MDM's November Newsletter - VR/AR, Siemer Summit, Slush

Manatt Digital Media – November Newsletter

This month's newsletter features highlights from the Siemer Summit in Beverly Hills, the SLUSH conference in Helsinki and conversations with the founders of emerging tech start-ups in sensor data technology and virtual reality.

MDM Supports the Start-up Community in LA; Siemer Summit Round up

The 5th annual Siemer Summit, MDM's biggest sponsored event, was held in Beverly Hills last month. During this invite-only event, over a thousand digital media and technology leaders gathered to network and to hear from 114 start-ups who are driving the innovation around us. Day one of the summit concluded with the 2015 Wavemaker Awards, which featured 11 awards across industry and overall achievement categories. Read more

Exclusive Q&A with Sense360 CEO Eli Portnoy

Sense360, a sensor intelligence start-up that launched in October 2014, empowers app developers to create more personalized and relevant experiences for consumers based on the vast amount of data (mostly untapped) generated by smartphones and other smart devices. In the latest of our Q&A series, Sense360 CEO Eli Portnoy shares his insights into sensor technologies and their applications in everyday life. Read more

VR to Reach Mass-Market Status in 2016: MDM's VR/AR Panel at the Siemer Summit

At this year's Siemer Summit, MDM's Peter Csathy moderated a VR/AR panel with industry experts (including senior execs from Jaunt, Rothenberg's River Accelerator/Studios, CryWorks, New Deal Studios, and VNTANA—all of whom are pictured here after the panel, except for Ashley Crowder of VNTANA). Read more

Increasing Momentum in VR Content Distribution

The VR movement continues to gain momentum, particularly in the media and entertainment realm, as we approach the release of more premium headsets in the coming months. Recent months have been particularly exciting as a number of the major video and social platforms have either debuted new features or indicated expansion into the VR sphere. Facebook recently enabled 360-degree video viewing on its newsfeed. YouTube unveiled a new brand of videos called "VR Videos" and enabled Cardboard viewing for all existing YouTube content. Hulu plans to launch a VR app this month, while the Netflix VR app is already available on Samsung Gear VR. Apple released a 360-degree U2 music video on the VRSE app as part of a larger experiential partnership with the band. These developments have provided us with a captivating glimpse into what the future holds in relation to the distribution of virtual content. Read more

MDM Supports the European Digital Media/Tech Community at SLUSH

SLUSH—which has emerged as one of Europe's leading tech/digital media conferences—took place earlier this month in Helsinki, Finland. MDM attended for its second year amidst the Helsinki November slush and was featured. CEO Peter Csathy moderated an MCN/MPN/OTT video panel that featured Urs Cete (of leading video-focused investor Bertelsmann Digital Media) and Christian Meinberger (who leads ProSieben-backed MCN Studio71 which recently merged with U.S.-based Collective Digital Studio). Csathy also hosted a "transformation of media" roundtable with seven entrepreneurs who signed up to learn more about how technology and mobile have forever changed the media and entertainment landscape. Read more