Hasta La Gadget!

Qualcomm has apparently figured out what it takes to get Netflix on Android, announcing “future devices” with its Snapdragon mobile processors (like the LG Revolution) will meet all of the DRM requirements for Watch Instantly. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to bode well for your existing Android device, but at least future phones won’t have to look on Windows Phone 7 and iOS with envy. Besides a turnkey package for manufacturers to support Netflix in their devices, it also promises plenty of dedicated decoding power to enhance battery life and improve picture quality which can be observed as it demos the Netflix app (hope they brought their own proxy) at Mobile World Congress this week.

Continue reading Qualcomm promises Netflix streaming support on ‘future Android devices’ with Snapdragon

Qualcomm promises Netflix streaming support on ‘future Android devices’ with Snapdragon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qualcomm just refined the term “blowout” here at Mobile World Congress. It’s obviously a critical show for the wireless supplier, and while the 2.5GHz Snapdragon CPU is the undisputed highlight, there’s quite a bit of chipset action worth paying attention to if you’d prefer that your next handset / mobile hotspot be capable of handling the world’s most advanced network technologies. First off, there’s the Gobi3000 modules, which Qualcomm just announced were shipping en masse. Compared to the Gobi2000 that has been infiltrating laptops and MiFi devices for the past year, this one doubles the HSPA downlink speed and enhances the Gobi common application programming interface (API) functionality for enterprise applications. The design supports single-mode (UMTS) and multi-mode designs (CDMA / UMTS), and should be popping up soon in devices from Huawei, Novatel Wireless, Option, Sierra Wireless and ZTE.

Next up are the MDM9625 and MDM9225 chipsets, which are designed to support LTE data rates as high as 150Mbps within mobile broadband devices. These guys are fabricated using the 28nm technology node, and are backwards compatible with previous generations of LTE and other wireless broadband standards, giving consumers using USB modems powered by the MDM9625 or MDM9225 chipsets an uninterrupted broadband data connection on nearly any network around the world. These are being launched alongside the MDM9615 and MDM8215, which are similar chips designed to support multi-mode LTE and dual-carrier HSPA+, respectively. As for the MDM8225? That’s being released today to support HSPA+ Release 9 (the latest version, obviously), which will support 84Mbps on the downslope (not to mention dual-carrier HSUPA operation) and should fit into at least a couple of T-Mobile USA devices by 2012. Finally, Qualcomm has nailed down a deal that’ll enable all future Snapdragon-powered Android devices to “have access to instant streaming of TV shows and movies from Netflix.” Just sounds like a pre-loaded installation to us, but hey, we’ll take all the optimization we can get when it comes to streaming video on the mobile.

Qualcomm ships dual-mode Gobi3000 WWAN chip, intros LTE / HSPA+ chipsets galore originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 07:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The news spinning around Hulu hasn’t been positive lately, with increasing competition and rumors of a change in business model, but CEO Jason Kilar’s latest blog post tells a different side of the story. First, after popular choices like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report were unceremoniously yanked back in April it has a new deal with Viacom that’s bringing those shows back to Hulu and Hulu Plus starting today, with episodes of current shows like Jersey Shore and Tosh.0 showing up 21 days after they air. Strictly for the pay subscribers, library episodes of The Chappelle Show and others will show up on Hulu Plus.

As for the future of the business, he sees Hulu as able to serve trends giving customers more convenient video access with less ads and more social media presence — a goal we can get behind, but that may leave content providers wondering how they’ll get paid in this shiny new world. To that end he’s touting the growth of Hulu’s ad revenue as seen in the chart after the break and the rising number of Hulu Plus subscribers with a promise to hit 1 million this year. While that’s well behind Netflix’s most recent count, he’s taking a new shot at the throne by claiming Hulu can afford to pay more for content and that studios should start signing deals on per-user, per-month basis instead of the flat rates Netflix has negotiated so far. Give the full thing a read to get a better idea of where Jason’s head is at (when he’s not planning a GTL run, check the pr after the break for more details on that), we’ll be busy watching Jon Stewart’s interview with Michael Steele.

Update: Peter Kafka over All Things Digital has word that the deal cost Hulu somewhere between $40m and $50m — and that sum could increase depending upon the shows’ performance.

Continue reading Hulu CEO welcomes back The Daily Show & more from Viacom, lays out a battle plan for the future

Hulu CEO welcomes back The Daily Show & more from Viacom, lays out a battle plan for the future originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 22:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve ever used an app like Shazam to detect a song playing on the radio you’re a long way toward knowing what the new IntoNow app can do. With just a few seconds of audio it can detect what you’re watching, give you plenty of information about that content, then let you add it to your Netflix queue. You can go on to share what you’re watching upon a plethora of social networks, even see what your friends are watching. It relies on a platform called SoundPrint, an accumulation of 266 years worth of content that is constantly growing, constantly indexing 130 channels in real-time. (Think of the punditry!) Check it out in the video below or just give it a download from the App Store. Right now it is iOS only, but we’re told Android and other flavors are on the way.

Continue reading IntoNow app can tell what show you’re watching, won’t knock your Glee addiction (video)

IntoNow app can tell what show you’re watching, won’t knock your Glee addiction (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumors of Amazon either purchasing Netflix or launching a competing option have been circling and now one of our readers says he’s seeing an unlimited video streaming section to complement the current Amazon VOD options. That’s a nice bonus for the $79 / year package that currently adds a few free shipping bonuses and it would be cheaper on a yearly basis than Netflix’s Watch Instantly ($95.88.) As seen above and in the gallery, it consists of “unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows” with selections that mirror the Watch Instantly catalog closely. Resolution is apparently limited to a “pretty solid” 480p SD, but there’s no word on audio or subtitle options. We’ll wait to hear if anyone else is seeing a similar page before assuming a wide rollout, but it certainly appears that there could finally be a viable competitor to the Netflix juggernaut.

Update: We weren’t able to pull up the option on any of our Prime-enabled accounts and from the comments it doesn’t appear any of you were either. According to our tipster, the option has disappeared from his page as well. One other interesting note came from commenter vfiz, who found that several variations of the primeinstantvideos.com domain name were registered by Amazon-owned DPReview January 5.

[Thanks, Pavel]

Amazon rolling out Netflix-like unlimited video streaming for Prime subscribers? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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