In an ending of the ill-fated Redbox Instant by Verizon streaming video service, which shut down Oct. 7, the venture’s attempt at closure with its customers hit a snag Wednesday when subscribers tried to follow an email invitation to switch their purchased content to M-GO. We were one of the Redbox Instant by Verizon pioneers who jumped on instructions in the “friendly reminder” it offered by email Wednesday to “provide access at NO COST to you for movies you purchased from us” through an agreement with M-GO. If movies we had purchased couldn’t be transferred to M-GO, we were to qualify for credit in the M-GO store for the price we originally paid for the movie, the venture said. As a bonus, we were to receive a $5 welcome credit from M-GO. We followed instructions to visit the M-GO page, where we were instructed to enter our email address. But a system glitch prevented subscribers from entering email addresses and completing the process, which included access to the names of movies that subscribers had purchased from Redbox Instant by Verizon. Wednesday and again Thursday, Redbox Instant by Verizon sent out an apology email: “You recently received an email from us reminding you to act by March 20, 2015 if you wished to establish an account with M-GO to access and watch your Redbox Instant by Verizon movies," it said. "Unfortunately, due to a technical error on our part, the consent page used an invalid email address instead of your Redbox Instant by Verizon email and did not allow you to properly enter your email address before completing the consent process." After apologizing, Redbox Instant by Verizon assured customers that their account information was "safe and secure.” Redbox Instant by Verizon will be “re-sending this reminder email to you soon, after we’ve corrected the migration function,” it said. We decided not to wait for an invitation and tried the link again, finding that the email address issue was corrected. A confirmation email thanked us for our consent to switch our purchased movies to M-GO and said we’d receive instructions within the next 24 hours on “how to complete the migration process.”
NBCUniversal launched a TV Everywhere initiative, which lets consumers in markets with NBC-owned TV stations access NBC's live programming and VOD content in and out of their homes on multiple devices, including computers, smartphones or tablets, NBC Owned Television Stations said in a news release Wednesday. To access a full live stream of a local NBC-owned station, customers for example can go to nbcnewyork.com or download a station's app and select "Watch Live TV Now," it said. Customers can download the NBC app or go to nbc.com. Live NBC programming is available through 10 NBC-owned stations, including KNBC Los Angeles, KNSD San Diego, WCAU Philadelphia, WMAQ-TV Chicago, WNBC New York and WRC-TV Washington. NBC affiliates will launch throughout the year, it said.
Canada’s broadband companies and third-party video streaming services are competing with over-the-top programming, a Moody’s Investors Service report said. Canadian TV distributors can use traditional channels, the Internet and subscription options to “counter some of the competition from Internet-based programming,” Moody’s said Wednesday. Broadband companies will survive the competition because “most of Canada’s television broadcasters are owned by its broadband companies, which also own the country’s television distributors,” it said. Advertising will continue supporting TV programming, it said.
Cinedigm, partnering with TV4 Entertainment, will offer niche over-the-top channels that TV4 Entertainment will distribute through its online video distribution platform, the company said in a news release Monday. The companies will focus the channels on preschoolers, kids and tweens, it said. The first channel from the partnership will launch later this year, it said.
Cubans with Internet connections and access to international payment methods can now subscribe to Netflix to view a “curated selection” of movies and TV shows for $7.99 a month, the over-the-top provider said Monday. Among the programs available to Cuban subscribers are House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, Marco Polo, kids’ shows All Hail King Julien and The Adventures of Puss in Boots and documentaries including Virunga and The Square, said Netflix. In a statement, CEO Reed Hastings said of the Cuban market: “One day we hope to be able to bring their work to our global audience.” Netflix didn’t immediately respond to questions about other specific content availability to the Cuban market or estimated market size.
Sling TV, the live, over-the-top Internet TV service announced at CES (see 1501050037), is available nationwide, the company said in a news release Monday. Customers can watch live TV on computers, smartphones, tablets and TVs, it said. The company's $20 core package includes ABC Family, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, ESPN, ESPN2, the Food Network, HGTV, TBS and TNT, and additional sports channels can be added for a $5-per-month Sports Extra package, it said. Customers can watch ESPN and ESPN2 on the WatchESPN app with Internet-connected devices, it said. Sling TV also offers Kids Extra and News & Info Extra packages for $5 a month, it said.
Russound completed implementation of Spotify, which is now available to users of the DMS-3.1 digital media streamer and the upcoming MCA-88X streaming multizone controller/amplifier, it said Friday. The company also released an updated version of the MyRussound App to enable full Spotify control from a smartphone or tablet.
The Play-Fi world is a bit larger with the announcement of the first outdoor speaker for the wireless multiroom music platform from a company called Lucid Sound, but details in a Wednesday news release were sketchy. In the release, issued by Play-Fi parent company DTS, unnamed weatherproof speakers from San Diego-based Lucid Sound promise to enable listeners to enjoy “uncompromised wireless audio streaming” from music services, Internet radio stations and personal music libraries. Pricing and availability weren’t given. The Lucid Sound website showed a photo of a Neptune N100 “fully wireless waterproof high-performance audio system” said to be available in two versions: with Bluetooth at a range of 35 feet and with “multipoint” wireless at a range of 300 feet. Both speakers were said to be “coming soon.” In fact, all six products shown on the Lucid Sound website Wednesday -- also including an AC adapter ($29), battery pack ($49), charging station ($74), wireless rock speaker ($549) and wireless subwoofer ($599) -- were labeled “coming soon.” The Lucid Sound website had no reference to Play-Fi, however, and Lucid CEO Chris Von Huben didn’t return a call for clarification.
Correction: Broadcast lawyer Jack Goodman, not CE lawyer Robert Schwartz of Constantine Cannon, was the speaker at the FCBA panel Friday who said over-the-top providers could be entitled to the compulsory copyright license that facilitates cable and DBS distribution of broadcast signals (see 1501300057).
Security holes in the NFL Mobile app “have been resolved on both iOS and Android,” a spokeswoman for Wandera said Friday. That mobile data gateway alerted the public Tuesday to potential security issues that allegedly made highly valuable personal information at risk of being exposed by hackers, ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl game. Scanning technologies used by Wandera allegedly discovered that after NFL Mobile app users logged into the app, the app “leaks their username and password in a secondary, insecure (unencrypted) API [application program interface] call,” a Wandera news release said. An app user’s username and email address were also leaked in an unencrypted format, allowing a hacker to access an app user’s full NFL profile, which contains personal data. “We’ve looked into this vulnerability and it’s been addressed,” a spokesman for NFL Media said Friday.