Verizon, Redbox plan Netflix challenge

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE81510M20120206?irpc=932

(Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc and Coinstar's Redbox unit have formed a video joint venture to provide services aimed at competing directly against video rental giant Netflix Inc.

Shares of Netflix fell almost 3 percent after news of the venture, which will combine the Redbox DVD rental kiosk business with an Internet video offering from Verizon.

The alliance will mark Verizon's first foray into video streaming outside of its network operating region as the telephone company currently only offers Internet video services to customers using its FiOS television service.

However, the venture's success in competing with Netflix and other online rivals like Amazon.com and Hulu Plus, will depend hugely on the price of the service and the depth of content it has available, according to analysts.

Verizon and Coinstar will likely have to invest heavily to convince Hollywood studios to participate if they are to offer a comparable service to Netflix, Daniel Ernst, an analyst at Hudson Square Research said.

"The question is, how much are they investing to get a large library of programming? Netflix is spending up to $1 billion a year on content," said Ernst. "For me, it's doubtful that these two companies will invest to that level."

As Netflix has shifted its emphasis to instant-view streaming from its mailed DVD rental service, it has had to write ever-heftier checks to content.

Verizon did not disclose how many of its FiOS TV programming partners, if any, had agreed to make video content available for the streaming service.

The partnership follows a December 6 report from Reuters that Verizon was planning a standalone streaming video service.

Analysts said it makes sense for Verizon, which has spent about $23 billion building its FiOS TV network, to create an online offering in the hope of increasing its TV subscriber numbers. But Pacific Crest analyst Steve Clement complained that it did not give enough details to get investors excited.

"We don't know what kind of content they'll have available, what they'll pay for that content and what they'll charge for it," said Clement. "There's way more questions than answers at this point."

He noted that a big part of Netflix' success was due to its easy user interface and recommendation of TV shows and movies based on its subscribers viewing history.

Netflix had 24.4 million U.S. subscribers at the end of December, while Verizon ended the year with 4.2 million FiOS TV customers. Coinstar rents out DVDs at $1 a day and Blu-Ray discs for $1.50 a day from kiosks in locations such as supermarkets.

The venture -- to be 65 percent owned by Verizon and 35 percent by Redbox -- will offer its first products in the second half of 2012, the companies said.

Shares in Netflix fell $3.54, or 2.8 percent, to $122.89 in morning trade on Nasdaq, where Coinstar shares pulled back from an earlier increase of up to 7 percent but were still up 66 cents, or 1.38 percent, at $50.33. Verizon edged up 6 cents to $37.90 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Start Up Claims Immortality For Data With Stone Like Disc

Start-up to release 'stone-like' optical disc that lasts forever
New optical disc aims for consumer market first, then corporate archives

 http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218881/Start_up_to_release_stone_like_optical_disc_that_lasts_forever

Start-up Millenniata and Hitachi-LG Data Storage plan to soon release a new optical disc and read/write player that will store movies, photos or any other data forever. The data can be accessed using any current DVD or Blu-ray player.

Millenniata calls the product the M-Disc, and the company claims you can dip it in liquid nitrogen and then boiling water without harming it. It also has a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) study backing up the resiliency of its product compared to other leading optical disc competitors.

Millenniata CEO Scott Shumway would not disclose what material is used to produce the optical discs, referring to it only as a "natural" substance that is "stone-like."

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/08/08/2222208/Start-Up-Claims-Immortality-For-Data-With-Stone-Like-Disc

This is something long overdue.  We don't have any recording media with a life span more then a few decades at best.

The horror stories of old films and magnetic tape recordings has been told over and over.

I personally experienced trying to recover data off 9 track tape and having the glue get gummy and the take stick to the recording head.

Even CD's and blue ray don't have much of a life span.

Any long term medium should be non-conductive, to protect against EMP.
UV resistant so not degrade in sun light,
Survive temperature extremes.
Be mechanically sturdy so it doesn't break
Resistant to long term water / moisture and microbial growth.
Resistant to long term exposure to low intensity radiation.  (natural background, and radon and other sources)



Plastics and other hydrocarbons like epoxy absorb moisture and break down with UV and microbial action.

