Lifestyle audio brand Urbanista bowed wireless over-ear headphones with active noise canceling and ambient mode. Battery life is 50 hours, 40 with ANC activated. The Urbanista Miami headphones with Bluetooth 5.0 pause when the sensors detect they have been removed, then restart automatically when they’re put back on. The $149 headphones are bundled with a hard travel case, auxiliary cable, airline adapter and USB Type C charging cable.

Representatives of film and TV actors, advertisers and producers agreed to recommend a “temporary hold” on in-person content production in southern California amid surging COVID-19 cases, said the groups Sunday. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of TV and Radio Artists joined the Joint Policy Committee of commercial advertisers and ad agencies and the Producers’ Guild of America to encourage members to pause production “until more hospital beds become available.” It's “not a safe environment for in-person production,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris, whose group was one of four unions publishing June “guidelines” on the “safe return to work” for cast and crew (see 2006120040).

Representatives of film and TV actors, advertisers and producers agreed to recommend a “temporary hold” on in-person content production in southern California amid surging COVID-19 cases, said the groups Sunday. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of TV and Radio Artists joined the Joint Policy Committee of commercial advertisers and ad agencies and the Producers’ Guild of America to encourage members to pause production “until more hospital beds become available.” It's “not a safe environment for in-person production,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris, whose group was one of four unions publishing June “guidelines” on the “safe return to work” for cast and crew (see 2006120040).

Aggregation, security and voice control are key areas in the surging pay-TV streaming video market as consumers continue their exodus from traditional pay TV, panelists told Parks Associates’ recent Future of Video virtual conference.

Aggregation, security and voice control are key areas in the surging pay-TV streaming video market as consumers continue their exodus from traditional pay TV, panelists told Parks Associates’ recent Future of Video virtual conference. “The value of aggregation is huge,” said Ben Grad, fuboTV head-content strategy and acquisition, saying over-the-top video customers will “continue to flock” to services that offer a wide range of content “all in one place, on one platform, on devices they already have in their home.” Consumers don’t want to split their viewership among a dozen different apps, he said. More viewers are moving to aggregation platforms for streaming channels to simplify billing and access services through a single interface, said Parks analyst Kristen Hanich. Content aggregation will be “interesting” amid a fragmented OTT market, said Lu Bolden, Verimatrix chief revenue officer. It’s a challenge for the industry when a customer searches for content to “figure out what that end user’s authorized for through what platform,” he said. “Did they sign up through fubo for this particular piece of content, or this channel, or through Philo?” Services will want to keep subscribers in an environment that gives them access to applications and content “so that everyone can monetize this along the way,” said Bolden. That requires “complex insight” into data, authorization information and agreements among intermediaries. Voice control has an essential role in helping consumers find content in a fragmented space, panelists said, though Megan Dover, Cox executive director-video and entertainment product management and development, sees it as evolutionary technology. On whether far-field mics might be built into a set-top boxes vs. integrated into the handheld remote, Dover said Cox is studying the possibility as an “ideal” offering for the future. “It would be great to be able to not touch a remote control and say, ‘I want to watch …,' and it starts playing,” she said, but customers are also used to being able to pause, rewind and fast-forward within a program. Those commands are still cumbersome for voice control, Dover said. Sports betting is also becoming more popular on TV services, and security will be important as that segment expands, said Verimatrix’s Bolden. Implementing monetary transactions on platforms previously used only for viewing entertainment will be an issue, he said. It’s challenging to tie in authentication of users “as they’re moving from platform to platform” and make it easy for them to move from a smartphone to a TV to another device while having to remember passwords, Bolden said: “You want to make the experience for the end user easy, so they’ll stay on your platform -- but still secure.”

