Hasta La Gadget!

To put it mildly, the OUYA console has had a better than expected funding run — the project is now past the $6 million mark, or six times what it originally needed. The team still wants a little something to end the last week of fundraising with a bang. It just unveiled a limited edition brown, brushed metal version of the console with a controller to match; all it takes is a $140 pledge during the final push to August 9th and you’ve got the Yves Behar-chosen color for yourself. The special run should arrive as part of the wider March 2013 launch. If the original silver hue will do just nicely, thank you very much, OUYA has struck another content deal and will launch Vevo’s music video hub side-by-side with the console. Click past the break for a peek at the controller, and consider a pledge on Kickstarter if you just can’t stand the thought of having the same console as everyone else.

Continue reading OUYA wrapping up funding with limited brown metal console, Vevo deal

Filed under: Gaming

OUYA wrapping up funding with limited brown metal console, Vevo deal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 13:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple may be calling the Apple TV a hobby, but there’s no doubt that the minature streaming media box has garnered some attention from various content providers. Netflix has been available on the Apple TV for some time, but Hulu has been noticeably missing. It looks it won’t be missing any more, as multiple users have taken to Twitter to show off the new Hulu Plus app that has been pushed out to Apple TVs across the United States.

Apple reportedly began rolling out the app this morning, although users may need to reboot their Apple TV before they see the app appear. The app seems to work as advertised, streaming television shows from networks such as Fox and NBC as long as you subscribe to the Plus service, which currently costs $7.99 a month.

Hulu Plus has been available on a multitude of hardware devices for some time, including consoles, and users also have the option of streaming shows through their web browser. The app finally arriving on the Apple TV makes for a compelling argument for the little streamer given its $99 price. Combine Hulu Plus with a Netflix subscription and Apple’s own access to paid movies and TV shows, and suddenly you have an inexpensive and practical way to cut the cord.

Users are also reporting that Hulu Plus can be billed straight to an Apple iTunes account. New users will be able to sign up directly from the Apple TV and given a week’s free trial, and after that they’ll be charged $7.99 a month to access Hulu’s library of TV shows.

[via MacRumors]

Hulu Plus lands on Apple TV is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The little media streamer company that could, Roku, has gained some powerful friends in its latest round of financing, with $45 million in funds coming from the likes of BSkyB, News Corp and another partner who would prefer to remain nameless at this time, as well as previous investors Menlo Ventures and Globespan Capital Partners. While we leave you to ponder which company might be that unidentified source, Roku is simply continuing on, earmarking the money for use in building brand awareness, expanding internationally and much, much more. Also, that MHL-connected Roku Streaming Stick introduced at CES? It hasn’t gone away and is still on track for launch later this year, with an eye towards providing a “Roku Inside” bundled experience for otherwise dumb flat-panel HDTVs.

Roku’s alignment with BSkyB (which reported a $10m stake in its earnings this morning, as well as the option to distribute its own branded Roku hardware) makes sense after the pay-TV giant launched Now TV recently with the hockey puck as one of its supported platforms, while CEO Anthony Wood tells us the fruitful partnership with News Corp had its root in the Fox News, Wall Street Journal Live and X-Factor channels it launched last year. Wood cites plans to make Roku “the TV distribution platform of the future”, and this fifth round of financing — larger than all previous rounds combined — may help push it in this direction, check out a few more details in the press release after the break.

Continue reading Roku picks up financing from BSkyB, News Corp and more, keeps eye on the premium streaming crown

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Roku picks up financing from BSkyB, News Corp and more, keeps eye on the premium streaming crown originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 02:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netflix recently let it drop that its users clocked in more than one billion hours of content-viewing in the month of June alone, although the big question for CEO Reed Hastings is how that relates to the company’s subscriber base. The results are in from its Q2 2012 earnings report, and it’s claiming 27.56 million streaming subscribers worldwide, up from 26 million last quarter. In the US alone that includes 23.94 million customers, after it reported 23.4 million in Q1, while DVD customers dropped by 850k to 9.24 million. While the number of new subscribers wasn’t as high as some had hoped, the good news is the company is finally back in the black, with $889 million in revenue providing $6 million in net income. On the flip side, a plan to launch service in an “additional attractive European market” in Q4 is expected to result in temporary losses, but we’ll find out more about those plans later in Q3.

One other issue that has been resolved is the search for a new Chief Marketing Officer resulting in the hiring of Kelly Bennett, formerly a marketing executive with Warner Bros. This morning Verizon and Redbox began to carefully pull back the cover on their competing offering, and Amazon has also been making significant waves in the space. However in response, Netflix says Amazon and Hulu Plus have yet to gain meaningful traction in relation to its viewing hours, and it expects Redbox Instant to face a “big challenge” to break into the existing top 3. Its current content deal with Epix will lose online exclusivity “shortly” although it will still offer those titles, we’ll see if any of the competition joins in. Their biggest competition however, is expected to come from efforts like Comcast’s new X1 and Sky’s Now TV, while for HBO, the possibility of cooperation is actually raised (again). We’ll see if that happens or if there are any more juicy details revealed on the investor call in a few minutes.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet

Netflix Q2 2012 earnings: 530,000 more US subscribers and a return to profitability originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qantas just upped the ante for its Australian counterparts Jetstar and Virgin in the airline tablet wars. Following an earlier trial, the transporter plans to hand out free iPads to all of its passengers — not just the high-flyers in business-class, like with Jetstar’s iPads or Virgin’s Galaxy Tabs — on every Boeing 767 aircraft in the fleet. The rollout, which starts in the last quarter of the year, will let those bored in the back seats watch an equally free 200 hours’ worth of QStreaming audio and video. Don’t confuse the gesture with a sudden bout of altruism on Qantas’ part, however. The pound-and-a-half weight of a current iPad sheds the tremendous amount of weight that would normally be needed for a conventional in-flight entertainment system built into the headrest, which on a typical 375-seat 767 could see the iPads pay for themselves within years, if not sooner. The option will give many Aussies something to look forward to for their domestic summer vacations. In the meantime, hop past the break for a Qantas video explaining how QStreaming worked during the original trial run.

Continue reading Qantas to hand out free iPads to all passengers on Boeing 767s, save fuel and our sanity (video)

Filed under: Tablet PCs, Transportation

Qantas to hand out free iPads to all passengers on Boeing 767s, save fuel and our sanity (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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