Streaming 411

While Apple TV isn't heavily promoted by Apple, Inc., they continue to add value to the platform, making it more and more attractive to consumers looking for a home streaming media player.  This year the following changes have taken place:

• The next generation Apple TV had several upgrades, one in particular that makes it notably more useful:  movies purchased from the iTunes store can now be streamed via the device.  Also, iCloud makes sharing content to a variety of devices much simpler.  Prior to that, you could only watch rented flicks on Apple TV, and any content you purchased had to be viewed on your PC or Mac, or loaded onto a mobile device via a connected cord from your PC to your mobile device.
• Netflix & Apple TV also announced a billing partnership at the same time the next generation Apple TV was released.  Owners can sign up for Netflix directly through Apple TV and pay through their iTunes account.

Just a few hours ago, Hulu announced on their official blog that they have arrived on Apple TV today!  You can order Hulu Plus and have it assigned to your Apple TV device by clicking here.  As soon as Apple TV performs a system update, the Hulu Plus app will appear next time you pull up the interface.  Select Hulu Plus, select "already a Hulu Plus subscriber", and then enter your email address and password that you used to sign up for your Hulu trial.

Here's the scenario - it's a beautiful, sunny day, and you'd like to spend some time in the backyard - soaking up some rays, maybe fire up the grill and watch the grass grow.  Watching a movie or listening to some music would make things perfect, but you don't feel like loading a bunch of digital content onto your iPod - you just want to get outside and get on with it!  That's where home sharing comes in.  This feature allows you to copy your digital content between your devices at home.

Home sharing is a feature that you can enable in your iTunes account that enables you to stream all your digital content between various WiFi-enabled devices accessed through your home WiFi network.  Any content you purchased is stored on the iTunes player software that is downloaded onto your device.  Home sharing in iTunes requires:

• The latest version of the iTunes player software.
  
• An Apple ID (see the frequently asked questions about Apple ID for further information).
• A home WiFi network's name and loging credentials

To set up Home Sharing in iTunes

1. Open your iTunes Player software
2. Select the Home Sharing icon
3. Enter your Apple ID name and password
4. Select "Create Home Share"

You are now able to share content between all your iTunes libraries on all your devices.  To avoid transferring duplicates to your iPad, select "items not in my library".  This will transfer the digital media file to your device.  You can choose to manually select files, or transfer the whole library if you have no files on your device.  You can also manage and remove duplicate files.

Home sharing allows you to share all different types of digital media, including music, movies, television shows, podcasts books, apps, as well as any other digital media that iTunes sells.

As a side note, Home Sharing is how you stream your purchased content from your PC or Mac to your High  Def TV set through the Apple TV player.

Moving Files to a New Computer

There are several methods to move your files to a new device, depending on the considerations involved.  Home sharing using the instructions above in the easieast way to accomplish that goal.  However, there are other scenarios that may require different steps.  For instance, if you wish to back u your iTunes library, and external drive is a good way to do this.  You can also utilize iCloud to keep files purchased and transferred from the iTunes store backed up.

But whe you want to move content from an old PC to a new Mac, you'll want to use the Windows Migration Assistant, or OS X Lion.  This software not only transfers your digital media files from your iTunes library, but also your email accounts (IMAP and POP accounts from several email applications), contact list, home directory folders and content, and calenders.  It even transfers browser bookmarks and home page settings from the browsers you utilize.  Detailed instructions and a link to download Windows Migration Asssitant can be found here.

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How does instant savings of 20% sound?  Like to see it in terms of dollars?  How about a free $10 worth of merchandise from the iTunes Store? 

Walmart.com is offering $50 iTunes gift cards for only $40.  Click Here to order (E-mail delivery) Apple iTunes $50 eGift Cards.  This offer is only good through this Saturday, April 7, and your savings is delivered righ through email, so you can have one card sent to you for some great shopping, and one card sent to a special someone.  The limit is 2 per customer, and only until supplies last.  Act now and save big on your favorite content!  You can purchase music, movies, television shows, audiobooks, games, podcasts, and much more through the iTunes Store. 

Along with the introduction to the next generation Apple TV in early March, Apple included some upgrades to the current streaming players that includes a Netflix app that enables you to sign up directly from your Apple TV, and pay your Netflix bill right through your iTunes account.  The big feature that is truly valuable to consumers, however, is that you can now purchase movies from the iTunes store and then stream them to your Apple TV.  In the past, you could only watch rented movies on your television set, and purchased content could either be viewed on your PC or Mac, or you could load it on a mobile device with a cord connected from your computer to your device.

Also in the past, if you purchased a blu-ray disc that came with a digital copy, you could store that film on your iTunes player software on your PC.  Then, through the home sharing feature you could watch it on any of your connected devices.  Now, however, your digital copies stored in your iTunes player are automatically loaded onto iCloud, and appear as purchased titles.  This means you are now able to stream those titles from iCloud directly to any of your supported devices.  It works a lot like iTunes Match for music, where all of your music, including songs imported from CDs, are stored in iCloud so you can access them from all your devices.  ITunes Match, however, costs $25 a year, and it pretty much is all-inclusive.  For movies, you need to have the digital copy available to you such as what you receive when you purchase blu-ray discs.

The beauty of iCoud is you don't need to store titles on your devices.  This is especially handy for mobile devices with limited storage.  When you are ready to watch the title, simply download it to the device, and you're good to go.  Or, stream it via Apple TV.  These newest features truly make this service a one-stop entertainment shop.

