Amazon on Wednesday announced that it has entered into a new agreement with Viacom to provide a larger selection of television content to its Kindle Fire and Amazon Prime customers. Under the deal, Amazon’s customers will have access to episodes of The Real World, Chapelle’s Show and the The Sarah Silverman Program from Comedy Central, as well as a number of hit shows from Nickelodeon. “This deal with Viacom brings Prime customers and Kindle Fire users thousands of comedies, kids’ shows, reality TV and much more from some of the best cable networks available,” Amazon’s director of video content acquisition Brad Beale said. “We now offer more than 15,000 movies and TV shows in Prime Instant Videos and are working hard to add even more great content.” Amazon’s full press release follows after the break.

Amazon Announces Increased Prime Instant Video Selection for Kindle Fire and Prime Customers via Digital Video License Agreement with Viacom

Prime Instant Video now offers thousands of TV episodes from MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Spike, VH1, BET, CMT and Logo—including past seasons of popular shows such as Jersey Shore, Chappelle’s Show, Hot in Cleveland, Yo Gabba Gabba, iCarly and more

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb. 8, 2012– Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced a licensing agreement with Viacom that will allow Amazon Prime members to instantly stream TV shows from MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Spike, VH1, BET, CMT and Logo. This deal will bring the total number of Prime Instant Videos to more than 15,000. Amazon Prime members can enjoy this selection on over 300 different devices, including Kindle Fire—the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, magazines, apps, books, games, and more. Right out of the box, Kindle Fire users experience the benefits that millions of Amazon Prime members already enjoy — unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of movies and TV shows with Prime Instant Video and the convenience of Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items from Amazon.com.

Prime members will have access to thousands of episodes from Viacom through Prime Instant Video over the next several months. Titles will include kids’ favorites, stand-up comedy, and reality TV. Amazon will offer MTV shows including The Hills, Jersey Shore, The Hard Times of RJ Berger, several seasons of The Real World, and Comedy Central shows such as Chappelle’s Show and The Sarah Silverman Program. For kids, Amazonbrings Nickelodeon episodes of iCarly, Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, Yo Gabba Gabba, along with TV Land favorite, Hot inCleveland.

“Over the last year we have received fantastic customer feedback about Prime Instant Video. We are constantly working to improve the service by adding the shows that our customers enjoy the most,” said Brad Beale, director of video content acquisition for Amazon. “This deal with Viacombrings Prime customers and Kindle Fire users thousands of comedies, kids’ shows, reality TV and much more from some of the best cable networks available. We now offer more than 15,000 movies and TV shows in Prime Instant Videos and are working hard to add even more great content.”

Last week rumors began to circulate that Apple was planning to open itsy bitsy retail stores in as many as 25 Target locations. During a presentation on Thursday, Target confirmed that it will have 25 stores featuring “special displays” of Apple products. Neither company has provided details on the partnership, however it will likely be similar to Apple’s deal with Best Buy, which sells the company’s products from dedicated mini stores within more than 600 Best Buy locations.

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LightSquared Announces Collaboration with Sharp® on L-Band Smartphone and Tablet Product Development

LightSquared will provide device solutions for its network partners using Sharp’s leading-edge smartphone and tablet technologies.

RESTON, Va., October 3, 2011 – LightSquared™, which is building a nationwide wireless broadband network that will drive consumer choice and industry innovation, has announced a strategic collaboration agreement with Sharp®, a worldwide leader in consumer electronic products and solutions.

LightSquared has selected Sharp as its first manufacturer to provide advanced smartphones and tablets which will operate on its 4G-LTE network. The goal of the agreement is to leverage Sharp’s leading-edge product solutions to develop a range of innovative devices which will incorporate an extensive selection of unique device components, such as Sharp’s advanced LCD panel and camera module, for LightSquared’s 4G-LTE network partners including carriers, retailers and others.

This agreement underscores how LightSquared’s open network and growing ecosystem can help manufacturers expand their wireless offerings and develop innovative products without restrictions.

LightSquared will showcase devices during CTIA Enterprise & Applications, October 11-13, in San Diego.

“Sharp has a rich history of producing unique products that push the extremes of design and functionality, and we’re proud that they will be developing innovative devices for LightSquared’s 4G-LTE network,” said Sanjiv Ahuja, chief executive officer of LightSquared. “LightSquared’s wholesale-only business model and open network will provide Sharp with a platform from which they can aggressively expand into the U.S. wireless market with an exciting portfolio of smartphones and tablets.”

