India’s civil aviation ministry also advises against using the Note 7 in-flight
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation is the latest to advocate against using the Note 7 in-flight.
As Samsung proceeds with the Note 7 global recall, India’s civil aviation ministry has issued a public notice advising users to not use the phone in-flight. The move follows similar statements from the FAA, and several Australian airlines as governments and carriers work to prevent any untoward incidents.
According to the notice, travelers are advised to switch off the Note 7 prior to boarding a craft, and not turn on the handset for the duration of the flight. The ministry is also advocating against storing the Note 7 in checked baggage:
India also bans Galaxy Note 7 mobile onboard any flights. #aviation pic.twitter.com/USTWjAo8xH
— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) September 9, 2016
Unlike the U.S., Samsung hasn’t started selling the Note 7 in India before issuing the global recall, so the potential for errant units out in the wild is slim. That said, there are customers that have bought the phone from other countries and imported it into India. It is unlikely they’ll be able to get their units exchanged within the country, but Samsung has announced that all those that have pre-ordered the Note 7 via official channels in India will receive a Gear VR for free and a $50 Oculus content voucher to make up for the delay.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
- Galaxy Note 7 recall: Everything you need to know
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
- The latest Galaxy Note 7 news!
- Here are all four Note 7 colors
- Complete Galaxy Note 7 specs
- Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!
Verizon
AT&T
T-Mobile
Sprint
Moto Z Play specs
The Moto Z Play is coming to Verizon in the U.S., and here are its specs.
The Moto Z Play is Motorola’s latest entry into the Moto Z family, and while it lacks the oomph of its more expensive counterparts, you get a lot of phone for its $400 price tag.
Here’s what it packs inside.
| Operating system | Android 6.0.1 w/ Moto Display, Voice, Actions |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor 8x Cortex-A53 @ 2.05 GHz 14nm process |
| GPU | Adreno 506 GPU @ 650 MHz |
| Screen | 5.5-inch Full HD (1920×1080) AMOLED 403ppi pixel density |
| RAM | 3GB |
| Storage | 32GB (U.S. & International) 64GB (China) |
| Expandability | MicroSD up to 2 TB |
| Rear camera | 16MP, PDAF, laser-assisted autofocus 1.3um pixels f/2.0 lens dual-LED flash |
| Video capture | 720p (120fps), 1080p (30fps), 4K (30fps) |
| Front camera | 5MP 1.4um pixels f/2.2 wide-angle front-facing flash |
| Connectivity | USB-C 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Water resistance | Water-repellent coating |
| Fingerprint | One-touch fingerprint sensor |
| Battery | 3,510 mAhTurboPower charger9 hrs battery in 15 min |
| Colors | black/silver/slate white/fine gold/sugar white |
| Moto Mods support | Yes |
| Dimensions | 156.4 x 76.4 x 6.99mm |
| Weight | 165g |
| LTE Bands | B2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 13 (Verizon) B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 19, 20, 28 (Rest of world) B1, 3, 7, 26, 38, 39, 40, 41 (China TD-LTE) |
Apple iPhone 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: What’s the difference?
Apple announced two new iPhones at an event in September, comprising the iPhone 7 and the larger iPhone 7 Plus.
In previous years, the two iPhones – the standard and the Plus – have been almost identical aside from their physical size and the inclusion of optical image stabilisation on one and not the other, but this year the difference is, well, different.
Which iPhone 7 model should you choose? Here is how the standard iPhone 7 compares to the iPhone 7 Plus and what that difference now is.
Apple iPhone 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: Design
The Apple iPhone 7 measures 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1mm and it weighs 138g, while the iPhone 7 Plus measures 158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3mm and hits the scales at 188g. As you would expect, the standard iPhone 7 is therefore smaller and lighter than the Plus.
Both models feature an aluminium body that is available in Jet Black, Black, Rose Gold, Gold and Silver colour options. They both see the antenna bands on the rear move to just the top and bottom for a cleaner look than their predecessors, and they both see the removal of the headphone jack.
Both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have stereo speakers on board, and they both add IP67 water and dust proofing to their builds. Where these two differ in terms of design other than size, is the iPhone 7 has a singular lens on the rear, while the iPhone 7 Plus has a dual camera setup – more on that in a minute.
Apple iPhone 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: Display
The Apple iPhone 7 has a 4.7-inch size display, while the iPhone 7 Plus has a 5.5-inch display. The standard iPhone 7 has a 1334 x 750 pixel resolution, while the Plus has a Full HD resolution meaning their pixel densities are 326ppi and 401ppi, respectively.
