Europe's online source of news, data & analysis for professionals involved in packaged media and new delivery technologies
Features
An industry executive speaks
In a series of Q&As, frontline practitioners in all facets of the packaged media and digital delivery industry share their views of things past, present and yet to come. It's the turn of MARIA INGOLD, Founder and CEO of digital media technical consultancy mireality in London. Read More...
The future of the digital locker
The video industry believes that consumers consistently expect to be able to watch video content on the go over a multitude of devices, whether it's on their smartphone, tablet or laptop, says THOMAS NASH, analyst at IHS Screen Digest. Read More...
Conference report - Beyond HD Masters
The latest in the series of 'Masters' conferences produced by industry trade magazine TVB Europe - Beyond HD Masters - highlighted the sizeable amount of work that the broadcast and consumer electronic industries have to do before 4K broadcasting can become a reality, says BILL FOSTER, Principal of Digital Decoded. Read More...
Google Glass - how to become too connected
Does the arrival of Google Glass epitomise the sacrifice of privacy in the digital age? Are we getting too connected?, asks ANTONIOS MAROULIS, Resarch Analyst with Screen Digest IHS. Read More...
Cinema needs to get more digital
"Build it and they will come" may have been a line in a movie, but it could also be the cinema exhibitor's motto, argues DAVID HANCOCK, Senior Analyst at IHS Screen Digest. It is not entirely true, but the cinema's exclusive window for seeing a new release film means that a cinema always has a chance of getting people in. Read More...
10 years - ahead with DVD and Beyond
The 17,500 professionals from over 100 countries who visit our website every month will have noted today its new name - DVD and Beyond. In truth, it is an amendment rather than a name change, in order to reflect what the online platform has been offering for a few years now, says JEAN-LUC RENAUD, Editor & Publisher. Read More...
The collapse of bricks and mortar stores
With the failure of several major European bricks and mortar video retailers in the first month of 2013, the future of physical video in Western Europe appears bleaker than ever. However, TANIA LOEFFLER, Research Analyst with IHS Screen Digest, cautions against reaching hasty conclusions. Read More...
An industry executive speaks
In a series of Q&As, frontline practitioners in all facets of the packaged media and digital delivery industry share their views of things past, present and yet to come. It's the turn of METTE BONO, Founder and Managing Director of DDD Solutions, a content delivery turnkey solutions in Helsinki, Finland. Read More...
Mobile Video - why the time has finally come
Mobile video consumption is finally becoming a mainstream activity after many years of trials, launches and commercial failures. London's Olympic Games 2012 demonstrates the trend, says IAN FOGG, Head of HIS Screen Digest Mobile Team. Read More...
Taking DVD content online
DVD-Video had a lot going for it. Sadly, all good things come to an end, and DVD is rapidly being discarded in favour of online distribution to web-connected and mobile devices. How can the DVD value chain participate in the future world of online distribution? JOHN NEWMAN, from ACE GmbH, provides answers. Read More...
TV display innovations continue apace
Innovation within the TV displays business shows no sign of stopping, despite saturation in many of Europe's leading markets. DAVID WATKINS, Research Consultant at Futuresource Consulting, assesses the markets and provides insight into the future of television. Read More...
An industry executive speaks
In a series of Q&As, frontline practitioners in all facets of the packaged media and digital delivery industry share their views of things past, present and yet to come. It's the turn of SETH HALLEN, CEO of Testronic Labs. Read More...
An industry executive speaks
In a series of Q&As, frontline practitioners in all facets of the packaged media and digital delivery industry share their views of things past, present and yet to come. It's the turn of ZOLTAN TUSSAI, Managing Director of Optical Disc Solutions, in Bucarest, Romania. Read More...
The future is here!
That is the message from a recent consumer research Rovi conducted. "In 300 interviews and 70 3-hour in-home sessions spanning the US, Canada, Germany and Italy, we sought to get a deeper understanding of how people interact with their technology in the home," explains CHARLES DAWES, Rovi's Product Management Director. Read More...
Towards a viable auto-stereoscopic display solution
"Not until they come without glasses" is a common objection to buying a 3D TV. So, how likely are auto-stereoscopic 3D screens to become available in the foreseeable future at mass-market prices? BILL FOSTER suggests what we really need is not an evolution, but a technological revolution to drive the acceptance of auto-stereoscopy. Read More...
On predicting the future
Predicting the future, let alone the future of packaged media, is a perilous exercise, and possibly counter-productive, as the exercise closes doors rather than keep them open, argues JEAN-LUC RENAUD, DVD Intelligence publisher. Consider that: Apple was left nearly for dead 15 years ago. Today, it became the world's most valuable technology company, topping Microsoft.
Le cinéma est une invention sans avenir (the cinema is an invention without any future) famously claimed the Lumière Brothers some 120 years ago. Well. The cinématographe grew into a big business, even bigger in times of economic crisis when people have little money to spend on any other business.
The advent of radio, then television, was to kill the cinema. With a plethora of digital TV channels, a huge DVD market, a wealth of online delivery options, a massive counterfeit underworld and illegal downloading on a large scale, cinema box office last year broke records!
The telephone was said to have no future when it came about. Today, 5 billion handsets are in use worldwide. People prioritize mobile phones over drinking water in many Third World countries.
No-one predicted the arrival of the iPod only one year before it broke loose in an unsuspecting market. Even fewer predicted it was going to revolutionise the economics of music distribution. Likewise, no-one saw the iPhone coming and even fewer forecast the birth of the developers' industry it ignited. And it changed the concept of mobile phone.
Make no mistake, the iPad will have a profound impact on the publishing world. It will bring new players, and smaller, perhaps more creative content creators.
And who predicted the revival of vinyl?
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