Google TV is going away – but not entirely. The web company is looking to rebrand its streaming service to something more Android related, as it integrates more services from the Android line into its products.
Though Google hasn’t made the official announcement for the switch-over just yet, an executive from a consumer electronics manufacturer confirmed that the company has been producing Google TV devices with a rebranding, saying, “They are calling it ‘Android TV’.”
Sony has already made the switch on the label with a new smart TV adapter called the Bravia TV stick last month, not mentioning Google TV once in its announcement. Instead, it referred to its compatibility with “Google services.”
Another indication of the name change actually came from the Google TV team, when an announcement in Seoul was officially labeled “Android TV Developer Day.”
It’s only a matter of time before Google announces the switch, as well as the services that will come with it. Considering the speed bumps that have come with the service, look for it sooner rather than later.
Going to the movie theater usually entails being briefed on turning your cell phone off. The latest Disney experiment wants you to defy basic etiquette by bringing your iPad into the picture with a fully-synced second screen movie experience. Second Screen Live: The Little Mermaid appears to be the next natural step in the gamification of well, everything.
The special showing was brought to just 16 theaters in Southern California, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Georgia and Kansas for a month-long run which began Sept. 20. Beforehand, participants were required to download a 641 MB app compatible only with the iPad.
The app uses the iPad’s microphone to sync with the interactive elements of the movie with games that are fun and appropriate for all ages. The games begin to roll in before the credits do. The audience forms groups that compete to score the most points before the movie’s end. The games are usually titled after the character that appears on the film screen. At choice moments, the movie will pause so the audience can get a full gaming experience without distracting too much from the film.
The interactive elements aren’t just limited to games, too. The movie’s songs are given special precedence with “crab-e-ole,” which is, you guessed it- lyrics on the screen for the audience to sing along with. This element is particularly great because of its potential for adding an educational component to the experience.
Disney’s movie is just part of an industry-wide effort to bring people back to the theater in a time when the movie industry might be in trouble. The Second Screen Live experience might reinvigorate the movie experience by making it special again. Marketers are facing the challenge of making the movie-going experience attractive to the next generation. Bringing another screen into the equation feels like the natural next step, a move that is in line with our evolving love for mobile devices. For now, Disney is continuing with bringing back classics to the big screen.
The Little Mermaid experiment has been quite successful, with 97 percent of the audience of the audience being positive and receptive. Possibly due to the great response, The Nightmare Before Christmas is now slated to come to theaters this year second screen-style.
If the idea proves lucrative, it follows that bringing in the second screen might be just as engaging for adults as it is for kids. Potential for live-tweeting, quizzes and more are there. It might also be used to extend the usual theatrical run for popular films and encourage people to see a movie again, with the added second screen benefit.
While much of the audience was positive,Taylor Casti, a writer for Mashable who experienced the second screen showing firsthand had some critiques.
“Some moviegoers meeting Ariel and friends for the first time will find it hard to focus on the movie, with a new game every minute or two. Many games require an individual’s full attention, for instance, when players quickly pop bubbles or tilt the iPad to catch Ariel’s treasures in a chest.”
She noted that as a repeat-watcher of The Little Mermaid, there were some key moments that new viewers may have missed due to the distraction. Moments such as when King Triton destroys Ariel’s treasure collection and the first time Ariel meets Eric. Still, Casti observed that the addition of the second screen transformed the movie from a linear narrative to non-linear because of the emphasis on characters.
Dave Hollis, Disney’s head of theatrical distribution made a point of saying that while second screen might be effective and interactive, they are not looking to implement it with every film.
“This is absolutely not an idea that you bring any device to any movie at any time. At Disney we have extraordinary reverence for the traditional moviegoing experience to be free from light, chatter and phones,” said Hollis in speaking to the LA Times {link no longer active}.
A researcher from UCLA’s Children’s Digital Media Center, Yalda Uhls, said her primary issue with second screen comes from a storytelling perspective.”It’s really important to engage children in storytelling and it’s already hard to do that today when there are so many different distractions and stimulations everywhere.”
You can see for yourself if the experience disengages you from the storyline:
Eminem continues his longstanding collaboration with Call of Duty with the video for the song “Survival” featuring clips from Call of Duty: Ghosts. Also, anyone who buys the game at GameStop the day of its release on Nov. 5 will get a special code to download his new album The Marshall Mathers LP 2.
Lionel Messi is arguably the best soccer player in the world right now, and his general marketability as an athlete makes him appealing to all sorts of global brands. It’s appropriate then that Samsung tap him for this new ad for the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear smartwatch.
The hit song “Royals” by Lorde provides the magical backdrop to this ad.
For the first time, XCOM is threatened by terrestrial enemies: a rogue organization, known as EXALT. Part of the expansion XCOM: Enemy Within will have you tracking down this threat and eliminating it.
