Category: Tech news

Okay, hear me out. The duel-sided YotaPhone is not a gimmick. It makes sense. On the back of the YotaPhone is an e-ink display that can mirror anything displayed on the main screen. And because e-ink screens do not require battery life, these images are available even if the phone battery dies. Get it? Probably not yet.

As shown in the video below, this allows for tons of novel use cases. Load your boarding pass on the back screen so it’s always handy. Put a to-do list on always-on screen. Store a map or directions on the screen. Or, best of all, the YotaPhone can load RSS feeds or notifications onto the e-ink screen, effectively turning the phone into a dual-sided productivity machine.

The YotaPhone is currently just a prototype. In fact, as explained in the video, the unit shown in the demo was fresh off the production line three weeks ago. At 9mm thin, it’s not that much thicker than an iPhone 4S. The company expects the final production unit to be even thinner.

Sure, I agree that it’s not a phone for everyone, but having two screens, especially one as special as an e-ink screen which doesn’t consume battery life.

Tim Cook would like to get Apple on a faster boat to China. On his current visit to the country, it looks like the Apple CEO has focused on smoothing the rollout and distribution of Apple products there. In an interview with Chinese news site Sina (link via Google Translate), Cook said that he believes China will become Apple’s most important market in the “not too distant future.” He also sounded an optimistic note over his latest talk with China Mobile, but would not divulge further details about whether or not he has managed to ink a deal with the world’s largest carrier, which the Cupertino company has been stuck in negotiations with for years. Earlier this week, Cook also met with Miao Wei, minister of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the agency responsible for approving Apple products before their launch in that country.

The China launch of Apple products lags significantly behind their U.S. debut, which is due in large part to the wait for approval from government authorities. For example, the iPhone 5 was not available in China until nearly three months after its U.S. debut. Not only that, but Apple has been stuck in talks with China Mobile for years, wrestling over network and revenue sharing issues. Apple’s lack of a distribution deal with the world’s largest carrier by subscriber means that it’s market share in China has been chipped away by less expensive, more easily attainable devices by competitors like Samsung and Lenovo.

It is crucial for Apple to cement a deal with China Mobile if it wants to increase its market penetration.  Cook met with China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua on Thursday, as confirmed by the carrier to QQ TEch (link via Google Translate) and reported by Reuters. Though both Apple and China Mobile have refused to disclose what issues were on the table, it’s almost certain that Cook’s aim was to finally gain access to the carrier’s 700 million subscribers. Discussions between the two companies have dragged on for about four years, weighed down by both network issues and disagreement over revenue sharing models.

While China has constantly been one of the latter countries to receive new Apple products, Cook told Sina that it is a “top priority” of his for China to become one of the first regions in each rollout, and that he has been working diligently to cooperate with the government approval process for each new device in order to shrink the time between it’s U.S. and China debuts.

At present, Apple has 11 stores in China and Hong Kong, as well as a wide network of Apple resellers. Cook hopes to increase the number of official Apple stores in the region to 25.

Cook, who said in the interview that he has visited China at least 20 times since 1996 and has a Chinese sister-in-law, also emphasized that Apple focuses on the needs of Chinese consumers when developing new products. For example, Apple made sure that both OSX and iOS had capabilities and functions tailored for the Chinese market. (The cheaper iPhone that is reportedly in the works would also help rope in new consumers in China).

The Pebble Smart watch is one of the best-known Kickstarter projects. A compact e-ink device designed to work with almost any smartphone, the Pebble grabbed attention when it hit $10 million and sold 85,000 watches after expecting to sell 5,000 unitKickstarter”>;=”http://techcrunch.com/tag/s.

Eric had to go from a tiny, one- or two-man operation to a company with 11 employees all dedicated to building the watch. While they expected originally to build the watches in California, they suddenly had to move to China to begin ramping up production.

Eric explained why the company missed its initial ship date – essentially because they suddenly had to make thousands more watches – and told us how it felt to move from a business with 0 orders to a powerhouse with 85,000 orders in a month.

As someone who devours way too much science fiction, I’ve always secretly believed that I’ll be wearing giant VR goggles at some point in the future. (I’m patiently waiting for my jetpack, too.) Now it looks like I might not be crazy after all — Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus, is hoping to take VR goggles out of the lab and put them into the hands of gamers at an affordable price.

The company held a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign for its Oculus Rift headset last year, raising $2.4 million (nearly 10 times the original goal) from 9,522 backers. The company plans to ship its first developer kits in a couple of months, and Luckey dropped by the TechCrunch booth at the Consumer Electronics Show with an early version of the goggles.

He compared the experience to “having an enormous screen suspended in front of you,” which is true enough, but doesn’t quite do justice to what it’s like to put the headset on, watch the game respond to your movements, and feel like you’re moving through a real space. I’m eager to try it out in a real game, but it sounds like I might still have a while to wait on that front.

“It wouldn’t be really responsible for us to go out and say, ‘This is when we think it’s going to be done,’ when we haven’t gotten any developer feedback on what they think should be in the consumer version,” Luckey said.

The developer kits are still available for pre-order for a price of $300 on the Oculus site. When the consumer version is released, Luckey said he’s aiming to deliver it at the same price or lower.

I can tell you that the very, very last place I expected to see Lemmy Kilmister, from the band Motorhead, was at CES 2013. However, the metal pioneer emerged from the chaos with his new line of headphones — Motorheadphones, that is — to sell to the masses.

Lemmy is definitely a man of few words. The press conference was a reminder of this. However, he did answer every question regarding the look and feel of the Motorheadphones and let his technology partners, Ulf Sandberg and Anders Nicklasson, field more of the technical aspects of the hardware.

