New From Tapplock, Tapplock lite

Feather light. Lightning fast.

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Padlocks can be a pain with out a key. Tapplock has the solution. In the house or on the go, Tapplock lite boasts a strong, lightweight chassis and packs Tapplock’s advanced fingerprint technology. Tapplock lite is the perfect portable lifestyle lock.

 

State-of-the-art capacitive fingerprint sensor allows unlocking in under 0.8 seconds. Adaptive algorithm means the lock becomes faster and more accurate with each access. Store up to 100 different fingerprints per lock. Manage users and fingerprints via the Tapplock app.

 

Lightning fast fingerprint access, Bluetooth access via the Tapplock app, or set your own combination to unlock via Morse-Code.

Three versatile ways to unlock means you’ll never be stranded without access. 

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Sharing access is simple.  Share Bluetooth access remotely with unlimited users. Set permanent access or limited access with flexible dates and times, and feel free to revoke access whenever you want. Track and monitor access history with time and location from the Tapplock app.

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With an 8 month battery life per charge, you are good for a long time.  You can even check the battery charge on the Tapplock app!

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Nearly Half Of Consumers Expect To Add New Streaming Service - Still, a majority feel that there are too many streaming choices and the price tag is becoming too high

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As for Apple TV+ and Disney+, about 42% of consumers expect that they will add one of the new services (which will eventually also consist of HBO Max and Peacock), but even more (87%) are worrying at the cost it will be to keep up with the latest offerings. These findings come from a joint study by TV Time and United Talent Agency’s UTA IQ data and analytics group, titled “Beyond the Big Three,” that sought to determine awareness, purchase intent and how specific offerings will motivate consumer adoption. While almost half of respondents say they plan to add one of the upcoming streaming services, that number drops to 20% at the prospect of adding two new streaming services. One reason for this is likely that the emergence of these new options will not impact the subscribers of the big three current services—Netflix, Hulu and Amazon—as 70% said they were not “likely” or “very likely” to drop a current service. Another 70% of consumers also believe that these new additions will create an environment of too many streaming services and, as mentioned above, result in a bill more expensive than they would like.

 

It’s not just cost that some are skeptical about, other frustrations include the need to toggle between services (67% people cited this), the process of account setup and management (58%) and the inability to find content easily (45%). Consumers also shared that while subscription-only models are still the most popular (56%) compared to ad-supported models (44%), there are those willing to convert to ad-supported if it helps alleviate the cost of the service. As for what will be the biggest draw for consumers to a particular service, library content is more important than originals. What library content was available on the service was “important” or “very important” to 90% of respondents; originals earned 68% in those categories.

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Panasonic Transparent OLED TV   
Panasonic shows off its updated transparent OLED concept at IFA

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The groundbreaking set has been developed in partnership with Swiss furniture brand Vitra and is a joint collaboration between Scandinavian based designer Daniel Rybakken and Panasonic Design Kyoto.

Once switched on the set magically displays content much like a regular OLED TV, with the aforementioned objects behind the display completely obscured.
 

The set appears to be a clear glass cabinet with a stylish, inch-thick wooden frame. With pictures and ornaments positioned behind the display during the demo, only a mild filtered surface belies the fact that the objects were in fact behind a TV display.

Once switched on the set magically displays content much like a regular OLED TV, with the aforementioned objects behind the display completely obscured.

Somehow all the prototype’s components have been cleverly and concealed within the wooden frame which doubles up as a stand. Also housed within the frame is a lightning element, which helps to further enhance the viewing experience. Transparent displays are by no means a new concept - Samsung demonstrated both mirror and transparent OLED displays as far back as 2015, only to cease production a year later, while LG have also produced see-through OLED screens that were also flexible. 

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Consumer Spending On Traditional Pay TV Drops 10% From 2018-21

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Parks Associates report finds only internet video entertainment is holding its own. The average subscriber to standalone pay-TV service spent 10% less from 2016 to 2018, with consumers reporting monthly spending dropping from $84 to $76, according to new research from Parks Associates. "Traditional pay-TV providers (MVPDs) have faced continued subscriber losses due to increasing consumer choice from OTT services, so they are deploying skinny bundles and vMVPD services to create more choice among viewers," said Parks Associates President Elizabeth Parks. Packaged media, such as DVDs and Blu-ray discs, also have felt the sting of changing viewing habits. Spending on non-pay-TV home video entertainment, as reported by consumers, dropped 30% per month over the past seven years, from its peak in 2014 of $40 to just over $20 last year, said Parks Associates. Movie Theater spending, as well, fell 50% from 2014 to 2018, according to the research group.

"Subscription online video is the only growth category for consumer-paid video entertainment beyond pay TV,” said Brett Sappington, senior research director and principal analyst at Parks Associates. Among the other key findings in the new report: 20% of U.S. broadband households have no pay-TV service. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) for traditional pay-TV service is weaker than other content types. The average number of connected devices per broadband household in 2018—excluding smart home devices—reached 8.4.  12% of U.S. broadband households cut the pay-TV cord in 2018.

