Skype video calling was added to the PS Vita, Microsoft’s Skype division said. Sony’s handheld videogame system is offering the Skype capabilities on the Wi-Fi and 3G models, Skype said. PS Vita users can download the application for free from the “Social” category of the PlayStation Store. The app was made available in the U.S. on Tuesday and expanded globally on Wednesday, a Skype spokeswoman said. Skype voice calling was made available on the PSP before this, but “this is the first time video calling is available on a mobile gaming device,” she said. “With the launch of Skype for PS Vita, we are taking another step towards our ultimate goal of making Skype video calling available on every platform, all over the world, and meeting the demands of existing PlayStation users to offer video on a gaming console,” said Manrique Brenes, senior director of emerging opportunities at Skype. Skype on PS Vita runs in “background mode” for users while gaming or using other applications and users have the capability to pause a game, conduct a call and then return to their previous activity, it said. Because the Vita features front- and rear-facing cameras, users can “switch back and forth between the two during a Skype call,” so that users “never miss” a call, “even when playing a game or using another app,” it said.
Skype video calling was added to the PS Vita, Microsoft’s Skype division said. Sony’s handheld videogame system is offering the Skype capabilities on the Wi-Fi and 3G models, Skype said. PS Vita users can download the application for free from the “Social” category of the PlayStation Store. The app was made available in the U.S. on Tuesday and expanded globally on Wednesday, a Skype spokeswoman said. Skype voice calling was made available on the PSP before this, but “this is the first time video calling is available on a mobile gaming device,” she said. “With the launch of Skype for PS Vita, we are taking another step towards our ultimate goal of making Skype video calling available on every platform, all over the world, and meeting the demands of existing PlayStation users to offer video on a gaming console,” said Manrique Brenes, senior director of emerging opportunities at Skype. Skype on PS Vita runs in “background mode” for users while gaming or using other applications and users have the capability to pause a game, conduct a call and then return to their previous activity, it said. Because the Vita features front- and rear-facing cameras, users can “switch back and forth between the two during a Skype call,” so that users “never miss” a call, “even when playing a game or using another app,” it said.
DirecTV “soft” launched its HD DVR service at Hilton’s Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites, a company spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman declined to identify where the Hilton hotels initially getting the DVR service are located. But the hotels are using a version of the 3D-capable HR24 DVR/satellite receiver that contains a 500 GB hard drive and has been outfitted with software customized for the hospitality market, the spokeswoman said. Hotel guests can record live TV programs and pause or rewind them. But the guests can’t schedule programs in advance or view content previously recorded, the company said. A DirecTV server in the hotel restores default settings once a guest checks out, resetting the DVR program list, company officials said. Hotels deploying the DVR/satellite receiver pay for the equipment and a monthly fee for the DVR service, a spokeswoman said. DirecTV’s Residential Experience platform is deployed at 110 hotel properties. Meanwhile, DirecTV also struck a carriage deal with Starz Entertainment that includes the rights to distribute movies and TV series from Starz, Encore and other networks it owns through the DirecTV Everywhere service that’s due later this year. Starz is the first programmer DirecTV has identified for the multi-platform service that allows users to view content on the Web and mobile devices. DirecTV also is said to have the rights to use Fox cable networks, including FX and National Geographic Channel, as part of a carriage pact it struck with the network operator last fall. In a possible preparation for DirecTV Everywhere, the satellite operator said it partnered with N.E.W. Customer Service Companies on a new extended service plan that will cover both DirecTV hardware as well as products like tablets, TVs and PCs that can be used to watch programming. The service plan will launch Thursday and carry a $19.99 monthly fee that includes maintenance and technical support. There also is an Accidental Damage from Handling program that carries an additional $4.99 monthly fee.