Aside from that however, the same technology is present on both the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. They both offer a Retina HD display with wide colour gamut and 3D Touch technology, the latter of which means access to different features and functions based on the force with which the user presses.
They also both have a 625 cd/m2 maximum brightness, Display Zoom, a fingerprint resistant coating and the Reachability function. Based on the numbers, the iPhone 7 Plus will offer sharper and crisper images, but the colour vibrancy and viewing angles, as well the the rest of the experience should be identical across these two devices.
Apple iPhone 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: Cameras
The camera department is where you’ll see the biggest difference between the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. The iPhone 7 features a single 12-megapixel sensor with a f/1.8 aperture, while the iPhone 7 Plus features two 12-megapixel rear camera. The first is a wide-angle lens with a f/1.8 aperture, the other is a telephoto lens with a f/2.8 aperture.
This allows the iPhone 7 Plus to offer optical zoom at two times and digital zoom up to 10 times, while the iPhone 7 is only capable of digital zoom up to five times. It also means the larger device will be able to create bokeh images, when the update arrives later this year, while the iPhone 7 won’t.
Aside from that, both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus feature the same functionality. They both have optical image stabilisation, something only the Plus has had in the past, and they both have a new Quad-LED True Tone flash. They also offer wide colour capture, body and face detection and 4K video recording.
The front camera is also the same on both devices with a 7-megapixel snapper featuring an f/2.2 aperture, Retina Flash and auto image stabilisation. The front camera is capable of 1080p video recording and wide colour capture and body and face detection are on board here too.
Apple iPhone 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: Hardware
The Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus both have the new A10 Fusion processor with embedded M10 motion co-processor under their hoods. They also both come in 32GB, 128GB and 256GB storage options.
The iPhone 7 Plus has a larger battery capacity, with up to 21 hours of 3G talk time, compared to the iPhone 7’s 14 hours, but aside from that, they both offer the same hardware.
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, LTE Advanced up to 450 Mbps, and support for Apple Pay. They also both have the second-generation of the Touch ID fingerprint sensor within their Home buttons.
Apple iPhone 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: Software
The Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus both run on iOS 10 meaning they will offer an almost identical user experience.
There will be a few extra software features in the camera element of the iPhone 7 Plus thanks to the dual setup, but everything else will be exactly the same. You can read all about iOS 10 and what features it offers in our tips and tricks story.
Apple iPhone 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: Price
The Apple iPhone 7 starts at £599, unless you want the Jet Black model, in which case pricing starts at £699 as a 32GB model isn’t available in that finish. The 256GB iPhone 7 model costs £799.
The iPhone 7 Plus starts at £719 for the 32GB model, creeping up to £819 for the 128GB model, which again is the starting model for the Jet Black finish. The 256GB model is £919.
Apple iPhone 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: Conclusion
The Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are almost identical in specs, with the exceptions being their physical size, cameras, display resolutions and battery capacities.
The size increase, extra camera functions, longer battery life and potential for sharper display images mean an extra £120 on top of the standard model though.
Ultimately, there is very little between these two devices so the decision will come down to your budget, whether you prefer a bigger phone or a smaller one, or whether the extra camera features and battery life can justify the slightly deeper hole in your pocket.
Those freaky AirPods show that Apple can still innovate
Of all the devices launched at the Apple special event in September, it’s the AirPods that have attracted the most attention.
The iPhone 7 is a phone, an incremental update of last year’s device; the iPhone 7 Plus is much the same, although the addition of the dual camera looks like Apple being a little reactionary and following the rest of the market – something the company rarely does.
The Apple AirPods, however, are something else.
As is customary, Apple described the AirPods as “magical”, both in the introduction on stage and on the Apple website. It’s a familiar Apple superlative that’s been used many times before. How exactly can a Bluetooth headset be magical?
Apple was very precise in the introduction of the AirPods. The emphasis was on the W1 chip that sits inside the AirPods and some of the new Beats headsets. Never once was Bluetooth uttered. Perhaps that’s because Bluetooth is old, familiar, common, and the bane of the wireless audio experience. But the AirPods are Bluetooth and Apple has said so on its website.
So why are the AirPods innovative? Because they solve a huge Bluetooth problem and that’s around connectivity. The AirPods seamlessly connect to your iPhone and that connection syncs via iCloud to your other Apple devices, so everything can then connect.
