Netflix - page 3

Apple might step in to save Martin Scorsese’s next movie

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Killersoftheflowermoon
Scorsese says his big-budget film will feel like a western.
Photo: Rainy Day Books

Apple TV+ could become the home of Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese’s next major film.

Scorsese’s project, Killers of the Flower Moon, is reportedly looking to find a new partner to produce or distribute the film after Paramount Pictures balked at the estimated $200 million budget.

EU and India launches push Disney+ past 50 million subscribers

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Disney-Plus
Who wouldn't want Disney+ at this price?
Photo: Disney

Disney+ is catching up quickly to Netflix’s total number of paid subscribers thanks to the services’ recent launch in Europe and India.

The Walt Disney Company revealed today that it has almost hit its paid subscriber goal nearly four years early as it just passed the 50 million subscriber mark this week. The news comes just five months after Disney+ launched in the US.

How to lock your Netflix profile with a PIN

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netflix.logo
Netflix just added a bunch of new profile and parental controls.
Photo: Brad Gibson / Cult of Mac

Netflix finally made it possible to keep your personal profile private from other people using your account with a new update today that lets users create individual pins.

The new feature is part of a larger update that improves on parental controls, allowing content to be filtered based on age and other criteria. If you have kids and don’t want them to have access to your profile and the content on it, or you just got a roommate who always messes up your “Continue Watching” queue, you’ll find the new pin feature to be extra useful.

Disney+ racks up 5 million downloads on launch day in Europe

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Disney+ has finally landed in the UK.
Photo: Apple

The Disney+ mobile app is off to a roaring start in Europe and the UK just days after it launched earlier this week.

Third-party app analytics firm App Annie revealed that the Disney+ app has been downloaded over 5 million times on launch day, possibly thanks to millions of residents having to shelter-in-place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Apple TV+ misses out on big COVID-19 surge in streaming demand

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LG UM6X UHD in room
Sorry, Apple.
Photo: LG

It’s a surprise to no one that video streaming services are seeing big surges in demand while everyone is stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it seems Apple TV+ is missing out.

While the likes of Netflix, HBO Now, and Disney+ have seen sharp increases in subscribers in recent weeks, according to a new report, the number of people turning to Apple TV+ has hardly risen at all.

YouTube drops video quality to standard def globally

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YouTube videos are going to look a bit worse the next month.
Photo: YouTube

YouTube viewers are set to see a big drop in video quality worldwide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Alphabet-owned streaming giant revealed that it will reduce the quality of all videos to standard definition starting today as a way to alleviate internet congestions due to more people having to shelter in place.

Netflix creates $100 million fund for production crews hit by COVID-19 shutdowns

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netflix.logo
Expect Netflix to stay in the no. 1 spot for the foreseeable future.
Photo: Brad Gibson / Cult of Mac

Netflix is stepping up to help people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by creating a $100 million fund that will go to support production and other workers in the industry.

The moves comes after production on nearly all major TV shows and movies has come to a grinding halt as more states and cities in act stay-at-home mandates.

Apple TV+ cuts streaming quality in Europe to lower stress on internet

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Apple TV app Samsung
Apple appears to have heeded the E.U. request to lower quality of its Apple TV+ service to reduce the strain on the internet.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Following a request to streaming services to switch from high definition to standard in an effort to reduce the strain on the internet, indications were Friday that Apple has followed suit of other major services and slowed down its Apple TV+ streaming service.

Cult of Mac has confirmed through two Apple TV users – one in Great Britain and one in southern France – that the quality of content on Apple TV+ has been lowered. Subscribers described the differences as primarily fast-moving content that is slower to refresh, heavily compressed and more pixelated.

YouTube, Amazon Prime Video follow Netflix in throttling video quality throughout Europe [Update]

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YouTube and Amazon Prime Video cut streaming bitrates in Europe.
YouTube and Amazon Prime Video cut streaming bitrates in Europe.
Image: Brad Gibson/Cult of Mac

YouTube and Amazon Prime Video confirmed Friday they will will start throttling video quality in Europe in an effort to reduce the strain on network infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The temporary measure will see all YouTube videos displayed in standard definition by default, though, it is still be possible for viewers to select a higher resolution.

Netflix reduces streaming bit rates in Europe to fight internet congestion

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netflix.logo
Expect Netflix to stay in the no. 1 spot for the foreseeable future.
Photo: Brad Gibson / Cult of Mac

Quarantine and chill is about to get a noticeable quality drop for Netflix users in Europe.

Netflix announced Thursday it would begin to reduce bit rates on all streams in Europe starting today. The move came shortly Netflix CEO Reed Hastings called a European Union official to discuss how to stop the internet from getting congested as more people are being told to work from home.

Online HD viewing might get scarcer during coronavirus crisis

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Netflix would be a huge boon to the Apple TV streaming service, says an analyst.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings thinks a temporary feature could be used to scale back HD viewing.
Photo: Global X/Flickr CC

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings recently called a European Union official to discuss ways to stop the internet getting congested as more people rely on their home internet connection while WFH (working from home) during the coronavirus pandemic.

One of them? Automatically switching users to standard definition instead of HD during peak traffic hours.

Popcorn Time, the Netflix of piracy, returns just in time for COVID-19 binging

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popcorntime
Popcorn Time is back!
Photo: Cult of Mac

One of the easiest ways to pirate movies and TV shows is back just in time for the great stay-at-home coronavirus quarantine party of 2020.

Popcorn Time, the legendary app that was basically a Netflix for privacy, announced its return Tuesday on Twitter, saying its newest build, called “Love in the Time of Corona Version 0.4,” is available for download.

