This site offers news and discussion mostly about books, with a sprinkling of information on personal technology and digital literacy.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on what is basically the battle of Aereo TV vs. all the traditional cable TV companies later this week — here’s a link to a USA Today article on the subject titled “Revolutionary cloud TV service faces Supreme Court decision in coming days;”
The decision might just upend the way TV content is watched in the U.S. depending upon how the Supreme Court rules of course!
Have a great day!
Linda
Hi everyone, just a quick posting at 9:30 on a Friday evening.
I just read the news that the Supreme Court is going to hear the Aereo case! That is the case that has the potential to transform the way we watch TV. I’ve mentioned Aereo before in blog postings but just in case you’re wondering who they are; they are the company that receives those free over the air signals that TV broadcasters send out – and they charge their customers $8,000 a month for a tiny antenna and DVR that allows them to record and watch live TV shows broadcast by the major networks, i.e. ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS etc., on any Wi-Fi connecting device you own. Perhaps needless to say the traditional cable companies and networks aren’t thrilled with what they see as this upstart service! However, the company’s service has been determined to be legal in several lower court decisions and now the Supreme Court will have the final say – if the highest court in the land agrees with the majority of the lower state court decisions and deems the Aereo service legal it will almost assuredly transform the way we watch TV.
Here’s a link to a New York Times article on the subject:
And a link to the Aereo website where you can find out more about their service:
Have a great weekend!
Linda R.
ZDNET’s List of 11 Amazing Technologies: The tech site ZDNet offers a cool article that discusses 11 technologies that either are already transforming how we live or are expected to in the near future. The article discusses the following eleven tech categories: Fiber Optics, Graphene, Cell Phone technology, Personal Computing Devices (desktops, laptops, tablets etc.), Nano Robots, Satellite Communications, Solar Cells, The Internet of Things, Transistors, The Internet and one of my favorites – 3 D Printing technology!
Here’s the link to the article:
Aereo Ask Supreme Court To Determine Its Fate: As you may recall Aereo is a tech company that assigns a small antenna and DVR to each of its customers. And this tech set up allows its customers to receive over the air broadcasts of network television shows and to stream those shows to their smartphones, tablets and computers and watch them whenever they want to!
Needless to say the traditional television networks and cable companies are not thrilled with Aereo and its business model which they believe hurts their financial bottom line. Aereo has so far been triumphant in the court cases brought against it by several traditional cable companies – the courts have ruled that the service is legal and Aereo can continue; however, the company has decided to appeal to the Supreme Court to answer the question once and for all of whether or not the Aereo service is legal within the United States. No doubt Aereo has decided to make this move because it takes money to continually counter court cases brought against the company by networks and cable companies in each new market Aereo is expands into. And if the Supreme Court takes the case and rules in Aereo’s favor than that will settle the legality matter within the United States and allow Aereo to continue expanding its service without having to fund and fight a continuing series of court cases.
If the Supreme Court takes that case – it will be an interesting ruling to watch for because if Aereo wins it will change how we can access TV shows.
Here’s a link to a Gigaom article on this subject titled “Aereo asks Supreme Court to take copyright case, stop broadcasters “war of attrition”
Walmart To Put iPhones 5 On Sale! According to a Los Angeles Times report Walmart will begin selling the iPhone 5C for $27 and the iPhone 5S for $127 on December 13; of course you have to sign up for the standard two year contract to use the phones. However, if you’ve been waiting to pick up a new iPhone now might be the time as you’re unlikely to find lower prices on the new iPhone 5 models than those!
Here’s a link to that LA times article:
Have a great day!
Linda R.
References
Brown, Eileen. (2013, December 9). 11 amazing technologies that have totally changed our world for the better. ZDNet. Online. Accessed December 12, 2013, http://www.zdnet.com/11-amazing-technologies-that-have-totally-changed-our-world-for-the-better-7000024091/
Roberts, Jeff John. (2013, December 12). Aereo asks Supreme Court to take copyright case, stop broadcasters “war of attrition”. Gigaom. Online. Accessed December 12,2 013, http://gigaom.com/2013/12/12/aereo-asks-supreme-court-to-take-copyright-case-stop-broadcasters-war-of-attrition/
Rodriquez, Salvador. (2013, December 11). Wal-Mart to sell iPhone 5c for $27 with contract on Friday. Angeles Times. Online. Accessed December 12, 2013, http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-walmart-iphone-5c-27-20131211,0,5607180.story#axzz2nIkXVh8s
Want To Buy A 3 D Printer? Staples Will Have Them Soon! You’ve probably heard a bit about 3 D Printers and how they will transform the way we life when they become available. And that day is almost here! Staples spokesmen have announced that in June it will begin selling the Cube 3D Printer for $1,299!
