Hasta La Gadget!

The end of April suddenly became very stressful for Netflix subscribers, as it was widely reported that nearly 1,800 titles would be disappearing from its Watch Instantly service in the US. Unfortunately, it likely caused a lot of tension in Los Gatos as well and tonight the company revealed it’s changing its policies. Quickly dubbed “Streampocalypse,” some blamed it on competition like Warner Archive Instant, despite many of the listed titles actually being related to Netflix’s agreement with Epix. As we now know, on May 1st the sun rose once again and there are still some movies and TV shows to watch on Netflix streaming, but for just a few hours you might have thought that would not be the case.

The list came from the third-party site InstantWatcher, which we’ve long recommended to help users sort selections in ways not supported by the official page and apps including by year, Rotten Tomatoes rating or New York Times Critics’ Picks. Starting today however, that will not include the ability to list “expiring soon” titles. As Daniel Jacobson posted to Netflix’s API developer blog, it will stop including expiration dates in the public API. While we’re sad to see the amount of data available to the public reduced and are still peeved over the public API being shelved entirely, after last week’s incident we can certainly understand why. Netflix did not directly reference the incident in its statement (available after the break), but one can certainly connect the dots — read on for more information.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Source: Netflix API Developer Blog, Instant Watcher

Almost three years after Ceton’s InfiniTV 4 CableCARD tuner hit the market as an easy and affordable way to watch premium HD cable TV on Windows Media Center, the company is finally rolling out a new variant. We’ve seen price drops, a USB version and a few alternatives from competitors since the 4 launched but a few options were still missing. That included the original six tuner prototype touted at its CES debut and an Ethernet jack for sharing with multiple PCs, but both check boxes have been filled today by the new InfiniTV 6 ETH. It looks a lot like the USB version of the InfiniTV 4, but with an added Ethernet port (the USB port pictured after the break is for a Tuning adapter, not to connect to a PC) and the ability to record six shows at once. It’s available today for $299 from popular online retailers while a six tuner PCIe version, is due in June for the same price.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Ceton Corp

Starting this week, ABC will live-stream shows via its Watch ABC app for iOS. This comes less than two months after The New York Times reported that the broadcast network was crafting up such a service, and ABC’s live TV on the go is indeed a first for the television industry. The new functionality comes via a “live” button in the mobile app, and it will initially be limited to paid cable and satellite subscribers in the New York and Philadelphia areas. With Hearst Television on board as ABC’s first live-stream affiliate, the network says it will expand the service to six more cities by this summer.

While it could still be quite some time before this offering hits your zip code (or OS of choice), it provides plenty of incentive for other networks to catch up — and quickly. CBS and Fox currently offer episode streaming through their mobile apps, but live TV is a huge differentiator. Notably, Aereo announced the expansion of its own live-streaming service today, but that company is already embroiled in lawsuits with several networks over alleged copyright violations.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Via: Gizmodo

Source: The New York Times

We’ve been eager to try out Aereo’s TV streaming service, which sends live broadcast content to devices over the internet. But the service has had at least one significant flaw: it’s only available to subscribers in the New York City area. That will soon change when it heads to Boston on May 15th, though, and the streaming service has now announced that the rates will be changing slightly then as well. The base plan, which includes unlimited streaming and 20 hours of DVR storage, will remain unchanged at $8 per month, but the $12 monthly tariff will include 60 hours of storage, compared to the 40 hours Aereo previously offered.

And that’s it — no more $1 daily or $80 yearly plans, though that latter option is still available until the new structure goes live on Wednesday. The service is supported on iOS, Chrome, IE 9, Firefox, Safari, Opera and Roku devices, though those geographic restrictions keep the access pool quite limited. New Yorkers can take the service for a spin today, Bostonians will get the green light come May 15th, and the rest of you can see what you’re missing in the demo video after the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Software, HD

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Source: Aereo

The Hulu Plus app for Android has a new update, and the most noticeable change is that its player UI to closer match the one on its website and in iOS. It also brings features from those platforms like 10 second skip back and a preview thumbnail in the scrub bar. Hulu also claims it’s rebuilt “for optimized awesomeness” with reduced buffering, better playback, and more device compatibility. Finally, in a move that should make plugging in your HDMI-out a little easier, it supports remote control navigation from game controllers and “similar peripherals.” A picture of the new UI is above, check out the old version after the break or just hit the source link to try it out for yourself.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile

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Source: Google Play