MPs want Sky and Virgin Media to make public channels more visible
Pay-TV providers in the UK may be forced to do more to promote the on-demand content of public service broadcasters (PSBs) on their platforms in the future, under new rules being discussed by MPs. The Digital Economy Bill, announced earlier this year in the Queen’s Speech before being published a few months later, sets out obligations for broadband coverage/speeds and writes a requirement for age gates on porn sites into law, among other things. It’s currently making its way through the House of Commons, and yesterday members of the Public Bill Committee proposed a new amendment that would ensure PSBs like the BBC gained more visibility on pay-TV platforms — a direct reaction to our changing viewing habits.
You see, telecoms regulator Ofcom already requires pay-TV platforms give PSBs — or what I’d call the traditional terrestrial channels of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 — a mandatory level of “prominence” on their services. That’s why these channels are always listed at the top of the electronic programme guide (EPG) on Sky, Virgin Media and the like — though even this rule is considered slightly outdated, with supplementary channels like CBeebies buried way down the list. The main problem is, the EPG is becoming progressively less relevant as the convenience of on-demand content and catch-up services change the way we watch TV.
The Public Bill Committee discussed that not only do PSBs now have to compete with streaming services like Netflix, but they’re becoming increasingly hidden on pay-TV platforms. Sky Q is a perfect example of this. The new service almost discourages you from watching live TV, with the UI specifically geared towards on-demand viewing. Understandably, Sky uses this to primarily recommend and promote its own premium content, from shows to sports to movies and box sets. As noted in our Sky Q review, the BBC has allegedly already complained to Sky about unfair representation.
The fact that PSB catch-up content is rarely visible is seen as a growing threat. If the public isn’t aware of what they have to offer, there will be less eyeballs on adverts, which leads to less money to invest in content, and so on. In the BBC’s case, it could be hard for them to meet targets set out in the Royal Charter if less people turn to iPlayer for entertainment (which in turn would make it harder to justify the value of the licence fee). Following a recommendation by Ofcom last year that the situation needs addressing, MPs are suggesting an amendment to the Communications Act 2003 that expands the required prominence pay-TV providers must show PSBs to include their on-demand content and services.
The issue of prominence is tied to another long-standing debate around retransmission fees. PSBs have argued for forever that providers like Sky and Virgin Media should pay fees to host PSB channels, since they don’t see any of that sweet subscriber cash despite adding significant value to pay-TV platforms. The Digital Economy Bill scraps a section of the Copyright, Patents and Designs Act 1988 that prohibits PSBs from charging retransmission fees. This was originally intended to promote the retransmission of signals in underserved areas, long before the advent of streaming services and such.
While repealing this section may come to haunt services like TVCatchup, which profit from streaming free PSB channels and framing them in adverts, the government has already said it won’t affect relationships with regular pay-TV providers, and that it will look at introducing new legislation if PSBs try to push for retransmission fees. The argument is that PSBs are already compensated through cheap spectrum licences and prominence within pay-TV providers’ EPGs. Should the amendment to the Communications Act make it into the Digital Economy Bill, expanding prominence to cover on-demand content may give PSBs a competitive leg up, while also putting the grumbles over retransmission fees to bed.
Source: UK Parliament
Alexa makes Amazon’s new Fire HD 8 tablet even more useful
With the Echo and Echo Dot, Amazon proved that its Alexa assistant — and voice commands in general — could actually be pretty helpful. But how will it fair on a device that isn’t listening to you all the time? That’s the question I had when Amazon unveiled the new Fire HD 8, its first tablet to include Alexa support (it’s also coming to the last-gen Fire tablets over the next few weeks). Instead of just shouting “Alexa” or “Amazon” aloud, you have to hold down the Fire HD 8’s home button to activate the assistant, similar to how you’d access it on the Fire TV. That means using Alexa is less seamless than on Echo devices, but it still ends up making the Fire HD 8 a more capable device.