Amazon and Netflix both recently announced large content licensing deals. Over the weekend, Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos said his company will provide Amazon Unbox customers with access to FOX content, bumping the Unbox library to more than 11,000 available movie and TV show titles. The new content includes 24, Arrested Development, Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files and The Wonder Years. Amazon is expected to announce a tablet during a press event on Wednesday and it is largely expected to offer access to all of Amazon’s services, including Unbox. Hit the break for more.

In addition, The New York Times reported on Sunday that Netflix has reached an agreement to provide DreamWorks content to its Netflix Streaming subscribers. “This is a game-changing deal,” DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told The New York Times, which noted that this is the first time a company as large as DreamWorks has decided to push its content to the web instead of to pay TV subscribers. Netflix will begin to offer DreamWorks titles in 2013 starting with a few upcoming titles including “The Croods,” “Peabody & Sherman” and “Turbo.” Other DreamWorks titles will filter in over time.

The following is Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s email to Amazon Prime subscribers alerting them to the new content:

Dear Customer,

I have big news for Amazon Prime members – we’ve just signed a deal with FOX to add a broad selection of movies and TV shows to our unlimited instant streaming service later this fall. The new additions from the FOX library include 24, Arrested Development, The X-Files, Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and – available on digital video for the first time – The Wonder Years. We now have deals with CBS, NBCUniversal, Sony, and Warner Bros, and adding FOX will bring the total to more than 11,000 movies and TV shows available for unlimited instant streaming.

Since launching earlier this year, we have now doubled the number of titles available in Prime instant videos, and there’s still more to come. Prime membership remains $79 a year, and of course features our unlimited free two-day shipping on millions of products. Prime is one of the best values anywhere.

If you’re a Prime member, start watching now. If not, start your one-month free trial today.

Thanks for being a customer,

Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO

P.S. You can also watch movies and TV shows instantly at our Amazon Instant Video Store, where we offer more than 100,000 movies and TV shows for rent or purchase, no Prime membership required.

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Amazon and CBS have reached a licensing deal in which CBS will provide Amazon Prime subscribers with access to its television shows.The deal will add 2,000 TV episodes from popular shows such as The Tudors, Medium, Frasier, Cheers, Numb3rs, and the full Star Trek franchise to the Amazon Prime library, which already has more than 8,000 movies and TV shows. Amazon expects the content to be available during this summer and it confirmed that its Instant Video customers will also have access to the library. Read on for the full press release.

CBS and Amazon Announce Digital Video Licensing Agreement

NEW YORK and SEATTLE, July 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced a non-exclusive licensing agreement that will enable Amazon customers to stream television shows from CBS’s vast library.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Amazon Prime customers will be able to instantly watch thousands of episodes from the CBS library at no additional cost to their membership.  With the deal, Amazon will add 2,000 episodes to grow the total number of Prime instant videos to more than 8,000 movies and television shows, and offer full seasons for 18 popular television series, including “The Tudors,” “Numb3rs,” “Medium,” the complete “Star Trek” franchise, “Frasier” and “Cheers.”  Starting this summer, dozens of CBS shows will also become available to Amazon Instant Video customers.

“Our new deal with CBS makes Amazon Prime even better for customers,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com CEO.  ”We’re excited to add thousands of popular CBS programs to our already great selection, all of which stream at no additional cost to Amazon Prime members.”

“Amazon has created one of the most popular consumer marketplaces in the world, and we are very pleased to make these titles available to their Instant Video and Prime customers,” said Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation.  ”This new agreement represents another meaningful way for us to realize incremental value for CBS’s content.”

Amazon Instant Video is a streaming video service that offers customers more than 90,000 movies and television shows available to purchase or rent, and with this CBS content included, will offer more than 6,000 movies and television shows included at no additional cost with an Amazon Prime membership.  Customers can instantly watch movies and television shows from Amazon on a Mac, PC or directly on television with any of the 300 compatible devices.

About CBS Corporation

CBS Corporation is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry.  The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets.  It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and The CW – a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), cable television (Showtime Networks, Smithsonian Networks and CBS College Sports Network), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Television Studios, CBS Studios International and CBS Television Distribution), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), interactive media (CBS Interactive), music (CBS Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS Consumer Products), video/DVD (CBS Home Entertainment), motion pictures (CBS Films) and sustainable media (EcoMedia). For more information, please visit www.cbscorporation.com.

