PlayStation Vue TV Service Being Rolled Out

NOV. 15, 2014 • Sony Network Ent. International (SNEI) and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) are beginning a roll-out of a new television content service called PlayStation Vue. An invite-only beta this month will be followed later by consecutive market launches in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Sony will initially offer 75 channels sourced from CBS, Discovery Communications, Fox Networks, NBC Universal, Scripps Networks Interactive, .....

PlayStation Plus Subscribers Reach 7.9 Million

NOV. 3, 2014 • The PlayStation Plus streaming service has grown to 7.9 million subscribers, according to the Sony Corporation. The disclosure was made by chief financial officer Kenichiro Yoshida during a financial conference call on October 31 discussing results for the quarter ending September 30.  For the quarter sales by the Game and Network Services segment increased 83.2% year over year to ¥309.5 billion ($2.7 billion).  This was thanks to strong PlaySt.....

Google’s Nexus Player Streaming Box

OCT. 16, 2014 • Google Inc. is back in the television set-top business with its new $99 Nexus Player. Preorders for the unit start October 17 but Google has not announced an official launch date. The Nexus Player is one of the first devices to run on the latest Android 5.0 (Lollipop) OS, which has been optimized for large screen HDTVs. Major features include Google Cast, a wealth of streaming content providers and access to Android games and other apps available.....

Amazon Fire TV Unveiled

APRIL 2, 2014 • By leveraging the technology and experience gained from its Kindle Fire tablets Amazon.com has marketed a $99 streaming set-top box called the Amazon Fire TV. The unit is already available for purchase online, and goes up against similar 1080p video internet delivery systems available from Roku, Inc. and Apple Inc. at the same price point. What the Fire TV delivers over its competitors is more powerful specifications that include a 1.7GHz quad-co.....

OnLive Resurfaces

MARCH 6, 2014 • Last August Onlive Inc. entered into a process similar to bankruptcy called Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors. Nothing much has been heard since from the early cloud game streaming service until today. During the interim OnLive has invested in technology upgrades by adding thousands of new servers, opened data centers in Chicago and Seattle, plus increased capacity at existing data centers in Virginia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas and.....

Toshiba HDTVs Get Game Streaming

JAN. 13, 2014 • Later this quarter Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. will include the GameNow streaming service in its latest slate of Toshiba HDTVs. The models supporting GameNow include the L7400U, L5400U and the L3400U. The announcement came during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. GameNow is operated by Ubitus Inc. in Taiwan. The company was started in 2007 and launched its first cloud gaming service in Japan during the fall of 2011. .....

Amazon Set-Top Box Reported

APRIL 26, 2013 • Given that Amazon.com already streams a catalog of 150,000 movies and TV shows to its Prime service members owning a PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360 or Roku device, it comes with little surprise that Bloomberg News is reporting that the online retailer is prepping its own Internet set-top box for release later this year. Amazon representatives have declined to discuss the report. Neither was Bloomberg able to ascertain what business model for mon.....

OnLive’s Radical Restructuring

AUG. 20, 2012 • Cloud gaming service OnLive Inc. invoked a little known California process similar to bankruptcy called Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) on the 17th.  ABC is used by companies to sell their assets more swiftly than in a typical bankruptcy in order to pay creditors more promptly. In OnLive’s case, all assets were sold for an undisclosed amount to Gary Lauder who runs technology investment fund Lauder Partners. In the process al.....