Category Archives: TV

Episodes, Hulu, Microsoft, News Roundup, Surface, TV, Twitter, Windows 10, YouTube

Week 93 News Roundup – Microsoft Event, Hulu Live TV, YouTube & Twitter TV Shows

Earlier this week, our Question of the Week episode was our quarterly deep dive on Apple’s earnings. This News Roundup episode covers some of the week’s other big tech news:

  • The first eighteen minutes or so of the episode are a discussion of Microsoft’s education-focused event in New York, and we talk both about Windows 10 S and the Surface Laptop, and Jan shares his theory about what’s really going on with Windows 10 S.
  • Our second topic is Hulu’s long-awaited launch of its Live TV offering, which was announced this week and which sparks a discussion about the state of online pay TV, which Jan also wrote about this week
  • Lastly, we have a brief discussion on two other TV announcements made this week by Twitter and YouTube, both of which unveiled new shows for their respective platforms.

As always, you’ll find links to these stories and other things we discussed underneath the SoundCloud player embedded below.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

  • News stories we covered (Tech Narratives links):
    • Microsoft Windows 10 S launch:
      https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/02/★-microsoft-introduces-windows-10-s-a-streamlined-and-soulful-version-of-windows/
    • Microsoft Surface Laptop launch:
      https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/02/★-microsoft-unveils-surface-laptop-an-odd-mix-of-power-and-constraints/
    • Hulu With Live TV launch:
      https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/03/★-hulu-launches-live-tv-offering-with-50-channels-ads-limited-dvr/
    • Twitter TV announcements:
      https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/01/★-twitter-announces-a-dozen-new-video-deals/
    • YouTube TV announcements:
      https://www.technarratives.com/2017/05/04/★-youtube-announces-six-new-original-content-series-for-its-free-service/.
  • You might also be interested in reading Jan’s piece on the state of online pay TV.

As ever, we welcome your feedback via Twitter (@jandawson / @aaronmiller), the website (podcast.beyonddevic.es), or email (jan@jackdawresearch.com).

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. You can reach the individual hosts on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast. And we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes or in your podcast app of choice.

Amazon, Apple, AWS, BlackBerry, Cloud, Episodes, MWC, Snapchat, TV, YouTube

Episode 84 – AWS and Outages, MWC Announcements

This week’s News Roundup covers YouTube’s announcement of the appropriately named YouTube TV service, which will offer a bundle of broadcast and cable channels from four major companies for $35; rumors that Apple would replace the Lightning connector on iPhones with USB-C in the fall; and Snap Inc’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Our Question of the Week is “What is AWS and why are so many people so dependent on it?” Naturally the prompt here is this week’s AWS S3 outage, which caused many sites and services to go down for several hours on Tuesday. We talk through what AWS is, the major products and services that are part of it, how big this is, and the details of Tuesday’s outage, in terms of both the causes and the impact, and whether it’s healthy that so much of the Internet depends on one company.

Our Third Segment is a discussion of some of the phone announcements made at Mobile World Congress this week, from Nokia, BlackBerry, Oppo, LG, and Motorola, and what they tell us about the state of the smartphone market.

Our Weekly Pick is a life hack of sorts recommended by Aaron.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Apple, Episodes, Facebook, Original content, Snapchat, T-Mobile, TV, Verizon, Wireless charging

Episode 82 – Original Video Content, Snap’s S-1 Filing

We’re back to our usual format this week. Our News Roundup kicks off with a couple of US wireless stories – Verizon Wireless reintroducing unlimited plans, and T-Mobile reporting its results. Next up, we discuss Apple joining the Wireless Power Consortium, and what it might mean. And lastly, we discuss Facebook’s announcement that it’s working on an app for TV boxes like the Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

Our Question of the Week is “Who is investing in original video content and why?” The topic has been in the news this week with Apple showing off trailers for two new original series that will be part of Apple Music, and YouTube star PewDiePie being dropped from its original content lineup after making some anti-semitic videos. We discuss who’s investing in this area, why, and what they’re spending, as well as whether it will all be worth it.

Our Weekly Pick is a musician recommended by Aaron.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

AirPort, Apple, Cord-Cutting, Episodes, Google, Google Wifi, Instagram, Thanksgiving, TV, WiFi

Episode 72 – Cord Cutting, Tech Thanksgiving

This week’s episode is a special Thanksgiving episode for our listeners here in the US.

Our News Roundup covers three stories. The first two are WiFi-related, with Google making its new Google Wifi devices available for sale and providing a self-made review of sorts as well, and Bloomberg reporting that Apple will discontinue its line of AirPort WiFi routers. Our third story is Instagram’s launch of both live video and disappearing photos.

