NEW YORK–Broadcast network CBS will be advertising its fall TV season with a video-chip ad embedded in an issue of Entertainment Weekly.
The September 18 issue of the Time Inc.-owned magazine will feature the first video ad to appear in print, George Schweitzer, …
We have an update on the AIM push problem we wrote about this morning. The problem only affects jailbroken iPhones 2 and 3G running the homebrew app Pushfix. If you are in this sad number please restore to the original firmware or risk seeing your IMs spread far and wide.
Pushfix is a homebrew app that “repairs” push functionality on Jailbroken apps. The iPhone Dev Team, the same folks who unlocked the iPhone in the first place, created it to help us lowly users but they left a fatal flaw in the program. It seems they used a single UDID – Unique Device ID – for the fix. This in turn creates a sort of broadcast network of multiple jailbroken phones running Pushfix that report back to the push servers with the same UDID. The result? When you push to one, you push to all.
Obviously this problem will be seen in a few rare cases – and it could have already been fixed – but this brings up an important point about cloud-based computing: What happens when the cloud is broken? Because Apple chose to run this dog and pony show called Push from its own centralized server, there is no guarantee that anything will go anywhere – just a warm and fuzzy expectation that Apple just wouldn’t screw up.
This exploit/problem has come about because a user did something unsanctioned and unexpected on the iPhone. While the average user doesn’t even know that Pushfix exists – I certainly didn’t – these homebrew solutions are like slime mold infecting the delicious mozzarella cheese that is Apple’s Push technology. Sadly, these problems will crop up more and more in closed, black box systems and we will often be none the wiser – until it’s too late.
Comcast continues to sign up media partners to a trial program of the cable operator’s On Demand Online service.
The service, which will make TV shows available for users to watch online, has signed 17 cable stations and has its first major broadcast network: CBS, parent company of CNET
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Well, I don’t think it’s a stretch anymore to say that Comcast’s latest venture into online video is a off to a good start. CBS is the latest network to join the impressive lineup which also includes HBO and Cinemax as of yesterday. This networks is a big step for Comcast On Demand Online as CBS is the only major network not available on the free to everyone site, Hulu. But remember, Comcast On Demand Online will only be available to Comcast subs who currently pay for the stations. (e.g. if you can’t watch HBO on your TV, you can’t watch it online)
Comcast will open the service to 5,000 beta testers in the coming weeks. I’m just curious about how many more networks will sign up before it launches to everyone. The service already has the most of any online viewing site available with, all the major networks, HBO, Cinemax, Stars, TBS, TNT, and most of the cable stations.
CBS TO PARTICIPATE IN COMCAST’S ON DEMAND ONLINE
NATIONWIDE TRIAL
As the First Broadcaster To Participate, CBS Agrees to Test Standards and Principles for
“TV Everywhere” Model
NEW YORK and PHILADELPHIA, July 14, 2009 — CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A) and Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) announced today that CBS is the first broadcast network to participate in Comcast’s technical trial of On Demand Online. The new service will significantly expand the number of top-rated TV shows available online and across platforms at no additional charge to Comcast’s cable customers while delivering increased advertising value to content owners. During the course of the trial, CBS plans to test various types of current and library content.
“CBS and Comcast share the same vision of giving consumers more — more content, in more places,” said Matt Bond, Executive Vice President of Content Acquisition, Comcast Cable. “On Demand Online is a major step in extending consumers’ television experiences online, and ultimately across platforms by giving any television network, including top brands like CBS, the ability to make their content available on the Web.”
“CBS is very supportive of initiatives that help extend our content to new platforms in such a way that we gain new audiences and additional value for our advertisers,” said Quincy Smith, Chief Executive Officer, CBS Interactive. “Comcast is already a trusted platform to distribute CBS content on air as well as on demand; expanding this relationship online is a logical step. In addition, CBS’s strategy has always been about open, non-exclusive distribution of our content in a consumer friendly way, which is a core tenant of TV Everywhere and On Demand Online.”
CBS’s participation in Comcast’s technical trial comes on the heels of last month’s joint announcement between Time Warner Inc. and Comcast which introduced a set of principles called “TV Everywhere.” Developed by the two companies, the principles are designed to serve as a framework to facilitate deployment of online television content in a way that is consumer friendly and pro-competitive.
Comcast will begin its technical trial of On Demand Online with approximately 5,000 customers from across the U.S. in the coming weeks – the first national trial of its kind. A major focus of the trial is to test Comcast’s new “authentication” technology, which will allow Comcast customers to receive the same content online for free that they subscribe to on TV. The service will utilize a simple log-on system for streaming content and, in the future, will allow for download content to go. The On Demand Online service will roll-out in phases, adding new features, functionality and content over time to provide consumers with a new way to watch television.
On Demand Online is part of Comcast’s Project Infinity, the company’s long-term vision to give customers an ever growing amount of video content on multiple platforms, whenever they want.