Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon has signed a deal with Warner Brothers Television that will see the online retailer gaining access to televisions shows such as Fringe, The West Wing, and Alcatraz for its Prime Instant Video service. Anyone who subscribes to Amazon Prime gains access to on-demand movies and TV shows that can be accessed via a multitude of devices, and now Warner’s TV catalogue will be added to the list of available content.

Amazon says that Fringe and The West Wing will be available this summer exclusively on Prime Instant Video, a subtle dig, perhaps, at Netflix and other streaming services. Customers will be able to watch video on a wide variety of devices like the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Roku streamers, plus various tablets. As of writing, Prime Instant Video has around 18,000 movies and TVs ready to stream.

The popular online retailer has been ramping up its content deal as of late. Earlier in the year it added shows from The Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, plus movies from Magnolia Pictures. The company is also hoping to produce original content for Prime Instant Video, a similar strategy to Netflix and Hulu. Amazon began accepting pitches for shows back in May, with successful writers getting a chance to earn $10,000 if the company options the idea.

Amazon Prime Instant Video adds Warner TV shows is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Not too long after announcing that it secured the American rights to a popular Israeli drama, Hulu has now partnered up with the BBC to bridge the Atlantic Ocean and bring the UK comedy The Thick of It to American shores as well. The difference with this latest deal, though, is that Hulu will actually help with the production of the show. According to the official details, season four of The Thick of It is still produced by the BBC, but now it carries the footnote “in association with Hulu.”

This is the video streaming company’s first ever international co-production arrangement. The show will continue to air as normal on BBC Four in the UK, but stateside it will air exclusively on Hulu, both for regular subscribers as well as premium Hulu Plus members. The show was created and is written by Armando Iannucci, whose most recent credit is the HBO series Veep starring Julia Louis Dreyfus.

“We’re really excited to give U.S. audiences a chance to catch up with all previous episodes, and as series co-producers for season four, we are proud to make full seasons of this distinctive and smart show available exclusively to Hulu viewers,” said Hulu senior VP of content Andy Forssell. This comes just days after Hulu announced that it will air episodes from the Israeli series Prisoners of War, which is the site’s first exclusive non-English series.

[via paidContent]

Hulu expands international wings, deals with BBC is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you want to enjoy streaming movies in the UK, currently you have to rely on either Netflix or Lovefilm. Neither are ideal, with missing titles and long waits before new movies show up on either service. Sky has decided to throw its hat into the ring, today announcing Now TV. The service, which launches tomorrow, will offer two methods for watching movies: pay as you go, or via a monthly subscription.

Customers will be able to choose from over 1,000 titles from Sky’s catalogue, with movies costing between 99p and £3.49. If you don’t fancy paying per title, then the Now TV also offers a monthly subscription called “Sky Movies Pass” which costs £14.99 per month. That will give you access to around 600 movies from all the major studios. Sky also promises that five new movies will be added to the service every Friday, with the titles available on Now TV 12 months before they arrive on services such as Netflix or Lovefilm.

Better yet, there’s a 30-day free trial for the service. After that, you’ll have to pay per title or use the monthly subscription. The service will launch tomorrow on PCs, Macs, and select Android devices. Sky says that an app for the iPhone and iPad is also coming, and the service will eventually roll out to hardware like the PlayStation 3 and Roku streamers. Movies won’t be the only content either, with sports and TV shows coming in the future from Sky Sports and Sky Atlantic. The monthly subscription may be expensive now compared to Netflix and Lovefilm, but it may be worth considering given the expanded movie library and the promise of additional content.

Sky launches Now TV streaming movie service is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

NBC mentioned it would deliver two complementary mobile apps for its extensive London Olympics coverage and now they have arrived. Available for Android phones and tablets as well as the iPhone and iPad, they’re built on Adobe technology to deliver the information and live streaming video, as well as handle the TV Everywhere authentication with the cable providers that’s necessary to view all of the content. The NBC Olympics Live Companion is specifically designed to operate as a second screen for users to pull up stats and extra info on while they watch TV, and the NBC Olympics Live Extra app delivers video of every event streaming live to users wherever they are. It supports multiple camera angles, social features like the Facebook tie-ins NBC announced yesterday and users can even switch between the two apps at will.

Check after the break for a quick video preview of some of the technology at work, and if you’re planning to tune into the games, hit NBC’s Olympics site now to sign in and authenticate so once the Opening Ceremony kicks off, all you’ll have to do is press play.

Continue reading NBC’s 2012 London Olympics second screen and streaming apps for Android and iOS launch today

Filed under: Home Entertainment

NBC’s 2012 London Olympics second screen and streaming apps for Android and iOS launch today originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Almost without fail, BitTorrent downloads have had to spread through a dedicated client, whether it’s on the desktop or a router. Thankfully, BitTorrent Torque has just come in alpha form to liberate the peer download service from its software chains. All that’s needed now is a web browser that can parse a JavaScript app. Going the new route gives some freedom to enable sharing that hasn’t always been practical: among the tricks in the company’s Torque Labs are drag-and-drop sharing, conversion of torrents into traditional downloads and easing the burden on a server for video streaming. The alpha stage leaves Torque with awhile to go before it’s ready for the limelight, but experimenters can hit the source link to start tinkering with distributed file sharing today.

BitTorrent Torque alpha puts file seeds on the web, makes desktop apps look stale originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 06:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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