Aside from needing to press a button, Alexa works just as you’d expect on the Fire HD 8. It accepts all of the voice commands as the Echo devices, and it supports most of the skills from third-party developers. (As Amazon tells it, some devs require specific devices for their skills, but there aren’t many of those around.) And yes, if you’ve connected smart home devices to another Alexa device, you’ll be able to control them from the tablet as well.
Because I can’t just shout for Alexa, though, I noticed that I use it differently on the Fire HD 8 compared to the Echo. It’s easy enough ask about the weather while you’re reading an ebook, or have it tune into your favorite radio station while you’re perusing your favorite site. But if your hands are full while cooking, you can’t easily reach over to change the episode of a podcast that you’re listening to. I learned pretty quickly that the hands-free aspect of Alexa on the Echo and Echo Dot is a big reason why I warmed up to it so quickly.
I can understand why Amazon isn’t letting you use your voice to access Alexa on the Fire HD 8, though. It’s just a $90 tablet, and while it’s a bit faster than the previous version, battery life remains a major concern. It’s simpler to just have people manually access Alexa, rather than to have a background service sipping battery life while it waits for your command. Heck, it took Apple years before it made Siri completely hands-free.
There is one change for the better when it comes to using Alexa on a tablet: It takes advantage of the screen to display some helpful cards based on what you request. If you ask for the weather today, you’ll also get a glimpse at what the temperature looks like for the rest of the week. There’s also an experimental feature for existing Echo owners called “voice cast,” which will display cards about requests to your Echo on your Fire HD. Unfortunately, it didn’t work on my Echo or Echo Dot, but I’ll give it a pass for now since it’s still in testing. Amazon says that feature should be available to owners of the New Echo Dot within the next few weeks.
Despite not being as useful as it is on Echo devices, it’s hard to complain about having Alexa on Amazon’s tablets. The company isn’t charging any extra for the feature, and it’s not stopping it from driving down the cost of its slates either. That being said, I can’t wait to see Alexa go completely hands-free on future Amazon tablets (and perhaps on the current devices when they’re plugged in and charging).
Watch Microsoft’s big PC event right here
Microsoft’s “Imagine What You’ll Do” event is just under an hour away. The company is expected to show off new hardware and software at the New York City show — you can read all about it here — including an all-in-one Surface PC, some major Windows 10 updates (including that new version of Paint) and possibly even an Amazon Echo competitor.
Of course we’re there, and you’ll be able to follow along with our liveblog for second-by-second analysis, but there’s also a livestream for you to watch. The event kicks off at 10AM ET, and after it’s over you’ll be able to watch a replay of the whole thing in the same player.
MasterCard Announces Facebook Messenger Bot for Purchases and Account Management
During the Money 20/20 conference taking place in Las Vegas this week, MasterCard announced that it’s creating a chatbot for Facebook Messenger that will allow customers to “transact, manage finances, and shop via messaging platforms.” Like many other companies, MasterCard is getting in on the chatbot craze to boost customer loyalty and profits; according to Gartner “nearly $2 billion in online sales” will pass through an artificial intelligence bot on mobile by the end of the year.
For MasterCard, the company is introducing two chatbots: MasterCard Bot for Banks and MasterCard Bot for Merchants. The distinction in the chatbots lies in their intended use on the consumer side of Facebook Messenger, where users will be able to chat with the bank bot to ask questions about their account, look at purchase history, monitor spending levels, receive assistance with financial literacy, and more. Powered by Kasisto’s KAI Banking AI platform, the MasterCard bot intends to accomplish all these tasks with the conversational ease of “texting a friend.”
“At Mastercard, we believe that AI-driven conversations between companies and their customers can drive better customer experiences in places and platforms that consumers are already engaging in.,” said Kiki Del Valle, senior vice president, Commerce for Every Device, Mastercard.
“Mastercard Labs has been testing integration of key Mastercard products and services within different messaging platforms and we’re thrilled to test Mastercard KAI on Messenger first. We will keep moving this test-and-learn approach to the next phase by developing chatbots that are naturally ingrained into a consumer’s daily life and helps our partners stimulate business interactions that are more conversational.”