So how are Lemmy’s headphones different from other headphones out there? For starters, they are less focused on deep bass, like hip hop headphones are, and more focused on the mid-range sound of rock and roll. This is not surprising considering Lemmy’s trademark mid-ranged Rickenbacker bass sound.

It’s a trend we are seeing a lot — rock and hip hop stars partnering to create new hardware with mobile appeal. Slash has his own guitar app, Dre has his own headphones… it’s a smart play for pro musicians in the mature part of their career to diversify their personal and professional brands with technology offerings. Indeed, there is money to be made.

I waited with several other writers for quite a while after the press conference to ask a few more questions. It was taking a long time until finally our own Eve Binder from sister publication Engadget, took one for the team and volunteered to let Lemmy “sign” her with a Sharpie marker. Amazingly, this sprung Lemmy into action and he re-emerged from the Motorheadphones tent once again and I was able to capture this video of him fielding questions. Thanks Eve!

Over the last few years, the travel industry has begun to undergo significant change, as startups and incumbents have fought to bring the disparate parts of a highly regulated industry online. Much of the attention from consumer web businesses has focused on making travel more “social,” improving discovery and helping travelers figure out what to do at destinations of choice. Today, there’s a laundry list of options when it comes to finding information about travel destinations, and sites like TripIt and Kayak (now part of Priceline) have changed the way we search for and book travel — for business and pleasure.

However, while the travel space (especially the social side) begins its inevitable consolidation after a flood of activity and launches, as Semil pointed out, there’s still plenty of opportunity “closer to the top of the decision funnel” — the moments after we decide where it is we want to go. Flights With Friends, a San Francisco-based startup that launches out of beta today, is willing to bet there’s a big opportunity at the top of the funnel in one of the least-explored (but growing) areas of social travel: Group trip planning.

Flights With Friends wants to make it easy for families and friends to find and book flights and hotels together, allowing everyone in your travel posse to see the same results, pin their favorites and chat about different options in realtime. The startup wants to solve the problem that many small groups find when planning trips, preventing the process from devolving into the inevitable lengthy back-and-forth, the group email chains and spreadsheets.

Generally speaking, to get a planning process moving along, one or two people will take the initiative, ultimately organizing the whole shebang. That person ends up resenting their lazier travel buddies, their buddies are unhappy they weren’t more involved in the decisions and, when someone ends up on the wrong flight or at the wrong hotel, friendships are tested. Not to mention, collecting money from a bunch of friends can be a pain.

So, Flights with Friends lets groups traveling together find the best flights, places to stay, and activities to do while discussing the options in realtime. Realtime communication motivates groups to actually get their trip planning done, and Flights With Friends aims to be able to provide the same sense of urgency for travelers for all parties involved, regardless of whether half of the group is offline. Using a bachelor party in Vegas as an example, the best man would go to Flights With Friends to start the search for flights and hotels, inviting his friends in the process.

The user would be able to use private Facebook messages or send emails and once others start joining, they could add flights if they’re traveling from different cities, pin flights and hotels they like, set shared search filters and book, while everyone else in the party gets notified. Now, the best man doesn’t have to be the hero (or the bad guy), pestering each member of the trip about different options or spamming them with email.

Co-founder Kyle Killion tells us that he sees the service’s most attractive use case as being those like the one mentioned above, along with planning associated with weddings, family gatherings and graduations. What’s more, while these use cases may seem niche when considering the travel space as a whole, the co-founder tells us that small group travel (groups between two and nine) is a $31 billion annual market, according to estimates made by Groupize.

However, there is a flip side. Although startups (and some incumbents) are working hard to bring the whole travel decision funnel online, most group travel still happens through travel agents — much of it offline. A recent survey conducted by Travel Weekly and TravelAge West found that nearly 80 percent of travel agents booked 10 or fewer groups in 2010. So, all in all, groups account for a relatively small portion of bookings.

What’s more, there’s still plenty of competition. TripIt offers group travel planning options, Triporama, which is similar to Flights With Friends has been in this space for awhile, Groupize offers group hotel bookings and Jetaport, a recent graduate of Entrepreneurs’ Roundtable Accelerator in New York, is gearing up to become a player in group travel. That’s just naming a few.

Nonetheless, Killion is still optimistic about the opportunity in group travel. Although it’s been around since 2004, Triporama has been fairly quiet of late, Travelocity offered co-browsing options and Jetaport has still yet to launch. The other prevailing trend in social travel, he says, is that, while startups may purport to offer group travel options, they’ve mostly focused on travel inspiration functionality, a la Gogobot. And, while Gogobot keeps growing, inspiration doesn’t really need another player.

Killion says that their research has found that most groups know where they want to go, but they just need help planning. What’s more, TravelAge West’s survey found that, while the total number of group bookings remains low for travel agents, proportionately, groups already represent over one-third of all sales — a surprisingly large portion of their total business. On top of that, nearly 50 percent of agents said that they expect group travel to show strong growth going forward.

Right now, the problem for those tackling group travel is that people use a lot of different sites when searching for travel options, so startups have to offer something better if they want to become the go-to destination for search and booking.

The co-founder says that Flights With Friends wants to link directly to airlines’ “buy” buttons from results and now combs 150 sites, along with funneling in hotel information from Expedia, which offers the largest selection of hotels. Long-term, Flights With Friends wants to combine Kayak and Facebook for group travel, offering Kayak’s metasearch, along with a collaborative, group communication component as well.

