What’s everyone’s favorite U.S. streaming service? Netflix? Hulu? Amazon? Angry buzzer sound! You’re wrong! It’s iTunes, natch, at least according to a recent consumer satisfaction survey by ForeSee.
Netflix Now Lets You Switch Viewer Profiles On Apple TV, iPhone And iPad
Netflix has begun to officially roll out user profiles today, meaning you can now share an account with your family and friends without all their horrible movie choices clogging your Instant Queue.
The Difference Between Content On Apple TV, Chromecast, And Roku [Chart]
Buying a $35 dongle to magically stream all the video of the internet to your TV sounds pretty awesome, and based on early impressions Chromecast does a decent job, but how does its content stack up against the Apple TV and Roku?
Danny Sullivan created the chart above to break down the content you’ll find on Chromecast, Apple TV and Roku. If you only care about streaming video off Netflix and YouTube, then Chromecast is the best bang for your buck. But if you want to watch HBO Go, Hulu, or pull content from iTunes or Amazon, Apple TV or Roku have more content options.
Source: Marketingland
Via: Twitter
Netflix Plans To Bring New Discovery Feature ‘Max’ To iPad
The biggest pain about Netflix is how long it takes to finally decide on what to watch. You can scroll through the Netflix movie library for hours before settling on something so Netflix announced today that it is rolling out a new discovery tool called ‘Max’ that’s sort of like a cross between Siri and iTunes Genius.
Max helps users make a movie selection by asking a few questions first to gauge mood and taste, and then suggests a movie for you based on Netflix’s algorithms that predict what you might want to watch next.
Max is only available on on the PS3 Netflix app, but the company teased that it will probably come to the iPad next:
Walmart-Owned Vudu iOS App Update Now Includes Offline Viewing
Walmart’s video on demand service, Vudu, just rolled out a new update for its iOS app. Version 2.0 of Vudu now lets you download videos from the service, and then watch them even if you’re offline. The player itself is streamlined, and Closed Captioning–already supported on the iPad version of the Vudu app–is now available on the iPhone, too.
Amazon Announces Popular NBC Shows Coming To Prime Instant Video
Amazon announced today that it has struck a deal with NBC/Universal to bring more popular TV shows to Amazon Prime Instant Video. The new deal gives exclusive streaming rights to a number of shows for the next four years as Amazon continues to beef up its catalogue of shows to do battle against Netflix.
Among the shows that you’ll be able to find on Prime Instant Video (but not on Netflix) you’ll find Grimm Season 1 and Covert Affairs Seasons 1-2 starting today, and then Hannibal and Defiance will be added later this year.
Jeff Bezos announced the deal this morning via a public letter on Amazon’s homepage. An accompanying press release detailed the news shows from the deal as follows:
Netflix For iOS Update Makes Binging On Your Favorite TV Series Even Easier
Netflix is one of the greatest tools ever invented for absolutely destroying your weekend with laziness. All you got to do is pull up one of your favorite TV series and watch the entire thing in one glorious weekend of binge TV viewing.
A new update for the Netflix iOS app just hit the App Store and it’s going to make binging even easier, thanks to to the added “post-play” feature that will start up the next episode after one ends. Other features included in the update are a recommendation feature after you’ve finished a movie and enhanced second screen options.
Here are the release notes:
T-Mobile Releases ‘T-Mobile TV’ Video Streaming App For iPhone
It seems like a week can’t pass by without a new video streaming app coming out of the wood work. If you need more video streaming options on your iPhone, T-Mobile’s got a new app to hook you up.
T-Mobile TV was just released for iPhone yesterday. The app has been on Android devices since 2010, but this is the first time the magenta carrier is bringing it to iPhone. The “free” app includes a number of channels, such as Disney, Nickelodeon, E!, TLC, ESPN, NBC, MTV, Comedy Central and more.
Blockbuster On Demand For iOS Finally Arrives In App Store
Blockbuster has been teetering on the edge of oblivion ever since its bankruptcy filing in 2010, but after being bought by Dish Network in 2011, the company has begun a push to get back into the movie businesses.
Blockbuster relaunched its streaming video service, Blockbuster On Demand, last year, and the company is finally bringing it to iOS today. Users of the new app can stream movies to their iPhone or iPad. Unlike Netflix’s all-you-can-stream model, Blockbuster charges a rental fee per video watched, that runs between $2.99 and $4.99 per movie. Blockbuster’s movie catalogue offers thousands of hit movies and the app now supports HD.
Here’s the full description:
Apple Is Still Dominating Everyone In The Online Video Purchases Market
Apple’s iTunes catalogue revolutionized the way people consume media. Why go to BlockBuster to rent a movie when you can download it from iTunes just as quickly? While most of the market has been trying to catch up, Apple’s lead in online video sales has remained dominant in the U.S.
NPD released a new report that highlights Apple’s strength in electronic video sales and rentals. While everyone else is fighting for second place, Apple still commands over 67% of the market.
Netflix Announces Family Plan With 4 Simultaneous Streams For $12 Per Month
Netflix has announced a new family plan that will allow an account holder to have four simultaneous streams. The plan will cost $12 per month. A specific launch date for the plan has not been announced, but Netflix revealed the news in a letter to shareholders today.
Netflix 4.0 For iOS Updated With Better Episode And Audio Selctors
iPhone and iPad owners who love watching video will appreciate a new update coming from Netflix to iOS. The video giant just released Netflix 4.0 for iOS that makes navigating to your favorite episodes even easier.