That’s innovation right there, because with other Bluetooth headphones, you have manually go through the process of connecting to the devices you want to connect to. That would be your iPhone, your iPad, your Mac, your Watch. With AirPods, it’s done in a flash. No fuss, just efficiency.
This efficiency goes further with a built-in sensor. Pull the AirPod from your ear and it shuts off. Your phone will know whether it’s supposed to be taking a call though your headset, or the handset, without having to switch from one output to the other manually. That’s clever too: if you’ve ever juggled with taking a call through a headset or the handset, it will save more fuss. More than once we’ve taken a call that’s being routed through Bluetooth headphones we’re not even wearing.
What this really plays to is the advantage of ecosystem. Apple’s most valuable asset is that it’s making everything, software, hardware, accessories. It can circumnavigate traditional pain points by making everything automatic – as long as you’re within that ecosystem.
Others have tried to do this. NFC has been used as a connection protocol for exactly this purpose: tap your phone on these headphones to connect, without the faff of opening up Bluetooth settings and so on. NFC has been good, but it’s limited to those close contact devices. There’s no ecosystem sitting in the background of the HTC phone that you’re trying to connect to those Sony headphones, that you’ll also want to use with your MacBook.
This is the challenge that Android perhaps faces. Together not the same has run as the Android tagline, and variety is very much the advantage that Android has over Apple. There’s so much in Android that’s different, you know where you are and what you’re doing with access to so many different devices. But imagine being able to pair those headphones and know that you’re now synced to whichever device you’re going to use – that Samsung phone, Nexus tablet or Tag Heuer watch.
We’re yet to really see the AirPods in action in a wide variety of situations, and it’s not really having two wireless earpieces that’s innovative, as we’ve seen it all before: it’s the idea of a better level of connectivity that’s the important point and a better user experience that gets us excited.
As for the design, that’s a different matter and probably best left to Twitter’s reaction:
Crazy. All these years i had #apple #airpods in my bathroom! @the_pc_doc #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/RdRxqQtGul
— Benedikt Maier (@BenediktMaier) September 7, 2016
Creation of the AirPods https://t.co/7LR8Frs92m
— Justin Russo (@JustinJRusso23) September 8, 2016
Top 8 places to drop your $159 #AirPods into. pic.twitter.com/2egMyHJ6HX
— Antti Holma (@anttiholma) September 8, 2016
Make your own #airpods now! pic.twitter.com/XyCPFI5l3z
— #Mykapalaran (@mykapalaran) September 8, 2016
The Engadget Podcast Ep 5: Applesauce
Editor in Chief Michael Gorman, executive editor Christopher Trout and managing editor Dana Wollman join host Terrence O’Brien for a special all Apple edition of the podcast from San Francisco. On the show they’ll search for the definition of courage, tell you what it’s really like on the floor of a major press event and give a state of the Apple union.
The Flame Wars Leaderboard
Wins
Loses
Winning %
Chris Velazco
3
1
.750
Christopher Trout
2
1
.666
Devindra Hardawar
6
4
.600
Nathan Ingraham
3
4
.429
Cherlynn Low
3
4
.429
Michael Gorman
1
2
.333
Relevant links:
- The new Apple Watch mostly looks like the old one
- The Apple Watch Nike+ is a running watch I might actually use
- Two years later, Apple has figured out what its watch is good for
- Apple announces the water-resistant iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
- The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are all about subtle, powerful changes
- Apple’s AirPods are smart wireless earbuds with a new W1 chip
- Apple’s AirPods toe the line between usefulness and gimmickry
- Apple adds real-time collaboration to iWork
- What happened at the iPhone event
- Courage is not how you sell iPhones
- Nintendo loses a little piece of its identity with ‘Super Mario Run’
You can check out every episode on The Engadget Podcast page in audio, video and text form for the hearing impaired.
Watch on YouTube
Subscribe on Google Play Music
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe on Stitcher
Subscribe on Pocket Casts
High-profile Kickstarter games see delays, port cancellations
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, was crowdfunded to the tune of $5.5 million last year, with an ETA of March 2017. It promises to be a spiritual successor to the Castlevania series, but this week, project lead Koji Igarashi (known colloquially as IGA) personally announced via Kickstarter that the game will now be pushed back to “the first half of 2018.” The delay, IGA says, is because the game is currently at risk of not “meeting [his] quality standards.” To that end, he’s adding additional developers to the team, who will hopefully be able to put the project back on track. He also offered his apologies to anyone affected by the delay.