Later this month, Sprint will formally announce its plans to bring 4G LTE service to its subscribers via a network-sharing deal with Virginia-based LightSquared, CNET reports. The move, seen as inevitable by some, was outed last month when LightSquared owner Philip Falcone revealed the deal in a letter to Harbinger Capital Partners investors. “Sprint will become a significant customer of LightSquared’s 4G LTE network,” Falcone stated in the letter. The deal, which could be worth as much as $20 billion over the next 15 years according to an earlier report, will let Sprint’s U.S. network be used as the backbone for LightSquared’s 4G LTE buildout. CNET says the deal will be revealed on July 28th when Sprint reports its earnings for the June quarter.

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Microsoft has struck a deal to provide English search results in Baidu, China’s most popular search engine. According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft anticipates that the Bing-labeled English search results will help expand its Bing brand in China. Baidu also hopes that the partnership will help its efforts to expand its search engine to the global market. Chinese users typically use Google for English search results, however, the Chinese government has blocked that search engine — and other Google services, such as the newly launched Google+ — from time to time. Baidu will begin implementing Bing results later this year, although neither company provided an exact date as to when that functionality would be added.

Sprint has reached a deal to deploy a 4G LTE network with LightSquared, Bloomberg reports. The deal could be worth as much as $20 billion over the next 15 years according to the report. “LightSquared and Sprint will jointly develop, deploy and operate LightSquared’s 4G LTE network,” LightSquared owner Philip Falcone wrote in a letter to Harbinger Capital Partners investors on Friday. “Sprint will become a significant customer of LightSquared’s 4G LTE network.” It is unclear what implications the deal might have for Sprint’s current 4G WiMAX network. A Sprint spokesperson declined to comment.

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It looks like Sling Media and Verizon Wireless have inked a partnership that will bring the Slingbox experience to Verizon LTE smartphones. The service and accompanying fee, which was not disclosed, will provide users with the Slingbox hardware and software necessary to stream live television directly from their TVs to their Verizon, 4G mobile devices.

“Users can enjoy their TV while having their oil changed, waiting for a flight or taking a study break,” reads the press release. “Verizon Wireless customers will be able to sign up for the offer through V CAST Apps, Verizon Wireless’ mobile storefront, beginning later this year.”

The announcement also notes that the subscription fee will be applied to customers monthly wireless bill. Hit the jump for the full press release.

SLING MEDIA announces SUBSCRIPTION offering for verizon WIRELESS 4G LTE customers

Complete Package to Include Slingbox and SlingPlayer with Easy Billing for Subscribers

LAS VEGAS and BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – From the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sling Media, Inc., today announced a subscription offering that will soon be available on select 4G smartphones on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network.

Sling Media has created a subscription service offering that gives Verizon Wireless customers the ability to watch their home TV on new 4G smartphones. The subscription service provides a Slingbox®, the SlingPlayer™ application and networking accessories.

“With significantly increased speeds and reduced latency, the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network provides an ideal environment for a fantastic Sling viewing experience with great video quality,” said John Gilmore, senior vice president and general manager at Sling Media. “Sling’s subscription offering is a new, easy way for consumers to start enjoying their home TV wirelessly, with one monthly bill from Verizon and without a long term contract for the Sling app.”

With a Slingbox at home and a Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Broadband connection, the award-winning SlingPlayer application gives users the ability to watch live sports, catch up on the news or enjoy movies on their smartphones. Users can enjoy their TV while having their oil changed, waiting for a flight or taking a study break. Verizon Wireless customers will be able to sign up for the offer through V CAST Apps, Verizon Wireless’ mobile storefront, beginning later this year.

The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network, launched in December 2010, is the fastest, most advanced 4G network in the United States, providing speeds up to 10 times faster than Verizon Wireless’ existing 3G network. Consumer devices with a wide range of applications are expected to be available later this year. Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network currently reaches one-third of all Americans, with plans to expand the network to the company’s entire 3G coverage area over the next three years.

