by clark on October 13, 2010, under Devices, HTML5, Mobile, Uncategorized
One of the greatest areas of technological growth over the last two years has been in the development of apps. The term ‘app’ is short for ‘application program’, the flip side being a systems program. Many vendors like Apple (iPhone, iPad), Google (Android) and now Microsoft (Windows Phone 7) chase developers to create apps in their environments so their devices will have better functionality…and they can in turn sell more devices.
Apple far and away has not only helped create this market, but continued to catapult it along. A recent estimate says there are over 50,000 app publishers and over 200,000 apps in the US App Store alone. Apps built on the Android platform are growing, as are Blackberry and Nokia (Symbian). Microsoft is well behind, but it is reportedly offering some developers revenue guarantees even if the new Windows Phone 7 fails. A completely new market for apps are also being built on the growing number of tablet computers that are or will soon be sold. Though the operating systems are the same (iOS and Android), the apps being developed for tablets can be very different than the apps on their phone counterparts, and are often much more media rich.
A huge ecosystem is building around supporting the App development industry. From app developers, to app exchanges, to app aggregators, and of course app stores; many different businesses are popping up to support the app industry. The growth we see continuing to flourish is in that of publishers of informational or entertainment content. Virtually every show or brand that has any kind of content where they need eyeballs will eventually need an app if they are to remain current– and they will need apps across devices. Granted, they may not think they need an app for every single phone or tablet, but any device that has sold millions, they will want to get there. Anything from news to sports to weather to fantasy football to full length shows are available from many of the apps that have been specifically built by the owners of that content. These apps are generally made available for free, and there is a huge competition amongst networks, brands and content owners to get the most downloads for their apps.
The decision of what apps to provide can be extremely difficult, however. For instance, a network like CBS may want to build apps for CBS Corporate, CBS News and CBS Sports separately. They may even want to provide apps for specific shows like Survivor or 60 Minutes– or for categories of shows. And then for each of these decisions, they must decide if they are making apps for all the devices out there. Costs to develop all these apps and publish content to the devices can really add up, and it is important that the content owners have a way to monetize all of their shows published to apps moving forward. The mobile ad industry is still in its infancy and will continue to grow and hopefully flourish over time. A platform like Castfire enables publishers to monetize and analyze consumption of audio and video across all platforms by integrating with any ad server; even if the ad server is set up to work within Flash. Therefore, publishers can continue to use their same ad system and same ad ops they use for the web and monetize their content no matter what apps they decide to develop and publish content. Another host of companies like Transpera are focusing on the mobile ad market and rich media ads, and provide other ways content producers can monetize their apps.
One thing is certain: apps are here to stay, and they will only grow in numbers in the foreseeable future as more and more smart phones and tablets hit the market. Those publishers that create the apps that are easy to find, fun to use, and can advertise there without being intrusive will be the ones that win over this ever growing consumer base that will demand more and more mobile content moving forward.
by randall on October 12, 2010, under Features
We’re about to roll out some major changes to Castfire. Primarily, we’re going to change how users log into the system, and how accounts are managed. Our new user account system will give you additional flexibility when using the system. For instance, users will be able to use their own email addresses and passwords, and will have the ability to have those logins tied to multiple content producers. You’ll also be able to grant specific permissions per account, and we’ve added the ability to create FTP-only users.
All accounts in the new system are tied to specific email addresses, so any email you use needs to be a valid, working email address. Each new user will receive a confirmation email, at which point they’ll be able to add individual information like their password, phone numbers, and other contact info.
We’ve created three new classes of users: Admins, Users and FTP users. Admins have full control over a network and can change all aspects of a network. Users can be restricted by individual content producers, and can have specific rights turned on and off. FTP users can only connect via FTP, and won’t have access to the CMS.
We’ll be phasing out the old network logins over the next week, which means the technical contact for your organization needs to set up user accounts for everyone in your network by the end of October.
If you have questions, send them our way: support@castfire.com
by randall on October 7, 2010, under Devices, Living Room
Check that out… it’s the first chance many of us have had to see the Google TV on video. We’ll get you briefly caught up on what people are saying about Logitech’s Revue.
Among the highlights? Check out Nilay’s full impressions at Engadget. He thinks the keyboards are pretty cool, and the web browser works effectively. He notes the Logitech unit has IR blaster ports on the sides, which means the Google TV can control most of your other home theater equipment if it’s placed within range.
