A couple of Lightbox updates...

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#1185504 29-Nov-2014 17:12

Is it going to be streaming concurrently when it airs in the US? Or is it going to be available once the season finale ends like netflix?

JimmyH

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#1185813 30-Nov-2014 17:05

Lightbox:

While I obviously can't give a lot of details around our commercial agreements, there are pretty good reasons for going with Samsung.

Protected video is heavy lifting for a device, so testing and supporting the myriad of permutations and variations that exist for Android is nigh impossible. Lots of devices won't have the horsepower to do it and then you have strange display ratios, old Android versions and customised modifications of the core OS.

Bottom line: building and supporting protected video for Android is pretty complex. Narrowing it down to a limited universe of devices makes a whole lot of sense (from there it's a lot easier to later expand and add more to the lineup) and it just so happens that Samsung far and away dominates the market for Android tablets, especially the high end models that do well with video streaming. So by supporting a set number of Samsung models, you make development and testing a lot quicker, while still supporting a very high percentage of the market addressable. Then there are the commercial agreements and benefits to a partnership.

Fully understand that it's frustrating when your specific device isn't supported.

This is something you are going to have to address very quickly if you want a hope of widespread uptake.

Both my media player options (2x WD Live TV, Minix X8-H android box) support Netflix and Hulu out of the box. While I do have a Samsung TV, it is an older non-smart one.

Personally, if I'm going to watch films they will be on a decent sized TV with good sound etc connected. Plus, I have no really interest in faffing around with connecting the laptop when I have decent media players connected and networked.

Limiting yourself to people with newer Samsung sets means that, from the get go, you are limiting your subscriber base to only a fraction of the market. That's silly at the best of times. When you are in competition with other services (Netflix, Hulu, Quickflix, Neon), in an environment where the market won't support that many players long-term and it's only those who quickly build a viable subscriber base that will survive, it's plain suicidal.

Make the investment. Release a generic android client ASAP. They get on to the other main makes of media player and TV as quickly as you can. Otherwise, you are likely dead in the water from the outset.

And don't worry too much about heavy investment in "protected video" - bypassing this is trivial no matter what you do plus, if you offer a really good streaming service, most people will never bother. Those that would will likly torrent anyway - so no loss. (Note: before the flaming starts, I'm NOT advocating Piracy, which I don't endorse. I'm just stating simple realities)

tdgeek

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#1185815 30-Nov-2014 17:08

Jas777: Fair enough you now own it.

But it is ironic with all the new online streaming services that people said would benefit people that for quite a few it is actually going to be worse than currently at a increased cost.

Explain the higher cost?

Dratsab

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#1185888 30-Nov-2014 19:25

Lightbox: While I obviously can't give a lot of details around our commercial agreements, there are pretty good reasons for going with Samsung.

Protected video is heavy lifting for a device, so testing and supporting the myriad of permutations and variations that exist for Android is nigh impossible. Lots of devices won't have the horsepower to do it and then you have strange display ratios, old Android versions and customised modifications of the core OS.

Bottom line: building and supporting protected video for Android is pretty complex. Narrowing it down to a limited universe of devices makes a whole lot of sense (from there it's a lot easier to later expand and add more to the lineup) and it just so happens that Samsung far and away dominates the market for Android tablets, especially the high end models that do well with video streaming. So by supporting a set number of Samsung models, you make development and testing a lot quicker, while still supporting a very high percentage of the market addressable. Then there are the commercial agreements and benefits to a partnership.

Fully understand that it's frustrating when your specific device isn't supported.

Fair enough. Netflix works on everything so they can keep getting my money :-P

Jas777

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#1186090 1-Dec-2014 09:13

tdgeek:
Jas777: Fair enough you now own it.

But it is ironic with all the new online streaming services that people said would benefit people that for quite a few it is actually going to be worse than currently at a increased cost.

Explain the higher cost?

I was meaning in the sense of multiple providers. If it continues the way it is then you will need Netflix, Lightbox, Neon, HBO, Showtime etc just for TV and Movies. Then the various providers of sports coverage if you are into that.

And even worse is the extra cost (maybe not in dollar terms) of having to run the applications for the various providers which operate differently and require a certain degree of technical knowledge if errors occur.

dclegg

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#1186108 1-Dec-2014 09:42

Lightbox: Hi guys,

Just wanted to point out a couple of news today:

- We've released a new version of our iPad app on the app store

WOOT! Can't wait to take this for a spin. I see it lists the pause bug as one of the fixes. Thats been our only real bugbear with your service.

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

Lightbox

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#1186247 1-Dec-2014 11:48

jarj: Is it going to be streaming concurrently when it airs in the US? Or is it going to be available once the season finale ends like netflix?

We have the rights immediately after an episode has aired in the US - there's a little bit of turn around time, but we'll have it up ASAP after it has aired.

Lightbox - we are online TV.

Lightbox

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#1186262 1-Dec-2014 11:54

JimmyH:

This is something you are going to have to address very quickly if you want a hope of widespread uptake.

Both my media player options (2x WD Live TV, Minix X8-H android box) support Netflix and Hulu out of the box. While I do have a Samsung TV, it is an older non-smart one.

Personally, if I'm going to watch films they will be on a decent sized TV with good sound etc connected. Plus, I have no really interest in faffing around with connecting the laptop when I have decent media players connected and networked.

