Lightbox app on Samsung smart tv

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#1172164 10-Nov-2014 12:29

timbosan:
huckster:
Lightbox:
old3eyes:
Chromecast then?? There's plenty of people selling them here even if they are not "officially" on the NZ Play Store.... well there's no hardware on the NZ Play Store..

The overall number of Chromecast devices in NZ is still pretty low, though and will stay pretty low until an official launch. But Chromecast is absolutely an option.

If you build it, they will come.

EDIT: And a Chromecast is a heck of a lot cheaper than replacing your 2-year old TV.....

Expanding on this - wouldn't it make sense for Spark to sell Chromecast devices? I have no idea as to the practicality (licenses/regions/etc) of this, but it would be a great way to get both Chromecast's into NZ homes, along with a locally created and supported source of content.

Lightbox/Spark - can you comment on this?

i saw a popup lightbox stand in sylvia park in the weekend, if they sold chromecasts and demo'd how you can play stuff from your phone using the android app onto your tv, that would surely be a big hit :D

NonprayingMantis

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#1172185 10-Nov-2014 13:16

huckster:
Lightbox:
old3eyes:
Chromecast then?? There's plenty of people selling them here even if they are not "officially" on the NZ Play Store.... well there's no hardware on the NZ Play Store..

The overall number of Chromecast devices in NZ is still pretty low, though and will stay pretty low until an official launch. But Chromecast is absolutely an option.

If you build it, they will come.

EDIT: And a Chromecast is a heck of a lot cheaper than replacing your 2-year old TV.....

Lets imagine there are 5-10,000 Chromecasts in NZ right now (that might be a high estimate). Pretty confident the majority of them will be using Netflix.

It's a pretty tough sell to get Netflix subscribers to move over to Lightbox for obvious reasons. Spending $$$ on developing Chromecast would be highly inefficient.

On the other hand there are probably 3-500k Samsung Smart TVs (they are the market leader by absolutely miles) and only a small proportion of those will be using Netflix. Much better to develop for devices you know people already have, than develop for devices you hope they buy.

Makes total sense to go for Samsung TVs before Chromecast.

Next devices I imagine will be things like android tablets (if manufacturer specific, then samsung is obvious choice again) PS3/4, XBox360/one.

They would have the next most coverage and also most likely to be already internet connected.

reven

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#1172189 10-Nov-2014 13:20

i disagree that selling lightbox to netflix is a tough sell.

the two services need to compliment each other (lightbox have to keep an eye out on netflixs content to make sure it offers other stuff).

what will be a winner for lightbox for me would be current seasons of tv, like 24 hours after US is fine.

i'd keep both services if they had a easy way for me to watch it without giving up netflix. chromecast isnt an ideal solution, but its low cost one.

Lightbox

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#1172190 10-Nov-2014 13:22

BigHammer: On the other hand, the overall number of Panasonic, LG, Sony etc Televisions is quite high in NZ, so will there be any love for anything other than Samsung TVs? As above, it would be nice to know where Lightbox intends to go with device support etc. Any chance this could happen please? :-)

To go onto most of these platforms requires both certification, commercial and legal agreements with the manufacturer etc. Publicly committing to a platform before a deal has been signed and agreed isn't a great idea (often development will start before everything has been inked) - apart from also giving your hand away to potential competitors etc.

So the short answer - I can't tell you anything more right now, but we'll hopefully have more to announce soonish.

Lightbox - we are online TV.

Stu

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#1172197 10-Nov-2014 13:31

Just as long as you're looking at other manufactures, and not just Samsung. That's cool. Cheers.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

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#1172200 10-Nov-2014 13:33

reven: i disagree that selling lightbox to netflix is a tough sell.

the two services need to compliment each other (lightbox have to keep an eye out on netflixs content to make sure it offers other stuff).

what will be a winner for lightbox for me would be current seasons of tv, like 24 hours after US is fine.

i'd keep both services if they had a easy way for me to watch it without giving up netflix. chromecast isnt an ideal solution, but its low cost one.

I agree. We use both Netflix and Lightbox (and Hulu, for that matter). Lightbox even can offer content that Netflix doesn't. When we finished watching Suits S3, Lightbox was the only service we use that had S4 available. That may have changed now though.

Lightbox is also a far easier sell to non-technical people, as getting parallel imported SVOD services up and running takes more mucking around, and can be prone to outages with little official support. I recommended Lightbox to my in-laws (who are the textbook definition of non-technical users), and they love it. They already had an iPad, so I got them to pick up an Apple TV for $135. There was initially a little disconnect when they didn't understand that the Lightbox iPad app should essentially be seen as a remote control for viewing content on the TV. But once I explained to them how it works, they were quite happy.

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#1172241 10-Nov-2014 14:50

Lightbox goes large with Samsung Smart TV app

Popular online TV service, Lightbox, has expanded onto further devices, making it even easier to watch your favourite TV shows.

A new app now being pushed live enables users to access the full line-up of Lightbox shows on Samsung Smart TVs[1] and selected Samsung Smart AV devices. Lightbox CEO Kym Niblock says the new Samsung app will be a game-changer for people with Samsung Smart TVs, New Zealand’s best-selling smart TV.

