“Instant” Video Translation available via IPhone

Although the video may have been “enhanced”, it is still very interesting and future concept.

 

 

Word Lens’ launch was heralded by a YouTube video that plays like a magic trick. The video, created by Good’s brother, a video production teacher, became an instant viral sensation and helped Word Lens draw an onslaught of media and consumer attention.

“It makes the program look a little too good,” Good admits. “But my brother put so much effort into it and it looked so good … that I decided to put it out there.”

The video sparked immediate interest, both good and bad. While the press lauded the application as the future of language translation, some users who downloaded it were met with disappointment when they discovered its shortcomings.

Word Lens translations are not perfect, and the application works best with clear text and bright light, meaning any other circumstances will yield less favorable results. Handwriting and unusual fonts will trip the application up, for instance.

The startup is admittedly limited by hardware that’s not quite ready to perform Word Lens’ instant translation magic trick in exactly way the video promises with every use. The video may gloss over Word Lens’ imperfections, but “it is very much real; there’s no faking,” Good says

June 3, 2011
Categories: News you can Use, Technologies, Vendor News . Tags: , , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

Who is using Tweeter?

Thirteen percent of online Americans use Twitter, up a full 5% from November 2010, according to a Pew Research Center study released Wednesday.

Much of that growth came from younger adults, Pew found. Nearly one in five U.S. Internet users ages 25 to 34 use Twitter, up from 9% in November. Fourteen percent of users between 35 and 44 also now use the service, up from 8% a half-year previous.

But Twitter isn’t exclusively the domain of young adults; 8% of participants between 50 to 64 and 6% over the age of 65 consider themselves Twitter users, respectively.

In addition, the study found that men are slightly more likely to use the service than women. Fourteen percent of online men in the U.S. use Twitter, compared to 11% of women.

June 2, 2011
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Can’t Find it on Netflix On-Line? Here’s Why

Reed Hastings has a message for anyone looking for a comprehensive catalog of streaming movies and TV shows: Don’t go to Netflix.

Speaking at the All Things D conference in California, the Netflix founder and CEO celebrated his company’s success and outlined its ambitions, but he also stressed its limitations. In May, Netflix found its share of U.S. broadband traffic was larger than that of the file-sharing service BitTorrent for the first time. And Hastings has plans to launch his streaming service around the world, country by country, starting with Canada.

“We have an opportunity to build a very large global company,” he said. “All of those 5 billion people [with mobile devices] like video.”

But Hastings does not think Netflix can ever afford to make that streaming video selection — Netflix Instant — comprehensive. Despite the growing amount of content that is available for streaming, the company does not expect to have a complete “watch now” library. The licensing fees are simply too pricey for its business model.

“At $7.99 a month, we can’t provide unlimited content,” Hastings said. “We compete for a very specific and small part of the pie. We don’t have everything, but we have a great bargain. That’s what we want the brand proposition to be … Apple and Amazon are very good at being comprehensive.”

Indeed, when an audience member asked Hastings about a specific movie he couldn’t find on Netflix, Hastings testily directed him to pay for it on iTunes or Amazon.

Netflix is facing increasing financial pressure from its providers, who are noting how much profit the service is making from their content. For example, Netflix’s 2008 deal with the Starz network cost $30 million; analysts claim its renewal will cost $200 million, or 6% of Netflix’s revenue. Hastings did not dispute this cost estimate.

The online movie giant may have seemed like it was moving into the content-making business itself after a well-publicized deal in March to make House of Cards with Kevin Spacey and director David Fincher. But Hastings stressed that Netflix was just the distribution arm of that deal. “We’re just a channel,” he said. “The only difference with this content is it’s exclusive.”

June 1, 2011
Categories: Technologies, Vendor News . Tags: , , , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: 1 Comment

Netflix Now The Largest Single Source of Internet Traffic In North America

Netflix video streaming is now the single largest source of peak downstream Interent traffic i the U.S., according to a new report by Sandvine. The streaming video service now accounts for 29.7 percent of peak downstream traffic, up from 21 percent last fall.