When users want to shop and spend in Facebook Messenger, MasterCard Bot for Merchants will let them execute transactions through Masterpass. The shopping bot was developed in-house at MasterCard Labs and is planned to work “across multiple verticals” when it launches, from airlines to numerous retail chains, letting customers shop without needing to visit a separate app. The company mentioned the bot will be coming to “various messaging platforms,” confirming that Facebook Messenger is simply the first app getting the MasterCard chatbot.
Merchants will be able to use MasterCard’s experimental Bot Commerce API on the MasterCard Developers platform when it’s opened up for testing later this year, but a public launch of the retail-focused chatbot wasn’t announced. MasterCard Bot for Banks was tipped for a debut “early next year,” but so far only for users within the United States.
Facebook first introduced chatbots into Messenger in April, and the platform has since been embraced by a number of partners. Other credit card companies have launched an AI-enhanced bot for their customers, including American Express, but even game companies like Blizzard have figured out ways to use a chatbot to their advantage, this week teasing content for Hearthstone within Facebook Messenger.
Tags: Facebook, Facebook Messenger, MasterCard
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Apple Pay’s Jennifer Bailey to Speak at Code Commerce in December
Recode has announced Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey will speak at its latest Code Commerce event at Westfield’s Bespoke in San Francisco on December 6.
Apple executive Jennifer Bailey has been with the company for 13 years, first running all of Apple’s e-commerce sites and now heading up the digital payments service Apple Pay. While there’s still industry debate about whether Apple Pay’s tap-and-pay payments are the future of in-store shopping, most smart industry people agree the new Apple Pay for the web is going to be huge. Add to that rumors of a new MacBook Pro with a fingerprint sensor built in for Apple Pay purchases, and we are going to have a whole lot to discuss with Bailey in December.
Code Commerce features interviews from entrepreneurs and executives “driving change” in the e-commerce and payments industries.
Apple Pay is now available in 12 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, and Switzerland, with evidence pointing towards a German launch soon.
Apple CEO Tim Cook yesterday said Apple Pay transactions increased nearly 500% year-over-year in the September quarter. Apple Pay saw more transactions in the September quarter than all of 2015 around the world.
The lineup of speakers will also include Jack Dorsey, founder and CEO of mobile payments company Square, and Peter Szulczewski, founder and CEO of Wish, the second most popular shopping app in the U.S. behind Amazon.
Apple executive Bozoma Saint John, Head of Global Consumer Marketing for Apple Music and iTunes, will likewise speak at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit, a two-day event on November 29-30 in Laguna Niguel, California.
MPW Next Gen Summit provides participants with an “unparalleled opportunity” to connect with other “rapidly rising executives, entrepreneurs, and innovators in business, government, philanthropy, education and the arts.”
Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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‘Fly Delta’ iOS App Update Lets Users Track Luggage Using RFID Tags
Delta Airlines recently announced an update to its Fly Delta app that will allow customers to track their luggage by following its journey on a map of the United States. Using RFID tags on a user’s bag, which the airline introduced earlier in the year, the app shows the luggage’s “last known location,” determined by the airport at which it was most recently scanned (via CNN).
When the app is first opened, users see a glimpse of a zoomed out map of the U.S. and they can catch up with a bag’s journey as it travels from one airport to the next, eventually zooming in on its most recent leg of the journey. The step of the bag’s progress at each airport is marked by a pin, with its most current location represented by a suitcase icon. If a user taps any of these pieces of UI, more information about the location and bag’s status will be displayed.
“We’re the first carrier to offer this level of visibility,” said Bill Lentsch, Delta’s Senior Vice President – Airline Operations and Airport Customer Service. “From the moment our customers drop off their bag, we want them to know we’re looking out for it every step of the way and working to take the stress out of flying one innovation at a time.”