Even Glass may possibly deform over 100's of years as it's a semi-liquid.
http://www.desy.de/user/projects/Physics/General/Glass/glass.html

This leaves only a few things that could work.

Silicon Carbide, Diamond and other hard crystals are probably the best bet.
Maybe graphene, nanotubes or other carbon forms.

Report: Blu-ray disc sales up, DVD sales drop

The Digital Entertainment Group reports that Blu-ray disc sales increased 10% in the first half of 2011, while total sales for Blu-ray and DVD discs combined were off by 18%, with DVD demand in decline. Industry observers noted that releases in last year's second quarter included "Avatar," which sold more than 12 million discs in that quarter alone, while releases in the first half of 2011 didn't include a comparable blockbuster to drive disc sales. Reuters, HomeMediaMagazine

Netflix Sees Angry Clients Cutting Profit

From New York Times:
Netflix Sees Angry Clients Cutting Profit

Just two weeks after announcing a price adjustment that angered many customers, Netflix came out Monday with a weaker-than-anticipated earnings outlook.

While the entertainment distributor reported a 52 percent rise in second-quarter revenue, it also reaffirmed a temporary slowdown in subscriber growth and said that its third-quarter revenue would be hampered by reactions to the price change. Netflix stock, which peaked above $300 earlier this month, dropped 10 percent in after-hours trading Monday, after closing at $281.53 earlier in the day.

Netflix posted second-quarter revenue of $789 million, up 52 percent from the same quarter last year. It said its profit for the quarter was $68 million, up 55 percent.

For the third quarter, Netflix said it expected revenue to be $799.5 million to $828.5 million, which was lower than previous projections on Wall Street.

The price adjustment, announced July 12, takes Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service, which was a $2 add-on to its $8-a-month online streaming service, and makes it a separate $8 package. For Netflix, the online streaming service, which remains $8, is growing much faster than DVD-by-mail. But some customers were outraged by what was effectively a 60 percent price increase for the combined service.

The price change “doesn’t take effect until the very end of the third quarter,” the Netflix chief executive, Reed Hastings, said in an interview Monday. “So we have to face those subscribers who are upset by the increase this quarter.” While he said he expected only “a few” to cancel or downgrade service, “that means less revenue than we otherwise would have had.”

The price change will benefit Netflix in the fourth quarter and beyond, he said, expressing no misgivings about the change in strategy. He said that Netflix intended to spend the increased revenue on its online streaming service, keeping its domestic operating margin for the year around its target of 14 percent. In the second quarter, its domestic margin was 16.3 percent.

“As our subscriber base continues to grow, we’re able to spend more on improving that service, both on the R.& D. side and on the content availability side,” Mr. Hastings said, using shorthand for research and development.

Keeping online streaming customers satisfied is a critical task for Netflix, which is vulnerable to the licensing decisions of Hollywood studios. Netflix has indicated that it is confident that it can pay what is necessary to license enough content from studios.

Mr. Hastings declined to comment on a Bloomberg News report that it was in talks to license the exclusive streaming rights to DreamWorks Animation films, replacing DreamWorks’ pact with HBO. An executive with knowledge of the deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made, said that HBO had offered DreamWorks an early departure from its contract with the premium cable company.

Netflix said that it remained in talks with its single biggest supplier of films, Starz. That agreement comes up for renewal in the first quarter of 2012.

Netflix Killing DVDs Like Apple Killed Floppies? - Slashdot

From Slashdot:

"While there has been lots of outcry about Netflix separating their DVD service from their streaming service, media expert Eric Garland says they're just doing to the DVD what Apple did to the floppy disk. 'I was reminded of so many precedents: Facebook revamping its user interface, the introduction of the first Blueberry iMac, the one with the conspicuously missing 3.5-inch floppy drive on the front. All of these were moments when there was a paradigm shift that led to an immediate public outcry. People made a lot of noise and had a lot of complaints. People were very upset about these shifts...until they weren't. In the news cycle, the outcry is significant and it is problematic, but it's also important to note how quickly these things are forgotten.'"

Netflix in Mercury news today.

Check out zediva.com mentioned in the article.

