Google moves to disrupt video games with streaming, studio

Yahoo – AFP, Glenn CHAPMAN, March 19, 2019

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the online giant's Stadia technology aimed
"to build a game platform for everyone" (AFP Photo/Josh Edelson)

San Francisco (AFP) - Google set out to disrupt the video game world on Tuesday with a Stadia platform that will let players stream blockbuster titles to any device they wish, as the online giant also unveiled a new controller and its very own studio.

The California-based technology giant said its Stadia platform will open to gamers later this year in the United States, Canada, Britain and other parts of Europe.

For now, Google is focused on working with game makers to tailor titles for play on Stadia, saying it has already provided the technology to more than 100 game developers.

"We are on the brink of a huge revolution in gaming," said Jade Raymond, the former Ubisoft and Electronic Arts executive tapped to head Google's new studio, Stadia Games and Entertainment.

"We are committed to going down a bold path," she told a presentation at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

The Stadia tech platform aims to connect people for interactive play on PCs, tablets, smartphones and other devices.

Google also unveiled a new controller that can be used to play cloud-based individual or multiplayer games.

Stadia controllers mirrored those designed for Xbox or PlayStation consoles, with the addition of dedicated buttons for streaming live play via YouTube or asking Google Assistant virtual aide for help beating a daunting puzzle or challenge.

Chief executive Sundar Pichai said the initiative is "to build a game platform for everyone."

"I think we can change the game by bringing together the entirety of the ecosystem," Pichai told a keynote audience.

Jade Raymond, head of Google's Stadia, speaks during the GDC Game 

Developers Conference (AFP Photo/JUSTIN SULLIVAN)

'Netflix of gaming'

Google's hope is that Stadia could become for games what Netflix or Spotify are to television or music, by making console-quality play widely available.

Yet it remains unclear how much Google can grab of the nascent, but potentially massive industry.

As it produces its own games, Google will also be courting other studios to move to its cloud-based model.

Google collaborated with French video game titan Ubisoft last year in a limited public test of the technology powering Stadia, and its chief executive was in the front row at the platform's unveiling.

A coming new version of blockbuster action game "Doom" tailored to play on Stadia was teased at the event by iD studio executive producer Marty Stratton.

"If you are going to prove to the world you can stream games from the cloud, what better game than 'Doom'," Stratton said.

Streaming games from the cloud brings the potential to tap into massive amounts of computing power in data centers.

For gamers, that could translate into richer game environments, more creative play options or battle royale matches involving thousands of players.

At the developers conference, Google demonstrated fast, cloud-based play on a variety of devices. But it offered no specific details on how it would monetize the new service or compensate developers.

Money-making options could include selling game subscriptions the way Netflix charges for access to streaming television.

"I think it's a huge potential transition in the video game industry, not only for the instant access to games but for exploring different business models to games," Jon Peddie Research analyst Ted Pollak said of Stadia.

"They say it's the Netflix of gaming; that is actually pretty accurate."

Audience members react during a keynote session at the annual Game Developers 

Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco, California on March 19, 2019

(AFP Photo/Josh Edelson)

Ubisoft on board

Ubisoft, known for "Assassin's Creed" and other titles, said it would be working with Google.

Its co-founder and chief Yves Guillemot predicted streaming would "give billions unprecedented opportunities to play video games in the future."

An "Assassin's Creed" title franchise was used to test Google's "Project Stream" technology for hosting the kind of quick, seamless play powered by in-home consoles as an online service.

The reliability and speed of internet connections is seen as a challenge to cloud gaming, with action play potentially marred by streaming lags or disruptions.

Google said its investments in networks and data centers should help prevent latency in data transmissions.

In places with fast and reliable wireless, internet players will likely access games on the wide variety of devices envisioned by Google, while hard-core players in places where wireless connections aren't up to the task could opt for consoles, according to Pollak.

"I think it is good news for everyone," Pollak said when asked what Stadia meant to major console makers Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.

The US video game industry generated a record $43.4 billion in revenue in 2018, up 18 percent from the prior year, according to data released by the Entertainment Software Association and The NPD Group.

Streaming wars heat up as rivals queue up to challenge Netflix

Yahoo – AFP, Rob Lever, March 17, 2019

Netflix has taken the lead in streaming to expand into 190 markets but is now facing
some deep-pocketed rivals including Apple and Disney (AFP Photo/ROBYN BECK)

Washington (AFP) - Some of the biggest names in media and tech are gearing up to move into streaming, in what could be a major challenge to market leader Netflix.

Apple is expected to make its move with an announcement March 25 on its media plans, with a war chest estimated at some $1 billion and partners including stars like Jennifer Aniston and director J.J. Abrams involved in content.

Walt Disney Co. has announced its new streaming service Disney+ will launch this year, as will another from WarnerMedia, the newly acquired media-entertainment division of AT&T.