“We listen to our customers and know they want a simplified mobile experience that puts the control back in their hands,” said Rhonda Crawford, Vice President – Global Distribution & Digital Strategy. “Fly Delta 4.0 automatically updates when your flight details change, keeping customers informed.”
While the update is available now, Delta said that push notifications won’t be coming until later in the year, but will “offer Delta customers down-to–the-minute updates on their checked baggage.” The 4.0 update also introduces an integration of boarding passes into the “Today” screen, and a tweak to electronic boarding passes now allows them to automatically update with seat, gate, and flight information.
The new bag tracking ability in the Fly Delta app is available at all of Delta’s domestic airports — 84 total in the U.S. — and the airline said international stations will be gaining the feature “in the coming months.” Fly Delta is available to download from the iOS App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Tag: Delta Airlines
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How to use the blue light-killing Night Light on the Google Pixel
How do I use the Night Light feature on the Google Pixel?
Like many phones this year, Google’s Pixel offers a feature called Night Light that tints the screen a reddish-yellow to reduce the amount of sleep-affecting blue light being given off by the phone’s AMOLED display.
While it’s not likely going to save you a sleepless night if you’re prone to bouts of insomnia, blue light filters have been shown to cut down on the negative consequences of lengthy periods in front of a screen, especially under artificial indoor light.
Sound like a feature you’re interested in trying? Here’s how to do it.
How to enable Night Light on the Google Pixel
On the home screen, swipe down from the notification shade.
Tap the Settings button on the right side.
Scroll down to Display.
Tap Night Light.
Tap on Turn on automatically.
Enable Custom schedule or Sunset to sunrise (recommended).
If setting Custom schedule, set the Start time and End time.
Under Status, enable On / Turn off automatically at set period.
You can also set Night Light manually.
Swipe down on the notification shade
Swiping down again to access the Quick Settings menu.
Tap the moon icon (Night Light) to enable/disable.
That’s it! You should now have everything you need to get a good night’s sleep — except, you know, a bed. And a nice pillow. And you should probably walk away from your phone every once in a while, anyway.
Google Pixel + Pixel XL
- Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
- Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
- Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
- Pixel + Pixel XL specs
- Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
- Join the discussion in the forums!
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Best VR Device 2016: EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards nominees
The 13th annual Pocket-lint Gadget Awards are just weeks away, with this year celebrating 14 categories from best phone and best camera to a couple of newbies in best VR device and best car.
There is also a 15th category in the form of Product of the Year, which is given to the best overall product based on the winners of each of the main categories. To be nominated within our Awards, all products and devices must have been reviewed by us in full over the last 12 months and as you can imagine, there are some fantastic contenders.
Every year in the run up to the Awards we produce a series of features, each of which dives a little deeper into the categories to give you the nominations for each and why they have been shortlisted. You can find all the previous features in our Awards hub, from Best Phone to Best Game, while here we are focusing on Best VR Device 2016.
As we mentioned, this is a brand new Pocket-lint Gadget Awards category, celebrating the arrival of virtual reality and looking at the best devices to watch or play VR content. There are five nominees from Google’s Cardboard to HTC’s Vive, but which should be crowned the VR king?
Click here to see the Awards nominees for 2016’s Best VR Device in a little more detail to help you make your mind up about which one should get your vote.
Voting in the 13th annual EE Pocket-lint Awards is now open, so you can let us know which one of these great devices you think should win the Best VR Device award for this year and give us your verdict on all, or some, of the other tech across the 13 categories. Click here to vote.
Winners will be announced at the exclusive event in London on 23 November in association with EE. For now, keep an eye on the EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2016 hub for all the latest on how the voting works, who the elite judges are and the EE Pocket-lint Gadget Awards shortlist.
The Morning After: Wednesday October 26th 2016
While you weren’t checking email, or sleeping and all that, Apple said its services are making bank despite decreased hardware sales this quarter. Then, the company’s new Macbook leaked ahead of the big Apple event later today. Oh, and Silicon Valley held a ridiculous fashion show, as seen above. Today, Microsoft’s big Surface event starts 10 AM Eastern time, while Apple’s show starts at 1 PM ET. Best bookmark those links: it’s going to be a busy day.
