I was going to review an article on engagement, then while listening to my regular morning NPR station I heard an interesting story on a new technology UltraViolet. It is so new it’s hard to find much on this new technology. I found three articles, but one is just a press release reprinted in Home Theater Magazine.
At first I wasn’t sure if it related to our e-marketing class, but while reviewing the details it relates in many ways. It is trying to resolve the splinternet issues related to viewing and sharing movies and video. It can create another way to social network and it can even relate to customer profiling.
So what is UltraViolet? According to NPR it is a new standard for buying entertainment online. This standard allows you to buy a movie and replay it via multiple types of devices, such as DVD players, Computers, or Apps for web enable devices. It will give you the ability to buy the movie and move it for one device to the next, as well as share it with a select group of friends or family.
UltraViolet, related to Sony, is also expecting to break into the music industry with this product in the future.
There are 60 entertainment companies, not including Disney or Apple, that have agreed to adopt this new format. This will give them the ability to gain a larger market at the start by having the buy-in of several large consumer product providers at the first kick off of the standard.
Social Networking comes in when people start to share the media with others. I expect this will develop new online site like UTube, where people can invite other to view their online libraries and then provide additional space for commenting of the movie and socialize.
Upon purchase of the media that is UltraViolet enabled, the customer will provide basic detail about themselves and most likely be asked to join a membership of a site to host their library. This will give the provider the opportunity to do some customer profiling and in return advise the customer on future purchases that might interest them.
Now to the other article from the Chicago Sun-Times. This article goes into a little more depth on the details, but what do you expect when NPR has only minimal space to review a product on the radio.
Chicago Sun-Times reporter Andy Ihnatko reviewed this new technology in his article “A movement toward reasonable DRM Management?” He started with stating the basic problem that lead to the development of UltraViolet. He states it as “buy once, play anywhere” problem. Why should we have to buy multiple copies just to view a movie on any of the multiple devices we already own?
Andy Ihnatko goes on to explain that UltraViolet is more of a central service that works with DECE (the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem), the consortium of 60 entertainment companies I mentioned earlier. UltraViolet will provide a free service to consumers by hosting their video libraries. A customer can buy from any video provider and house the content in their library and latter load it to any of their devices since they already own a copy.
The interesting addition from the first article is the mention of cable providers’ involvement. You can buy a pay per view movie and then decide you want to own it. Then you just but it with a click of the remote and add it to your library. An additional charge for the purchase will be added to your cable bill. Then you can latter watch in on your Ultra Violet enable phone. This can also be done while on the road at a hotel with just an internet enabled device.
And now for the hold-outs! Apple, Disney, and Amazon are not joining in on the consortium. This doesn’t surprise me much when it comes to Apple, who like to do their own thing and doesn’t play well with others. Disney has always had a thing about trademarks, copyrights, and other property ownership issues. They don’t like to share much. But I thought Amazon would join in on the fun and games. I could see them easily adopting this down the line.
In the end after reviewing these articles, I find myself looking forward to UltraViolet and maybe I will start buying the new devices I’ve held off on since I didn’t want to invest in all new formats for media I already have on Record, CD, DVD, and now BlueRay. I just might get that smart phone to watch Doctor Who, House, and Boondock Saints where ever I want. But I still won’t buy that iPhone.
References:
Fleischmann, Mark, “Cloud Content Access Coming,” Home Theater Magazine, http://www.hometheatermag.com/news/072310ultraviolet/, (accessed July 2010).
Ihnatko, Andy, “A movement toward reasonable DRM management,” Chicago Sun-Times, July 25, 2010 http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/2530662,ihnatko-drm-ultraviolet-dece-072410.article , (accessed July 2010).
Ulaby, Neda, “Introducing UltraViolet: Buy Your Digital Movie Once, Play It Anywhere?”, NPR, July 20, 2010, http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/07/19/128626624/introducing-ultraviolet-buy-your-movie-once-play-it-anywhere , (accessed July 2010).
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