And just as a refresher in case you’re thinking the term “3D Printer” sounds familiar but you can’t quite recall all the ins and outs about it…3 D Printers aren’t really printers but instead can be thought of as entry level replicators (for all the Star Trek fans out there!). The “printers” will create 3 dimensional objects based upon information users send a 3 D printer via a computer. So if you need a new cover or case for your iPhone or tablet – and you’d like a bright blue one you’ll be able to create one at home with your 3D Printer. If you want to create a chess set, a new shirt, new hat, new action figures for your grandchildren or colorful jewelry to go with that new outfit you just bought – you can use your 3 D Printer to create those items!
3 D Printing is cool technology and will be available at a Staples near you very soon!
Here’s a link to a Verge article, titled Staples becomes first major US retailor to sell 3D printers with $1,299 Cube, on the subject:
And if you’d like to know more about 3D Printers or the 3D Printing process this link will take you to the tech site Mashable were you can learn more:
http://mashable.com/category/3d-printing/
Nook HD Becomes A Real Tablet: Barnes & Noble has just made the Nook HD a real tablet! And by “real” I mean that the tablet will now have access to the Google Play Store and be able to run all Android apps in the store. This new functionality does make the Nook HD a real tablet because previously you could only run select Nook tablets on it – which means you didn’t have access to all the apps in the Play Store. But now if you have a Nook HD, or you get one for Mother’s Day (B&N is running a big sale on them this week) you’ll have access to the entire Play Store and be able to install any apps in the store like for example the Amazon Instant Video app or the Amazon Kindle app! Yes it is true for the first time ever you can now read Amazon Kindle e-books on a Nook! And that is something you cannot do in reverse – you cannot read Nook e-books on a Kindle — at least not yet but Amazon isn’t one on its laurels so I bet we’ll see that functionality added to the Kindle Fire HD series in the near future.
More On Aereo: I came across a cool article on the Aereo TV services this weekend that pretty much sums up my reaction to the outrage the traditional media companies and networks are expressing over the success of to this television service company.
Just as a refresher Aereo made its debut last year and what it does is to assign an antenna to each customer; and that antenna then records the free over the air video transmissions that major networks have always sent out over the airwaves for free for people so that people who don’t have cable television can receive those signals/videos via rabbit ears or some other type of antenna. It is legal for people to use antennas to receive and record television programs over the air for their own use and it has been twice ruled as being legal for Aereo to provide a service to customers by offering the same service – assigning one antenna and DVR for each customer and those customers can then access recorded content on any tech device they own at any time – smartphone, tablet, PC etc.
So having finished with the refresher section I have to say I agree with Nick Mokey the author of the Digital Trends article on Aereo titled “Aereo’s quasilegal TV streaming is just what we need to slap big media awake.”
I too think that established media, network and cable companies want to hold on to their traditional status quo and would rather everyone pay them for an expensive cable package then to be able to watch the television shows, movies and other content they broadcast whenever they want to on any Internet connecting device that they own. So those same media, network and cable companies are dragging their feet when it comes to providing consumers with access to television shows, movies and e-books on all their devices and on demand – they could do so — they have the ability to do so – they could create a CBS, ABC & NBC, Universal, MGM etc. video store with accompanying app that would allow consumers to buy al la carte content on demand directly from them at any time – they’d make money hand over foot just not via their traditional business models. So I definitely concur with Nick Mokey that Aereo’s success is a very good thing because just maybe those media, network and cable companies will start to innovate and get on the bandwagon of allowing easy 24/7/365 access to content that their customers and many others want. I know I’d be happy to pay for episodes of television series that I want to watch and if back catalog content were available through Network stores I’d be thrilled I might actually get to watch seasons 4 & 5 of Hill Street Blues again – you can stream and buy season 1 & 2 but forget about buying a DVD or streaming seasons 3-7 they are not currently available in either format.
And I’m getting off my soap-box now! Thanks for reading & have a great day!
Linda R.
Here’s the link to the Digital Trends article on Aereo:
Have a great day!
Linda R.
References
Bohn, Dieter. (2013, May 3).Nook HD & HD+ get full Google Play support for Android apps. Online.
Mokey, Nick. (2013, May 2). Aereo’s quasilegal TV streaming is just what we need to slap big media awake. Online.