As of yet, there hasn’t been a clear winner in the group travel space — or really even a clear front-runner, so the key to success starts with offering a better user interface. Most players out there stink in this regard, and simultaneous or co-browsing is still a relatively new concept, so the challenge is to give users a co-browsing experience that’s simple and easy to use. On top of that, Flights With Friends is focusing on viral growth and marketing to its audience at the moment they need this type of service.

On the viral end, the co-founders are working on changing the way the site integrates with Facebook so that people who want their friends to know they’re planning a trip can help promote the service. Killion says they’ve erred on the side of privacy in the first version of the site and are now looking to add more sharing options.

Flights With Friends bootstrapped its way through its four-month beta run — which attracted over 10,000 users — supplementing that with some revenue earned from lead-gen for flight, hotel and activity bookings. Now that it’s emerged from beta, the co-founders say they’re going to begin raising some angel funding to beef up staff and pursue further partnerships. And, as Kayak has learned, to be successful in this space, it’s critical for companies to offer a mobile experience. Flights With Friends is working on an iPad app, which the co-founders hope to launch in February, before developing for apps for the iPhone and for Android.

It also helps that this isn’t the first time around the merry-go-round for the co-founders. Killion founded Flights With Friends after serving as VP of Product for apartment recommendation startup, ApartmentList. The serial entrepreneur got his start as the eighth employee at The Geek Squad in the late nineties (which now has nearly 25K employees and was bought by Best Buy), before founding maccontrol (which sold to Pegasus) among others, while doing stints at Coupa, Yelp and Apple. Killion is joined by Arthur Klepchukov, an early engineer at Votizen and founder of Outspokes and Slipstream.

Find Flights With Friends at home here, and let us know what you think.

Aereo is quite possibly the most disruptive company to come out of New York since Kickstarter. The startup, founded by serial founder Chet Kanojia, brings live and recorded TV content direct to your Internet-connected devices for as low as $8 per month.

In a world where retrieving free over-the-air signals with rabbit ears is an extinct idea, Aereo has shrunken the rabbit ears down to the size of a fingertip, hosted them remotely, and enabled New Yorkers of all walks of life to get their TV fix for cheaper.

We spoke to Kinojia onstage at CES, and he explained why major broadcasters and networks are so upset about the launch and success of his company. As technology advanced from rabbit ears to cable to satellite and so on, the price of these services steadily rose.

But there are over 30 channels that are available for free, and Aereo is set on bringing those to the masses (on their Internet-connected devices no less) for an affordable price.

The company recently received $38 million in funding and will use those funds to start marketing the service and expanding to 22 new cities. With the extra cash, the forthcoming marketing efforts, and the downright cheap TV service, there’s no end in sight for Aereo.

No matter how much it upsets the big guys.

For the past few years, Apple has kept the iMac on the sidelines, instead choosing to focus the spotlight on its lighter, more portable offerings. Not anymore.

Seagate has updated its excellent wireless hard drive, giving your tablet or phone access to a vast media library wherever you are, with or without a Wi-Fi connection.

If you don’t consider yourself to be a “Power Googler”, have no fear, the company has opened up registration for a program that it called “Advanced Power Searching.” It sounds pretty fancy, but all it is, is a series of online courses to help you get the most out of Google and its most important service, search.

Collectively, we probably barely use half of the power that Google Search has locked inside of its walls.

Here’s what Dan Russell, Über Tech Lead for Search Quality and User Happiness (awesome title), had to say about it today:

Advanced Power Searching with Google helps you gain a deeper understanding of how to become a better researcher. You will solve complex search challenges similar to those I posed in my blog, or a Google a Day, and explore Google’s advanced search tools not covered in the first class.

Oftentimes the most intriguing questions invite you to explore beyond the initial answer, and there’s no single correct path to get there. When looking for questions that can’t be solved with a single query, “search” can quickly turn into “research.” Google Search offers a palette of tools to help you dive deeper into the web of knowledge.

If you use Google, then you know that you can get more out of it when you change the way that you pose questions in the search box. By rephrasing things, you find yourself getting better, and more relevant, results. It’s actually a skill, if you will. This program comes after its first run, Power Searching with Google. Will there be super advanced, next? We will see.

The program, which is free, starts on January 23rd and runs until February 8th, and if you take all of the classes and follow the search tips, you’ll probably be able to track the history of your Aunt Tilly in no time at all.

Simply fill out a quick form, and you’re all set to get your learn on. Or at least how to Google the correct way to say that.

[Photo credit: Flickr]

Right on schedule, Mozilla just released the latest stable version of its Firefox browser for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. Firefox 18 is the first stable version to feature Mozilla’s new IonMonkey JavaScript compiler. Given the right benchmark, IonMonkey outperforms Mozilla’s old compiler by over 25% and most Web apps and especially browser-based games should be significantly faster on Firefox 18.

To show off this new-found power, Mozilla is highlighting BananaBread today, a 3D Web game developed by the Mozilla Developer Network that’s powered exclusively by the trinity of HTML5, WebGL and JavaScript (the game itself, by the way, isn’t actually new but was release last August).

As expected, Firefox 18 also brings support for high-resolution Retina Displays to the stable channel. The browser now also uses a new algorithm for scaling images which should result in better image quality on quite a few sites that depend on in-browser scaling.

Also new in Firefox 18 is preliminary support for the new in-browser WebRTC communications framework for real-time video and audio chats.

One feature that didn’t make it into this release, by the way, is Mozilla’s new built-in PDF reader. While the organization has been working on this for a while, it will only make it into the beta release that’s expected to arrive on Thursday.