The new entrants, with more expected, could launch a formidable challenge to Netflix, which has some 140 million paid subscribers in 190 markets, and to other services such as Amazon and Hulu.

"It's really going to change the industry," said Alan Wolk, co-founder of the consulting firm TVREV who follows the sector.

Wolk said he sees seven or eight powerful players in streaming which will lead to "huge competition for new shows and hit shows."

These rivals are coming into the segment which has been transformed by the spectacular growth of Netflix and a growing movement by consumers to on-demand television delivered over internet platforms.

In the US alone, an estimated six million consumers have dropped pay TV bundles since 2012, while on-demand services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have been surging, according to Leichtman Research.

But just as Netflix has disrupted traditional "linear" television, rivals are now moving to disrupt Netflix.

Strong name recognition and sought-after content is liekly to make Disney a

formidable competitor in streaming television (AFP Photo/Alberto E. Rodriguez)ls)."

Feeling pain

Netflix is likely to feel pain, not only from the new rivals, but also from the loss of content from the big libraries of Disney and Time Warner.

These Hollywood firms "have big libraries, so the cost of their content is much lower than it will be for Netflix, which has to pay for all its content," said Laura Martin, analyst with the research firm Needham & Co.

"Netflix will lose subscribers to these new entrants," Martin said.

AT&T's WarnerMedia will launch its service later this year that combines the content from its premium HBO channel (known for "Game of Thrones") and the vast Time Warner library or films and shows.

Disney's service will have its films and TV shows, along with the library it is acquiring from Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, a deal closing in the coming days. That includes the "Star Wars" and Marvel superhero franchises and ABC television content.

JP Morgan analyst Alexia Quadrani predicts Disney will eventually scale up to become as big as Netflix, or even bigger by signing up 45 million US subscribers and 115 million internationally.

Quadrani cited Disney's "unmatched brand recognition, extensive premium content, and unparalleled ecosystem to market the service."

The analyst said Disney benefits from its global ecosystem that develops good customer relationships from its theme parks, hotels, cruises, and consumer products.

Wolk agreed that Disney "is in a good spot" because of its strong brand and content but predicted that consumers may be overwhelmed by the growing options.

"I think there will be a lot of churn," Wolk said. "People will subscribe to one service to watch one show, and then it becomes easy to cancel and take another."

Jennifer Aniston is one of the Hollywood stars Apple is counting on as it prepares

to launch its streaming video service (AFP Photo/Alberto E. Rodriguez)

No panic, yet

Some analysts say Netflix has no reason to panic -- yet.

"Netflix has figured this business out, they know what consumers want," said Dan Rayburn, a streaming media analyst with Frost & Sullivan.

But Rayburn said that over time, rivals may be able to leverage their user base and infrastructure to eat away at Netflix's advantage.

"What does Netflix own? Nothing," Rayburn said.

"If you're Amazon or AT&T you can give this stuff away and be a loss leader, that's the big value."

Still, he said any company that wants to challenge Netflix needs to be "quick and nimble" and that it remains to be seen if the legacy players can do that.

Richard Greenfield of BTIG Research also questioned the capability of the legacy entertainment firms to compete in the world of new media.

"We believe legacy media has missed their window to compete with Netflix (and other tech platforms) unless they are willing to truly go all-in," Greenfield said in a recent research note.

The streaming service from AT&T's Warner Media will include 

programs from HBO such as "Game Of Thrones," whose star 

Emilia Clarke is seen here (AFP Photo/Alberto E. Rodriguez)

'Innovator's dilemma'

Greenfield said that means moving the focus away from the box office and getting better control of content.

"Disney is battling a classic innovator's dilemma that makes it hard for them to truly pivot to direct-to-consumer, not to mention, they and the rest of legacy media do not really appreciate how important technology is to success in direct-to-consumer streaming," Greenfield wrote.

Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities said Apple could be the wild card, but that the iPhone maker might need to acquire a content provider like CBS or Sony Pictures to be a major player.

Apple "is definitely playing from behind the eight ball in this content arms race with Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Hulu, and AT&T/Time Warner all going after this next consumer frontier," Ives said in a note to clients.

"While acquisitions have not been in Apple's core DNA, the clock has struck midnight for Cupertino in our opinion and building content organically is a slow and arduous path, which highlights the clear need for Apple to do larger, strategic (deals}."

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings gives a keynote address, January 6, 2016 at the
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

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"Wild Cards" (3) - Nov 19 - 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

"... Then there was Steve Jobs. He was a wild card. What he did had little to do with technology, for that would have happened anyway soon enough. Instead, it had to do with the paradigm of the business of music on Earth. He freed it, and the paradigm of how music is obtained and heard will never be the same. However, Steve Jobs did basically one thing for all of you, and then he died. Do you see any kind of connecting of the dots to some of the inventors who come and give you the one thing, then leave? If he had lived, would there be more? Yes, but you’re not ready for it. Consciousness has to support what happens. ..."