UPDATE:  8/12/2011  Zediva shuts down streaming DVD service

Netflix Announces Streaming Only Plans and Higher Prices for DVDs

From Slashdot : Netflix Announces Streaming Only Plans and Higher Prices for DVDs

 "While Netflix has continued to drop fees and still maintain a good services, today, they take three steps in the other direction by doubling the cost of the plan you probably already have: 'So for instance, our current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans ... Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month ... Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming), for $7.99 a month. ... The price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99).' Now, if they could get everything available on streaming, this would be fine, but how many times have you needed to get a physical disc for that oddball movie, or had a movie in your instant queue that magically disappears due to some behind-the-scenes contract expiration or whatever?"

NCR eyes disc sales via new kiosks

NCR, which already operates more than 8,000 Blockbuster Express rental kiosks, is looking at starting a separate venture that would use kiosks to sell new releases on DVD and Blu-ray. Last month, when NCR reported its latest quarterly results, the company said it planned to deploy an additional 3,000 Express kiosks this year. Home Media Magazine

DVD video rental Prototype.

What can I say, It's breaks my heart. Another venture that didn't quite make it.

DVD Rental Machine Bar codes and storage bins.

Below is a variety of different Barcodes designed to go around the DVD spindles.

Also the storage cases designed to allow the bar codes to be read while inside and handle by the robotic pick and place systems.

Inside a Video Rental Machine there is a Robotic pick and place system.

Some of these can handle both VHS tapes and DVD's.

RFID and Barcodes for DVD's and DVD Video Rental Machines.

This is mostly just a collection on Photo's from when I was working on this stuff.

These are different RFID tags to go around a DVD hub that will not interfere with DVD playback.  Some of these are prototypes and initial samples.  Feb 2005

Circular Bar-codes for DVD rental Machines.

This is the RDID reader and reader board.

James Cameron: Innovation Trumps Any Piracy Threat

from TechDirt.com:
James Cameron: Innovation Trumps Any Piracy Threat

Nearly a year ago, Techdirt reader Parker Mason had submitted a story to us, suggesting that the amazing visuals and 3D + IMAX aspect of Avatar was a perfect example of adding value to movies that would give people a real reason to go to the theater. I actually kept that story open in a tab for months, intending to write it up, and I never got around to it -- and, to be honest, I wasn't entirely convinced that Avatar would really get a huge reception. Don't I look foolish? Yes, Avatar obviously has been a blockbuster of blockbuster proportions -- in part because of exactly those points. People want that greater experience and I was certainly among those who ponied up for the full 3D IMAX version (and not the fake IMAX version either -- thanks to a friend who reminded me of that bit of deception).

It looks like James Cameron recognizes all this as well. Nastybutler77 was the first of a bunch of you to point to Cameron's claim that innovation trumps "piracy," which he made onstage at CTIA:

"In film we have definitely felt threatened by piracy," he said. "We saw the music industry crash and burn in its efforts to stop it. But with G4 (I think he meant 4G wireless) and Moore's Law, you can't fight it...."

"The music industry saw it coming, they tried to stop it, and they got rolled over," he said. "Then they started suing everybody. And now it is what it is."

Instead, Cameron said he has tried to innovate to give movie goers a reason to go to theater. And in creating a rich, "reinvigorated cinema experience," Cameron said he discovered that people are willing to pay money to experience the same content in different ways. Not only are they willing to pay $10 or more to see Avatar on the big screen in 3D, but they also will pay to own the DVD and to take it with them on their phone or portable device.

"People are discriminating about the experience," he said. "They want to own it, have it on a iPhone when they want it, and they want the social experience of going to the cinema. These are really different experiences. And I think they can all co-exist in the same eco-system."

Indeed. It's great that he's recognizing this. The other interesting point he made was that they're going to release the Avatar DVD while the film is still showing in the theaters -- in part because the show is still doing well in the theaters. Of course, many theaters have complained about how they don't want shorter release windows (or, horror of horrors, the idea of releasing a movie in the theater and on DVD at the same time). However, it will be interesting to see whether the DVD release, while the movie is still in some theaters, leads to at least a little bump in box office sales for the movie, as people who watch it on DVD decide they want to see it on the big screen.