Cynopsis: DIGITAL
12/24/10

Good morning, it’s Friday, December 24, 2010, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.  If you would like to read this or any other Cynopsis edition online, click here. 

Set-top technology and content metadata specialist Rovi is buying Sonic Solutions in a cash-and-stock deal worth $720 million to enhance its entertainment offerings. Sonic’s cloud-based digital media service RoxioNow offers digital storefronts for a range of devices distributing Hollywood titles through retailers such as Best Buy and Blockbuster, with more than 10,000 movies and TV shows currently in its catalog from studios such as Universal, Disney and 20th Century Fox. The merger will integrate offerings such as RoxioNow and Rovi’s TotalGuide electronic programming guide (EPG) solution to hasten the adoption and monetization of the digital content delivery system.
 

 
The NHL is teaming with NBC to promote this year’s outdoor NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day with a Facebook campaign that will reveal the winning Facebook posting on national TV during the telecast. (Prizes include a Honda CR-Z and a trip to Orlando for the 2011 NHL All-Star Game.) The league has utilized the social networking site to collect more than 1.2 million fans to the site, with Facebook becoming one of the leading referring sources to NHL.com.

 
Christmas is coming early for YouTube‘s amateur video producers. The site announced a new program for its producing partner members offering to give away digital camera equipment to help improve the quality of original work being created for the site. The lucky awardees will be chosen based on the views they generate as well as they’re “online focus,” according to a blog post. The site will give 500 partners a total of $500,000 ($1,000 each) in the form of credits that can be redeemed at B&H Photo.
 
Indie app store Appitalism.com has struck a deal with Rovio Mobile to license Angry Birds, one of the top mobile games in 2010, for its stores in 51 countries worldwide.
 

 
Motorola’s Mobility Inc. subsidiary announced it is acquiring software company Zecter Inc. to help create a more elegant solution for consumers to transfer music between mobile handsets and other devices. Motorola Mobility will be spun off from the main company beginning next month.
 

 
Some 26% of American adults used their cellphones to learn about or participate in political campaigns during the 2010 midterm election, according to a new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The study measured calls, texts, mobile browsing, photo-sharing and app use and found that:

• 14% of all American adults used their cell phones to tell others that they had voted
• 12% of adults used their cell phones to keep up with news about the election or politics
• 10% of adults sent texts relating to the election to friends, family members and others
• 6% of adults used their cells to let others know about conditions at their local voting stations on election day, including insights about delays, long lines, low turnout, etc.

 
A new whitepaper from researcher In-Stat touts the increasing ubiquity of Wi-Fi technology and predicts that the number of Wi-Fi enabled devices will increase from 550 million last year to nearly 1.7 billion in 2015, including set-top boxes, game consoles, Blu-ray players and digital picture frames. Trends include:

• E-readers’ Wi-Fi attach rates will increase from 3% in 2009 to 88% by 2014
• In-flight Wi-Fi deployments have moved past the trial stage and are approaching critical mass with the deployment of 2,000 airplanes by year-end 2010
• Mobile VoIP applications will generate annual revenues of $32.2 billion by 2013
• Wi-Fi chipsets will pass one billion units shipped annually by 2012

 
Just in time for last-minute shoppers, Pioneer started shipping a line of 3D Blu-ray players, ranging in price from $300 to $500 depending on the features. Options include 1080p up-conversion, Wi-Fi compatibility and online content partnerships with providers such as YouTube, Netflix and Pandora. Pioneer’s free iControlAV App also turns iPhone and iPod touch devices into a fully functioning remote control for the new Blu-ray 3D players.
 

 
By now the idea of creating a site to farm out freelance creative assignments seems trite (AOL’s Seed, Suite101, Yahoo’s Associated Content are just three examples.) And these sites have been widely criticized for paying peanuts. But less face it, they’re attracting a healthy influx of fresh content, which continues to come up in web searches and other long-tail applications. Now Barry Diller’s IAC is getting into the act with The Writers Network noticed AdAge, which pitches short-length fixed rate assignments to hungry freelancers for nominal fees of $10-$20 per piece. As with similar ventures, the devil is in the details. Participants should be aware that the site claims ownership of everything they submit and prohibits users from publishing what they write anywhere else. Such ventures rely on up and comers looking to build a portfolio of published work. But at least they provide an entry point and training ground that had been far more allusive in the past. And hey, $20 is $20.
 
Later – much later …. Cynopsis is now off for the holidays, back and in your in-box on Monday, January 3, 2011.  Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a very Happy and Healthy New Year!
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis Digital
12.24.10

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JOB OPENING: DIGITAL ACCT EXEC/Discovery Communications/NY: AE w/5+ yrs digital ad sales exp a must to sell national advertising for Discovery’s Digital properties including web, mobile, VOD and podcasting. www.discovery.com (2795) (1/4)

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WINTER/SPRING INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: Bynum Artist Management/LA: Looking for an unpaid intern to manage actor submissions. Approx. 3 to 4 hours/work day. Respond to allabouteve4u@yahoo.com and include “Manager Intern” in subject line. (1/4)

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