Hasta La Gadget!

If you asked Netflix, it’d probably agree there’s more money to be had from the Bluth Family’s banana stand — after all, it did buy the exclusive rights to it. After months of waiting and anticipation, the company has confirmed that the fourth season of Arrested Development will arrive in May. This run of the revived sitcom will consist of 14 episodes in total, all of which will only be streamable from the house of Hastings servers. All we can hope for in the meantime is that, Maeby maybe, just maybe, a certain Gob Bluth will finally get his act together.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Netflix (Twitter)

The current leader in subscription video streaming is Netflix, and today at its Las Vegas hotel suite we saw some of the technology it’s planning to stay a step ahead of the competition this year. First up was one of the most widely requested features — the ability to set up individual profiles for different family members, complete with their own queues and recommendations. The profiles can be set up on device or on the Netflix site, with toggles for a preference to its Just for Kids menu UI, as well as asking a bit about your preferred movies to seed initial recommendations.

We also got an eyeful of the new “Super HD” 1080p streaming, and although network issues kept us from getting a true gauge of the quality, we did confirm that the new max bitrates are well above the old “X-High” standards. Another thing we confirmed? That Cablevision and Google Fiber aren’t the only US ISPs on its Open Connect list — check the site to see if yours is.There was also a screen in the Samsung booth showing “early results” of their combined work on 4K video, but since it wasn’t actually streaming there’s not much to see.

Netflix was even showing off 3D streaming, and although we weren’t able to confirm the type of compression being used (top/bottom, side by side or something else) we did watch it and it was mostly clear with only a few hints of ghosting. There are apparently several dozen 3D titles available to start, although customer reaction may dictate when/if more are added. The second screen experience we’ve seen on the PS3 was also shown working with Samsung TVs, in much the same manner. One thing that could make it better however, is the DIAL multiscreen initiative it’s pushing with YouTube. If picked up as a standard, it would let you automatically launch these streaming services on a mobile device, and make them start playing on compatible TVs without having to launch the app on the TV first.

Not enough good news? Netflix also announced a launch date for another original series, Hemlock Grove, which hits April 19th (trailer after the break), and dropped the news that we’ll be getting 14 new eps of Arrested Development in May. We expect to hear a bit more about all of that later in 2013, but if you want a preview of the features we saw then just check out the gallery.

Continue reading Netflix previews family profiles, shows off Super HD and 3D streaming at CES 2013

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Netflix (Twitter)

Netflix has launched Super HD, offering a new top-tier of streaming video quality for those on select ISPs, but there’s Ultra HD content in the pipeline thanks to a special partnership with Samsung. Funneled out through Netflix’s Open Connect delivery network direct to ISPs, the Super HD video is even higher quality 1080p than the streaming company offers as standard, with certain 3D titles available in the US. Meanwhile, at CES, Netflix is demonstrating the fruits of its 4K resolution experiments with Samsung.

Hiding in Samsung’s booth at the show – or at least, as close to hiding as an 85-inch TV can manage – was an Ultra HD set running a 4K stream from Netflix’s servers. There were few details to hand, and no sign of a public launch date, but the picture quality looked great.

Still, it’s Super HD that will be reaching more people – though not everyone – first. Netflix subscribers will need to get their internet connection via one of the ISPs currently working with the media company, a list that includes Cablevision, Virgin Media, British Telecom, Telmex, Telus, TDC, GVT and others.

Everyone else will have to wait, unfortunately, and only those subscribers in the US will get Super 3D content, at least initially. You can find out if you’re on an Open Connect compliant ISP here.

Netflix launches Super HD and 3D; Reveals Ultra HD trial with Samsung is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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With all of this talk about 4K displays at this year’s CES, we’re sure many of you who use online streaming video services like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video are wondering if a TV capable of that resolution would even make an impact in your life as all you do is stream your video. At this point, it won’t, but Netflix is taking steps in the right direction as they’re announcing today they have started to stream 3D movies.

In addition to 3D movies, Netflix is also announcing the availability of Super HD video, depending on the ISP you’re currently using. Super HD is video that’s still 1080p, but it’s less compressed, making it look much better even though current 1080p streaming videos look pretty good when bandwidth allows it to.

If you’re one of the lucky few whose ISPs support Super HD, you can already check out Netflix’s improved videos on a number of devices like current-generation Apple TV models, Roku, Wii U and Windows 8 to name a few. For 3D viewing, as of now, only the PlayStation 3 and some LG Smart TVs are able to deliver that kind of video, although support for more devices is coming.

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