Hasta La Gadget!

Movie lovers in the UK may struggle to find their title of choice to watch in the coming months, with news that Sky and Warner Bros. have signed an exclusive deal for new and back-catalog titles. The agreement covers both Sky’s on-demand and subscription Sky Movies services, and will see new Warner Bros. releases hit the broadcaster roughly six months after they finish showing in theaters. Other services will have to wait out a twelve month exclusivity period after that before they can offer titles like The Dark Knight Rises, and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

Meanwhile, older titles from Warner Bros. storerooms will also be exclusive to Sky Movies. That includes all of the Batman movies, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, all Superman movies and Lethal Weapon 1, 2 and 3. Sky will offer them via its NOW TV IPTV service as well, though only to Sky customers.

It’s not the only Sky deal in recent weeks that has seen content become scarcer. Earlier this month, the broadcaster inked a deal for exclusive Bond film access, which saw the entire catalog of 007 films quietly yanked from the iTunes UK store. Instead, they’ll be shown on a dedicated on-demand channel on Sky.

HD and 3D versions of films will be shown, where available, though Sky is yet to confirm how much it will be asking for each title. Still, it’s a blow to rival services such as iTunes, Netflix, LOVEFILM, and other pay-per-view offerings, which will now face a sizable hole in their catalogs.

[via Engadget]

Sky and Warner Bros. ink exclusive movie deal: iTunes, Netflix left out in cold is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Motorola may have held a fancy event for the launch of its 2012 RAZR line up, but it’s saved the unveiling of its new raft of set-top boxes for the IBC show floor. No fewer than 10 models running Moto’s KreaTV OS are on display at the event, possibly putting a dampener on rumors of Google selling the business off. Four of the set-tops are earmarked for IPTV services, with the different options accounting for variations in storage capacity and processing power. An additional four bear the Microsoft Mediaroom branding, and are distinguished by their differences in HDD capacity, wireless performance and feature set. Two cable boxes round out the selection, offering cost-effective simplicity and DVR capability, respectively. If you’d like more info on the ins and outs of each model, check out the PR below for the family newsletter.

Continue reading Motorola launches 10 new set-top boxes at IBC 2012

Filed under: Misc, Home Entertainment, Household, Wireless, HD

Motorola launches 10 new set-top boxes at IBC 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 19:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is so not fair. How many people here in the United States would love to have access to HBO Go alone for streaming on-demand programs, rather than having to pay for a cable subscription to get it? I bet I’m not the only one you would like that, assuming HBO Go would stream decently at my house.

If you happen to live in the Nordic region and like to watch original HBO shows like Game of Thrones, and Boardwalk Empire – come mid-October you’ll get your wish. HBO announced this week at a press conference in Stockholm that HBO Nordic AB will launch in October. The service will allow viewers in the area access to streaming HBO programming without having a cable or satellite subscription to the HBO network. I’m assuming this is possible because there are no conflicting contractual agreements in the area, whereas the cable and satellite providers hold most of the cards in other parts of the world.

This will be the first time that HBO is going head-to-head in the streaming market with Netflix. According to reports, the service, available at HBONordic.com, will be available for under €10 (~$13 USD) per month. It will also be available as an add-on to a basic subscription service.

[via Variety]

Were you so entranced by Aereo’s approach to over-the-air TV broadcasting that you signed up even while the legal battles were just getting started? You’re likely being rewarded for your trust. The company has confirmed with GigaOM that New Yorkers who subscribed in the “earliest days” will have their cloud DVR storage doubled to 80 hours — no limited period, no extra charge. There should likewise be some improved tools for overseeing all that extra space in the near future, although just what that might entail is left to the imagination. We won’t fret about it much: given the service’s still-tentative existence, any upgrades are icing on the cake for customers.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Aereo doubles DVR space to 80 hours for early adopters originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 22:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google just kicked its Google Fiber efforts into overdrive. The company’s Kansas City effort is getting a full launch and now includes Google Fiber TV — a “real” TV service with recognizable channels and its own, fully searchable interface that mixes DVR results with Netflix and YouTube. As many as 500 shows can be stored in full 1080p HD, and several TVs within the home can tune in at the same time.. Not surprisingly, there’s also a major mobile component taking advantage of that 1Gbps fiber link, as users will have the option of browsing, sharing and eventually watching live TV directly from tablet apps. The company is also promising an ever-evolving service that includes Google+ video hangouts. For hardware, Google has its own dedicated Network Box with a four-port gigabit Ethernet router and 802.11n WiFi, a TV Box with live viewing and a WiFi access point as well as a Storage Box DVR with 2TB of data and the ability to record eight shows at once. Your remote control? A free, bundled Nexus 7 tablet, naturally.

The overall service will come with 1TB of Google Drive space, although it’s expensive to get started: there’s a $300 “construction fee” (currently being waived) to wire a home for the fiber optics. Three packages will be on offer, starting with a Gigabit + TV package that includes the essentials, all major channels and “hundreds” of fiber channels (plus on-demand content) for $120 a month. Skip traditional TV and it costs $70 a month — and if you’re a local resident willing to pony up the construction free, you can get 5Mbps internet access for free for “at least” seven years. Key institutions are getting the full gigabit access for free, as well. Only small slices of Kansas City in both Missouri and Kansas state should have access at first, but Google is conducting a six-week “rally” where the most people paying a $10 pre-registration fee dictate where Google Fiber goes next. Now if only other cities would go the same route.

Update: The full event replay is available for your inspection after the break.

Continue reading Google Fiber gets formal launch, adds Google Fiber TV (update: event video)

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Networking, Internet

Google Fiber gets formal launch, adds Google Fiber TV (update: event video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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