Devices

PlayLater, a program which allows consumers to save most premium online video programming to their PC, has launched today from PlayOn.

Click-through rates for ads on connected TVs are in the 10 to 17% range to date, a healthy number, according to new data shared by entertainment discovery service and technology provider Rovi.

Meporter, an application for local news gathering, which is being used by Forbes and other news organizations, just launched an Android App. 

Roku, the Saratoga, California-based manufacturer of the popular Roku box which enables consumers to connect televisions to the Internet, has raised $8 million in funding, according a financial filing reported by Venture Beat.

Digital consumption is growing at the Wall Street Journal Network, where some 200,000 subscriptions to mobile Apps, tablets and eReaders have been sold, according the General Manager Alisa Bowen.

BOSTON — The television doesn't need additional fragmentation, but a simple platform to deliver IPTV via Apps, says Sam Chang, GM of Innovation and Development for LG.

French Maid TV, one of the Web's first and most successful entertainment series, is coming back after a two-year haitus and will be featured on YouTube, part of the YouTube partnership program. 

The Wall Street Journal is training its print reporters to use the iPhone 4 for video news gathering and live streaming via Skype Video, says Kevin Delaney, Managing Editor of the WSJ.com

About 71 percent of Smartphone users search for related content on their Smartphones after being exposed to ads online and offline.

Following Skype's purchase earlier this year of Redwood City-based mobile video chat platform Qik, the combined company aims to deliver both live video calling and delivered video messages, covering both asynchronous and synchronous communications on a global basis, says Qik co-founder Bhaskar Roy in this interview with Beet.TV

LAS VEGAS — While consumption of video-on-demand on Boxee is growing with premium services including Vudu, the HD movie service, and the MLB.com, the integration of live network programming is a “couple years” off says Avner Ronen, CEO of Boxee in this exclusive interview with Beet.TV 

Consumers are willing to give up “pocket real estate” as they carry increasinly large mobile devices, says Ross Rubin, lead technology analyst at the NPD Group. 

For broadcasters seeking to provide a high quality live stream, untethered to an Internet connection and a PC, Livestream has just introduced a device from Teradek called the Cube.

The introduction of tablets and smart phones has driven extraordinary growth in digital news consumption.  According to Robert Grimshaw, Managing Director of the the FT.com, approximately forty-five percent of digital news is now consumed via mobile devices.

The power of Apps for video news producers is profound, allowing them to “reinvent” themselves to consumers says CNN.com’s Mike Toppo, Senior Director for News Operations in this segment from the Beet.TV Video Journalism Summit at The Washington Post earlier this month.

WASHINGTON — Increasing numbers of film makers and videographers are using a "still" camera to create video images of extraordinary quality. 

With the rapid rise in tablet and smartphone adoption, a number of apps and tech tools have emerged that allow users to stream videos from their mobile devices back to the TV.

WASHINGTON, DC — Seeing an opportunity with government agencies for the distribution of Web video, Boston-based Brightcove has launched a "federal government initiative" with Carahsoft, a big government IT consulting firm.

Vook, the Emeryville-based digital publisher has raised a series A venture round of $5.25 million, the company announced today.

Samsung and IBM have announced plans to jointly developed semiconductors for use in mobile handsets.