Our Question of the Week is “What is the state of cord cutting in the US pay TV market?” Jan talks through the research and analysis he does each quarter and some of the numbers on the current state of the US pay TV market and cord cutting. But we also discuss cord nevers and cord shaving, two other phenomena affecting the pay TV industry in the US, and the implications of all this for the players in the market.

Our third segment is our Thanksgiving special, in which both Aaron and Jan share three technology things they’re thankful for.

We wrap up with our Weekly Pick, which this week is a movie recommended by Aaron.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Apple, Apple TV, Episodes, Mac, Microsoft, Surface, TV, tvOS, Windows 10

Episode 68 – Microsoft and Apple October Events

This week’s episode is all about Microsoft and Apple’s two big events this week. We first talk through Microsoft’s announcements, including the Windows 10 Creators Update, various creativity software, Microsoft’s first VR play, and more. Then we discuss Apple’s big announcements including the new TV app for Apple TV, iPhone, and iPad, and the new MacBook Pros. For the last part of the episode, we compare the announcements and discuss the broader significance of what each company is doing, and how they will compete going forward. Next week, we’ll likely do an earnings-focused episode.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Alphabet, Apple, Cars, Earnings, Episodes, Google, Google Assistant, Hardware, LeEco, Pixel, TV

Episode 67 – LeEco, Project Titan, Q3 Earnings Preview, Pixel Reviews

This week’s News Roundup is a little longer than usual as we do a deeper than expected dive into three topics. First off, we discuss the US coming-out party for LeEco, a Chinese consumer technology company that’s taking a content-centric approach. Secondly, we discuss reports that Apple is scaling back and refocusing its car initiative. And lastly, we talk about Google’s apparent deal with CBS as part of its planned YouTube-based over-the-top TV service.

Our Question of the Week this week is all about Q3 earnings and what to expect from seven of the top consumer technology companies: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung, and Twitter. Jan talks through each of these companies in turn and talk about what he’s watching out for, and what to expect in both the numbers and the discussion by executives on earnings calls.

Our third segment is a brief roundup of the reviews that came out this week for the Google Pixel smartphone, whose launch we discussed a couple of weeks ago. The reviews were largely consistent, but we discuss some of the areas of disagreement as well as the interesting trends that are emerging from these and other recent reviews.

We wrap up the episode with a Weekly Pick, which this week is a our first Twitter account recommendation, from Aaron.

As usual, you’ll find some links to related content as well as other ways to listen to the podcast beneath the embedded Soundcloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

  • News Roundup:
  • Jan’s Q3 earnings preview piece on Techpinions (paywall).
  • Aaron’s Weekly Pick was a Twitter account, Mark Miller’s @MDMDeals account, which tweets only the most worthwhile deals on iOS apps.

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.

Apple, Apple TV, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Episodes, Facebook, Google, Mark Zuckerberg, Pixel C, Tablets, TV

Episode 26 – Pixel C Reviews, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Apple Shelving TV Plans

Note: links to the podcast on several services (iTunes, SoundCloud, Overcast etc.) are below the SoundCloud player – just scroll down. 

Our first topic this week is the reviews for Google’s new Pixel C tablet, and what they signify about the state of Android. We also talk about the overall state of the tablet market and (the lack of) tablet-optimized operating systems. Our second topic is the decision by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan to give the bulk of their wealth to causes they care about, which is the subject of our Question of the Week, “Is the Zuckerberg announcement really philanthropic?” We tap into Aaron’s expertise in the field of philanthropy and non-profit work to discuss the basics of various organizational structures and their tax implications, the pros and cons of the LLC structure the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has adopted, and whether the gift is likely to be beneficial to society. Our last topic is the reporting in the last 24 hours or so before we recorded to the effect that Apple may be shelving its TV service plans for the time being. As usual, we wrap up with our Weekly Pick, which this week is a game recommendation from Aaron.

As ever, links to related content and to the podcast itself on various services can be found under the SoundCloud player below.

We invite listeners to submit questions for subsequent weeks in the comments below, on Twitter (@jandawson, @aaronmiller), or via email (jan at jackdawresearch dot com). We also now have a dedicated Podcast Twitter handle at @BDPcast.

As ever, you can also find the podcast on iTunes, in the Overcast app, or your own favorite podcast app. Here is the RSS feed for the podcast if you want to add it manually to your app of choice.

Show notes:

Here are some useful links relating to this week’s episode:

Please leave us a comment or get in touch via Twitter to give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you. Also, we’d love it if you would leave a review of the podcast on iTunes.