New In Firefox For Android: IonMonkey, Phishing Protection And Google New Search Widget Integration

As usual, Firefox for Android is also getting an update today. Just like the desktop version, Firefox for Android now uses IonMonkey. The mobile browser now features opt-in search suggestions in the Awesome Bar. These, Mozilla writes, ” are conducted over a secure connection to protect your user data.”

The mobile browser now also includes new anti-phising and anti-malware feature that warn users when they encounter a malicious website.

Another interesting new feature of Firefox for Android is its integration with the Google Now search widget.

Continuing its expansion into original content and exclusive third-party content, Hulu is today offering previews of its new programming for 2013, which includes its first animated Hulu Original Series, “The Awesomes,” co-created by Saturday Night Live’s head writer Seth Meyers alongside Emmy winning producer and SNL alum, Michael Shoemaker.

It’s notable that the network, if we are calling it that, will have some bigger names attached to its programming in 2013, including not only the SNL vets above, but also Josh Greenbaum (Emmy winning filmmaker), James Corden (Tony winner), and Eva Longoria (“Desperate Housewives”), to name a few.

However, “The Awesomes,” is one of the more interesting projects, because of the quality of the talent participating. Other SNL cast and alumni will be contributing voices the show, including Kenan Thompson, Bill Hader, and Taran Killam, for example.

But if we’re just looking at talent, we should point out that competitor Netflix has also attracted big stars to its original programming, including Kevin Spacey, Steven Van Zandt, and the c0-exec producer of House, Liz Friedman. Plus, you can’t beat snagging “Arrested Development,” as an exclusive, either.

Many of the series which Hulu is opening up preview access to today, have been previously announced during the upfronts and at other times throughout the year. “The Awesomes,” for example, was announced at the 2012 upfronts, while “The Wrong Mans” was announced on stage at MIPCOM. However, “Braquo,” “Behind the Mask” and “Mother Up,” are announced for the first time on Hulu.

This is also the first time Hulu users will be able to get a taste of what in store. On each program’s profile page, a teaser trailer is now available for viewing.

Over the past two years, Hulu has launched four Hulu Original Series (The Awesomes, The Wrong Mans, Behind the Mask, Battleground) and has expanded its Exclusive Series line up to 20 on-demand TV shows. Some of these shows are now in their second seasons, including  ”Prisoners of War,” “Pramface,” “Fresh Meat” and “TOWIE.”

Earlier this month, Hulu announced its CEO Jason Kilar and CTO Rich Tom, would be departing the company in Q1 2013, after having grown its revenue to $695 million as of December – a 65% increase year-over-year. The content library also grew 40% during that time, and the company generated over $1 billion in revenue for content partners. The future for Hulu following the execs departures, as well as the exit from early investor Providence Equity Partners this fall, is a bit uncertain.

The full 2013 lineup is below, with links to their pages on Hulu:

HULU ORIGINAL SERIES

“The Awesomes“
Premieres: Summer 2013
“The Awesomes” is an animated show for adults that combines the thrills of comic book storytelling with the irreverent and inspired comedy that is the hallmark of show co-creators Seth Meyers (“SNL”) and Michael Shoemaker (“Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”). It is the story of the greatest superhero team in history, The Awesomes, and what happens after all the most powerful members leave. The team is led by the possibly under-qualified Professor Doctor Awesome, voiced by Meyers, who is determined to bring these funny-if-flawed superheroes to glory. Meyers and Shoemaker called upon their many friends in the comedy world to voice the characters, including some of “Saturday Night Live’s” most celebrated cast and alumni Kenan Thompson, Bill Hader, and Taran Killam. This first animated Hulu Original Series is executive produced by Meyers, Shoemaker, and Broadway Video. Ten (10) episodes. http://www.hulu.com/the-awesomes

“The Wrong Mans“
For fans of: “Spy,” “The Office” (U.K.), “Peep Show,” “Hot Fuzz,” “Chuck”
Premieres: Summer 2013
From Tony Award-winning actor and writer James Corden (“Doctor Who,” “Gulliver’s Travels,” “Gavin & Stacey”) and Mathew Baynton (“Peep Show,” “Spy,” “Gavin & Stacey”), the series centers on Sam (Baynton), and Phil (Corden), two lowly office workers who become caught up in a deadly criminal conspiracy after Sam discovers a ringing phone at the scene of a horrific car crash. Answering this phone turns his world upside down, as he and Phil soon realize it’s up to them to step up and save the day. They are in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong skills. They are The Wrong Mans. Hulu’s second co-production with BBC brokered by BBC Worldwide Americas, the series is directed and produced by Jim Field Smith (“Episodes,” “Butter,” “She’s Out of My League”). Six (6) episodes. http://www.hulu.com/the-wrong-mans

“Behind the Mask”
For fans of: “Hard Knocks,” “Hoop Dreams,” “Project Greenlight”
Premieres: 2013
“Behind the Mask” takes viewers on a behind-the-scenes adventure into the colorful and never-before-seen world of sports mascots. Through the eyes of four dedicated performers at the high school, college, minor league and NBA pro levels, “Behind the Mask” takes an authentic look at the sports world’s most unsung heroes. Funny, entertaining, and at times poignant, this show tells the moving stories of these real-life Clark Kents, capturing their highs and lows, both inside and outside the suit. ”Behind the Mask” is created by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Josh Greenbaum and produced by Occupant Entertainment (“Better Living Through Chemistry,” “The Wackness”). Ten (10) episodes.http://www.hulu.com/behind-the-mask