Separately, Hyper Light Drifter developer Heart Machine updated its Kickstarter, informing backers that the planned Wii U and Vita ports of the game are canceled. Speaking directly to backers, Heart Machine-founder (and director of the game) Alex Preston spoke about a need to prioritize his own health — he has a congenital heart disease which served in part as inspiration for the game — after several years of solid development. Despite his best efforts to complete both ports, the task proved impossible, he said, and after missing many treatments, he’s making the call to cancel development. “I’m sorry,” he told backers, “[but] I have to prioritize my own health right now.”
Explaining why these ports were so problematic, Preston said the Wii U port was down to issues with the game’s engine, GameMaker: Studio. Despite promises made, GameMaker owners YoYo Games and Nintendo couldn’t come to an agreement that would allow a native port on the system. The Vita version, meanwhile, was not performing to an adequate level despite “months” of work attempting to optimize it. The team will continue to push ahead with updates and fulfilling other rewards, with a large update planned in the coming weeks. Backers who requested a Wii U or a Vita copy of the game will be able to choose between other supported platforms or a refund.
Hyper Light Drifter backers’ responses to the news have been varied. There were many delays leading up to the original release earlier this year, with quality issues and Preston’s health largely to blame. The cancellation of the two ports after a three-year wait has provoked anger from some backers, and that’s understandable. But for every angry response, many more encouraging comments can be found.
For Bloodstained, backers have made comparisons to another high-profile not-a-reboot, Mighty No. 9. A spiritual successor to Mega Man, it was plagued by multiple delays. The original “Spring 2015” date was only pushed back in April 2015, then the “September 2015” release date got switched in August 2015. The final insult came when a February 2016 release date was only scrapped on January 25th, 2016. But while Mighty No. 9’s developers were slammed hard for missing their targets, backers of Bloodstained have so far been more understanding. That’s partly down to this being the first delay, but also due to IGA revealing the news six months in advance, and a generally being better at communicating the development process in general.
Bloodstained and Hyper Light Drifter are but two examples of a wider trend: troubled Kickstarters. For every successful project, like Republique, there’s a game that never materialized or failed to deliver on all of its promises. Mighty No. 9 was one such game. The 2D platformer was supposed to be a retro-modern fantasy, bringing the Mega Man series back to life. But the game was near-universally panned, and fans’ disappointment was compounded by the fact it had been delayed so much.
High-profile failures have tarnished Kickstarter’s reputation, and made it harder for games to get funded. But there’s a lesson consumers are beginning to learn. It should be clearer than ever that you’re not buying a game when you’re backing a project like Bloodstained. You’re giving money to a person or a team that wants to try and make something, because you want them to make it. If they’re successful, you’ll get what you asked for. If they’re not, you might get nothing. Head into every Kickstarter with that attitude, and only part with your money if you’re willing to accept the risks.
First iPhone 7 Orders Now ‘Preparing for Shipment’ With September 16 Launch Day Delivery
Just hours after iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus pre-orders opened, some customers in the United States have seen their orders move to the “preparing for shipment” stage with an estimated delivery date of September 16.
MacRumors readers that purchased their new iPhones through Apple, AT&T, and Verizon appear to be the earliest to see movement on their orders, but most pre-orders placed in the U.S. and abroad remain in the processing stage.
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus pre-orders began at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time today, and shipping estimates slipped to 2-3 weeks or later for most models in less than 20 minutes. iPhone 7 Plus models in Jet Black are most constrained, with new orders estimated to ship in November in the U.S., Canada, and many other countries.
MacRumors readers can track and discuss their pre-orders in our community forums based upon their carrier or country. We’ve also shared some other useful links for customers that pre-ordered. Join the conversation:
• Apple Pre-Orders
• AT&T Pre-Orders
• Verizon Pre-Orders
• Sprint Pre-Orders
• T-Mobile Pre-Orders
• Canada Pre-Orders
• U.K. Pre-Orders
• Apple Orders Page
• Reserve and Pick Up
• iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Discussion
• iPhone Launch Meetups
• FlightAware for iPhone 7 and UPS
• UPS Tracking
• FedEx Tracking
Customers who have not pre-ordered the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus online may still have a chance to purchase the model they desire sooner than anticipated through Apple’s in-store Reserve and Pick Up program. Reservations will reopen on September 17 in the U.S., U.K., and Italy, while launch day reservations still remain available for select models in many other countries.
Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Discuss this article in our forums
Shigeru Miyamoto Hopes ‘Super Mario Run’ Will Draw Users to Nintendo’s Hardware for More In-Depth Experiences
One of the first major surprises out of Apple’s September 7 event was the appearance of game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, and the announcement of an all-new Mario game for iOS called Super Mario Run. In the game, players will help Mario navigate various worlds by tapping on the screen to help the plumber jump, dodge, and slide past obstacles and enemies until they reach the flag pole at the end of the stage.
During Apple’s event, Miyamoto and senior product marketing manager for Nintendo, Bill Trinen, explained the mechanics of the game and its intent for quick burst, one-handed smartphone gaming. Now, in a recent interview with The Verge, Miyamoto divulged more information on the iPhone game, potentially hinting at what the company’s outlook on mobile gaming could mean for the other two upcoming DeNA iOS games, Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem.
Image via The Verge
In its time with Super Mario Run, The Verge commented that the game underscores the company’s strategy of introducing addicting, but modest experiences on mobile in order to win more players over with full-fledged console games. Super Mario Run ultimately started as an idea that “was too simple for a home console device,” Miyamoto said, and that the company’s “main focus” is still convincing players to migrate over to its first-party hardware.
Still, Miyamoto said he hopes people are “going to want to play a much more in-depth and a more challenging Mario experience … it’s going to increase the population of people interested in coming to our platforms, which is of course is our main focus.“
It looks to be everything a Super Mario game should be, but also, what it shouldn’t be. Miyamoto’s game has been carefully designed so that it’s simple enough to attract a new audience of iPhone lovers, but not satisfying enough to supplant a console experience.
As suspected, the success of Pokémon Go has helped Nintendo push forward in the smartphone space, and helped dictate the experience of Super Mario Run. In the way that Pokémon Go is inherently tied into the GPS and camera functions of a smartphone, Super Mario Run was built around a similar, play-anywhere universality, leading to its “simple… one-handed gameplay” and “shorter play time.”
Miyamoto cited the success of Pokémon Go as validation of this smartphone-centric approach. “Pokémon Go is obviously a game that uses your GPS and it’s synced into the camera and Google Maps, so it’s a piece of software that’s really geared towards that mobile play experience,” Miyamoto said. “So, similarly with Mario, what we’re looking at is simple game play, one-handed gameplay; shorter play time, playing in shorter bursts; and then really bringing the joy of Mario to that much larger audience.”
With its new iOS Mario game — which will eventually make it to Android — Nintendo is also admitting that most kids’ first interaction with technology is no longer with one of the company’s consoles, but the smartphone or tablet of a parent. This convinced Nintendo to finally put its most famous IPs on mobile devices, and helped them decide to make Super Mario Run a one-time-only paid game, so parents don’t have to worry about their kids spending large amounts of money on in-game ephemera.
Miyamoto noted that there was a point in time when “[Nintendo’s] hardware system was really the first device that kids would interact with, and that’s starting to shift.” The first device kids interact with now, he says? Their parent’s smartphone. This notion of the smartphone “being the first place this kids are encountering games, is what helped us to decide to bring this to smartphones,” Miyamoto said.
The first Nintendo and DeNA partnership game was Miitomo, which launched earlier in the year, but failed to gain much traction due to its social-focused features that lacked much in the way of a main gameplay hook. Coming next, besides Super Mario Run, are Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem, but details on the games have been scarce. In the original announcement, Nintendo said that Fire Emblem will be “more accessible” in comparison to the console entries in the popular RPG series, and Animal Crossing “will be connected with the world of Animal Crossing for dedicated gaming systems.”
With the new context of Miyamoto’s interview for Super Mario Run, it’s possible that the two other upcoming mobile games will continue Nintendo’s focus on introducing a pared-down version of each franchise, so that players are encouraged to play the full-fledged titles on Nintendo’s consoles. Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem are also said to support a free-to-play structure, so there still remains a chance that Nintendo will differentiate the two titles from its simplified mobile gaming strategy and present gameplay closer to the console titles.
Super Mario Run will launch in December, and Nintendo has said that Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem would debut sometime in the fall, but the company has yet to give more specific launch details for those games.
Read The Verge’s full interview with Shigeru Miyamoto here.
