2011 July | Content Delivery and Security Association

Weird Science puts electronics in the backpacks of wild animals

July 31, 2011 · Posted in RSS Feeds · Comments Off

Backpack-wearing colugos show ideas about gliding are for the birds: A number of mammalian species, like flying squirrels, have evolved the ability to glide for long distances. Some researchers have suggested this is a way to save energy, since a nice long glide takes a lot less power than climbing down from one location and climbing back up to another. But it's an idea that has been difficult to test until now, when miniaturized electronics have allowed researchers to fit culogos with motion-sensitive backpacks.

The tracking system shows that, to glide to a new location in the canopy, colugos have to expend a fair bit of energy to climb upwards before launching into the air—based on the biomechanics of it all, they could typically do better by moving horizontally through the canopy to their final location. And, whichever way they go about things, neither of those movements end up adding a whole lot to the animal's energy budget. So, the authors suggest that gliding's just a matter of getting someplace quickly, rather than a way to conserve energy.

Mixing GPS tracking and vomit times: "Seed dispersal is critical to understanding forest dynamics," this paper starts, reasonably enough. But, before long, the authors are feeding seeds to captive toucans and measuring how long it takes before they're vomited back up (an average of just over 25 minutes, in case you were curious).

Then, just as with culogos, miniature backpacks appear, strapped on to wild animals—in this case, a GPS system on a toucan. Given the distance travlled and the amount of time involved, the authors can estimate just how far a toucan is likely to take a seed before puking it back up. Nearly half the seeds get over 100m from their site of origin.

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Week in science: water of the past and lighting of the future

July 30, 2011 · Posted in RSS Feeds · Comments Off

Astronomers find largest water reservoir ever, 12 billion years in the past: Astronomers have found the largest reservoir of water ever discovered in the Universe orbiting a distant black hole.

The future of lighting: walls of light, LEDs, and glowing trees: Innovation has come to the humble lightbulb, and the future belongs to color-changing LEDs, walls of glowing OLED panels, and... bioluminescent trees? Here's what's next in lighting tech.

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Rovi Files Patent Suit Against Hulu

July 29, 2011 · Posted in RSS Feeds · Comments Off

Rovi Corp. has filed suit against Hulu in a Delaware federal court, alleging that the online video site infringes Rovi’s patents for electronic programming guides. Neither Hulu, whose owners are holding preliminary sale talks for the company, nor Rovi have commented about the suit. The complaint alleges that Rovi had attempted to initiate licensing discussions with Hulu as early as August 2008 (via GigaOm). Rovi has taken other companies to court for infringement of its program-guide patents, including Amazon’s IMDB and Toshiba. While the IMDB case remains pending, Toshiba has since licensed Rovi’s interactive program guide patent portfolio for use in Toshiba televisions, Blu-ray players and recorders.

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More of Today’s News Headlines from CDSA

July 29, 2011 · Posted in RSS Feeds · Comments Off

Still Want to Sell CDs? Then Try 7-Eleven... (Digital Music News) In a partnership with LA-based Mall Jamz, Thump Records CEO Bill Walker decided to start stocking 7-Elevens with CDs, of all things. So, instead of driving by boarded-up record stores, music fans still have an impulse, bundled buying opportunity. “It catches people off-guard,” Walker relayed, while noting that all discs are under $10.... Users Turn Off Google TV, as Returns Outpace Sales (The Wall Street Journal) Consumers dislike Google TV so much that they are now giving the product back. Gadgets that use the company’s Google TV software to connect televisions to the Internet are selling so poorly that one of Google’s key partners disclosed Thursday that customer returns are outpacing sales.... HBO Execs Still Hoping Time Warner, Cablevision Go For HBO Go (Multichannel News) HBO executives say that they’re hoping to secure distribution deals for HBO Go holdouts Time Warner Cable and Cablevision in the near future. HBO co-president Richard Plepler told TV critics attending the network’s TCA executive panel session Thursday that the two MSOs are the biggest holdouts for distributing the subscriber-authenticated service, which has garnered more than 3.7 million downloads since the HBO Go app was launched for iPads and mobile phones this past April.... Time Warner Cable Loses 130,000 Home-Cable Subscribers (CNET) Whether cord cutting occurs because people are opting for Web-based TV is much debated. There’s no question that some of the big cable companies and premium cable channels have lost subscribers, but some have maintained that the sagging economy is really to blame and doesn’t represent a mass defection to the Web.... EA Sees ‘Poor Returns’ On 3D, Focuses On Social Instead (Gamasutra) Electronic Arts has seen poor returns when allocating its resources to displaying its games in 3D, according to CEO John Riccitiello, who says that the company would prefer to use those resources focusing on social features.... SESAC Partners With INgrooves for Worldwide Digital Distribution (SESAC) SESAC announced a partnership with INgrooves, a leading provider of digital distribution, marketing and promotion services to the global music & video community via its ONE Digital platform, to service SESAC-represented content to online retailers, mobile carriers, and other digital media outlets. The deal signifies an evolution of SESAC’s digital strategy in the ever-changing music economy....