Welch, Christ. (2013, May 3). Staples becomes first major US retailer to sell 3D printers with $1,299 Cube. The Verge. Online.
iPad Flies Off Top Of Car And Into Passing Motorist’s Bumper: Have you ever left your smartphone or tablet on top of your car and then drove away with the device still on top of your car? If so then, or even if not, you’ll appreciate the link to the video that follows! It seems that a gal in South Carolina was driving down the road and heard a moderate noise but didn’t feel anything hit her car so she drove on to her destination and when she stopped she found an iPad lodged into the bumper of her car! The iPad, which was still in working condition, was so tightly embedded into her bumper she had to get a hammer to knock it out – and then she looked up the owner’s information on the iPad and called him. It seems to owner put the iPad on top of his car and forgot to put it in his car before he left home!
Here’s the link:
http://www.abc57.com/news/national-world/iPad-stuck–202194801.html
More On The Aereo vs. Broadcaster Battle: And here a links to two mainstream (aka not tech news sites or magazines) stories on the battle between the upstart Aereo Streaming services that offers its customers access to the free broadcast television content – streamed to all their tech gadgets and on demand – and the traditional networks who are not pleased with the service!
The first link is to a New York Times article titled Broadcasters Circle Wagons Against a TV Streaming Upstart:
And the second is to a news story that appeared on NBC Nightly news last night titled Aereo presents challenge to broadcasters: Some broadcasters are considering moving their product exclusively to cable now because of a new way of distributing TV programs online. NBC’s John Yang report:
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/51485531/#51485531
Have a great day!
Linda R.
References
Johnson, Peter. (2013, April 10). iPad stuck in car bumper. ABC 57 News. Online.
Nightly News. Aereo presents challenge to brodcasters. NBC. Online.
Stelter, Brian. (2013, April 9). Broadcasters Circle Wagons Against a TV Streaming Upstart. New York Times. Online.
I’ve mentioned Aereo in blog postings before but just to refresh all our memories; Aereo is a New York City based company that offers broadcast television shows that go out over the airwaves and into Aereo’s office and then are sent to subscribers via the Internet. The idea is that you don’t have to be home in front of your television set to watch content that you could get for free via aerial antennae if you were at home.
And to give you an example, it used to be, and sometimes still is, that people lived far enough out of town that they couldn’t subscribe to a cable TV service via a cable service provider like Comcast or Time Warner Cable because the cable wires were not set up that far out of town – so no service was offered in their out-of-town region. So instead they hooked antennas to their roofs and/or television sets to receive a basic number of broadcast television channels for free. Now granted you couldn’t get all television channels that way – premium paid channels like HBO and Showtime weren’t available; however your local network stations and PBS were – so you could tune in to ABC, NBC, CBS or PBS if you were at home and watch whatever programs were being shown. And Aereo offers those free over-the-air (aerial) broadcast channels to customers in their service areas by actually having a small antenna for each customer in their service centers that receives the free broadcast programming and then sends it to customer’s accounts over the Internet.
And thus Aereo offers the free over-the-air broadcast television stations to their customers to access via an app on their smartphones and tablets. And Aereo further offers a certain amount of DVR storage for each customer so if you live in one of their service areas you can record that episode of Law & Order or Seinfeld that you missed the first time around and watch it later via your smartphone or tablet whenever you want to.
Aereo debut its service to consumers living in the New York City region last March. And as you can imagine this system is not one that the cable and media companies are pleased with! Comcast, CBS & Walt Disney have so far brought two law suits against Aereo claiming that Aereo is illegally broadcasting their content by essentially cutting cable service providers out of the picture altogether. They claim that Aereo is infringing on their copyright for the channel programming they sell to their customers even though it is perfectly legal for consumers to put a TV antenna on their own roofs and to access over-the-air television channels for free when they are at home; and Aereo is only broadcasting over-the-air channels to people who could obtain those channels for free, via rooftop antenna, in their area. So last March, just before the Aereo service debuted, Comcast, CBS & Walt Disney filed an initial law suit against Aereo claiming that their service was illegal – the court ruled against them and for Aereo stating that the Aereo service was in fact legal. And not surprisingly the plantiffs appealed the ruling. This morning a second court decision was also handed down upholding the first decision and yet again ruling that the Aero service is legal.
And so far this year Aereo has expanded its service to include 29 additional near-by counties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut so the ability to access broadcast television networks and their shows via the Internet may become the new norm. I’m sure most people, including myself, would be willing to pay the $8.00 per month subscription fee (or the $80 yearly fee) to watch broadcast television programs via our smartphones, tablets or streaming media players whenever we want to.
