers and young adults as it features over 75,000 music videos by 21,000 artists. VEVO also offers live performances and original shows. The addition of AirPlay support for VEVO comes at a time when media streaming from device to television is becoming ever more popular. Apple has supported such a feature through its AirPlay technology and AppleTV for years and, more recently, Google has entered the fray with its Chromecast hardware. The news of VEVO AirPlay support also comes at a time when AllThingsD has reported that a VEVO app may be added as a channel on the Apple TV. VEVO for iPhone and VEVO HD for iPad are both free downloads.
Vevo scores AirPlay video support on iOS
Vevo's just pushed an updated version of its iOS app into the wild, and it should delight Apple TV owners who like watching their music videos instead of merely listening to them. The fresh upgrade adds full AirPlay support, which means that both video and audio can be streamed to televisions using Apple's set-top box. Naturally, a grab bag of unspecified bug fixes and optimizations accompany the latest release. Click the source link below to load up your iDevice of choice with the application.
Vevo music video app comes to Windows 8
Although Vevo has a presence on seemingly every platform, it hasn't done much of anything special on the desktop: so far, it's been either the web or nothing. That's changing -- the company has just launched a native app for Windows 8 and RT devices. The software puts all of Vevo's core music video features into a touch-friendly format, including Vevo TV, live concerts and playlists. While we suspect that many will still be content with the web interface, those who just have to watch Selena Gomez on a Surface can grab the Vevo app for free at the source link.
