In case you missed Masters champ Bubba Watson (and he was hard to miss Monday and Tuesday during his New York media blitz) here is a snippet of his appearance with David Letterman on the Late Show on CBS. Would like to hear more about how Bubba changed from being surly to being fun Bubba, but that will probably come out in the numerous post-Masters magazine articles. Anyway, since we missed Timeout Tuesday here’s a quick Wednesday video break:
Archives for 2012
U.S. Justice Department Charges Apple, 5 Publishers with Price Fixing
April 11, 2012 by
High flying Apple, whose market value recently topped $600 billion, has been hit by charges from the United States Justice Department alleging that Apple and five publishing partners have engaged in price fixing.
The charges allege that Apple and five publishers: Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette, Penguin Group (USA), and Macmillan conspired to end competition on ebooks and set a higher price, with Apple being guaranteed a 30% commission on each sale.
The deal was reached in 2010 the reports said, right when Apple introduced the iPad and was aimed at Amazon and was intended to limit Amazon’s ability to discount ebooks, which it was then selling at $9.99 for new and recently released offerings.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal three of the publishers have already reached an accord with the Justice Department and have said that they will terminate any such agreement with Apple. Those are Hachett, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins.
The overall outcome of this will be interesting to see. In the past the Justice Department has gone after some other major players in hi-tech, notably IBM and Microsoft, and has won its cases. Apple has been increasingly litigious in recent years but this is a much bigger foe than someone such as Samsung or Motorola Mobility.
However when you ask people about what Apple does, very few would mention that it makes a competitive e-reader. In fact some may not know that is a very valuable use of the iPad, showing that this is not really a major market for its products.
So why not settle? It has been reported that three of the publishers already have, but also that Apple has been fighting the charges. I suspect that in the long run Apple will find that it is cheaper simply to tag along on the settlements negotiated by its former partners.
MLB Network adds New Channel for Highlights: The Strike Zone
April 11, 2012 by
MLB Network expands its broadcasting presence, part time, with the introduction of the Strike Zone channel, which a number of its cable partners have agreed to carry in a number of markets large and small across the nation.
The channel, which will only broadcast part-time, will be available currently from DIRECTV, Dish Network, Bright House Network and Time Warner Cable and will be designed much on the model set by the NFL Network’s Red Zone, providing live look in at games and important at bats as well as providing game highlights, all in high definition.
Initially it looks like Time Warner customers will be the big winners as it will be offering the channel in these markets: Albany, Austin, Buffalo, Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbia, Columbus, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee/Green Bay, New York City, Palm Springs, Portland, Raleigh, Rochester, San Antonio, San Diego, Syracuse and Waco.
Interesting that I live in one of those markets and did not know that Time Warner was available here. Anyway then Bright House will be offering the programming in five markets. Two in Florida with Orlando and Tampa; Bakersfield, California, Indianapolis and Birmingham, Alabama.
Dish Network will include it in its ‘Multi-Sports’ package while DIRECTV will offer it as part of its ‘Sports Pack’ and its MLB Extra Innings plan.
When MLB launched its own network the thinking was that this would put pressure on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight and I believe that it did, bring its level of professionalism up a notch. Now with a competing highlight show I expect that we will see a much broader assortment of highlights and game breaks from ESPN covering more teams than the few that it seems to favor.
YouTube Sponsorships an Opportunity for Sports Advertisers
April 10, 2012 by
Google’s move to further monetize its YouTube platform via the introduction of channel sponsorships for advertisers seeking select markets should be a great boon for sports teams as it will continue the evolution of the video sharing site into an established network for sports fans.
It seems like a no-brainer for companies that are developing products, sports related or not, that target the demographics that follow sports. It is obvious from recent events such as ESPN expanding its NFL coverage year round that football interest is now high all year. For New Balance or Under Armour grabbing a channel can mean a huge number of views at a fraction of the cost of an ad during an actual NFL game.
The use of YouTube as a de facto network is increasing and to be able to tack your name onto a channel can be a coup, especially if a rival is paying for the exclusive rights to the sports to a league that is related to that channel.
The basics of the program are simply. It will offer channel sponsorships to advertisers who can use display, overlay and pre-roll ads in the targeted markets. This enables them to have a very targeted approach for their efforts, and dollars, according to an article in Ad Week
Ad Age breaks down what the costs will be, and mentions a number of the types of channels that will be getting sponsorships, as well as some of the initial sponsors that have signed on. It claims that so far only minor deals in the $5 million to $10 million range have been signed, but that they are expected to reach $62 million for what it sees as premium content.