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Redbox Adds Games to More Kiosks

July 29, 2011 · Posted in RSS Feeds · Comments Off

Having introduced video games to its rental kiosks nationwide in mid-June, Redbox announced Thursday that it would begin stocking games in another 5,000 kiosks on Aug. 1. The expansion will bring games to some 27,000 Redbox kiosks; the company now counts 33,000 kiosks total in 27,000 locations. Redbox also said that it had surpassed 4 million game rental transactions, after having crossed the 1-million mark in April with its test market of 5,000 machines. In related news, parent company Coinstar reported Redbox revenue of $363.9 million for the three months ended June 30 — an increase of 34% from the same period in 2010 (via the Los Angeles Times).

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Google takes two-step authentication global in 40 languages

July 29, 2011 · Posted in RSS Feeds · Comments Off

Google has rolled out its two-step verification sign-in system to more than 150 countries.

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Technicolor Inks Post-Production, Digital Cinema Deals; Disc Replication Drives First-Half Revenue

July 28, 2011 · Posted in RSS Feeds · Comments Off

Technicolor announced a pair of acquisitions on Wednesday, furthering plans to grow its market position in post-production services as well as digital cinema distribution. The company says its acquisition of Hollywood-headquartered post house LaserPacific broadens its services for broadcast television series as well as theatrical films. Technicolor said that it would retain key LaserPacific personnel as part of the deal, which is expected to close in August. More on the LaserPacific acquisition at The Hollywood Reporter, which notes the deal coincides with Technicolor’s inking of a post-production partnership in New York with PostWorks; both deals signify further consolidation of the post-production services sector. Paris-based Technicolor also is expanding its North American footprint in digital cinema distribution with an agreement to acquire assets of Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. With the Cinedigm deal, Technicolor’s digital cinema satellite network will span some 1,100 locations in the U.S. and Canada. Company’s DVD, Blu-ray Volumes Up 50 Percent in First Half Releasing its first-half 2011 earnings, Technicolor said revenue for its entertainment services division increased by 18 percent from the first half of 2010 (on a constant currency basis), thanks to increases in optical disc replication volumes and higher activity levels in Technicolor’s “creation services” unit. DVD and Blu-ray replication volumes increased by 50 percent from the first half of 2010, with DVD volume up by 158 million units and Blu-ray volume up 30 by million units. Likely a large contributor to the volume gains is Warner Home Video, whose replication and distribution business Technicolor added during the second half of 2010. Warner has continued to release more DVD titles than any other studio in 2011 to date, and is behind only Universal in its number of Blu-ray releases through July 22, according to the DVD Release Report (.pdf here). Technicolor also recorded 28.5% revenue growth in its technology licensing division during the first half of 2011 — driven in part by gains from MPEG-LA licensing deals. However, worldwide digital delivery revenue was down by 7% during the period, with Technicolor noting that volume gains in cable and satellite services failed to offset declines in the telecom segment. The company said it expects its licensing and entertainment services units to continue compensating for the “weakness in digital delivery revenues and margins” during the second half of 2011.

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More of Today’s News Headlines from CDSA

July 28, 2011 · Posted in RSS Feeds · Comments Off

What Netflix and Hulu Users are Watching… and How (Nielsen) Streaming video online is on the rise in the U.S., and how consumers tune in differs greatly across services. According to a recent Nielsen survey, the majority of Netflix users report watching on a TV screen. In fact, half of all Netflix users connect via a game console (Wii, PS3 or Xbox Live).... Amazon Prime Follows CBS Deal With Movies From NBCUniversal (paidContent) A deal with NBCUniversal will roughly double the number of movies available for instant streaming by Amazon Prime members. The latest Amazon content deal covers about 1,000 library titles from Universal Pictures, a broad mix including “Babe,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Fletch” and “Elizabeth” — and is part of a 50-percent content boost for Amazon Prime.... Nintendo Posts Earnings, Drops 3DS from $249 to $169 August 12th, Current Owners Get 20 Free Games (Engadget) The price of the Nintendo 3DS in the U.S. is dropping precipitously August 12th from $249 to $169, with other regions getting a similar price break in their respective currency. Are you one of the 830,000 U.S. gamers that have already shelled out? Don’t be too disappointed, the thank you gift for gamers that have logged into the eShop at least once before the price cut will be 10 free NES virtual console games September 1st, plus 10 more Game Boy Advance virtual console games — that Nintendo is not planning on releasing to the general public — before the end of the year....

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My Eye Media: New High-Speed Fiber Link Provides ‘On-Ramp’ to Faster QC

July 28, 2011 · Posted in RSS Feeds · Comments Off

By Mel Lambert In the age of digital workflows, Burbank, Calif.-based My Eye Media is leaving traffic-choked freeways and surface roads behind. With a new 10 Gigabit-per-second connection between the quality assurance firm’s Burbank headquarters and the One Wilshire building in downtown Los Angeles — a key international data switching center — My Eye Media is able to offer even faster turnaround times for what chief executive Michael Kadenacy says is “an increasing volume of file-based projects.” The new fiber-optic link streamlines the exchange of large digital audio and video files between My Eye Media and client facilities — providing a speedier alternative, Kadenacy says, than the physical transport of hard drives. A 2K feature movie, for example, now can be digitally transferred in under an hour, assuming similar bandwidth and hardware exists on the client side. “The connection,” Kadenacy says, “forms the on-ramp to a 10-gig production infrastructure.”

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