DirecTV “soft” launched its HD DVR service at Hilton’s Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites, a company spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman declined to identify where the Hilton hotels initially getting the DVR service are located. But the hotels are using a version of the 3D-capable HR24 DVR/satellite receiver that contains a 500 GB hard drive and has been outfitted with software customized for the hospitality market, the spokeswoman said. Hotel guests can record live TV programs and pause or rewind them. But the guests can’t schedule programs in advance or view content previously recorded, the company said. A DirecTV server in the hotel restores default settings once a guest checks out, resetting the DVR program list, company officials said. Hotels deploying the DVR/satellite receiver pay for the equipment and a monthly fee for the DVR service, a spokeswoman said. DirecTV’s Residential Experience platform is deployed at 110 hotel properties. Meanwhile, DirecTV also struck a carriage deal with Starz Entertainment that includes the rights to distribute movies and TV series from Starz, Encore and other networks it owns through the DirecTV Everywhere service that’s due later this year. Starz is the first programmer DirecTV has identified for the multi-platform service that allows users to view content on the Web and mobile devices. DirecTV also is said to have the rights to use Fox cable networks, including FX and National Geographic Channel, as part of a carriage pact it struck with the network operator last fall. In a possible preparation for DirecTV Everywhere, the satellite operator said it partnered with N.E.W. Customer Service Companies on a new extended service plan that will cover both DirecTV hardware as well as products like tablets, TVs and PCs that can be used to watch programming. The service plan will launch Thursday and carry a $19.99 monthly fee that includes maintenance and technical support. There also is an Accidental Damage from Handling program that carries an additional $4.99 monthly fee.
Crestron’s Internet radio tuner card now supports Pandora, and customers can access the firmware update on the Crestron website, the company said. Customers can create a Pandora station from a smartphone or tablet and see what’s playing from any touchscreen or remote control in the home, Crestron said. Crestron touchscreens show the current song, artist, and album cover playing and allow users to create or browse stations, the company said. Subscribers to Pandora can also pause, skip, and bookmark individual songs and artists on Crestron panels and remotes, Crestron said.
It’s incumbent carriers against the world in the latest round of comments regarding the development of an IP-to-IP policy framework, addressed in the further notice of proposed rulemaking as part of the USF/intercarrier compensation order. Commenters also addressed the FCC’s ongoing transition to a bill-and-keep framework. States urged the FCC to proceed at a slower pace or even pause the implementation of intercarrier compensation rules.
New carrier obligations in the Lifeline order show that the FCC has “not taken seriously” its Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) obligations, lawyers for General Communication Inc. wrote the Office of Management and Budget (http://xrl.us/bmzhgs). The FCC told OMB the new regulations will increase the annual time burden from 60,000 hours to over 1.5 million, excluding the commission’s new estimate of 22 million hours to account for an increase in the estimated number of Lifeline subscribers (http://xrl.us/bmzi68). Chris Nierman, director-federal regulatory affairs at GCI, said that others feel similarly to the telco and are likely filing their own comments.
TiVo needs to approach 10 million subscribers for its advertising to become a “meaningful” business, Tara Maitra, senior vice president and general manager for content and media sales, told us last week at the Digital Hollywood conference in New York. TiVo had 2.2 million subscribers Dec. 31, up from 2 million a year earlier.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hactivist group Anonymous has its thumb on the scales of justice, lawyers said at the RSA Conference on network security: Attorneys now must pause before taking action on behalf of clients that activists have grievances against, to take the risk of cyberattack into account in giving their advice and in their own decisions on IT security. “The risk of electronic retaliation for litigation is kind of new,” said Steven Teppler of Edelson McGuire.
The departments of Justice and Homeland Security and FBI asked the FCC to defer action on a streamlined application for transfer of control of Keywest Communications (USA) to Sifa Technology pending their own investigation (http://xrl.us/bmwh2m). “DOJ, DHS and FBI are currently reviewing this matter for any national security, law enforcement, and public safety issues but have not yet completed the effort,” they wrote Wednesday. Kuala Lumpur-based Key West Global Telecom Berhad filed an application to transfer control of KCUSA to Sifa. KCUSA provides interstate and intrastate interexchange telecommunications services; Sifa is a British Virgin Islands corporation wholly-owned by a Canadian citizen named Xiao Ping Yang. An FCC public notice had said Sifa doesn’t currently provide telecom services. U.S. regulators often ask the commission to pause action on deals while the security agencies review them.