“Now it’s even easier for Kiwis to kick back, relax and enjoy Lightbox’s incredible line-up of TV shows on the big screen, all from the comfort of the couch,” Niblock says. The Lightbox app is available on all Samsung Smart TVs made from 2012 onwards. Users need to sign up for Lightbox on their desktop or laptop before they log in to the app on their Samsung Smart TV’s Smart Hub.

Lightbox will also be coming to a selection of Samsung Android devices before the end of November.

“Since we launched, thousands of New Zealanders have had a taste of what Lightbox is all about: a fantastic range of really good shows, all sitting there ready to watch, ad-free.. Lightbox customers love being in control of their TV viewing, and we aim to keep giving them more and more options,” adds Niblock. “Today’s announcement is just the start – Lightbox will be available on even more devices before the end of the year, so watch this space.”

To celebrate the partnership, all those who purchase a Samsung Smart TV before 31 January 2015 will get a bonus 90-day subscription to Lightbox.

[1] Lightbox app is available on all 2012, 2013 and 2014 Smart TV and Smart AV devices. Compatible devices and broadband required. ISP charges apply. 3 month bonus offer valid until 31 Jan 2015 and is open to new and existing Lightbox customers who have purchased selected Smart TVs (Series E, F, H models) before 31 January 2015. 3 month bonus subscription equals 90 days. Credit card details required. Charges of $15 per 30 days for Lightbox subscription apply after 90 day promotion period. Lightbox terms apply. See in store staff for more information or go to www.samsung.com/nz.

Lightbox - we are online TV.

bfginger

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#1172541 11-Nov-2014 06:09

That press release gives the impression there won't be any Lightbox app for other television brands.

steve98

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#1172683 11-Nov-2014 10:47

bfginger: That press release gives the impression there won't be any Lightbox app for other television brands.

That's the way it seems to going in New Zealand thanks to (most of) our content providers all taking the cheapest option possible, i.e Samsung develop the app for free in exchange for exclusivity. Not positive for consumers in any way.

reven

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#1172685 11-Nov-2014 10:54

if you look at quickflix, they have
- samsung
- sony
- panasonic
- lg

so i wouldnt rule lightbox out from supporting more, just because tvnz and tv3 only support samsung.

Lightbox

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#1172760 11-Nov-2014 12:07

steve98:
bfginger: That press release gives the impression there won't be any Lightbox app for other television brands.

That's the way it seems to going in New Zealand thanks to (most of) our content providers all taking the cheapest option possible, i.e Samsung develop the app for free in exchange for exclusivity. Not positive for consumers in any way.

The press release is about Samsung and our partnership with them. We're not ruling anything else out.

Lots of things go into going on a specific platform - commercials, ease of development, burden of support, legacy models etc. The Samsung platform has been stable across 2012-2014, meaning that only one app is needed, rather then building bespoke apps for different generations. It's also a mature platform in terms of development and supported formats. They are the biggest player in connected TVs, so all things considered, it's not surprising that many providers start there.

Lightbox - we are online TV.

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davidrg

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#1172855 11-Nov-2014 14:19

Lightbox will also be coming to a selection of Samsung Android devices before the end of November.

This line is a little concerning but I'll wait until the app appears on Google Play before doing anything.

Unplugging the third display from my desktop PC in another room and running a long HDMI cable to my TV (and a usb cable for a mouse) every time I want to watch lightbox gets old real quick. The only reason why I've continued past the free trial is the hope that an app will be appearing for android (or xbox) soon to make it convenient to use. If the android app ends up being arbitrarily restricted to devices made by Samsung I'll have no reason to continue my subscription.

richms

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#1172901 11-Nov-2014 15:15

reven: if you look at quickflix, they have
- samsung
- sony
- panasonic
- lg

so i wouldnt rule lightbox out from supporting more, just because tvnz and tv3 only support samsung.

And quickflix is australian, so has a larger base to spread development costs over.

Richard rich.ms

giggles

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#1177726 18-Nov-2014 08:07

Let me start by saying - I love Lightbox. Finally something at a reasonable price that competes with the Sky monopoly. We use it in our house fairly frequently and rarely watch live TV (HTPC and NAS setup). I applaud them for the app on Samsung TV's (luckily I was able to update my Firmware to get the App to run) and the announcement it is coming to Samsung Android tablets. But this good news begs the question - why only 5 devices allowed and you can only switch 1 device every 30 days! This is unreasonable especially during a startup period where people are trying it on different devices and Lightbox themselves are beta testing App releases. It doesn't take much to reach 5 devices these days. 1 x HTPC, 2 x Samsung TV's, iPad, Laptops - done. And you can only change it once a month - unreasonable. Come on guys, especially during this startup phase of the product. Sure I understand why you've done it, but it is overly restrictive on changes. Please sort this out. Having tested it on different devices in our family It'll now take me 3 months to change it to the devices I've settled on!!! Perhaps I should cancel the subscription and start again.....

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#1177788 18-Nov-2014 10:00

Hi Giggles,

Thanks for the input.

The requirements around device management and registration come from the content providers, it's not something we dream up. They are pretty uniform across services like these and stem from a legitimate desire to protect against abuse of an account etc.

If you've backed yourself into a corner on device registrations, you can reach out to our customer service and they may be able to assist you (depending on the issue).

Lightbox - we are online TV.

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