HULU EXCLUSIVE SERIES

“Fresh Meat” (Season Two)
For fans of: “Misfits,” “The Inbetweeners” (U.K. & U.S.), “Skins” (U.K. & U.S.), “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Coupling,” “The Real World,” “Greek” and “Peep Show“
Premieres: January 13, 2013
New episodes premiere every Sunday beginning on January 13th; All episodes will be available on Hulu and Hulu Plus beginning March 3rd
“Fresh Meat” is a BAFTA-nominated comedy drama series about the hilarious and painful truths of being a student from Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong (“Peep Show”). The perils and joys of house sharing in those first university years continue in the second season of this painfully amusing drama. Expect more errors of judgment from JP, the entitled public school boy with good teeth (Jack Whitehall), the crushingly insecure Kingsley (Joe Thomas), the tightly-wound girl next door Josie (Kimberley Nixon), socially-awkward Howard (Greg McHugh), hard-living VOD (Zawe Ashton) and desperate to be cool Oregon (Charlotte Ritchie). The six housemates return to their shared house for the rest of their first year as students with more awkward moments, reinventions and appalling behavior. “Fresh Meat” is made by Objective Productions an ALL3MEDIA Company and made available on Hulu and Hulu Plus from ALL3MEDIA International. Eight (8) episodes. http://www.hulu.com/fresh-meat

“Braquo“
For fans of: “The Shield,” “Line of Duty,” “The Following,” “The Wire,” “Homicide,” “The Unit,” ‘Chicago Code,” and “Southland”
Premieres: January 22, 2013
New episodes premiere every Tuesday beginning on January 22nd; All episodes will be available on Hulu and Hulu Plus beginning March 12th
“Braquo,” winner of the international Emmy for Best Drama, follows a squad of Paris cops who exist in the blurred boundaries at the very edge of the law, often using violence and intimidation to get the job done. The lives of these officers change radically when their squad leader, falsely accused of corruption, commits suicide. Determined to clear his name they start an investigation of their own, only to find that the police department itself stands in their way. Driven by adrenaline and a thirst for justice, they must turn their backs on the laws they’re sworn to enforce if they are to uncover the truth. Facing constant danger from all sides – and with the two most likely outcomes being imprisonment or death – the stakes couldn’t be higher, but that merely cranks up the tension in this acclaimed series. “Braquo” is a Capa Drama production made available on Hulu and Hulu Plus from Zodiak Rights. Eight (8) episodes. http://www.hulu.com/braquo

“The Only Way Is Essex” (“TOWIE,” Season four)
For fans of: “Jersey Shore,” “Laguna Beach,” “The Hills”
Premieres: February 2013
Life imitates soap; real people, real lives – maximum entertainment! From the producer of “Big Brother” and leading U.K. soap “Hollyoaks,” this is “dramality.” In the fourth season of “The Only Way is Essex” reunite with your favorite uber glam, super tanned friends and new characters playing themselves–all living in the golden triangle of Essex, England’s fake tan capital. “The Only Way is Essex” is produced by Lime Pictures and made available on Hulu and Hulu Plus from ALL3MEDIA International. Ten (10) episodes. http://www.hulu.com/the-only-way-is-essex

“Prisoners of War” (Season Two)
For fans of: “Homeland”
Premieres: Spring 2013
Written and directed by Gideon Raff, this nine-time Israeli Emmy Award-winning series follows the journey of two soldiers as they return to their families after 17 years in an enemy prison. Uri and Nimrode struggle to fit back into society and viewers watch as each makes an effort to restore old relationships and initiate new relationships. As they attempt to start their lives free from captivity, they go through a number of examinations and questionings by a military psychologist. Before long it is discovered that their stories do not match and an undercover investigation ensues. At the same time of this investigation, Uri and Nimrode are on a quest for answers tied to their own captivity. In the second season, the secret continues to be unraveled, but more mystery and unanswered questions are now added to the equation. Starring Yael Abecassis, Mili Avital, Yoram Tolledano, Assi Cohen and Ishai Golan, all episodes will be available exclusively on Hulu and Hulu Plus from Keshet International. Fourteen (14) episodes. hulu.com/prisoners-of-war

“Pramface” (Season Two)
For fans of: “My So Called Life,” “New Girl,” “Awkward,” “Secret Life of the American Teenager,” “Up All Night,” “Skins” (U.S. and U.K.), “Teen Mom”
Premieres: Spring 2013
“Pramface” is a heart-warming comedy series that follows teen parents Jamie (Sean Michael Verey) and Laura (Scarlett Alice Johnson) as they try to come to terms with the enormity of having a new baby in their lives. Just like normal first time parents they’re tired, anxious, broke, and tetchy. But, unlike most other couples, they don’t know how they feel about each other. In fact, they’re not even sure if they’re a couple or just two people who happen to have had a baby. Jamie, still reeling from the birth, is finding it difficult to cope. His current plan is to just hang in there and hope everything somehow works out. But he’s struggling with other areas of this life; work, school, and even just hanging out with his mates – he’s finding nothing’s quite the same once you have a child. Meanwhile, Laura’s got all the new mother worries. She’s looking after a newborn and occasionally a teenage boy, whilst trying to find a career and new friends, not to mention trying to hold on to her old ones. It’s said a new baby brings people together, and that’s certainly true here – it’s brought them together and now they’re falling out. With Christenings, college balls, eighteenth birthday mayhem, drugs, disastrous dating, strippers, interfering relatives, and nappy rash to deal with, the only certainty is things aren’t going to get easier any time. “Pramface” is a Little Comet production made available to Hulu and Hulu Plus from BBC Worldwide Americas. Six (6) episodes. http://www.hulu.com/pramface