Grab it while you can.

Win an Apple TV, plus a year’s subscription to the streaming service of your choice [Deals]

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Pick Your Streaming Media Player and Streaming Service Giveaway
Here's your shot at winning a year of supreme streaming.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

In our new Pick Your Streaming Service & Device Giveaway, you’ve got a crack at winning a combo that will keep you binge-watching whatever you want for a year.

Enter now for a chance to win the streaming hardware of your choice, along with a year’s subscription to any streaming service. Total prize value: up to $1,000!

Apple’s shares just rose by more than market cap of Nike and Spotify combined

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money
Apple stock is up a few percentage points just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

It’s easy to forget just what a crazily big and successful company Apple actually is. Even a slight dip or swell in the company’s share price equates to tens of billions of dollars in real terms.

Case in point: As AAPL recovered slightly from the battering of coronavirus over the past two trading days, its market cap increased by $180 billion. As Above Avalon analyst Neil Cybart helpfully points out, that’s the equivalent of the entirety of Netflix. Or Nike and Spotify put together.

Pricey AT&T TV service rolls out nationwide

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att
AT&T TV can be streamed from your iPhone.
Photo: AT&T

AT&T’s latest cable replacement for cord-cutters, AT&T TV, launched nationwide today, replacing the streaming service DirecTV Now.

The carrier is offering big discounts to customers that sign a 24-month contract for AT&T TV which allows you to stream live sports, news, shows, and on-demand titles for a monthly fee. The only problem is it might not be much cheaper than your old cable bill.

Disney+ is as cheap as Apple TV+ in the UK if you preorder today

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Disney-Plus
Who wouldn't want Disney+ at this price?
Photo: Disney

Disney+ is as affordable as Apple TV+ for subscribers in the United Kingdom if they preorder the service ahead of its debut next month. An annual subscription is available today for just £49.99 — £10 off the usual price.

That’s exactly the same price you’ll pay for a year of Apple TV+, but of course, Disney is offering you a lot more content.

NBCUniversal eyes buying Walmart’s Vudu streaming service

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Vudu Apple TV
The peacock network might buy Vudu.
Photo: Vudu

Walmart is allegedly looking to sell its video-streaming service Vudu right as the streaming wars are starting to heat up.

NBCUniversal is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Vudu from Walmart, which could give the company another valuable asset as it prepares to launch the Peacock streaming network in a couple of months.

Quibi preps for streaming wars battle with App Store pre-orders

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Quibi
Quibi is taking a different approach with streaming.
Photo: Quibi

iPhone and iPad users can already sign up to download Quibi, the mobile-only streaming service created by former Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Quibi was quietly posted to the App Store at the end of last month. News that it’s available for pre-order just surfaced today. You won’t be able to start streaming Quibi shows until April, but if you want to make sure you don’t miss the launch you can pre-order it now.

How to use Apple TV app’s new data-saving features

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The Apple TV app gets a raft of new features in iOS 12.3.
The Apple TV app just added new data saving features.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Binge-watching your favorite Apple TV shows on an iPhone is a great way to run through your data plan limits if you’re not careful, so Apple is introducing a way to wrangle in your data slurping habits.

iOS 13.4 beta 2 introduced some new settings to the Apple TV app for iPhone and iPad, giving users the option to control the size of downloads as well as lowering the amount of data used while streaming content. If Apple’s TV app is one of your major entertainment hubs, you’ll want to know how to take advantage of the new features.

ViacomCBS readies new streaming service to compete with Netflix and Apple TV+

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CBS
CBS All Access was one of the first TV streaming services to launch.
Photo: CBS

Apple TV+ is about to get even more competition in the form of a new streaming service currently in development by ViacomCBS.

Now that the Viacom and CBS merger was approved at the end of 2019, a new report claims company execs are plotting a way to combine the current CBS All Access service with Viacom’s assets, among which are Paramount’s trove of over 3,600 movies.

A big Friends reunion will help HBO Max fight Apple TV+

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Friends
It's happening!
Photo: Warner Bros.

HBO Max is on its way to take on the likes of Apple TV+, Netflix, and Amazon Prime — and it’s going to come out fighting. A new report reveals the service is close to securing a big Friends reunion.

Yes, the return we’ve all been waiting for, but never really believed would happen, is close. It is said to be an hour-long special that will feature all six stars from the hit show.

It won’t exactly be the Friends reunion you’ve been dreaming of, however.

Shrewd millennial investors make Apple their top stock pick

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Apple waives developer fees for nonprofits, others in 8 additional countries
AAPL shares have been boomin the last 12 months.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Millennials don’t just love Apple for the iPhone. Turns out AAPL is also their favorite stock.

A recent survey of over 734,000 portfolios from US-based investors with an average age of 31 found that Apple and Amazon are the two most popular stocks with young investors by a long shot.

Apple TV+ poaches streaming video expert from Netflix

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Apple TV+ has a growing amount of content
Apple nabbed a Netflix high-level engineer with years of experience.
Photo: Apple

Ruslan Meshenberg made the jump to Apple TV+ after leaving Netflix, a top rival of Apple’s new streaming service. As the former VP of Productivity Engineering, he brings years of experience to a platform that’s still getting off the ground.

AT&T lost $1.2 billion last quarter building HBO Max

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HBO Max
Anyone who enjoys binging Friends episodes better learn this name.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Executives at AT&T have quickly learned that building a streaming service to compete with Apple TV+ and Netflix isn’t going to be cheap. During the company’s latest earnings call, AT&T revealed that it has already lost $1.2 billion during the creation process of HBO Max that is set to launch this May.