Aggregation, security and voice control are key areas in the surging pay-TV streaming video market as consumers continue their exodus from traditional pay TV, panelists told Parks Associates’ recent Future of Video virtual conference. “The value of aggregation is huge,” said Ben Grad, fuboTV head-content strategy and acquisition, saying over-the-top video customers will “continue to flock” to services that offer a wide range of content “all in one place, on one platform, on devices they already have in their home.” Consumers don’t want to split their viewership among a dozen different apps, he said. More viewers are moving to aggregation platforms for streaming channels to simplify billing and access services through a single interface, said Parks analyst Kristen Hanich. Content aggregation will be “interesting” amid a fragmented OTT market, said Lu Bolden, Verimatrix chief revenue officer. It’s a challenge for the industry when a customer searches for content to “figure out what that end user’s authorized for through what platform,” he said. “Did they sign up through fubo for this particular piece of content, or this channel, or through Philo?” Services will want to keep subscribers in an environment that gives them access to applications and content “so that everyone can monetize this along the way,” said Bolden. That requires “complex insight” into data, authorization information and agreements among intermediaries. Voice control has an essential role in helping consumers find content in a fragmented space, panelists said, though Megan Dover, Cox executive director-video and entertainment product management and development, sees it as evolutionary technology. On whether far-field mics might be built into a set-top boxes vs. integrated into the handheld remote, Dover said Cox is studying the possibility as an “ideal” offering for the future. “It would be great to be able to not touch a remote control and say, ‘I want to watch …,' and it starts playing,” she said, but customers are also used to being able to pause, rewind and fast-forward within a program. Those commands are still cumbersome for voice control, Dover said. Sports betting is also becoming more popular on TV services, and security will be important as that segment expands, said Verimatrix’s Bolden. Implementing monetary transactions on platforms previously used only for viewing entertainment will be an issue, he said. It’s challenging to tie in authentication of users “as they’re moving from platform to platform” and make it easy for them to move from a smartphone to a TV to another device while having to remember passwords, Bolden said: “You want to make the experience for the end user easy, so they’ll stay on your platform -- but still secure.”

Bidding in the C-band auction is accelerating, hitting $40.3 billion as of midday today, per the FCC's Auction 107 public reporting system. That's nearly double the amount at the close of bidding Thursday. Today marks the 10th day of the auction, which began Dec. 8. It could eclipse the AWS-3 auction, which raised $45 billion in 2015 and become the largest spectrum auction in commission history.

Customers with Google TV products can pause video to unlock information and buy what they see, said interactive video company Wirewax, which is powering the app. Interactive and shoppable experiences are available on Chromecast with Google TV and other Android TV devices, it said Wednesday. The Interactive app lets viewers get names and biographies of actors, view ingredients for recipes, create memes and go directly to retailers and universal carts to shop products that appear in a video, it said.

Customers with Google TV products can pause video to unlock information and buy what they see, said interactive video company Wirewax, which is powering the app. Interactive and shoppable experiences are available on Chromecast with Google TV and other Android TV devices, it said Wednesday. The Interactive app lets viewers get names and biographies of actors, view ingredients for recipes, create memes and go directly to retailers and universal carts to shop products that appear in a video, it said.

The Wireline Bureau’s 4.5-a-month GB Lifeline minimum service standard order will “heave” customers and providers “into a new digital divide created by the FCC’s results-driven, record-be-damned decision-making,” said the National Lifeline Association in a brief (in Pacer) filed Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 2011240059). The agency doesn’t use record evidence to rebut claims from providers that the MSS increase will kill the Lifeline program, NaLA said. “Instead, the FCC speculates that a general trend downward in wireless rates will make it possible for carriers to absorb a 50% data increase on December 1 with no increased subsidy.” The FCC’s brief pointed to a T-Mobile statement it will offer a Lifeline plan at 4.5 GB as evidence that the MSS is viable, but T-Mobile -- and thus its Lifeline provider subsidy Assurance -- doesn’t have to buy spectrum like other Lifeline providers do, NaLA said. The 4.5 GB MSS “will create a new chasm with 31% of Lifeline subscribers served by T-Mobile’s Assurance having free access to 4.5 GB while 63% served by wireless resellers (overwhelmingly T-Mobile’s wholesale partners) will not,” NaLA said. The FCC hasn’t shown that freezing the MSS at 3 GB will cause any harms, NaLA said. “All Lifeline stakeholders, including carriers, public interest groups, state commissions and commissioners, and policymakers from both parties, agreed that the FCC should pause the MSS at 3 GB to avoid jeopardizing affordable free Lifeline mobile broadband service and delay any MSS changes.” T-Mobile and the FCC didn’t comment.