Sometimes when we subscribe to something and it starts to suck, we choose to unsubscribe. Many of us did that with Netflix last summer after its price hike. But sometimes things change, and like that ex-girlfriend who promises everything will be different this time, you come crawling back. More »
A new week has begun, and as such we have a new round of news to recap in the Evening Wrap-up. Today it was revealed that Apple has become the most valuable public company in history which, while pretty monumental, wasn’t entirely unexpected. The jury for the Apple vs. Samsung patent suit is set to begin deliberation tomorrow, but before they do, Apple and Samsung’s CEOs will be conversing over the phone, despite the fact that settlement talks between the two companies apparently didn’t go anywhere.
The Samsung Galaxy S II Plus showed its face again today, complete with a 1.5GHz dual-core Exynos processor, and we were even given a glimpse at the Nikon Coolpix S800c Android-based camera. Samsung announced the GALAXY S DUOS, which features dual-SIM functionality but seems to be a tad underpowered with the Galaxy S III on the scene. We received yet another picture of the next iPhone’s reported new dock connector, and we got a better idea of what OnLive will look like moving forward. Unfortunately, it looks like HTC will be losing quite a bit of money now that OnLive has been bought out, which isn’t good news for the already-struggling company.
The Nintendo 3DS XL has finally arrived in North America, and a number of Motorola DROID RAZR HD tutorial videos were spotted before quickly being taken down. Hulu’s CEO might be exiting the company sometime next month, the Galaxy Note 10.1 has been given a pretty excellent score by the folks at iFixit, and pieces of Amelia Earhart’s plane may have been discovered off the coast of an island in the Pacific. Netflix has very quickly added 1 million subscribers in the UK and Ireland, while Barnes and Noble said it will be launching new devices in the UK this fall. Grand Theft Auto V got a round of new screenshots today, though they didn’t show much, and Sony announced that the PS Vita has passed 2.2 million sales worldwide since launch.
NASA announced the next Discovery mission today: InSight, which will be headed to Mars in 2016, while the Hubble Telescope gave us a picture of two star clusters that are on a collision course with one another. A new Android threat called SMSZombie has hit 500,000 phones in China, and it’s particularly hard to get rid of, while today the Curiosity rover laser-blasted its first Martian rock. Star Wars here we come.
Finally tonight, we have a couple of original articles for you to check out, like this review of the Motorola PHOTON Q 4G LTE and this column explaining why you might take a pass on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, which is supposedly getting a reveal at IFA 2012. Enjoy the rest of your evening, folks!
SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: August 20, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This week I bought a Roku. Late to the party? Yes, but not as late as you might suppose. Roku has sold about 2.5 million streaming media boxes since the product launched in 2008. Approximately 1.5 million of those units moved in 2011, indicating an acceleration of demand. Coincidentally, those numbers roughly represent the cord-cutting movement: Reportedly, 2.65 million cable subscribers ditched their service between 2008 and 2011, with about 1.5 million of those defections happening in 2011.
While cable cord-cutting is a trend, the movement is occurring in the context of customer inertia. About 100 million customers subscribe to cable, satellite, and other pay-TV providers (e.g. AT&T’s U-Verse). The problematic value proposition of cutting the cord will probably keep massive inaction in place for the short term, but cannot, I believe, withstand long-term marketplace demands.
Continue reading Editorial: Cutting the cable cord is a young trend going in the right direction
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Editorial: Cutting the cable cord is a young trend going in the right direction originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Netflix is offering up a few statistics on its video streaming service for the UK and Ireland this week. Netflix launched in the UK and Ireland aiming directly at Sky in an effort to lure streaming fans to the Netflix service. It has been seven months since Netflix launched in the UK and Ireland, and the service has proven incredibly popular.
Netflix is now reporting that it has hit the 1 million user milestone in the UK and Ireland only seven months after launching in the countries. Netflix has hit the 1 million mark in the UK and Ireland faster than it has in any other territory where it has launched previously. The streaming media company boasts that it reached 1 million users four times faster than Twitter needed to hit the 1 million user mark globally.
Netflix also brags that it hit 1 million mark nearly twice as fast as Facebook and foursquare were able to do globally. Netflix expects streaming customers within the UK and Ireland to continue to increase. A recent survey by YouGov showed that 10% of the population in the UK dedicated two hours or more per day for watching streaming TV shows.
Netflix also notes that UK and Irish members of the service prefer comedy and drama, making those the top genres watched within the countries. The busiest time of the week for streaming on Netflix is Sunday night. Netflix also mentioned that it has new TV shows and movies coming soon to the service, including the films 50/50, 2012, and Iron Man 2. TV shows, including Covert Affairs and the next season of Breaking Bad are also coming to Netflix. I want to know when Netflix will get The Big Bang Theory.
The UK and Ireland already hit 1 million Netflix members is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has threatened a bidding war with UK Broadcaster BSkyB for premium movie rights, and he could have the war chest to back it up — the company also hit the million subscriber mark in the UK only seven months after launching there. Netflix UK boasted that it even got there faster than Twitter or Facebook did globally, and chalked up the success to most British households having at least one household streaming device. Meanwhile, Hastings said the US company intends to pry premium Hollywood movie rights away from BSkyB, promising to be “really aggressive in our bidding.” The streaming service will have to overcome more than money, however — the UK’s Competition Commission granted BSkyB a rights extension to protect it from the very likes of Netflix.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Netflix nabs a million UK subscribers, promises to ‘invest heavily’ to outbid Sky for movie rights originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 06:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The week is halfway over folks – just two more work days to go and the weekend is here again. Today brought a wealth of Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 stories, with the company officially unveiling it for the US today. We were right there with a review of it, and we also compared Samsung’s new flagship tablet to the 3rd generation iPad, just in case you were curious as to how the Galaxy Note 10.1 stands up. A little bit later in the day, Samsung announced the price of Galaxy Note 10.1 and also revealed some accessories, so if you’re planning to pick one up, be sure to check that out.