As of March 7, consumers are delighted to finally be able to access all of their digital movies and songs purchased through iTunes wirelessly no matter which device they retrieve the content from.  The iCloud account will now push any of their purchased content to all of their supported devices.  In the past, anyone who purchased content and wanted to watch it on a mobile device, they had to physically connect the device with a cord to their personal computer.  If you had Apple TV, you could only watch rented flicks on your television.  Now, you are able to access your purchased content as well.  This will certainly make iTunes a much more valuable provider of video media.  Other features of iCloud:

• stores all media for access from all your devices
  
• 5GB free storage
• iCloud is free with iOS 5 - comes with all new Apple devices
• keeps email, contact & calendars up to date without syncing across your devices

Looking for the highest fidelity in digital music?  Mastered for iTunes may be just what you're looking for.  The beauty of compressed file technology is that it can be very quickly and conveniently downloaded, and these files are able to fit on your mobile device without taking up a lot of memory. However, there is a tradeoff, in that compressed file technology removes a lot of the richness and complexity of the music, making it sound much "thinner" than in the original stereo recording.  While most consumers might not notice the poor quality on their mobile device, when they try to play the track in stereo, the poor quality sticks out like a sore thumb.  Enter Mastered for iTunes, available a the iTunes Store.  There are tunes currently available in the iTunes store from artists like Metallica, Nirvana, U2 and Coldplay.  The iTunes website says it is "Music as the Artist and Sound Engineer Intended.  There are also engineering mastering tools availalbe for download, enabling you to encode uncompressed files in the iTunes Plus format, and check for file clipping distortion.  There is a downloadable PDF file that explains the challenges that music mastering engineers face.

The Apple iTunes store will provide a free live stream of Paul McCartney performing at Capital Studios in LA to promote his new album, Kisses on the Bottom, tonight at 7 p.m. Pacific time.  Viewers can tune in by downloading the free iTunes player if they are new to iTunes, and view it on their MAC, PC, or on your HD television by selecting the iTunes Live option on the menu of the Apple TV streaming player.  The album is available for sale on iTunes as well. 

This announcement comes on the heals of McCartney's decision to no longer provide all of the releases of his solo albums through music streaming services.  Many performers, including Adele and The Black Keys, seem to be following this new trend of only releasing certain songs through streaming, or in some cases no songs at all, in order to encourage the public to purchase the songs.  The logic is that the blanket royalty that streaming services pays is not as lucrative as encouraging the purchase of the song.  Problem is, as long as peer-to-peer file sharing services exists, these artists will likely become a hot commodity on pirating websites.  And as the U.S. Government and Hollywood recently found out, the collective online community which also represents the consumers of entertainment media will not agree to continue ignoring the big elephant in the room, namely, the old business model that milks the public of every penny possible.

Now that Kim Dotcom has been thrown in the cooler for his illegal cloud file storage website, the question begs to be asked how in the world can we deal with this rising tide of online piracy?  According to the Digital Media Association, there is a measurable correlation between the availability (or non-availability) of online digital content and piracy.  For instance, a study was conducted by two professors at the Carnegie Mellon University that measured online piracy when NBC content was removed from the iTunes Store over a nine month period.  The result?  An 11.4% increase in piracy.  A similar study showed similar results in 2009 when ABC added it's content to Hulu and piracy declined by 30%.  This all comes down to greed.  Hollywood wants to keep its old business model because it was extremely profitable.  However, by starving online distribution channels as a desperate attempt to keep your profits will in the long run be a failing proposition.  Just ask Bluebeard. 
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When you start to browse in the iTunes Store, you begin to realize that if it entertains you, it's there.  Everything from music to ebooks or audio books to podcasts, from television shows to movies to apps, it can be found at this convenient one-stop entertainment shop.  You can even download learning opportunities from iTunes U, such as lectures, discussions, audiobooks and more from cultural learning institutions like museums or universities.  Start out by downloading the iTunes player for free on either your PC or your MAC.  This handy piece of software enables you to organize your purchases, transfer them to your mobile devices or streaming players, and make more purchases on the iTunes store.  You can keep your content stored in the clouds using the free iCloud app so that you do not take up valuable storage space on your hard drive.  Looking for some last minute gift ideas?  An iTunes gift card is a great way to give the gift of entertainment that everyone loves.

Sam Beckbessinger at memeburn.com wrote a great summary of 2011's trends, which included widespread adoption of the smartphone, voice & touch tablets, social networking growth and domination, and online streaming's jump to a more mainstream presence in the internet landscape, with Netflix dominating 30% of the internet traffic since earlier in the year.  Streaming Services Compared has a few predictions for 2012 as well.  First off, we believe that Smart Television will make some serious inroads this coming year, but it will not yet become mainstream until 2013.  Apple & Sharp will make a huge splash in the market with their new television launch, which will be a big boost for streaming services & downloaded rental & purchase content.  The over-the-top content industry will certainly continue to be a great source for rumors and predictions from armchair quarterbacks, and it should in the next 2 years go through some serious changes in terms of how and where content is subscribed to, accessed, and viewed  One prediction that continues to be fuzzy is Blockbuster On Demand's future.  It appears that DVD services like Netflix and Blockbuster Total Access continue to be an important part of the entertainment landscape for a generation that grew up on the technology and have not yet gotten the comfort level of technology that the younger set has.  We wonder if they will get serious about building up their streaming options and marketing them more aggressively, or if they are waiting for a suitor to come along?