Murdoch's News Corp calls for Google breakup

Yahoo – AFP, March 12, 2019

News organisations accuse tech giants such as Google and Facebook of gaining huge
commercial benefit from expensive to create content, while paying nothing and syphoning
off advertising (AFP Photo/Tobias SCHWARZ)

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has called for Google to be broken up in Australia, the latest salvo in a battle between the corporate media giants.

In a petition to Australian regulators, News Corp's local subsidiary complained that "Google enjoys overwhelming market power in both online search and ad tech services."

Going a step further, the company accused Google of "abusing its dominant position to the detriment of consumers, advertisers and publishers."

Earlier this week US presidential hopeful -- and former federal consumer watchdog -- Elizabeth Warren became the latest in a line of commentators to argue that firms such as Amazon, Google and Facebook hold " too much power" in society.

News Corp echoed her argument that Google's businesses should be split, or failing that, search and advertising businesses should be firewalled off from each other.

"While News Corp Australia recognises that divestment is a very serious step ... divestment is necessary in the case of Google, due to the unparalleled power that it currently exerts over news publishers and advertisers alike."

Australian watchdogs are seen as unlikely to recommend that Google be split, but the petition represents an intensification of the worldwide fight between Australian-born Murdoch and Google and Facebook.

News organisations accuse the tech giants of gaining huge commercial benefit from expensive to create content, while paying nothing and syphoning off advertising.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is one of several regulators across the world investigating the effect that digital platforms have on competition in the media, advertising and advertising services markets.

News organisations in Australia have struggled in recent years with falling revenue and shrinking staff, as giants like Google and Facebook dominate the digital economy.

The downturn has prompted a string of mergers that have left the market with only three or four major media companies.

Local newspapers, once the lifeblood of communities across this vast country, run on a skeletal staff or have been forced to close.

Murdoch's News Corp is a dominant player, owning a slew of Australian newspapers and the largest television news channel, and is the majority owner of the Foxtel pay television operations.

Murdoch's vast political influence has frequently come under fire from former prime ministers on both sides of Australian politics and is widely seen as pushing the tone of public debate to the right.

News Corp Australia is a subsidiary of US-based News Corp, which owns the Wall Street Journal and newspapers in Britain. Murdoch and his family also control the media-entertainment conglomerate 21st Century Fox, owner of the Fox News Channel.

News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch, seen here in 2017, is urging Facebook

to pay "trusted" news organizations for content, in the same way cable TV operators

pay for channels (AFP Photo/AL BELLO)

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"From Dark to Light" + "Discovery", US (3), June 24 - 25, 2017 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)  (Text version "From Dark to Light") 

"... Marketing the Drama and Unseen Truth

Number three: There are some very old energies in your society and in your culture that have always been the same and represent past Human nature, and you have to decide what to do with them. You may not be able to change them, but you have a choice on what to do with them.

If you believe in the shift and you are starting to think more positive, then let me tell you something that will help. There is light on this planet that is not being reported. There is the beginning of high consciousness ideas and new thought about the future of humanity in very powerful places. These are seeds of new thought that are beginning to grow, and some of them make so much sense and are elegant, yet you'll never know about them. The reason? Your media is filled with the old dark consciousness of drama above all else and many of you willingly create a platform to sustain it.

Some of you will come home from work and feel it's a nice idea to turn on the media and watch all of the horrible things that happened on the planet that day. Perhaps you don't want the news, so you go for entertainment instead. So you turn on a program where you can watch families in drama, arguing and complaining. What I'm telling you, dear ones, is that your media is broken, and you watch it anyway.

Right now, it continues in the old energy and the management in charge thinks it knows best what you and your neighbors want. So it's going to deliver darkness on a regular basis, and if there's nothing dark, it will create it for you. That is what you're faced with. Here is my advice. Select the media carefully that you believe is true and accurate. Wouldn't you rather have fun things to watch? Perhaps you'd like to watch cute pets or animals doing fun things? How about children doing amazing and hilarious things, or great stories of heroism with uplifting endings? How about amazing nature or comedy that is hilarious? Right now with new devices, you can see all of that as much as you want, without commercials. This is the newest trend and evolution of your media selection - personal control over programs in your home, without commercial interruption. Did you see this happening and wonder why now?

So the solution to drama-biased media is simple: Don't watch or listen to standard broadcast! Instead, find out about the alternates and be selective. Select news that is less biased in bringing you full-time drama. Of course, you need to stay in touch with what is happening, but you don't have to accept a program that is dedicated to enhancing and promoting the drama of the day and making it worse - or that gives no news at all about the good things going on.