So that’s the new MacBook.Apple announces slower profits, then its new device leaks early
The headline might sound disastrous, but Apple’s recent financial result follows years and years of tremendous growth and profit. CEO Tim Cook pointed to its services arm (iCloud, iTunes Music, etc.) to demonstrate recent successes, but the company sold fewer iPhones, iPads and Macs again this quarter. Then its new MacBook model appeared to leak ahead of its grand event tomorrow, replete with port swap-arounds, an OLED task strip and (gasp!) no escape button. There is no escape.
Making shooting things sound like it shouldMicrosoft’s research arm helped make Gears of War 4 sound incredible
For ‘Gears of War 4’, Microsoft-owned game makers the Coalition created a sound production tool called Triton … with some help from Microsoft Research. Triton creates realistic reverb sounds based on objects inside the game. In fact, the system takes in an entire video game level (spatially and material-wise) and calculates the reverb properties of every material. From there, it applies realistic echo/reflection effects to explosions, bullets and (hopefully) dying alien scum. It sounds pretty good. Literally.
Heads up.Upgrade your car’s dash with Navdy’s HUD
Heads-up displays are usually the domain of new cars. But after finding crowdfunding success, Navdy lets you add a HUD to any darn car you’d like. The $800 device pairs with Android and iOS devices to offer a floating substitute for your smartphone: turn-by-turn navigation, music controls and notifications for messages and calls are all available, but the peripheral’s behaviour with mapping apps still needs a bit of work. Roberto took one for a drive and explains more.
Engage.The occasionally dull sensation of helming a ‘Star Trek’ starship in VR
While Trekkies can’t wait for ‘Star Trek Bridge Crew’ to land on VR headsets, some may realize they weren’t cut out to be the captain of a starship. Devout fan (and Senior Editor) Dan Cooper led a crew of Engadget writers on the virtual rescue mission.
A $15 million ad campaign only does so much.Amazon’s fashion fight
Clothing is one of the online retailer’s fastest-growing categories, but the haute couture old guard aren’t cutting Amazon any slack. Many luxury brands say having full control of the retail experience is paramount. And then there’s those counterfeit concerns.
So hot right now.When Silicon Valley does a Fashion Week…
.. of course there’s drones.
But wait, there’s more…
- Ubisoft’s next ‘The Division’ update tries to keep players past the endgame
- AT&T’s online-only TV service will cost $35 a month for 100 channels
- Netflix CEO hammers final nail into the “Netflix and chill” coffin.
‘Evolve’ is dying after its free-to-play transition failed
Evolve managed to bump its online player count from 300 to a million by going free-to-play, but developer Turtle Rock says it can no longer support the shooter. “We were hungry for more but unfortunately today is the last day that Turtle Rock Studios can work on Evolve,” studio Co-Founder Chris Ashton wrote. In a statement, publisher 2K Games said that it will take over day-to-day operation and that the servers will stay online “for the foreseeable future.” There will be no more updates, however.
The title arrived with some fanfare and decent critical praise. However, the lack of depth, controversial multiplayer asymmetric gameplay (where one player is a monster and the others are the team tracking it down) and pricey downloadable content (DLC) ultimately doomed the title. The average player count dropped to less then 500, so developer Turtle Rock, with the support of 2K Games, elected to make Evolve free to play on PCs, including the DLC content.
That seemed to work, as the player count soared to a million, with 15,000 players online at any given time. However, the team apparently couldn’t monetize the higher user base enough, so Turtle Rock is moving onto other things. “This is the life of AAA game developers are aren’t self-funded and don’t own their own IP,” Ashton said, adding that “this is not goodbye … we have lots of stuff in the works that we hope you’ll enjoy.”
Via: Polygon
Source: Turtle Bay, 2K Games
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