Author Archives: Scalper1

Sony Takes Internet TV Service PlayStation Vue Nationwide

Hoping to attract cable TV cord-cutters and cord-nevers, Sony ( SNE ) on Monday took its Internet-based PlayStation Vue service nationwide. Sony launched its live and on-demand TV service in March 2015 in test markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco and Miami. PlayStation Vue offers “skinny TV” bundles of channels starting at $29.99 a month, with no long-term contracts or hidden fees. It competes with a similar online service from Dish Network ( DISH ) called Sling TV. PlayStation Vue boasts that it offers the most popular channels, including AMC, CNN, Discovery, Disney and ESPN. However, content from ABC, FOX ( FOX ) and NBC is available for now only as on-demand content in Vue’s Slim multichannel plans. Most on-demand content will be available within 24 hours after broadcast. CBS ( CBS ) programming will be added later, Sony said in a press release . Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI) said that it is working to add live local broadcast stations across all networks. Vue offers three service plans. Access Slim has over 55 channels and costs $29.99 a month; Core Slim has over 70 channels for $34.99 a month; and Elite Slim has over 100 channels for $44.99 a month. The Vue service is accessible through Sony’s PlayStation 3 and 4 game consoles, Amazon.com ( AMZN ) Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, as well as the Apple ( AAPL ) iPad and iPhone with the Vue mobile app. “Since launching a year ago, our priority with PlayStation Vue has been to secure the best TV content for our audience and make it available to consumers nationwide; today, we’re delivering on that promise,” Eric Lempel, senior vice president of marketing and head of SNEI’s PlayStation Network Americas, said in a statement. “PlayStation Vue has been an ambitious project from the start, and national expansion demonstrates our ability to innovate in an industry that’s overdue for a reinvented experience. “Thanks to the strong network relationships we’ve forged and technology we’ve built, consumers nationwide can enjoy a better way to watch TV.” Sony PlayStation Vue has program deals with AMC Networks ( AMCX ), CBS, Discovery Communications ( DISCA ), Disney ( DIS )/ABC Television Group, ESPN, Fox, NBCUniversal, Scripps Networks Interactive ( SNI ), Turner Broadcasting and Viacom ( VIAB ). Vue also offers customers a cloud-based DVR, which allows users to store thousands of hours of content with conflict-free recording.

Netflix Backing Could Pump Up Google Cloud Vs. Amazon.com AWS

Could video streamer Netflix ( NFLX ) give Alphabet ’s ( GOOGL ) Google a boost in its cloud computing war vs. Amazon Web Services? Morgan Stanley speculates that may the case when Netflix pops up at Google’s cloud computing user conference slated for March 23-24. While Netflix is a customer of AWS, part of e-commerce giant Amazon.com ( AMZN ), it also uses Google’s IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service) platform. “Non-Google guest speakers at the conference include Snapchat, Spotify . . . and Netflix,” Brian Nowak, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, wrote in a research report.  “ Snapchat and Spotify are current Google Cloud users. While Netflix is a large AWS client, we believe Netflix uses Google Cloud for back-up storage. “Any endorsement and/or further Google Cloud adoption from Netflix would (help) Google Cloud establish its credibility as a competitor to AWS.” AWS is the biggest cloud services provider — where customers rent computer servers and data storage systems via the Internet — followed by Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Google. Goldman Sachs recently speculated that Google could announce price cuts at the user conference, where the new boss of Google’s cloud business, Diane Greene, will make her debut. Greene is the founder and former CEO of VMware ( VMW ), whose virtualization software is a staple in cloud data centers. One question for Alphabet shareholders, says Nowak, is whether Google’s capital spending on cloud infrastructure — data centers packed with servers and communications gear — will increase. “We expect (industry) cloud-related data center spending to grow 18% in 2016, up from 15% in 2015, and Google is a key driver, contributing one-fifth of the acceleration,” Nowak wrote. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Justice Department Encryption Headaches Will Extend Beyond Apple

Facebook ( FB ), Alphabet ( GOOGL ) and Snapchat are bolstering their encryption technology to increase user privacy, as Apple ( AAPL ) fights the U.S. government over iPhone encryption. A report from the Guardian says Facebook’s instant messaging service, WhatsApp, plans to expand its secure messaging service so that voice calls are also encrypted. WhatsApp has 1 billion monthly users. Facebook is also considering beefing up security of its own Messenger tool, the Guardian report said. Messenger has about 800 million users. The report also said Alphabet is exploring extra uses for encryption technology currently under development for its Google email services, and that Snapchat is developing encryption services for its messaging platform as well. These projects were underway before Apple’s fight with the U.S. Department of Justice over iPhone encryption. That fight began on Feb. 16 when a federal judge in Southern California ordered Apple to provide “reasonable technical assistance” to the FBI to help unlock a password-protected iPhone belonging to Syed Farook, one of the killers in the San Bernardino, Calif., terrorist attack on Dec. 2. This battle — seen as a crucial test of privacy vs. security — is headed to federal court in Riverside, Calif., as it’s being debated aggressively in the court of public opinion. Revelations that Facebook, Alphabet and Snapchat are also planning to bolster their security could further antagonize authorities. Alphabet, Facebook, Snapchat, Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ) have all signed on to legal briefs supporting Apple in the iPhone encryption fight. While the Justice Department wages war with Apple, government officials are also debating how to resolve a prolonged standoff with WhatsApp, according to a New York Times report . The report said the Justice Department is discussing how to proceed in an investigation in which a federal judge had approved a wiretap, but investigators were stymied by WhatsApp’s encryption. In a separate but related matter, on March 1 federal police in Brazil arrested a Facebook executive after the company failed to turn over information from a WhatsApp messaging account that a judge had requested for a drug trafficking investigation.