Hasta La Gadget!

Just days after a bill passed through the Senate that removes previous restrictions that prevented companies from sharing customer video rental history, a Netflix spokesperson has confirmed that they “plan to introduce social features” for US customers sometime in 2013. After President Obama signs the bill, Netflix will flip the switch on the new features.

For quite some time now, Netflix has allowed non-US customers to post what shows they’re watching on Facebook, the same way they can share music they’re listening to or articles they’re reading. However, the same can’t be said for US users, where it’s currently illegal thanks to provisions in the Video Privacy Protection Act.

The new bill, which was first passed by the House of Representatives before being quickly approved by the Senate, amends the Video Privacy Protection Act so customers can opt into sharing their video data using online means rather than requiring written consent. The bill will allow Netflix to integrate with Facebook.

Netflix has pushed for social features since last year, and the company wants its American customers to have the ability to link their Netflix accounts with their Facebook accounts, and share their watched movies with friends through the Netflix Facebook App. And since the US is a big market for Netflix, the new social features will finally hit mainstream for the movie-streaming service.

[via Talking Points Memo]

Netflix to introduce social features in 2013 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Did this Christmas’ Netflix outage have you and yours “bah humbuging” whilst picking through that collection of physical discs for solace? Fret no more, as the apparent Amazon Web Services outage behind the problem (which brought the service down on many-a-device) is now a officially a mark in Christmas Past. Within the last hour, Netflix announced via its Twitter accounts that its Instant Watch offerings are now “back to normal streaming levels.” While it’s not exactly a Christmas miracle, we’re sure many are delighted to finally be viewing Hollywood’s holiday cheer on their newly unwrapped gizmos.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Source: Netflix (Twitter), Adrian Cockcroft

Has an evening with National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation become an annual holiday tradition? Or perhaps you enjoy a pre-present thrill, courtesy of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Whatever the flick, there’s a good chance you won’t be watching it on Netflix Instant Streaming tonight, reportedly due to an outage over at Amazon Web Services. Netflix cloud architect Adrian Cockroft is on the case, explaining on Twitter that the interruption will affect only certain devices — while we’re not quite sure which gadgets are currently down, we have received reports that gaming consoles and connected TVs have gone offline. Netflix, for its part, has also taken to Twitter to apologize for the outage, suggesting that you follow the as-yet-silent @Netflixhelps account for updates.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: As of 11:45AM ET on 12/25, nearly 20 hours after Netflix began tweeting about a service interruption, the company has confirmed that streaming has been restored.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Via: Gigaom

Source: Netflix (Twitter), Adrian Cockroft (Twitter)

While Netflix Watch Instantly movie streams are mostly useful for casual viewing, if you’re interested in the actual quality of the video provided you may have noticed a few changes recently. Chronicled in a thread on AVS Forum and reported to us by several tipsters, more than a few users have noticed their streams on 1080p-capable hardware (PlayStation 3, WDTV Live) no longer rock the “X-High” notification (on PS3, hit select to view more information bout your streaming details) that had previously let them know they were getting the highest quality possible. We checked with Netflix, and according to the company, it’s rolling out better encoding that improves picture quality despite using a lower bitrate. That means 1080p works even for people with slower connections, and increases detail on “textures, shadows, skies, and particularly faces.” As a result, what was previously called “X-High HD” is now being labeled a tier lower.

While it wasn’t mentioned specifically, some are theorizing the move is tied into Netflix’s use of eyeIO’s video encoding tech, which it announced earlier this year, to shrink the size of streams. eyeIO claims it can chop bandwidth by more than half for a 720p stream, something we’re sure a company that’s pushing as much data as Netflix would appreciate. Still, some viewers in the thread are claiming a noticeably softer picture as a result. Check after the break for the statement from Netflix, then take some time for “research” and let us know if you’re noticing any changes in picture quality lately.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Netflix 1080p streams no longer called X-High, company credits improved encodes

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: AVS Forum, Tech of the Hub

More popular movie titles are coming to Netflix, thanks to a significant deal made with The Walt Disney Company. The deal will give Netflix subscribers movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation, Marvel, and Disneynature. However, the deal actually doesn’t start until 2016 — about three years from now.

The deal will see Disney movies hit Netflix about six months after they come out of theaters, which is about the same timeframe that movies are allowed to broadcast on television. However, “high-profile Disney direct-to-video new releases” will be available for streaming starting next year, and older Disney films like Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, and Pocahontas, are actually available right now.

Previously, Netflix had been able to stream Disney movies through its deal with cable network Starz, but that deal ended back in February. Since this new deal involves Marvel and Pixar, we should be seeing popular films like Iron Man, Toy Story, and Monsters Inc. However, we’re not sure if the recently-acquired Lucasfilm will be involved in the deal. If so, the upcoming Star Wars film will also show up on Netflix.

While this may seem like big news now, 2016 is extremely far off, which means the industry may change and Netflix’s competition could butt in to create a hellstorm for Netflix, Amazon being one of the biggest threats. However, Starz currently holds the Disney contract through 2015, which is why Netflix won’t get it until 2016, so that deal is definitely secure from other services.

Netflix signs content deal with Disney is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.