Tags: Nintendo, Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing, Super Mario Run
Discuss this article in our forums
Robot sews a shirt automatically using stiffened fabric
Garments have been sewed together by humans since time immemorial, but a company called Sewbo wants to replace us with automatons. It has developed a robot that can assemble a T-shirt by simply stiffening the fabric so that it’s more like a piece of cardboard. The arm then picks up the pre-cut pieces using suction and feeds them into a sewing machine. When its finished making the shirt, the bot simply drops it into hot water to remove the non-toxic polymer stiffener.
The Polyvinyl Alcohol plastic stiffener is already used in the garment industry, and can be recovered and reused. As Sewbo points out, machines already cut and measure fabric, but can’t handle soft materials like cloth with much dexterity. With stiff fabrics, a bot could take the already-cut pieces and assemble them like sheet metal.
However, some vital steps appear to have been glossed over in the video (below). It’s not clear how it would line up the seams, for instance — that would likely take some kind of advanced machine vision system.
Sewbo’s approach is novel, but it’s not the first company to dream up an automated sewing system — Electroloom, for one, wants to “3D print” garments. However, it’s hard to see the benefit of automation when you can already buy a T-shirt for $5. And if such inventions did work, it could throw millions of garment industry workers, most of whom are women, out of work. However, Adidas is already using robots to build shoes, and so automated clothing production seems inevitable, too.
Source: Sewbo
Bloomberg: Amazon wants live sports streaming rights
Bloomberg believes that Amazon is considering buying the rights to a variety of live sporting events as a way of bringing more people into Prime. According to the site’s anonymous sources, the firm has made discreet enquiries about picking up licenses for global sports including tennis, golf, soccer and car racing. The company is believed to have a beady eye on domestic sports like baseball and basketball, although knows that traditional broadcasters have that sewn up for the next few years.
The report explains that Amazon hired a former Sports Illustrated executive, James DeLorenzo, to head up a sports division earlier this year. In addition, the company poached a former YouTube executive, Charlie Neiman, to look into partnering with sports companies and build new business opportunities. Amazon has refused to make a public comment, but these preliminary negotiations could be the start of a whole new broadcasting platform.
One of the existential problems that both Amazon and Netflix suffer from is that their audience has to make an effort to reach them. If you’re not that interested in highbrow dramas about the modern family, classical music or the political machinery in a bizarro-world White House, you won’t bother signing up. Netflix and Amazon have taken two very different routes to broaden their appeal beyond a hardcore audience — since both are believed to have around 50 million subscribers.
Netflix, for instance, is going for pure populism, and has broadened its outreach beyond blue-chip consumers who enjoy shows like Orange is the New Black. Shows like Fuller House and the deal it signed with Adam Sandler demonstrate how Netflix is attempting to move beyond its traditional customer base. Amazon, meanwhile, is hoping that bundling its own platform with Prime means that its retail customers are, invariably, going to want to check out its more populist original shows.
The rights to live sports broadcasts are likely to be the most lucrative, and expensive, things that broadcasters can buy. For instance, each of the big three networks spends around a billion dollars each year for the right to air NFL Games. In return for that outlay, they can expect audiences of between 18 and 21 million, which would be eye-gougingly high for a company like Amazon.
It’s not just Amazon or Netflix which are looking to sports to help break its apparent ceiling in subscriber numbers, either. Twitter signed a deal with the National Football League to stream 10 Thursday night games that are currently broadcast on NBC and CBS. Facebook, meanwhile, has considered joining the fray for sports rights, and has experimented with showing live soccer games on its own video platform.
Admittedly, every hurdle between audience and channel reduces that figure — so ESPN, which requires a cable subscription to access, only gets audiences of 13 million. Given the current extra layer of complexity required for consumers to get Instant Video on their TVs, it’s likely that the potential audience would be less that than ESPN can expect.
Of course, the big three networks can afford to spend billions on sports because they make that money back with ads. Amazon doesn’t air commercials, and would probably have to charge a pretty penny for an ad-free sports tier on Prime. Then again, if it did air commercials, it’d suffer a similar backlash to the one Netflix suffered at the mere rumor that it would bring ads into its shows.
Millennials, unfortunately, hate ads, and this has even affected NBC, a show that relies entirely upon promotional spots for revenue. Earlier this year, it conceded that such breaks are hostile to users and will reduce the amount of marketing clips in Saturday Night Live to win back younger audiences.
Source: Bloomberg
