Daily Tech Snippet: Tuesday, April 26

• The future of TV is arriving faster than anyone predicted: Late last week, Comcast announced a new program that allows makers of smart TVs and other Internet-based video services to have full access to your cable programming without the need for a set-top box.  Instead, the content will flow directly to the third-party device as an app, including all the channels and program guide. The Xfinity TV Partner Program will initially be offered on new smart TVs from Samsung, as well as Roku streaming boxes.  But the program, built on open Internet-based standards including HTML5, is now open to other device manufacturers to adopt. As video services move from hardware to software, the future of the traditional set-top box looks increasingly grim. With this announcement, Comcast customers may soon eliminate the need for an extra device, potentially saving hundreds of dollars in fees. Many in the industry have long predicted eventual death for the box, driven in part by a rapid migration by pay TV providers (including fiber and satellite-based companies) to Internet standards for both video content and services, and by the enthusiastic response of consumers to a growing number of Internet-based alternatives. These include Roku, as well as Amazon, Apple, Google, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, SlingTV, Sony, HBO and many others. Consumers, especially younger ones, are interested in defining their own video experience, mixing traditional and self-produced content and enjoying it not just on televisions but on every connected device, including tablets, smartphones and other mobile gadgets. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it was clear that list would soon grow to include other non-traditional viewing platforms, such as cars, refrigerators and game consoles. Comcast’s announcement suggests that future may already be here.

• Facebook developing camera app similar to Snapchat: WSJ: Facebook is developing a stand-alone camera app, similar to disappearing photo app Snapchat, to increase user engagement, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.The app, being developed by Facebook's "friend-sharing" team in London, is in its early stages and may never come to fruition, according to the report. The company is also planning a feature that allows a user to record video through the app to begin live streaming, the newspaper reported.

• The Gannett-Tribune offer: No one knows what a newspaper is worth anymore:  Three years ago, Jeff Bezos paid $250 million for the Washington Post from the Graham family. Last year, Japanese publisher Nikkei paid $1.3 billion to take the Financial Times off the hands of the education conglomerate Pearson. Today’s $815 million bid to buy Tribune Publishing, from USA Today owner and newspaper chain Gannett, basically falls in the middle of those two recent deals. And it suggests that as print revenue continues to decline, there’s no such thing as a market price for newspapers anymore. Gannett is offering $12.25 a share (5.6 times Ebitda*), or a 63 percent premium on the current value of its stock, to buy the struggling newspaper publisher, which owns eleven dailies, including the Chicago Tribune and crown jewel Los Angeles Times. In 2013, Bezos paid what analyst Ken Doctor called a “friendship premium” of 17 times Ebitda; when Nikkei bought the FT, the going rate for European newspapers was 12 times Ebitda. Nikkei paid 35 times Ebitda. This isn’t a friendly offer, meaning Tribune might not play ball, but investors sure seem to dig it. Tribune Publishing’s stock opened the day by rocketing up more than 50 percent. Wall Street probably likes it because of Tribune’s dwindling print business, which justifies the lower Ebitda on the Gannett offer.

• Google Glass-based startup raises $17 million in funding: Augmedix Inc, a startup that uses Alphabet Inc's Google Glass to provide documentation services to doctors and other healthcare workers, said on Monday it had closed a $17 million funding round led by investment firm Redmile Group. Augmedix's employees transcribe doctors' notes and update patients' electronic medical record through Google Glass. The San Francisco company, which has raised $40 million so far, also said it had received investments from five U.S. healthcare networks, including Sutter Health and Dignity Health, which together have more than 100,000 healthcare workers. Augmedix, with 400 employees, said it serves doctors in nearly all 50 U.S. states. Funds raised will be used to build up the service to serve more health systems and private clinics, the company said. Augmedix is one of 10 partners authorized by Alphabet to deliver enterprise services through Google Glass.