Live-Stream of Microsoft Future of Computing from MWC 2019

Article | May 20, 2021

MGM, which holds the largest film and TV library in Hollywood, is finally in play – and likely to be acquired by tech major and video streaming behemoth Amazon. With a rumoured price tag of $9 billion, the deal, while substantial, is merely equivalent to 8.3% of Amazon’s Q1 2021 earnings of $108.5 billion. Indeed, the 44% year-on-year (YoY) increase for its Q1 results alone would pay for the deal more than four times over. When it comes to investment capital to deploy, the tech majors led by Amazon and Apple are in a financial class of their own. This is the kind of deal that helps to explain why AT&T was so keen cut its losses and incur a $66 billion loss on its Warner Media assets by merging the former Time Warner media major with Discovery for $43 billion in cash and receiving 71% in equity in the new combined entity in return. It also follows on from Amazon’s 15.4x increase in what it is willing to pay to secure exclusive NFL Thursday Night Football coverage for its US Amazon Prime customers.

Article | March 1, 2020

The very future of gaming could be decided by which service wins the battle between Google Stadia vs. GeForce Now vs. PlayStation Now vs. Project xCloud. Every 15 years or so, the games industry goes through a big shift in how it delivers its titles. Cartridges gave way to discs, which gave way to digital downloads. Now, the industry stands ready to change once again with the advent of cloud gaming services. This is not a theoretical vision of the future: This is happening right now. Services like Google Stadia and Nvidia GeForce Now provide instantaneous streams of big-budget games — no expensive console or cumbersome PC required.

Article | March 18, 2020

With studios shuttered and live sports on indefinite suspension due to the threat of the coronavirus, home entertainment options ranging from broadcast and pay-TV, transactional VOD, DVD and streaming video are projected to see at least short-term bumps in viewership and revenue during the “social distancing” period, according to media analysts. Nielsen reports “TV usage” in South Korea, Italy and the United States increased double digits during the initial weeks of the virus. Nielsen’s classification includes broadcast/pay-TV, VOD, AVOD, SVOD and the DVR.

Article | April 14, 2020

Since their foundation in the 1970s and 80s, video games have moved from fringe interest to a major media staple. The industry has enjoyed huge revenues from dedicated fans, especially over the past few months, and the growth shows no sign of slowing down. Gaming is also an industry renowned for its commitment to innovation, adopting technological developments and spawning a fair few of its own. Chief amongst technological developments over the last decade has been blockchain technology, the new system of trading and ownership built on transparency and decentralization, the standard-bearer of which is the digital currency.