It’s not all roses, however. The box itself isn’t cheap. At $300, some, like ZDNET, are declaring the box virtually dead on arrival. And a lot of other people are piling on with the same sentiment.
Then there’s Lance Ulanoff at PC Mag. He’s concerned because the browser really is just a desktop style web browser without the interface. That means if a whole bunch of windows start opening, it’s going to be difficult to close them at all.
Also making its way around the Google TV announcement-scape? Apparently, Sony’s Google TV powered TVs are going to go for $1,300 for the 32-inch flavor, up to $1,900 for the 46-inch set.
Oh, and lastly, Google has opened its official Google TV page. It should give you a starting point if you’re going to get into developing content.
by randall on September 30, 2010, under HTML5, Living Room, Thoughts
While perusing online video industry rag NewTeeVee, I stumbled across a report that DVR usage eats away at TV ratings by 15%-20%. I know in my household, it’s more like 95% of our household ratings. With that growth in DVRs comes a shift in the way people consume content, and specifically they’ve altered the mainstream media diet of consumers dramatically. Now, some viewers don’t look at the TV as a place to see what’s on, but rather what’s good to watch.
It’s easy to take this new behavior pattern and infer that the day of on-demand is just around the corner. I think a lot of smart folks will take that approach, and there’s some sound logic behind it. Now that consumers are willing to “bookmark” shows and watch them on their schedules, that has to mean internet-enabled TVs will lead a monumental shift away from primetime, right?
It could be the case, but rather than walk down the road that’s likely to get overcrowded and overhyped in the next six months, let me recommend starting with the road less traveled. Think about why people like TV.
Why do I like TV? Curated content, brainless interface. When I show up to my TV, I don’t actively need to search for a topic, find an actor, look by keyword, but instead I can simply show up expecting to be entertained… and guess what? I’m entertained. I simply swap between 3-4 cable networks and I can (usually) find something that catches my fancy. That’s the way it’s been for 50 years. People expect TV to entertain them without asking much from the user.
There are some smart folks taking a look at the passive entertainment experience online. For instance, take a peek at Google Reader Play. It’s a product that takes a bunch of sites online, and tries to serve you up content based on the ones you’re most likely to enjoy. Another fav worth checking out is Upl8.tv. When you show up to the site, it’s simply an old-skool rendered TV with a YouTube embedded player. Rather than leaning into the product, and selecting some category, or searching, instead the site throws a selection of hand curated YouTube videos at you, one after another. The beauty is in the simplicity: Just smash the spacebar when you get bored.
Those are two good examples where someone has ventured outside the lines, but I think content producers can take some adventurous risks without spending a ton of cash. Find a smart web developer, come up with some ways of presenting content that doesn’t look like YouTube, create it in some spare time, and find some users who will give you a shot. Worst case scenario? They don’t like it and you learned something about what people don’t like.
The reward is figuring out a non-traditional experience that users will love, and then being able to share your content in a way that connects with people. It’s not going to be easy, but the only downside is time. Try to carve some out to create a future, and your future self will thank you.
by Charlie Killian on September 28, 2010, under API, Development, Features
If you have been following the Castfire status blog then you have recently seen several updates involving backend changes for the Castfire API. I want to share with you how those changes will manifest for Castfire clients.
There are six upcoming API key enhancements that fall into two general categories.
API key management
API keys will be decoupled from a user login allowing for a network to create unlimited API keys. Separate API keys can be created and assigned to a specific task or third-party. For example, if you are working with a digital agency like Digitaria, an API key can be created and shared with just them.
The API key can also be given a name, such as “Digitaria” and if needed the API secret can be changed or the API key can be deleted easily in the Castfire CMS.
API key access restrictions
Keeping third-party integrations in mind, API keys can be restricted to one or more API methods. For example, if Digitaria only needs details about existing shows, the API key can be limited to the shows.getDetail API method. If later on, the ability to set show tags is required then access to shows.setTags can easily be added in the Castfire CMS.
Restrictions also encompass content producers, allowing for API keys to be restricted to one or more. For example, if Digitaria wants the ability to set foreign keys on all shows in the “News” content producer, an API key can be created that only has access to this content producer and the only the shows.setDetail API method
These upcoming API key enhancements will make API key management easier, give control over access restrictions and allow for more flexibility when integrating Castfire with third-party vendors.