Jan 03
Are you a TV obsessive? I am. I spent much of Christmas week catching up on How I Met Your Mother. And I wish I had CBS Connect to talk up all my theories about what’s going to happen with Ted Mosby’s love life with other fans. More »
Jan 01
We’ve seen several reports over the last week about Intel’s set-top box efforts, and an impending CES launch. According to GigaOM, some of those rumors simply aren’t true. The site has confirmed with several sources at Intel that a set-top box (and a whole lot more) is in the works, but a CES announcement has not been planned. Instead, Media, the mysterious Intel division, which is run like a startup with staffers hired from other Silicon Valley companies rather than shifted from different departments, could be unveiled in March, or perhaps even at the AllThingsD Dive Into Media conference in February.
A detailed GigaOM report outlines the company’s plans, which do include a STB manufactured by Intel that would compete with Apple TV, but also solutions for other platforms, including computers, tablets and smartphones. According to GigaOM sources, the company has spent more than $100 million on Intel Media, so it’s clearly taking the effort seriously. Still, until Intel Media has been exposed to the market, it’s too soon to judge its success. Hit up our source link for the full scoop.
Update: Now the Wall Street Journal has chimed in, with its own reports from usual unnamed sources indicating that a launch could be pushed as far as Q4. The reason for the wide launch window? Trouble negotiating content agreements for those unbundled packages (at much higher rates than the channels currently receive) it reportedly wants to offer, although the rumors say Intel has reached at least one content deal — we’re guessing it wasn’t with ESPN. Whether this will ever appear or simply remain vapor like so many other rumored Intel software products remains to be seen, but just like the often hinted at Apple television, the licensing issues will probably be much harder to work out than any software or hardware.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Intel
Source: GigaOM, Wall Street Journal
Dec 31
Still wondering what the heck happened with Netflix on Christmas Eve? Cloud architect Adrian Cockroft has returned to fill in the details with an official blog post. As we already knew, Amazon Web Services was to blame for the issue — the company issued an apology earlier today — with the Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) service causing the outage. The interruption began at 3:30PM ET on December 24th, though some users had normal service until later that evening, at which point many TV-connected devices in the US, Canada and Latin America were affected. Notably, customers in the UK, Ireland and Nordic countries did not experience issues.
Netflix uses hundreds of ELBs, but only “a handful” failed — devices using these specific ELBs, including game consoles, were unable to access the server. While the Elastic Load Balancers serving Mac and PC streaming were unaffected, those users experienced latency issues, and may have needed to reload a stream. Cockroft explains that at 1:30AM ET on Christmas Day, the ELBs were restored by AWS, and most users were reportedly up and running at that point, though some still experienced downtime throughout the morning. Ultimately, Netflix plans to improve redundancy, which will be costly and could take some time to accomplish. For now, let’s hope that AWS manages to avoid future failures. You’ll find Netflix’s full explanation at the source link below.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet
Source: The Netflix Tech Blog, Amazon Web Services
Dec 26
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.
Dec 25
Video-streaming Xmas cheer restored for Netflix users as AWS outage gets fixed for affected devices
Posted in: Today's Chili 
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
Source: Netflix (Twitter), Adrian Cockcroft
Dec 24
AWS outage brings Netflix down for some devices on Christmas Eve (update: back up!)
Posted in: Today's Chili
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
Via: Gigaom
Dec 24
If you’re going to be doing a lot of traveling tonight to and from the homes of friends and family, you might be looking for some entertainment options to keep you occupied during a road trip. DirecTV has announced that its customers who subscribe to Starz and Encore now have access to the authenticated online streaming services for both pay channels. This means you can watch your favorite Starz or Encore programs or movies on the go.
The Starz Play and Encore Play apps are available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch at no cost on the App Store. DirecTV subscribers can also stream content through Wi-Fi and broadband connections on their computer at StarzPlay.com and EncorePlay.com. Android users will get access to the applications in the future. DirecTV customers simply need to provide their account information to link their accounts and stream the content using the apps.
Encore Play promises about 900 different monthly selections including 300 movies and select original programming. Starz Play offers about 400 monthly selections including 300 movies, some of them being first-run titles. Starz also offers access to its original shows including the awesome Spartacus series.
Dec 10
Trent Reznor working on music-streaming service, expected to launch early next year
Posted in: Today's ChiliTrent Reznor, the musician behind the one-man band Nine Inch Nails recently partnered up with Beats by Dre back in October, but projects and efforts from the partnership remained quiet. However, Reznor has announced that he’s working on a new music-streaming service to take on the likes of Spotify and Rdio.
In a profile of Reznor in the most recent issue of The New Yorker, Reznor details plans on a new music-streaming service he’s working on in partnership with Beats by Dre. Dubbed “Daisy”, the service is planned to launch early next year and will be nothing like traditional music-streaming services that users are used to, according to Reznor.
Reznor says that Daisy will use “mathematics to offer suggestions to the listener” and it will also “present choices based partly on suggestions made by connoisseurs, making it a platform in which the machine and the human would collide more intimately.” It seems that the new service will rely on better ways to music discovery than just traditional algorithms.
Reznor even compared his upcoming service with Spotify, and said that while Spotify offers over 16 million songs, “you’re not stumbling into anything. What’s missing is a service that adds a layer of intelligent curation.” He says that services that have been using traditional alogrithms to match up users with music they might like have “begun to feel synthetic.” Reznor describes Daisy as “having your own guy when you go into the record store, who knows what you like but can also point you down some paths you wouldn’t necessarily have encountered.”
Reznor is the man behind the soundtrack for several films, including The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as video games such as Quake, and most recently Call of Duty Black Ops II. Of course, he’s also been around the music scene since the late 80s with his most well-known project, Nine Inch Nails.
[via Pitchfork]
Trent Reznor working on music-streaming service, expected to launch early next year is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Dec 08
Netflix 1080p streams no longer called X-High, company credits improved encodes
Posted in: Today's Chili 
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
Source: AVS Forum, Tech of the Hub
Dec 04
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.
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