Source:  Omniture, January 2010

Cynopsis: DIGITAL
03/01/10

Good morning, it’s Monday, March 1, 2010, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

For those who believe that the best way to combat piracy is to make more legitimate video available online, this could be welcome news. Chinese search giant Baidu has lined up $50 million in financing from Hulu investor Providence Equity Partners to build out its licensed, ad supported online video portal Qiyi.com. The plan is to offer professional-quality HD video for free with sophisticated, high CPM advertising attached including movies, TV shows, animation, music videos and documentaries. Baidu will have plenty of competition in the space, including Youku, Tudou and state-owned CNTV.cn.
 

 
CereProc‘s next-generation text to speech software will be showcased tomorrow on Oprah when the queen of daytime has film critic Roger Ebert on the show, per the Chicago Tribune. The software takes excerpts of the users’ voice in order to replicate natural intonation. Following a bout with thyroid cancer, Ebert lost his speech but has been utilizing the technology to make public appearances with a less robotic voice.
 

 
Facebook is officially putting an end to app push notifications. This means that developers will now have to rely on the use of counters, news blurbs or opt-in email notifications to alert users of changes or new features.
 
Popular open source media center software application Boxee, recently released in Beta format, has returned to the Apple TV set-top through this easy-to-install script.
 

 
Search isn’t the only battle front for Google in Europe. Google‘s Street View application may violate EU privacy laws by storing unblurred images for 1 year – that’s 6 months past a legislated 6-month window, according to Bloomberg. A privacy lawyer for the company claims the images are needed for a year to “ensure the quality and accuracy of our maps.”
 
EchoStar announced it is acquiring a stake in Mexican satellite company Satmex for $374 million in cash, $107 million of which is due at closing expected during Q3 2010. EchoStar’s existing Mexican partner, MVS Comunicaciones, will also participate in the ownership of Satmex through a joint venture with EchoStar.
 

 
The digital divide between richer countries and poorer ones continues as only half of 10 surveyed countries reported a majority of respondents are users of the internet, according the World Internet Project, conducted by the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. Both developed and less-developed countries reported relatively low percentages of internet users, including Mexico (32%), Portugal (37%), Cyprus and Colombia (45%), Czech Republic (51%), and Chile (55%). Only three countries and regions reported more than 60% of respondents as internet users: Macao (61%), the United States (78%) and Sweden (80%).
 
Distimo‘s monthly smartphone app report found that games on Windows Marketplace for Mobile and the BlackBerry App World fetched a double on average than the ones sold on Apple’s App Store. Games on Windows Marketplace for Mobile and BlackBerry App World were priced at $4.91 and $4.60 (on average) respectively, compared to $2.24 for the iPhone/iPod Touch. In terms of paid game genres, 22% of the most grossing game titles in the Apple App Store were published in the Action category. The Arcade and Adventure categories were second and third with 12% and 9%, respectively. Although the Puzzle category is the largest game division in the Apple App Store, relatively few of these games generate enough revenue to be ranked among the top grossing game titles.
 

 
The OMG! Texting Dictionary from PressKit is a new 99 cent iPhone resource that bridges the gap between the txt savvy and the tech hopeless with thousands of text abbreviation definitions. There’s even an SMS acronym translator. The app, which is being included in this year’s Oscar Swag bags, is a companion app to Shawn Marie Edgington’s printed word primer Read Between The Lines.
 
The first Samsung 3D televisions are now shipping from Amazon.com. The 46” LED backlit model is priced at $2,600 while the 55” version goes for $3,300. The price looks to be about a 20% premium over non-3D Samsung sets.
 

 
KPI has upped Brooke Meredith to Senior Director, Program and Talent Development. She will be working to further develop the New York-based production outfit’s programming and acquisition of talent.
 

 
Hey actors – do you want to practice your lines when you’re stuck on the freeway or, better yet, right before it’s your turn at rehearsals? Now there’s an app for that. Los Angeles-based actor David H. Lawrence XVII – who used to voice the daily podcast for Cyn Digital and is now keeping busy playing Eric Doyle (aka The Puppetmaster) on Heroes – has created the nifty Rehearsal iPhone app that allows you to upload scripts, highlight your lines and record audio rehearsals of your scenes. During a read through with the cast, record other actors’ bits so that can you can rehearse your lines organically. Record each run through then listen back to experiment with diction, emphasis and timing. You can even add beat marks, or insert photos or video commentary into run throughs. The interface is intuitive and innovative, utilizing the flexibility of the iPhone/iPod Touch platform to its fullest potential. The app itself is free to download but it will cost you to upload scripts beyond the first 3. Here’s David demonstrating some of Rehearsal’s features.
 
Later – Wayne
Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
wayne@cynopsis.com
03.01.10

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