That puts Netflix above HTTP websites (18 percent), BitTorrent (11 percent), and YouTube (10 percent) as a source of downstream traffic during peak times in North America. (BitTorrent still accounts for half of all upstream traffic). As whole, “real-time entertainment” (which is mostly video streaming) accounted for 49 percent of downstream traffic in March, 2011, versus 19 percent for P2P file sharing, and 17 percent for Web browsing.

May 20, 2011
Categories: Inside Hollywood, News you can Use, Technologies, Vendor News . Tags: , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

Digital Theft Facts

Interesting facts regarding illegal downloads that effect Hollywood

1) 23.8% of all Global Internet traffic involves digital theft of copyrighted work.

2) The United States has the distinction of being number 1 in illegal downloads

3) Avatar has been illegally downloaded more than 16,580,000 times (and counting), making it the most pirated film in 2010

4) 95% of all Online Music downloads are illegal.

5) In 2010, Lady Gaga music was the most downloaded and Britney Spear’s “Telephone” was the number 1 most illegally downloaded track.

6) Movie piracy on the Black Market is valued at  25 Billion dollars and climbing

7) Legit DVD Sales of movies have declined by 27% since 2004

May 19, 2011
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URWERKS – Video

URWERKS offers up this new demo reel that shows what they can do.  Pretty cool stuff.

URWERK – UR110 movie from I-réel on Vimeo.

May 16, 2011
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Television – 2011 UPFRONTS SCHEDULE & PARTY LIST

Here is the announcement schedules with dates and times:

Sunday, May 15

9:00 PM: UTA Upfronts Party
Location: Lavo, 39 E. 58th Street

Monday, May 16
10:00 AM: NBC Announcement (evite ticket)
Location: Hilton Hotel – 3rd Floor, 1335 Avenue of the Americas
Lunch to follow upfront – Location TBD

4:00 PM: FBC Announcement (evite ticket)
Location: The New Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway
After-party immediately following at Wollman Rink in Central Park

9:00 PM-1:00 AM: NBC Upfronts Party (evite ticket)
Location: Del Posto Ristorante, 85 10th Ave

Tuesday, May 17
4:00 PM: ABC Announcement (hard ticket get in LA)
Location: Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, 132 W. 65th St.
No after-party

7:00 PM: UEG Upfronts Party with Pharrell
Location: TenJune, 26 Little West 12th St

8:00 PM: Gersh Agency Upfronts Party
Location: James Hotel, 27 Grand Street

9:00 PM: Innovative Artists Upfronts Party
Location: Eventi Hotel, 851 Avenue Of The Americas

9:00 PM: WME Upfronts Dinner
Location: Peter Luger Steakhouse, 178 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY

9:00 PM-11:00 PM: ICM Upfronts Party
Location: Simyone Lounge, 409 West 14th St

Wednesday, May 18
10:00 AM: TNT/TBS Announcement (mailed ticket invite)
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 W. 34th St.
11:30 AM: Private lunch to follow upfront at Del Posto, 85 10th Avenue

4:00 PM: CBS Announcement (hard tickets)
Location: Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave.
After-party immediately following at The Tent at Lincoln Center
Location: Damrosch Park, W. 62nd St between Columbus & Amsterdam Aves

9:00 PM: Adult Swim Upfront Party (with Jay-Z performing)
Location: Roseland Ballroom, 239 W 52nd Street

Thursday, May 19
11:00 AM: CW Announcement
Location: Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center – 11th Floor, 33 W. 60th St.

