new networks
Early look at new Google TV, YouTube Leanback
Google announced earlier this week at its I/O conference that Android apps are coming to Google TV this summer, and the search giant gave developers a sneak peek: This is the welcome screen with the app market highlighted in the app bar along the bottom — which looks similar to Android tablets. TV is playing [...]
Roku says up to 20 percent of users cutting the cord
Roku VP Jim Funk says 15 to 20% of its users said they cut cable or satellite service after buying a Roku unit. And another 15 to 20% downgraded their service. “We’re seeing (cording cutting), but in the scheme of the whole country, it’s small,” he said in an interview with Beet.tv. “But I think [...]
Android apps coming to Google TV this summer
As expected, Google announced at its developers conference that Android apps along with the Android Marketplace is coming to Google TV devices this summer. The Android 3.1 apps will use the same SDK as Honeycomb (for you techies), and will auto-update over the air for existing Google TV users. Google’s Mike Claren also announced that [...]
What Microsoft’s Skype acquisition means for social TV
Update: In a record acquisition for the company, Microsoft announced this morning it’s buying Skype for $8.5 billion. The real-time communications service has 170 million connected users, and for Microsoft, that was too good to pass up. Explains the release: Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array [...]
YouTube adding movies in bid for TV viewing
YouTube announced in a blog post today that it’s adding 3,000 new movie titles for rent — the company says it will release more details later today. This after announcing a few weeks ago that it’s investing in up-and-coming talent through YouTube Next. All this means one thing, which YouTube’s Salar Kamangar wrote quite succinctly [...]
Xbox play! Kinect-enabled Hulu Plus arrives
My family watches a lot of Netflix on Xbox, and we were pleasantly surprised to wake up this morning to see Hulu Plus ready to go. After a quick download, we were watching TV shows in HD via our Xbox, yelling “Xbox play!” and “Xbox pause!” at our Kinect sensor to play and pause the [...]
Hulu Plus spotted in Xbox beta
Xbox has promised Hulu Plus is coming to Xbox Live this spring, and the video game blog Joystiq has a photo here of it in action in a private beta environment. It’s unclear if it will have any social features tied to Xbox Live (for example, letting us know what our friends are watching), but [...]
Analyst: Apple to launch subscription video service
Jefferies analyst Peter Misek has the TV industry buzzing today with a prediction that Apple is working on a huge, cloud-based video service that will take on Netflix. Misek writes in his report that Apple is close to opening a massive data center in North Carolina that will power it. Of course, Apple doesn’t comment [...]
YouTube launches a live video experience
YouTube has hosted live events before, but now it’s launched a dedicated section to live video. More interesting, YouTube is rolling out a live streaming platform, “which will allow certain YouTube partners with accounts in good standing to stream live content on YouTube,” explains a blog post about the launch. We’re a bit surprised it’s [...]
YouTube plans social ‘channels’ for TV viewing
My two-year old never says he watches TV. “I’m watching Netflix,” he says, or “YouTube.” Those are his two networks (mom and dad also watch “Hulu”), which he can play on our TV set, laptop or iPad. So it’s no wonder that YouTube working on a “major overhaul” to push more aggressively onto TV screens, [...]
Netflix poised to turn entertainment industry upside down
Update: It’s a done deal. Earlier: Now it’s getting really interesting. Netflix is in talks to buy a remake of the British TV series “House of Cards” starring Kevin Spacey and director David Fincher (The Social Network). To date, Netflix has just licensed existing programming, but negotiating for original programming puts it head-to-head with the [...]
Facebook to rent movies, TV shows next?
Warner Bros. announced it will offer movie rentals through Facebook for 30 credits, or $3 dollars each. To see it in action, visit the Dark Knight Facebook page: After you click the “watch” button, Facebook asks if the Dark Knight app can access your profile, and then you’re prompted to rent the movie for 30 [...]
Netflix planning ‘extensive’ Facebook integration
First, Netflix began hiring Facebook-savvy engineers. Then they announced they’re “regrouping” around their social strategy with several new products in the pipeline. And this week, Netflix said it has big plans for Facebook: “We’re working on an extensive Facebook integration, which will further the notion of a personal Netflix account. This evolution from household to [...]
Netflix still skyrocketing just about everywhere
If you wonder why so many entertainment programming and distribution execs are on edge about the rise of Netflix, take a look at how quickly the company’s growth is accelerating, according to new numbers released by the company today: These are new subscribers, not total subscribers, and the 7.7 million last year was double Netflix’s [...]
Netflix to ‘regroup’ with Facebook strategy
While sites like Clicker and RottenTomatoes have integrated Facebook recommendations for movies and TV shows, the feature has been noticeably absent from Netflix. Now there’s word they’re clearing the decks to work on it. Netflix posted on its blog this week that it’s discontinuing a two year-old Facebook Connect feature that lets you share movie [...]
Cutting the cable: Hulu Plus on our TV set
A few months ago, we cut our cable service, but kept our Comcast internet connection. We’ve been experimenting with different ways to replace our traditional viewing on the TV set, and yesterday we added the Samsung BD-C6900 Blu-ray player ($244 on Amazon). That model number is important, because it’s the only Samsung player with Hulu [...]