Limiting yourself to people with newer Samsung sets means that, from the get go, you are limiting your subscriber base to only a fraction of the market. That's silly at the best of times. When you are in competition with other services (Netflix, Hulu, Quickflix, Neon), in an environment where the market won't support that many players long-term and it's only those who quickly build a viable subscriber base that will survive, it's plain suicidal.

Make the investment. Release a generic android client ASAP. They get on to the other main makes of media player and TV as quickly as you can. Otherwise, you are likely dead in the water from the outset.

And don't worry too much about heavy investment in "protected video" - bypassing this is trivial no matter what you do plus, if you offer a really good streaming service, most people will never bother. Those that would will likly torrent anyway - so no loss. (Note: before the flaming starts, I'm NOT advocating Piracy, which I don't endorse. I'm just stating simple realities)

We'll add other clients at a steady pace going forward, but none of the players that you've listed are really mainstream in New Zealand and building anything bespoke for them is hard to justify. So, we'll definitely support more big screen options soon enough, but don't hold your breath for a WDTV app.

Investing in protected video isn't really optional. If you want to distribute premium content, you'll need to live up to the security requirements of the content owners. Otherwise you're not going to be distributing anything. Pretty simple, really.

Lightbox - we are online TV.

xpd

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#1186263 1-Dec-2014 11:54

Lightbox:
jarj: Is it going to be streaming concurrently when it airs in the US? Or is it going to be available once the season finale ends like netflix?

We have the rights immediately after an episode has aired in the US - there's a little bit of turn around time, but we'll have it up ASAP after it has aired.

This will be an interesting race..... Lightbox release vs <insert TV release group> release ;)

XPD / Gavin

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soolaroo

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#1186273 1-Dec-2014 12:02

I"ve just started my 30 day trial of Lightbox, and am enjoying it so far. But, I'm not going to pay for a sevice that doesn't deliver content to my iPhone or my Nexus 7 tablet.

dclegg

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#1186274 1-Dec-2014 12:04

soolaroo: I"ve just started my 30 day trial of Lightbox, and am enjoying it so far. But, I'm not going to pay for a sevice that doesn't deliver content to my iPhone or my Nexus 7 tablet.

I'd love to see it on my iPhone too. While I wouldn't actually use that to watch any content directly, I'd use it to AirPlay it to our Apple TV so our iPad isn't monopolised when doing so.

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dclegg

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#1186276 1-Dec-2014 12:04

soolaroo: I"ve just started my 30 day trial of Lightbox, and am enjoying it so far. But, I'm not going to pay for a sevice that doesn't deliver content to my iPhone or my Nexus 7 tablet.

I'd love to see it on my iPhone too. While I wouldn't actually use that to watch any content directly, I'd use it to AirPlay it to our Apple TV so our iPad isn't monopolised when doing so.

trig42

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#1186280 1-Dec-2014 12:10

Lightbox:
JimmyH:

This is something you are going to have to address very quickly if you want a hope of widespread uptake.

Both my media player options (2x WD Live TV, Minix X8-H android box) support Netflix and Hulu out of the box. While I do have a Samsung TV, it is an older non-smart one.

Personally, if I'm going to watch films they will be on a decent sized TV with good sound etc connected. Plus, I have no really interest in faffing around with connecting the laptop when I have decent media players connected and networked.

Limiting yourself to people with newer Samsung sets means that, from the get go, you are limiting your subscriber base to only a fraction of the market. That's silly at the best of times. When you are in competition with other services (Netflix, Hulu, Quickflix, Neon), in an environment where the market won't support that many players long-term and it's only those who quickly build a viable subscriber base that will survive, it's plain suicidal.

Make the investment. Release a generic android client ASAP. They get on to the other main makes of media player and TV as quickly as you can. Otherwise, you are likely dead in the water from the outset.

And don't worry too much about heavy investment in "protected video" - bypassing this is trivial no matter what you do plus, if you offer a really good streaming service, most people will never bother. Those that would will likly torrent anyway - so no loss. (Note: before the flaming starts, I'm NOT advocating Piracy, which I don't endorse. I'm just stating simple realities)

We'll add other clients at a steady pace going forward, but none of the players that you've listed are really mainstream in New Zealand and building anything bespoke for them is hard to justify. So, we'll definitely support more big screen options soon enough, but don't hold your breath for a WDTV app.

Investing in protected video isn't really optional. If you want to distribute premium content, you'll need to live up to the security requirements of the content owners. Otherwise you're not going to be distributing anything. Pretty simple, really.

What is mainstream, is the AppleTV.

Any news on that? I understand (but do not know for sure) that developing for the ATV is by invite only, but have you contacted Apple about getting an invite?

Lightbox

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#1186293 1-Dec-2014 12:31

trig42:

What is mainstream, is the AppleTV.

Any news on that? I understand (but do not know for sure) that developing for the ATV is by invite only, but have you contacted Apple about getting an invite?

Apple TV is an invite only affair and Apple decides who they tee up for it. We'd love to get on to it.

Lightbox - we are online TV.

old3eyes

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#1186304 1-Dec-2014 12:53

Lightbox:
trig42:

What is mainstream, is the AppleTV.

Any news on that? I understand (but do not know for sure) that developing for the ATV is by invite only, but have you contacted Apple about getting an invite?

Apple TV is an invite only affair and Apple decides who they tee up for it. We'd love to get on to it.

Apple sounds like a pack of snobs to me..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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