So far it has a few sponsors including Unilever, Toyota, and more interesting to sports fans is GM, which has signed on to sponsor Red Bull’s action sports channels, among others. It looks like YouTube will only place a percentage of the ads in a sponsored channel and the rest will be spread around its various channels.
Expect to see a growth in channels in an area like sports as YouTube appears to be breaking the major verticals down into smaller subcategories in order to maximize its ability to sell sponsorships. It is already offering a package of sports channels for $40 million with Music and pop culture being offered at $62 million apiece, per year.
This strikes me as smart thinking for a range of issues. Fans are increasingly filming short bits from events and the ability to see different angles than that which are broadcast is always interesting. Already using YouTube to follow a team or sport, you will probably be able to get push alerts in the future about new video from the sponsors when they are posted rather than constantly checking in to see what is new.
Toshiba Shows 13.3-inch Tablet — Perfect for Watching Sports?
April 10, 2012 by
Are you looking for a tablet but so far none have met your needs, with the small Galaxy Note not even in the conversation, the kindle and Nook not even close to the correct size and the iPad and its ilk closer but no cigar? Then Toshiba might just have what you are looking for.
Toshiba’s Digital Products Division has introduced its line of Excite tablets today with a trio of offerings including one that features a 13.3-inch display, along with a 7.7 and a 10.1-inch offering to fill out the new Excite line.
The company said that it believes that a one size fits all model does not work in the tablet space and that it believes that the growing usage of tablets in an increasingly wide number of user applications calls for multiple sizes and features.
The three will share a few features including operating with the Android 4.0 OS, a Tegra 3 Super 4-Plus-1 quad core processor, having scratch resistant Gorilla glass and a full suite of Google mobile service applications. All three will also feature a 5MP rear facing camera as well as a 2MP front facing camera and stereo speakers.
The company recently unveiled the details on the 10-inch model so we covered that here but both the 7-inch, which will compete with the Nooks’ and Kindles’ of the market as well as the 13-inch monster are the talk of the release. The Excite 10 tablet will be available for purchase at the beginning of May 2012 for $449.99 for the 16GB model, $529.99 for the 32GB model and $649.99 for the 64GB model.
The company said that it sees the Excite 13 tablet as one that will appeal to groups for things such as watching movies, playing games and sharing photos. The tablet is 0.4 inches thick and weights 2.2 lbs. It features a 13.3-inch LED backlit display with 1600 x 1900 resolution. The Excite 13 tablet will be available for purchase at the beginning of June 2012 for $649.99 for the 32GB model and $749.99 for the 64GB model.
The Excite 7.7 is targeted at an on-the go user that does not want the bulk of a larger tablet. The Excite 7.7 tablet will be available for purchase at the beginning of June 2012 for $499.99 for the 16GB model and $579.99 for the 32GB model
I have to say that I really like their thinking on this product. It is not positioned as another iPad killer but rather as a product that serves different segments such as family and group use or users on the go rather than delivering a banal push for a tablet user. Samsung’s growing success with its Galaxy Note and other tablets shows that consumers are open to alternative sizes if they have the features that fit their needs.
I can certainly see the popularity of the person that brings a 13.3-inch tablet to an event where a group of friends can watch a playoff game that they would have missed if not for the tablet- even the ten-inch displays would not serve their needs as well. I wonder what the top end of tablet size will be? I suspect not any larger for mainstream users.
Twitter Fans of Bubba Watson’s Masters Victory Can Win Too — From Motorola
April 10, 2012 by
Bubba Watson did not just win the Masters and its impressive trophy and the fabled green jacket but he also stands to make 10 Twitter followers winners as well due to his partnership with Motorola Mobility and its recently introduced MotoActv Golf Watch.
Watson had just announced his partnership with the company prior to the event and so to celebrate both the partnership and Watson’s achievement Motorola has launched a program that will enable 10 fans to be among the first to try out the Golf Watch.
To participate all a user needs to do is follow @MOTOACTV and retweet #10under, which represents his score for those of you who do not know, for a chance to win one of the Golf Editions of the MotoActv,.
The golf watch, which sells for $299.99, enables users to track and measure a number of factors in their golf game, including providing 20,000 course layouts, serving as a virtual caddie and providing distances to front, middle and back of greens.