“Mother Up!”
For fans of: “South Park,” “Family Guy,” “Up All Night,” “Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23“
Premieres: Fall 2013
“Mother Up!” is a 13-episode, half-hour adult animated comedy series starring Eva Longoria (“Desperate Housewives”) as Rudi Wilson, a former high-powered music exec who takes on the greatest challenge of her life: motherhood in suburbia. Rudi is striving for the life of a super-mom but she forgets one important detail — she’s not a very good parent. Bringing her street smarts and urban lifestyle to the suburbs, Rudi confronts the endless challenges of parenthood with a series of misguided improvised solutions, putting her life on the line like never before. Eva Longoria and Mass Animation’s Yair Landau (“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”) and Michael Shipley (“Family Guy,” “American Dad”) are executive producers. The series was developed by Rogers Media and co-produced by Breakthrough Entertainment and Bardel Entertainment, in association with Mass Animation. “Mother Up!” premieres on Hulu and Hulu Plus in Fall 2013. Thirteen (13) episodes.

The European Parliament has issued two draft reports (here and here) on the reform of European data protection rules, proposed by the European Commission last January, expressing “full support for a coherent and robust data protection framework with strong end enforceable rights for individuals” — and stressing the need for “a high level of protection for all data processing activities in the European Union to ensure more legal certainty, clarity and consistency”, according to an EC memo issued today.

The memo notes that the European Parliament supports the objectives of its proposed reform — namely:

to establish a comprehensive approach to data protection, to strengthen online privacy
rights and to do away with the current fragmentation of 27 different national data protection
laws which are costly and burdensome for businesses operating on Europe’s single market.

The EC cites research indicating that the majority of Internet users are worried about giving away too much personal data online. This increasing mistrust of online services is a factor the Commission believes could undermine the region’s digital economy — unless robust, transparent and consistent data protection rules are established by reforming existing European data protection rules.

Among the key points in the European Parliament’s draft reports are support for replacing the current 1995 Data Protection Directive with a “directly applicable Regulation with a single set of rules on data protection”; and support in principle for the EC’s proposal for a “one-stop-shop” for companies operating in multiple EU countries/consumers wanting to complain about a company established in a country other than their own.

The memo notes that the European Parliament wants to “create a powerful and independent EU data protection agency entrusted with taking legally binding decisions vis-à-vis national data protection authorities”. It is also supportive of strengthening users’ rights — encouraging the use by companies of pseudonymous and anonymous data, and further proposing to strengthen the concept of “explicit consent” for data to be legally processed by asking companies to use “clear and easily comprehensible language” — a principle it also wants to see applied to privacy policies.

On the so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ — a clause that has its critics, such as Facebook — the Parliament is proposing “further reinforcing” the “right to erase one’s data if there are no legitimate grounds to retain it” by “asking companies which have transferred data to third parties without a legitimate legal basis to make sure these data are actually erased”.

A spokeswoman for the Commission told TechCrunch that the Parliament is taking a “more strict” stance on the right to be forgotten portion of the EC’s proposed reform. The Parliament is proposing an amendment to the EC’s wording — changing the proposed ’right to be forgotten’ to a ‘right to erasure and to be forgotten‘ [amendment 34 of the Albrecht report].

Elsewhere, the Parliament’s draft reports are also in agreement with the proposal that EU rules must apply if personal data of individuals in the EU is handled abroad by companies which are not established in the Union — even if they are providing free (rather than paid for) services. The EC spokeswoman said the Parliament’s view on ”territorial scope” is also more strict than the EC’s proposal.

“They want a powerful data protection agency and they have created new categories of data (pseudonymised and anonymised data for example),” she added. The memo also notes that the Parliament is supportive of the need for independent national data protection authorities which are “well-equipped to better enforce the EU rules at home”. It also welcomes the EC’s proposal to empower national authorities to fine companies that violate EU data protection rules.

Viviane Reding, EC Commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, tweeted today she’s “looking forward to swift adoption by both EP [European Parliament] and Council” of the new data protection rules. Adding in a second tweet:

Good to see the #EP rapporteurs supporting strong and uniform #EU data protection rules #EUDataP bit.ly/VQjIti

— Viviane Reding (@VivianeRedingEU) January 8, 2013

The draft reports will be discussed by the European Parliament’s LIBE Committee on January 10.

The EC added that it will “continue to work very closely with the rapporteurs of the European Parliament and with the Council to support the Parliament and the Irish EU Presidency in their endeavour to achieve a political agreement on the data protection reform by the end of the Irish Presidency”.

The full EC memo follows below.