3:00 PM: Univision Communications Upfront Presentation
Location: New Amsterdam Theatre, 214 West 42nd Stree

May 13, 2011
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Voice Search Being Tested on Google.com

Google has begun testing an integration of voice search with the Google.com search engine.  Voice search detects your computer’s microphone settings and can open up a “Speak now” widget to detect your words and transcribe them into a search query.  Android phone owners should be familiar with Google Voice Search; it’s available in the Google Search widget. Google Voice Search on Android even translates voice commands into actions. For example, “Directions to Empire State Building New York” will get you instant driving directions to Manhattan’s famous landmark.

Google has been working hard on improving the accuracy of its voice search product. It now recognizes Chinese and learns from your speech patterns. Perhaps now Google believes it’s accurate enough to begin testing with the general populace.

Right now, voice search seems to be in a limited testing period. While searching by voice may be easier than typing in some cases, we don’t think you’re suddenly going to see an uptick in people shouting out their search queries.  Google Voice Search “works surprisingly well but is very awkward to use in the office.”

May 13, 2011
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Men in Black III – Lingering Script Problems Slow Production

Now that Men in Black III is once again filming in New York after an interruption in the already-unconventional schedule due to lingering script problems, we’ve seen a few set photos recently.  These have included the first look at Josh Brolin, who is playing a younger version of Agent K in scenes involving Will Smith‘s Agent J traveling back in time to the 1960’s.  Tommy Lee Jones will again play K in contemporary scenes, but some new set photos from The Brooklyn Paper show some more of Smith, Brolin, and the 60s setting.  Take a peek right here.

On locoation at the old Relish Diner in Williamsburg, VA

The Brooklyn Paper article reasonably concludes that the last image depicts, “funky stand-ins covered with lightbulbs to help create the computer-generated magic.”  That makes sense, but if you remember back to the first Men in Black, there’s an early scene just after J and K meet up with pawnbroker Jeebs (Tony Shaloub), when a pair of pair of people adorned in black outfits and lightbulbs quickly ride by on a tandem bicycle.  Given the specificity of that moment, I’d say we’ll see those two in the new film as they appear in the picture.

The film sees the return of franchise director Barry Sonnenfeld, who has not directed a film since 2006’s RV.  Also on board for the film are Rip Torn, Emma Thompson, Jemaine Clement, Alice Eve, and Nicole Scherzinger.  Men in Black III is set for May 25, 2012, just about a full decade since Men in Black II.  This new sequel will, of course, hit screens in 3D

May 11, 2011
Categories: Inside Hollywood, News you can Use, Vendor News . Tags: , , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5 billion; creates new business division

The rumors were right. Microsoft announced on May 10 that it bought Skype, an Internet communications vendor, for $8.5 billion.

Instead of trying to mash Skype into an existing Microsoft business division, the company has decided to create a new, separate Skype business division, with Skype CEO Tony Bates as the newly minted President. Bates will report directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

In its press release announcing the deal, Microsoft played up the potential synergies between Skype and its own communications offerings, including its Lync VOIP platform, Outlook mail, Messenger instant-messaging, Hotmail Web mail and Xbox Live gaming service.

Microsoft pays record $8.5bn for Skype in online battle cry

“Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms,” said the release.

Microsoft offered no timetable or further details as to when and how it will make Skype available as part of any of its existing product offerings.

According to earlier reports, Microsoft was bidding against Google and Facebook for Skype. As my colleague Larry Dignan noted, the $8.5 billion Skype purchase price made for one expensive game of keepaway.

Microsoft and Skype are holding a press conference (hopefully) outlining more particulars of the deal at 11 a.m. ET. There will be a live Webcast(with no follow-up interviews permitted).

Today’s deal with Skype marks Microsoft’s largest acquisition (dollar-wise) in the history of the company.  For the past couple of years, Microsoft execs seemingly had decided that Microsoft’s history of assimilating successfully its big acquisitions (aQuantive, Danger, AdECN, Bungie, etc.) was not so great, resulting in the company shying away from anything but relatively minor, targeted acquisitions.

May 10, 2011
Categories: News you can Use, Technologies, Vendor News . Tags: , , , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

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