More details about the Verizon Wireless and SlingPlayer offering will be available during CES in Verizon Wireless’ booth (#35216 in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center) and at the Sling Media booth (#9014 in the Central Hall of the LVCC). For more information about Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network, visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte. For more information about Verizon Wireless at CES, visit www.verizonwireless.com/ces or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/verizonwireless.

While the following seems completely improbable, you have to give the idea consideration due to the source. Mobile Review‘s Eldar Murtazin, who is known for his deep Nokia connections, writes that Nokia and Microsoft are working on a partnership that would create “an entire line of Windows Phone devices that may go under the name Nokia [translated].” That’s right: Microsoft’s software, Nokia’s hardware. Now, before anyone gets too excited, Nokia’s lame-duck Mobile VP, Anssi Vanjoki, has publicly (and quite humorously) stated that this company is not interested in utilizing third-party mobile operating systems such as Google’s Android. Perhaps the new leadership team over at Nokia is rethinking its position on third-party code? It’s a stretch, but it is, to say the least, interesting.

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It looks like Apple’s musical social network — Ping — is getting integrated with an actual social network, Twitter (burn). Via a post on the company’s blog, Twitter announced that users of Ping and Twitter would be able to link their respective accounts from within iTunes. Once linked, users have the ability to alert their followers of songs, artists, or albums they like or review. As Twitter explains, activity on Ping will “be tweeted to your Twitter followers” and include “playable song previews and links to purchase and download music from iTunes.” The new feature is available in all 23 countries where Apple’s iTunes Music Store is offered.

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AllThingsD is reporting that social networking giant Facebook and internet communications company Skype are planning to announce a “wide-ranging partnership that will include integration of SMS, voice chat and Facebook Connect.” The blog cites “sources close to the situation” and goes on to explain that the partnership will allow users to SMS and call Facebook friends (both video and audio) from Skype. The report states that this functionality will appear in Skype 5.0; which is due out of beta in the several weeks. Both Skype and Facebook have over 500 million registered users respectively making this a blockbuster partnership.

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Last month, Verizon Wireless and Skype announced their exclusive partnership in the U.S., along with their plans to bring Skype’s popular VoIP calling and messaging service to your Verizon cell phone. Now, through the miracle of animation — and the help of a woman with a really high pitched voice — Verizon and Skype are shedding a little light on how Skype integration will work on your phone. The video doesn’t get too in-depth, but we do learn that Skype calls will arrive to your Verizon Wireless handset just as normal calls do and the Skype application will run, always on, in the background. The two companies also confirm that Skype calls will not be charged against the minutes in your mobile plan and users of Skype Out will be able to leverage competitive international calling rates from their handset. This got us thinking: we don’t have enough Skype contacts to justify leaving Skype running all day chewing up battery life, but how about you? Do you have a Skype contact list full of friends you are itching to talk to?

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When Verizon Wireless and Skype announced a joint press conference at MWC, VZW users knew what they wanted to hear…and today, they got it. The two companies announced a partnership that will bring Skype calling and messaging to Verizon handsets in the coming months. The benefits to Verizon customers include:

• The ability to make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype user around the globe on America’s most reliable wireless network;
• The ability to call international phone numbers at competitive Skype Out calling rates;
• The ability to send and receive instant messages to other Skype users; and
• Remain always connected with the ability to see friends’ online presence.

Skype Mobile will initially be available for the Motorola DROID, HTC DROID Eris, BlackBerry 8530, BlackBerry 9530, BlackBerry 9550, and BlackBerry 9630. Great news for those rocking Big Red. Hit the read link for the official press release.

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Microsoft and Yahoo fiiiiiiiiiiinally announced a search partnership this morning, bringing to an end months of endless rumors and speculation. The deal will provide Microsoft with a 10-year license to use Yahoo’s core search technologies and integrate Yahoo’s platform into Microsoft’s current search offering, Bing. Yahoo will focus on the advertising and will be the “exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers”. The partnership is subject regulatory review, a process that is expected to be completed in early 2010. Our favorite aspect of the deal is how much it has deteriorated — Microsoft first offered to buy Yahoo for over $40 billion back in February of last year, and then offered $1 billion for Yahoo’s search business a few months ago. Carol Bartz said at that point in time that it would take “boatloads of cash” for the two to work out a deal. Fast forward to today, and Yahoo gets a big fat goose egg up front. Awesome. The deal, by the way, was signed by both Bartz and Ballmer with a big purple pen. No, seriously.

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