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CBC mixes AR with subtle scenic elements for Olympic studio 

    
Canadian broadcaster CBC worked closely with its scenic design partner to create a fresh, modern space that blends augmented reality with traditional scenic elements for its coverage of the Winter Olympics.

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“The design for the PyeongChang Olympics was about creating a subtle backdrop for talent and graphics to tell a story. Because AR was going to be such a huge part of the broadcast, we wanted to make sure that the set was not distracting in any way,” said Kyle Sanvictores of AKA Creative.  “Careful effort was made to create a framework that could support a variety of storytelling methods and allow the information to be displayed in a compelling and seamless way.”  

Both spaces include a span of windows overlooking the Jeongseon Alpine Centre — something that proved to be challenging for both AKA and other broadcasters using similar setups at the IBC. In the end the team built its own window, just in front of the original window — equipped with a gimbal that allows it to be carefully angled to counteract reflection and daylight.

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James Dean Reborn in CGI for Vietnam War Action-Drama

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The cultural icon, who died in 1955, will return to the screen via CGI using actual footage and photos for 'Finding Jack.' by Alex Ritman James Dean, who died in a 1955 car crash at the age of 24, is making an unexpected return to the big screen. The cultural icon, known for Rebel Without a Cause and East of Eden, has been posthumously cast in the Vietnam era action-drama Finding Jack. Directed by Anton Ernst and Tati Golykh, the project comes from the filmmakers' own recently launched production house Magic City Films, which obtained the rights to use Dean’s image from his family. Canadian VFX banner Imagine Engine will be working alongside South African VFX company MOI Worldwide to re-create what the filmmakers describe as “a realistic version of James Dean.” Adapted by Mari Sova from Gareth Crocker’s novel, Finding Jack is based on the existence and abandonment of more than 10,000 military dogs at the end of the Vietnam War. Dean will play a character called Rogan, considered a secondary lead role. "We searched high and low for the perfect character to portray the role of Rogan, which has some extreme complex character arcs, and after months of research, we decided on James Dean," said Ernst, who also produces with Golykh for Magic City Films alongside Donald A. Barton of Artistry Media Group. "We feel very honored that his family supports us and will take every precaution to ensure that his legacy as one of the most epic film stars to date is kept firmly intact. The family views this as his fourth movie, a movie he never got to make. We do not intend to let his fans down."
 
While Finding Jack will be live action, Dean’s performance will be constructed via "full body" CGI using actual footage and photos. Another actor will voice him. Preproduction on Finding Jack starts Nov. 17, with a goal for a worldwide release on Veterans Day 2020. Magic City Films is handling the foreign sales. The filmmakers are now hoping that the CGI technology used to bring Dean back to life onscreen could soon be deployed on other well-known figures. "This opens up a whole new opportunity for many of our clients who are no longer with us," said Mark Roesler, CEO of CMG Worldwide, which represents Dean’s family alongside more than 1,700 entertainment, sports, music and historical personalities, including the likes of Burt Reynolds, Christopher Reeve, Ingrid Bergman, Neil Armstrong, Bette Davis and Jack Lemmon.  

 

 

 

U.S. Households With Pay--TV TV Services Drops To 75%, Says LRGServices Drops To 75%, Says LRG  -  Ten years ago, that number was at 87%.
Three out of every four homes in the U.S. subscribe to a pay-TV service, per new research from Leichtman Research Group, a significant drop from the reach pay-TV had 10 years ago when it was in nearly 90% of homes. The new study, “Pay-TV in the U.S. 2019,” reveals that in 2009, according to LRG, 87% of homes had pay-TV service. That number dropped to 84% in 2014, and now sits at 75%. Almost an equal number of homes, 74%, subscribe to some kind of SVOD service as of 2019. LRG reports that 54% of homes have some kind of combination of pay-TV and SVOD, while 21% only have pay-TV and 20% only have SVOD; 5% have neither.

“With more options for watching live and on-demand video, consumers are increasingly choosing to cobble together the services that meet the viewing and economic needs of their household,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group. Despite the drop in the number of subscribers, the mean reported spending on pay-TV is leveling off. For those who have pay-TV services, they are averaging a bill of $109.60 per month, a 6% increase since 2016. In total, including those who do not subscribe to pay-TV, that average is about $80 per month, slightly lower than the per household spending in 2015. Other findings from LRG include that pay-TV subscribers that bundle services from a provider has dropped from 67% in 2014 to 60%. Pay-TV is more popular among older individuals, with 83% of those 45 and older subscribing to pay-TV compared to 64% for 18-44 year olds. It also shows that the more TVs a home has the more likely they are to subscribe to pay-TV—homes with three or more TVs are pay-TV subscribers 87% of the time, 75% with two TVs and 52% with one TV. 2019 also marked the first year since 2010 that less than half (47%) of TV sets in use were connected to a pay-TV providers’ set-top box. Meanwhile, over-the-air antennas are in use at 27% of TV households, including 53% in homes that are not pay-TV subscribers.

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