MEMO/13/4
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
MEMO
Brussels, 8 January 2013
Commission welcomes European Parliament rapporteurs’
support for strong EU data protection rules
European Parliament rapporteurs today presented two draft reports on the reform of the EU’s
data protection rules proposed by the European Commission just a year ago (see IP/12/46
and MEMO/12/41). In their reports, Jan-Philipp Albrecht, rapporteur for the proposed Data
Protection Regulation for the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) of
the European Parliament, and, Dimitrios Droutsas, rapporteur for the proposed Data
Protection Directive for the law enforcement sector, express their full support for a coherent
and robust data protection framework with strong end enforceable rights for individuals.
They also stress the need for a high level of protection for all data processing activities in the
European Union to ensure more legal certainty, clarity and consistency.
“The protection of personal data is a fundamental right for all Europeans. Opinion polls show
that individuals do not always feel in full control of their data. Policy makers and companies
must therefore do better,” said Vice-President Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner.
“I am glad to see that the European Parliament rapporteurs are supporting the Commission’s
aim to strengthen Europe’s data protection rules which currently date back to 1995 – preInternet age. A strong, clear and uniform legal framework will help unleashing the potential of
the Digital Single Market and foster economic growth, innovation and job creation in Europe.”
In their reports on the Commission’s proposals for a general Data Protection Regulation and a
Directive for the law enforcement sector the Members of the European Parliament support the
proposed package approach. They stress the need to advance negotiations swiftly on both
instruments at the same time.
The European Parliament rapporteurs, building on previous reports by the European Parliament
such as the Axel Voss report (MEMO/11/489), support the objectives of the reform, which
are: to establish a comprehensive approach to data protection, to strengthen online privacy
rights and to do away with the current fragmentation of 27 different national data protection
laws which are costly and burdensome for businesses operating on Europe’s single market.
Some of the amendments which the rapporteurs of the Parliament are proposing in their
reports aim at reinforcing individuals’ rights, including the right to be forgotten.
Some of the key points of the rapporteurs’ reports include:
• The need to replace the current 1995 Data Protection Directive with a directly applicable
Regulation. A single set of rules on data protection, valid across the EU will remove
unnecessary administrative requirements for companies and can save businesses
around €2.3 billion a year.
• The support in principle for the Commission’s proposal to have a “one-stop shop” for
companies that operate in several EU countries and for consumers who want to
complain against a company established in a country other than their own. To ensure
consistency in the application of EU data protection rules, the European Parliament
rapporteur wants to create a powerful and independent EU data protection agency 2
entrusted with taking legally binding decisions vis-à-vis national data protection
authorities.
• Support for the strengthening of users’ rights: they encourage the use by companies
of pseudonymous and anonymous data; they further propose strengthening the
concept of explicit consent for data to be legally processed by asking companies to use
clear and easily comprehensible language (also with regards to privacy policies); the
‘Albrecht-report’ proposes further reinforcing the “right to be forgotten” (the right to
erase one’s data if there are no legitimate grounds to retain it) by asking companies
which have transferred data to third parties without a legitimate legal basis to make
sure these data are actually erased.
• The European Parliament rapporteurs agree with the European Commission’s proposal
that EU rules must apply if personal data of individuals in the EU is handled
abroad by companies which are not established in the Union. According to the
amendments proposed it would be sufficient that a company aims at offering its goods
or services to individuals in the EU. An actual payment from the consumer to the
company is not needed to trigger the application of the data protection regulation.
• The European Parliament rapporteurs stress the need to have independent national
data protection authorities which are well-equipped to better enforce the EU rules at
home. The ‘Albrecht-report’ provides guidance as to the staffing and resourcing of
these authorities and welcomes the Commission’s proposal to empower them to fine
companies that violate EU data protection rules.
• On the delegated acts foreseen in the Regulation (also known as ‘Commission
empowerments’ or acts which ensure that if, in practice, more specific rules are
necessary, they can be adopted without going through a long legislative process): the
European Parliament rapporteur wants to drastically reduce the number of delegated
acts by including, among others, more detailed provisions in the text of the Regulation
itself. The European Commission has recently shown its openness to such an approach
(see SPEECH/12/764).
• On the Directive that will apply general data protection principles and rules to police and
judicial cooperation in criminal matters, the rapporteur agrees with the Commission’s
proposal to extend the rules to both domestic and cross-border transfers of data. The
report also aims to strengthen data protection further by enhancing individuals’ rights,
giving national data protection authorities greater and more harmonised enforcement
powers and by obliging them to cooperate in cross-border cases.
The European Parliament’s LIBE Committee will discuss the draft reports on 10 January.
The European Commission will continue to work very closely with the rapporteurs of the
European Parliament and with the Council to support the Parliament and the Irish EU
Presidency in their endeavour to achieve a political agreement on the data protection reform
by the end of the Irish Presidency.
Background
In the digital age, the collection and storage of personal information are essential. Data is used
by all businesses – from insurance firms and banks to social media sites and search engines.
In a globalised world, the transfer of data to third countries has become an important factor in
daily life. There are no borders online and cloud computing means data may be sent from
Berlin to be processed in Boston and stored in Bangalore.
74% of Europeans think that disclosing personal data is increasingly part of modern life, but at
the same time, 72% of Internet users are worried that they give away too much personal
data. They feel they are not in complete control of their data. Fading trust in online services
and tools holds back the growth of the digital economy and Europe’s digital single market. 3
On 25 January 2012 the European Commission proposed a comprehensive reform of the EU’s
1995 data protection rules to strengthen online privacy rights and boost Europe’s digital
economy. The Commission’s proposals update and modernise the principles enshrined in the
1995 Data Protection Directive to bring them into the digital age. They include a proposal for a
Regulation setting out a general EU framework for data protection and a proposal for a
Directive on protecting personal data processed for the purposes of prevention, detection,
investigation or prosecution of criminal offences and related judicial activities (IP/12/46).
The Commission proposals follow up on the European Parliament report by Axel Voss
(MEMO/11/489) which called on the Commission to reform European data protection rules.
The right to the protection of personal data is explicitly recognised by Article 8 of the EU’s
Charter of Fundamental Rights and by the Lisbon Treaty. The Treaty provides a legal basis for
rules on data protection for all activities within the scope of EU law under Article 16 (Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union).