Anyone who’s watched much Archer knows that the titular spy loves referring to the Kenny Loggins’ classic song “Danger Zone.” The creators of the show have taken that reference to the logical extreme with an awesome tribute to the memorable moments of the movie Top Gun and the song which is most associated with it.
Twitch has become an immensely popular destination for live-streamed programming on the internet. However, not everyone is fond of the “forced” commercials they have to occasionally watch during Twitch programs.
Luckily, Twitch has come up with a way to break away from the ads — with some help from sponsors. The company has announced the first “Commercial-Free On Twitch” program block, which will launch this Tuesday in conjunction with Sony and the PlayStation 4.
With this service block, users can now view the action as a commercial-free experience, with a single premiere partner working in their place. Sony will take the first role in this, offering 12 full hours of commercial-free action going from 9 a.m. PST to 9 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, October 15. The only ad streamers will see at this time is a pre-roll hosted by Sony, revolving around its PS4 game console.
“This first-to-market event truly showcases the way fantastic brands like the PS4 can maximize their marketing messaging while benefiting the Twitch users here in North America,” said Andy Swanson, VP of Sales, Twitch. “It’s a great example of how Twitch’s unique live streaming platform can balance the needs of both its partners and its passionate gaming community.”
In addition, Sony will host a special live broadcast on Tuesday at 4:00 PDT, where it will reveal first footage of the new Abandoned Map Packs for its hit action/adventure game The Last of Us. Viewers can tune in at the official PlayStation Twitch channel here.
The “Commercial-Free on Twitch” promotion shares some similar elements to Twitch’s ad free subscription feature called Turbo, but will be free of cost to ALL Twitch visitors during the duration of the program.
The PlayStation 4 releases in the U.S. on November 15.
Even though Microsoft will put a great amount of focus into the Xbox One this holiday season, it isn’t forgetting about selling the Xbox 360 system.
The company has announced three new bundles that will be available soon, providing not only some great content within each one, but also a deal that can save potential buyers $50.
The first two bundles focus on the Kinect motion-sensing peripheral, with a 250 GB or 4 GB Xbox 360/Kinect bundle that includes both Kinect Sports: Season Two and Kinect Adventures, along with a month of Xbox Live Gold. In addition, the 250 GB version will include the racing game Forza Horizon.The 4 GB version lists for $249.99, and the 250 GB version lists for $349.99.
A third bundle that will focus more on general action gamers will include a 250 GB system, the first-person shooter Halo 4, Square Enix’s critically acclaimed action/adventure Tomb Raider and a month of Xbox Live Gold for only $249.99.
In addition, those who purchase one of these bundles between October 13 and January 4 will be eligible to save an additional $50 off each purchase from participating retailers, bringing the cost down to $199.99 or $299.99, a very competitive price.
Ever since its launch last month, Grand Theft Auto V has been immensely popular in the video game realm. However, its online counterpart, Grand Theft Auto Online, managed to run into a number of server and operational problems when it went live.
Rockstar Games is hard at work on repairing these issues. In the meantime, to reward the players who have been experiencing these problems, it’s preparing a little Stimulus Package. Set to release sometime over the next few weeks – starting this week – this bonus will add $500,000 to player accounts, allowing them to spend it however they please on weapons and other in-game items.
There are certain conditions to receiving these rewards, and they are as follows.
You must play or have played Grand Theft Auto Online at any time during the month of October 2013 in order to qualify for the GTA $500,000 deposit in your in-game bank account.
Players will first have to install a forthcoming GTAV title update which we expect to happen next week. That title update (1.04) is expected to fix the remaining instances of issues that have caused vehicle purchase loss and will also enable the functionality through which we’ll be providing this GTA $ stimulus cash to players.
We will announce at the Rockstar Newswire when each deposit is made.
Each of the two GTA $250,000 deposits will be made by Rockstar and should automatically appear in the in-game GTA Online bank accounts of eligible players. Beyond downloading the forthcoming title update mentioned above, there should not be any additional special action required by eligible players to redeem.
When Valve’s Steam Controller was announced a few days back – as part of a trifecta of new announcements from the company – some folks were skeptical of how it would work, since it uses touch-sensor pads in favor of traditional analog sticks.
Putting such worries to rest, Valve released a new video showing off just how the controller would work with a variety of games, including Portal 2, Civilization V and the company’s highly popular first-person shooter Counter-Strike.
Throughout the video, the engineer demonstrating the games shows just how movement and actions work with the controller, and how to use the one-to-one view control mode to get the most out of each game’s performance.
The controller will ship out later this year alongside the 300 Steam Machines that are going out for beta, and should be in production sometime in 2014. Pricing hasn’t been revealed just yet.Source: Ars Technica