Speaking of Samsung devices, we may have received our first glimpse at the front panel of the Samsung Galaxy Note II today, and a video of the Jelly Bean update for the Samsung Galaxy S III surfaced today as well. Looking at Samsung’s current court battle with Apple for a moment, Samsung delivered the argument many on its side were waiting for, saying that the iPhone’s design is “obvious.” HTC rallied employees today by saying that it’s coming back, Amazon might have a new Kindle Fire in the works, and we were treated to a mock up of what the rumored iPad Mini might look like if it, you know… existed.
Verizon will begin offering an LTE-enabled version of the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 later this week, and a new SwiftKey update brings Google Voice recognition with it. Facebook is in trouble with data protection officials in Germany again, a reported iPad Mini dock connector surfaced today, and we happened upon some specs for the Motorola RAZR HD. Anonymous claimed today that it had hacked the PlayStation Network, but Sony was right there to say that it was all a hoax. Microsoft detailed the problems it’s currently having with the Windows Phone marketplace, and Pinterest revealed new apps for both Android and iOS, and if you’re planning to pick up, be sure to have a look at our review first.
LG announced that it has sold 5 million smartphones worldwide, and Netflix is about to roll out to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Nokia has reiterated its commitment to Windows Phone, and the Windows 8 RTM software build is now available. Finally tonight, the Waverider hypersonic aircraft has crashed during an Air Force test flight, and the Humble Indie Bundle for Android 3 is now available, so if you’re in need of some games, be sure to check that out!
That does it for the evening wrap-up everyone, so go and enjoy what’s left of Wednesday!
SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: August 15, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
If you’ve been marathoning a new favorite TV show on Netflix recently you may have noticed that on the PlayStation 3 (above) and browser-based (after the break, along with a quick demo video) players it’s got a new tweak. At the end of each episode as the credits roll it pops up a quick (and very basic cable TV post movie-like) prompt with info about the the next episode and, unless you select a particular viewing option, search or go back to browsing, keeps right on playing. For movies, it pops up three similar recommendations instead. This “post-play” experience takes a couple of remote presses out of long viewing sessions, and on Netflix’s end probably makes it easier for folks to choose to sit through “one more episode” and keep those viewing hours boosted.
On the other hand, not every one likes the automation, either here or on the Xbox 360 app. Whether that’s because viewers need an emotional pause after a particularly gripping episode of Lost or they — and by they, we mean this blogger in particular — tend to doze off mid-episode, the good news is that every other episode it prompts the user if they want to keep playing before moving on. Like every other tweak or announcement even this move will probably be debated amongst viewers, feel free to dive into the lone season of Terriers in the name of research before letting us know if you’re a fan.
Continue reading Netflix rolls out new ‘post-play experience’ on web player, PS3 (video)
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment
Netflix rolls out new ‘post-play experience’ on web player, PS3 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
If you happen to live in one of the following four Nordic countries – Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, then you might be pleased to hear that Netflix will be offering their streaming service in that part of the world before the year is over. TV shows and movies are all readily available for your perusal, and you can stuff yourself with unlimited shows with but a single monthly fee. In fact, a wide number of the movies and TV shows made available by Netflix would feature high definition video and Dolby Digital Plus surround sound for added entertainment value. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Netflix ‘Just for Kids’ on the Xbox 360 debuts, HBO says no to Netflix partnership,
Netflix is one of the most popular streaming media services in the United States, with the company recently expanding into the UK to try and woo the local population with easy movie and TV streaming. Now the company is setting its sights on the rest of Europe, today announcing that it will soon be available in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. Netflix says the full service should launch in those countries towards the end of 2012.
According to the company, the new regions will gain access to the same services found in the US and UK, which includes streaming access to a wide variety of Hollywood movies and TV shows. Other details surrounding the service, however, haven’t been announced, with pricing and availability coming later on as the company finalizes the details.
One of the problems with trying to tackle worldwide streaming is the various content deals one has to grapple with, as licenses vary from region to region. It’s not clear what European Netflix users will have access to, but it may be limited to begin with. The content selection has been lacking in the UK thanks to the competition with LoveFilm. Netflix has some older content along with catalogue titles, while LoveFilm has signed various exclusive license deals to secure newer content like the latest blockbusters.
If you’re in one of the listed countries and fancy jumping on the Netflix bandwagon, then plug your email details into the website. Netflix will send out an email with more details once they become available, so sit tight for now.
[via CNET]
Netflix expanding to Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Netflix mentioned during its most recent earnings call that it had identified an attractive European market to launch its streaming video service in during Q4 2012 and now we know where that is: Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. There’s no word yet on pricing or which devices the service will be available on, but Nordic viewers can expect the usual assortment of movies and TV shows for a flat rate, with many available in HD and surround sound. Judging by the languages of support personnel Netflix was looking for last year, Asia is next on its world domination map (after Canada, Latin America and UK & Ireland) although how investors will react to the hit expansion makes on its earnings in the short term.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Netflix Watch Instantly streaming coming to Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 01:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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