And in relation, I think that they cable companies, by tight fistedly trying to hang on to their outdated bundled channel business model, are missing the proverbial boat and the opportunity it presents to make money in this new high tech Internet streaming age of ours. I can’t of course speak for anyone but myself but I did that cord-cutting thing three years ago and I much prefer it! I stream video content at home via my Roku and Apple TV players via my Wi-Fi network, and on the go via my smartphone and iPad. And I pay Netflix $7.99 a month for their all-you-can-eat (okay all-you-can-view) subscription to their catalog of titles and $79 per year to Amazon for unlimited access to their Prime Library of video titles and I can then watch them anywhere I can access the Internet. I can also purchase or rent videos from Amazon and buy videos from Apple so if I want to watch the latest episode of Grimm or Mad Men I can buy it the day after it airs on television. TV episodes come in standard definition for $1.99 and HD for $2.99 and I don’t mind paying that for episodes of a series I really like but I did mind an ever increasing cable bill that had me subscribing to many channels I never watched just so I could watch the handful of channels that I did want to watch. And did I mention the price? Amazon Prime & a yearly subscription to Netflix totals $175.77 – and I was paying almost that for my monthly cable bill before I cut the cord.
So I am excited by the second court ruling in favor of Aereo because I see this as not just a win for Aereo but also a win for consumers who today increasingly like to be able to watch whatever video content they want to watch when and where they want to watch it and not be tied to a cable TV cord.
Here’s a link to a New York Times article on Aereo and the new court ruling in its favor:
A second link to a Tech Crunch article on the same subject:
http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/01/aereo-looks-to-tv-providers-isps-to-accelerate-growth/
A third link to a short USA Today article that sums up the basics of the subject:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/04/01/aereo-wins-appeals-court-ruling/2042527/
And a link to the Aereo website that offers you a look at the pricing of their service plans:
Have a great day!
Linda R.
References
Compare Plans. Aereo. Online. Accessed April 1, 2013.
Crook, Jordan. (2013, April 1). Aereo Looks To TV Providers, ISPs To Accelerate Growth. Tech Crunch. Online.
Stelter, Brian. (2013, April 1). Aereo Wins Appeal: Trail Likely for Streaming TV.
Yu, Roger. (2013, April 1). Good news for cable cord-cutters in Aereo win. USA Today. Online.
Aereo is a company that streams basic TV content to subscribers* from its servers to any mobile device a subscriber owns. Aereo does this by actually having a tiny antenna and DVR assigned to each customer and this allows customers to watch video content on any Internet connecting device they have at any time. The company gets those over the air signals that you have also traditionally been able to use to tune in via a TV antenna attached to your TV– ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox & PBS – and then sends the HD signals they receive to the miniature antenna & DVR combo set assigned to each customer and then the customer is allowed to watch any TV content from those networks on any of his or her Internet connecting devices. So the customer then has the ability to watch any shows played on those networks at any time for a small subscription fee that actually starts at a dollar a day for a day pass and then goes up in price to a maximum of $80 for an annual subscription to the service.
And needless to say the fact that consumers can pay $80 a year to receive HD reception for all the content on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox & PBS when cable companies would like them to pay that amount or more each month for one of their cable bundles of channels – is not going over well with those cable companies. In fact last year Aereo won a court case that broadcasters in Manhattan had brought against the company – the first legal hurdle but certainly not the last as the cable industry tries its best to hang on to its outdated, but profitable, bundled channel subscriptions business model.
Aereo’s CEO Chet Kanojia who has worked in the cable industry for years talks a great talk about the service as the expression goes! He has discussed in an interview why the Aereo service is A. Legal and B. Why it is the future of TV in that it allows customers to watch TV when and where they want and a reasonable price without forcing those customers to pay through the proverbial nose for a bundle of TV Channels most of which they aren’t interested in watching.
Here’s a link to a Gigaom article, titled Aereo’s big bet to break the TV industry: CEO Chet Kanojia explains, which features an interview with Mr. Kanojia and some more in-depth back ground info on the Aereo service:
http://gigaom.com/2013/02/07/aereos-big-bet-to-break-the-tv-industry-ceo-chet-kanojia-explains/
And a second article on the subject from CNN titled Aereo: Streaming TV startup at center of media storm:
http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/07/technology/innovation/aereo/
And a third link is to the Aereo website just in case you’d like to read more information from the horse’s mouth itself – as the expression goes!
https://aereo.com/how-it-works
Have a great day!
Linda R.
*Right now the Aereo service is only available in New York City, where it debut last year. It is coming to 22 more cities in the U.S. shortly.
References
How it Works. (Accessed 2013, February 7). Aereo. Online.
Pepitone, Julianne. (2013, February 7). Aereo: Streaming TV startup at center of media storm. CNN. Online.
Roberts, Jeff John. (2013, February 7). Aereo’s big bet to break the TV industry: CEO Chet Kanojia explains. Gigaom. Online
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