I say this because broadcast not only is broken, it's dangerous, since it gives false impressions of the overview of the planet. They are stuck in the old energy and haven't caught up yet with the overview of what might really be happening on the planet. Not yet. Even the channels that will give you supposedly good education and history are biased in ways that you would not even expect. They continue to believe in slanting even historic or documentary stories to be horrific and dark. They believe that is what people really want.

What would happen if these companies started programming things people really wanted to watch? What would happen is exactly what they want, and their revenues would go up! I hope they're listening. There will come some day, dear ones, where there'll be more than one good news channel and you can tune in to hear the most heroic and heart-rendering things that have happened on that day on the planet. It will be balanced, perhaps with some other things that also happened. But it will be a balance that you have not seen yet anywhere. ...."

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…6 - The News

Number six. I'll be brief. Watch for your news to change. It has to. When the media realizes that Human Beings are changing their watching habits, they're going to start changing what they produce for you to watch. Eventually, there's going to be something called "The Good News Channel," and it will be very attractive indeed. For it will be real and offset the drama of what is today's attraction. This is what families at night, sitting around the table, will wish to watch. They'll have something where the whole picture of a situation is shown and not just the dramatic parts. You will hear about what's happening on the planet that no one is telling you now, and when that occurs [we have no clock, dear one], it's going to compete strongly with the drama. I keep telling you this. Human nature itself is starting to be in color instead of black and white. Watch for it. And that was number six ….”

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“…  Government

Let us speak of government. We're not speaking of your government, but of any government - the way it works, how it survives, how it has survived, the way it campaigns, and how it elects leaders. It's going to change.

Years ago, I told you, "When everybody can talk to everybody, there can be no secrets." Up to this point on this planet, government has counted on one thing - that the people can't easily talk to each other on a global scale. They have to get their information through government or official channels. Even mass media isn't always free enough, for it reports that which the government reports. Even a free society tends to bias itself according to the bias of the times. However, when you can have Human Beings talking to each other all at once, all over the planet without government control, it all changes, for there is open revelation of truth.

Democracy itself will change and you're going to see it soon. The hold-outs, the few countries I have mentioned in the past, are doomed unless they recalibrate. They're doomed to be the same as they have been and won't be able to exist as they are now with everyone changing around them.

I mentioned North Korea in the past. Give it time. Right now, the young man is under the control of his father's advisors. But when they're gone, you will see something different, should he survive. Don't judge him yet, for he is being controlled.

In government, if you're entire voting base has the ability to talk to itself without restriction and comes up with opinions by itself without restriction, it behooves a politician to be aware and listen to them. This will change what politicians will do. It will change the way things work in government. Don't be surprised when some day a whole nation can vote all at once in a very unusual way. Gone will be the old systems where you used to count on horseback riders to report in from faraway places. Some of you know what I am talking about. Government will change. The systems around you, both dark and light, will change. You're going to start seeing something else, too, so let's change the subject and turn the page. ”

Amazon unveils new tools to weed out counterfeit goods

France24 – AFP, 28 Feb 2019

Amazon is stepping up efforts to curb the sale counterfeit merchandise by using
technology tools and by allowing brands to take down listings themselves AFP/File

Washington (AFP) - Amazon on Thursday announced a new initiative to crack down on the sale of counterfeit goods on its platform which could allow brands themselves to take down listings of fake merchandise.

The program dubbed Project Zero uses a combination of technological tools and cooperation with brand manufacturers to remove listings of sellers of counterfeit goods.

Amazon said it is testing the new feature on an "invite only" basis with brands ahead of what it expects to be a broader rollout.

"Our aim is that customers always receive authentic goods when shopping on Amazon," the US online giant said in a statement.

"Project Zero builds on our long-standing work and investments in this area. It allows brands to work with us to leverage our combined strengths to move quickly and at scale to drive counterfeits to zero."

Amazon said the new effort includes stepping up use of its own machine learning technology to scan for suspected imitation goods.

Additionally, brands that participate in the program will use "product serialization" codes to authenticate products in the manufacturing process, and those firms will be able to take action themselves to remove counterfeit goods listings.

"Previously, brands would need to report a counterfeit to Amazon, and we would then investigate these reports and take action," the Amazon statement said.

"With Project Zero, brands no longer need to contact us to remove a counterfeit listing. Instead, they can do so, quickly and easily, using our new self-service tool."

Amazon said its tests have stopped 100 times more suspected counterfeit products than under its previous system of removal based on reports from brands.

Companies participating in the program include the luggage and handbag maker Vera Bradley, automotive accessory manufacturer Kenu and pet accessory brands Thunderworks and ChomChom Roller.

"Project Zero, with its automated protections and the self-service removal of counterfeit products, is a significant development that will help ensure our customers receive authentic Vera Bradley products from Amazon," said Mark Dely, chief legal and administrator officer of the company, in the Amazon release.