The update includes UI changes that make it easier to find new episodes for shows, as well as better navigation for changing the audio and subtitles for a video. There are also some little bug fixes in the update as well.
Here are the full release notes:
Tips For Living Frugally & Saving Drive Space On A Tiny Mac SSD [Feature]
I recently switched to a MacBook Air for writing, and it is easily the best Mac I’ve owned in terms of speed and comfort. But, like the sports car your friends assume you’ll sell now that you have kids on the way, the Air is also lacking in space1.
Now, I’m using this 128GB (with 4GB RAM) 13-inch MacBook Air primarily for work, but that doesn’t mean I want to ditch my music, TV shows and photos altogether. Luckily, with modern Internet™ Technology™ I don’t have to. I can use cloud services and a little judicious tidying to make my New York walkup-sized MacBook Air feels like a mansion.
Android & iOS Drove 13.4 Billion App Downloads, $2.2 Billion Revenue In Q1 2013
The App Store and Google Play continued to drive mobile app downloads during the first quarter of 2013, while BlackBerry World and the Windows Phone Store remain “distant challengers.”
That’s according to the latest figures from Canalys, which say a whopping 13.4 billion apps were downloaded across these four stores over the last three months, raking in $2.2 billion in app sales, in-app purchases, and subscriptions.
Rdio Beats Spotify To Video Streaming, Launches Vdio
Remember how word came down the pipeline the other day that Spotify wanted to start a video streaming service? Guess who just beat them to the punch? That’s right, Rdio — the better of the subscription music streaming services in the United States — and their new service is called, coincidentally enough, Vdio.
Spotify Will Launch A Subscription Video-Streaming Service [Rumor]
Spotify is already one of the premier sources for streaming a la carte audio on the Internet, but the popular streaming service might have far bolder plans than that, with a new report saying that Spotify intends on going head-to-head with Netflix, HBO, iTunes and Amazon Video by launching a video streaming service. Yowza!
HBO CEO Says Access To HBO Go App May Expand To Cord Cutters
HBO Go is one of the best TV apps for the iPad. You can stream episodes of shows like Girls and Game of Thrones to your iPad whenever you’re craving some drama. The only problem is you have a cable subscription with HBO to access the app.
While HBO isn’t ready to ditch the subscription model altogether just yet, but the company’s CEO indicated this week that they might make the app available to cord cutters that pay for broadband Internet.
Netflix Is Getting Social With New Facebook Integration
Netflix is a fantastic service, but it doesn’t do much of that “social” jazz everyone’s talking about these days. That’s about to change, though, with Netflix now introducing the appropriately christened Netflix Social, which will let you see what’s popular amongst your friends.
Netflix 3.0 For iOS Delivers Enhanced Player UI, Zoom Control & More
Netflix has today introduced an enhanced player interface for iPad with version 3.0 of its iOS app. The update also brings back the zoom icon so that you can quickly switch between fullscreen and widescreen viewing modes, and better placement of the player controls.
How To Watch Netflix On Your iPad From Any Country In The World [How To]
Don’t use a computer any more? Hate “pirating” TV shows and movies? Wish that your country had something as awesome as Netflix so you could pay and stream everything to your iPad mini? Read on, because you can do just that, and it is dead easy – all you need is a credit card and maybe a half hour to get things set up.
Google And Netflix Want To Destroy AirPlay With DIAL
One of the best things about owning an Apple TV is the ability to share everything on your Mac’s screen with the flatscreen in your living room. It works perfectly. If there’s video on the Internet that you can’t find on one of the Apple TV apps, you don’t have to worry about it; you just screen share and enjoy.
Google and Netflix are tired of Apple having all the fun with wireless video streaming between devices, so they’ve brewed up their own solution to compete with AirPlay. The new protocol is called DIAL, and like Android, it’s free and already has some big companies backing it.
Wirelessly Stream Your Media To Your Android & iOS Devices With The HP Pocket Playlist [CES 2013]
You wouldn’t normally associate HP devices with the Android or iOS platforms, but the company’s latest gadget plays nicely with them both. It’s called the Pocket Playlist, and it allows you to stream all of your media wirelessly to all your smartphones and tablets. It boasts 32GB of internal storage, and it can stream to up to five devices simultaneously.
Redbox Instant Comes To Android & iOS In Private Beta
Redbox Instant, a joint-venture between Redbox and Verizon that hopes to compete with services like Netflix, has today made its debut on Android and iOS in the form of a private beta. The new app allows subscribers to stream unlimited movies to their devices for $8 a month. Here’s how to get on the waiting list.
Eric Schmidt: Android Is Clearly Beating Apple In Mobile Platform Wars
In the battle of the mobile platform wars, Android has been extending its lead over Apple’s iOS platform at a steady rate for over a year. Google’s Chairman Eric Schmidt believes that the battle between Android and iOS is similar to Microsoft’s desktop expansion in the 1990s.
Schmidt say down with Bloomberg to talk about the mobile war with Apple and said that with 1.3 million new Android devices being activated per day, he thinks it’s pretty obvious that Android is winning now.
Netflix’s ISP Rankings: There’s A Lot Of Buffering Going On For AT&T Customers
Netflix video streaming remains one of the largest sources of peak downstream Internet traffic in the US. With over 1 billion hours of Netflix being watched per month, it’s safe to say they have a pretty good idea of the strains their service puts on ISPs. In fact, Netflix has been keeping tabs and gauging these ISPs to see just how well they perform.