Amazon today announced that its membership program Amazon Prime is now available in Canada, offering customers free two-day shipping for an annual fee of CAD $79.00 and one-day shipping at $3.99 per item. Amazon Instant Video and Kindle e-book lending, which are both major benefits to the U.S. version of the service, are not being included with the deal, despite similar pricing. In the U.S., it’s $79 USD per year, which makes Canada’s pricing on par with the U.S. version, given the current exchange rate.

Rural areas will only have access to free standard shipping, Amazon also notes. No minimum purchases are required, and a one-month trial of the service is available.

Amazon says that residents in Quebec aren’t eligible for the free trial, however, but those who sign up for a 13-month membership can get the first month for free. So essentially, it’s the same deal, just structured in a different way. Quebec users will also not have their memberships renewed automatically, but will instead need to log into their account settings to choose whether to sign up again.

Free and discounted shipping will be available on millions of items on the Amazon.ca website, including electronics, baby, kitchen, books, movies, music, watches, sporting goods, tools, and more.

Amazon told Canadian press that there are no plans to include Kindle e-book lending or Amazon Prime video in the Canadian version of Amazon Prime at this point. The company recently opened a second fulfillment center in Delta, B.C., south of Vancouver, this fall, the report also notes.

Essence, a digital marketing agency based in London and New York with clients like Google and eBay, is beefing up its mobile assets and expanding its presence in the U.S.: it has acquired Point Reach, a West Coast mobile advertising agency that also works with eBay, as well as Walgreens, Disney, AT&T and other mass-market brands. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in a statement announcing the deal.

The acquisition signals more consolidation in the mobile advertising market and another sign of how bigger players in the wider digital ads space are looking to enhance their offerings in order to provide a more comprehensive service to clients as a way of increasing their margins. It comes on the same day that mobile advertising network InMobi announced the acquisition of Overlay Networks to improve advertising personalization.

Essence has been on a buying spree of sorts. Other acquisitions in the past for Essence have included social media agency Punktilio, founded by serial entrepreneur Michael Birch. In September 2012, it bought Black Bag Advertising, an agency focused on the automotive, retail, banking, insurance and packaged goods industries.

Essence says that its been growing its mobile business out for the last 18 months, and Point Reach, which has been working in mobile ads since 2009, will add more campaign strategy, creative development, media planning, and measurement support experience to that division.

All employees are joining Essence as part of the deal, but it is rebranding to Essence. “The entire team is thrilled to be joining Essence,” said Andrew Nevils, MD of Point Reach in a statement. “With similar capabilities, cultures, and clients, we’re perfectly aligned for partnership. We’re excited to lend our expertise to further strengthen Essence’s mobile capability in the U.S., and by extension, bolster our digital and social offering to better serve eBay and all of our clients.”

release below

Essence Extends Mobile Practice With Point Reach Acquisition
Expansion Continues as Mobile Agency Joins Fast Growing Global Digital Group

NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – Jan 8, 2013) – Essence Digital today announced the acquisition of award-winning mobile advertising agency Point Reach. The transaction marks the latest milestone in the rapid expansion of Essence’s mobile practice over the last 18 months. The union is a strategic win on all fronts; the companies share strong analytical foundations, a full-service approach to digital marketing, and a major client in eBay.
“Point Reach are genuine mobile pioneers. Their award-winning work has redefined best-in-class for this evolving medium,” said Richard Mooney, Partner & Managing Director of North America for Essence Digital. “Their unmatched capabilities in mobile-related strategy, media, and creative enrich our North American practice beyond measure. I’m incredibly excited to be welcoming them into the Essence Digital family.”
Point Reach, with staff in Seattle and San Francisco, is known for mobile campaigns that continually push the boundaries of the medium. Alongside eBay, the agency counts such top-tier clients as Walgreens, Disney, AT&T, and StubHub among its roster. Point Reach has quickly established itself as a leading player in mobile; by joining Essence, the agency broadens its capabilities, unlocks global reach, and gains access to Essence’s proprietary technology stack and data integration capabilities, notably including the Olive campaign management suite.
“The entire team is thrilled to be joining Essence,” said Andrew Nevils, Managing Director of Point Reach, which will now assume the Essence name. “With similar capabilities, cultures, and clients, we’re perfectly aligned for partnership. We’re excited to lend our expertise to further strengthen Essence’s mobile capability in the U.S., and by extension, bolster our digital and social offering to better serve eBay and all of our clients.”
The asset acquisition of Point Reach follows closely on the heels of Essence Digital’s acquisition of Black Bag Advertising in San Francisco, which was announced in September 2012. With an existing client roster that includes such leading brands as eBay, Google, and Expedia, Essence looks to continue its global expansion to offer best-in-class digital marketing on a worldwide scale.
Essence was advised on the transaction by GP Bullhound (lead financial adviser), SNR Dentons (legal), and Deloitte (transaction services).
About Essence Digital
Essence Digital is a digital agency based in London, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle that delivers strategy, media, creative, and social solutions globally. They are the digital agency of record for sophisticated clients such as eBay, Google, and Expedia, clients that are at the leading edge of the digital marketplace. It’s their unique challenges that inspire Essence Digital to go beyond traditional marketing approaches, mixing cutting-edge technology (often their own) with shrewd business brains and inventive creativity.
About Point Reach
With more than 30 industry awards and a client list including eBay, Walgreens, StubHub, and Disney, Point Reach is known for developing breakthrough mobile advertising campaigns. Headquartered in Seattle and focused exclusively on mobile since 2009, the agency’s goal is simple: to mobilize leading brands through innovative marketing. Point Reach provides clients with a full-service mobile advertising solution spanning campaign strategy, creative development, media planning, and measurement support.