Beats Audio acquires steaming music service MOG

Beats Audio has acquired streaming music provider MOG, finally putting to rest rumors that such a deal was in the works. The companies revealed the news to USA Today although terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

Beats reportedly spoke with several music services but ultimately selected MOG based on their commitment to fidelity. Beats President and COO Luke Wood told the newspaper MOG was the first service to offer their entire catalog in 320Kbps. He also noted they were committed early on to being accessible through multiple access points as evident by their deals with LG, Samsung and BMW.

MOG currently offers streaming music through their website and on Facebook for free. An unlimited ad-free version is available for $4.99 each month while unlimited portable downloads can be had for $9.99 per month. Their service is similar in function and pricing to competitors Rdio and Spotify.

There’s no word yet on what exactly Beats has planned for MOG but the most obvious first step would be to offer an extended trial or discount of MOG service to Beats customers. MOG founder and CEO David Hyman said the acquisition will provide a true end-to-end music experience.

GigaOm reported in May that the deal was valued around $14 million. A source close to MOG came forward to the publication after their story ran, saying the final value was significantly higher but keep in mind that this all happened two months ago. The price could easily have gone up or down since then.

Super Bowl XLVI to be streamed live online

Watching the big game on the big screen may soon be a thing of the past as the NFL has announced that Super Bowl XLVI will be streamed live online and to select mobile users for the first time. Wild-card playoff games and the Pro Bowl will serve as precursors to the big game set to be held on Sunday, February 5, 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Regular season games have been streaming online at NBCSports.com through SNF Extra since 2008 but this is the first time that post-season match-ups will be available on the Internet. SNF Extra features an HD broadcast, DVR-style controls, in-game highlights, extra camera angles, interactive elements and live statistics.

Rick Cordella, vice president of NBC Sports Digital Media suggests that adding these additional features will help supplement NBC’s on-air broadcast for viewers that want more in-depth coverage.

In addition to the online coverage, Verizon Wireless users will be able to watch the game through NFL Mobile for the first time.

One thing that remains to be seen is how commercial breaks will be handled for streaming audiences. The Super Bowl annually attracts more viewers than any other event but not everyone watching is interested in the outcome of the game.

Advertisers spend millions to debut new commercials, a phenomenon that has taken on a life of its own over the past several years. Will streaming viewers be treated to the same entertaining commercials as those watching the on-air broadcast?

New Apple TV details emerge, iCloud-based DVR a possibility

Representatives with Apple have reportedly been meeting with media executives as the Cupertino-based company draws closer to jumping into the television market. It is believed that the long-rumored Apple television, collectively known as the iTV by most media outlets, will rely on some sort of wireless streaming to access content.

The latest report by The Wall Street Journal brings together several tidbits picked up on in recent weeks. In addition to wireless streaming from devices or the Internet, Apple could implement voice and motion movements to control a television set or use AirPlay to allow users to control the TV with an iPhone or iPad. Another technology would allow a user to start watching a video on the TV then pause and pick up where they left off on another device.

Perhaps the most interesting revelation comes from a source that claims Apple has worked on technologies that would allow them to provide a DVR solution using iCloud. This could potentially introduce some tricky licensing issues in regards to recorded broadcast television but if the company were to pull it off, it could open a whole new set of opportunities in terms of how we watch and share content.

It remains to be seen just what exactly the tight-lipped technology company will ultimately bring to market. Apple has been rumored to be developing a television set for years but thus far nothing has materialized. That all changed when Steve Jobs told Walter Isaacson during an interview for his biography that he had “finally cracked it,” referring to the television market.

Comcast denies tiered plans, streaming to trump cable by 2016

As we reported about a week ago, ISPs seem poised to transition from an "unlimited" model to usage-based billing. Comcast claims it will not be one of them, although the company does impose a 250GB monthly cap.

According to Comcast's Chief Financial Officer, Michael Angelakis, metered plans could possibly hamper the company's growth as a broadband provider. "Our goal is to grow and share average revenue per user" he said. "We don't want to disrupt the consumer experience". The company's executives seem to acknowledge that the gap between their television and broadband subscribers is quickly shrinking.

Comcast lost 165,000 television subscribers last quarter but added over 261,000 broadband subscribers during the same time. Increasingly, those subscribers are opting in for higher-speed data packages and often times choose to bundle Internet with other services, like cable TV and phone services. Comcast sees this as an opportunity to upsell faster Internet.

Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, thinks streaming video will outpace cable within 3-5 years. He told a group of analysts at the same conference in New York that streaming is, "all people are going to care about" in context to premium shows and movies found on the likes of HBO. "People are in love with broadband, in terms of click and watch". He continued to say that he considers HBO Go as his company's most fearsome competitor.

Although Netflix and Comcast seem to be in agreement on the important role the Internet will play in future media, Comcast still institutes a 250GB data cap. In fact, the cap has not budged since it was first deployed in 2008. The company claims its median broadband subscriber uses about 6-8GB of data per month which is well within the cap. However, if Hastings is right, bandwidth caps and tiered pricing pose a risk to his vision of the future where streaming video will usurp cable television for premium content.