Hasta La Gadget!

Spotify, the Rhapsody of Europe, may still be an unfamiliar brand stateside, but the service just inked a deal with Virgin Media to bring streaming music to Virgin’s broadband customers, set-top boxes, and mobile phones in the UK. The deal will bundle Unlimited (£4.99) or Premium (£9.99) monthly Spotify tiers, at to-be-determined discounted rates, allowing new and existing subscribers to access millions of tracks from any of their compatible home and mobile devices. Open (free) Spotify customers will reportedly need to upgrade to a paid version, but only to access the service on Virgin’s set-top boxes, we presume — don’t expect to see a blanket ban on all devices. Until pricing is announced, the partnership appears to be more of a win for Spotify than for customers, who will still need to pay up before rockin’ out, but set-top integration is likely to be a boon with digital TV subscribers, letting them bring those infamous Euro house music raves to an actual house.

Spotify partners with Virgin Media to stream music to UK TVs, smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jul 2011 10:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The original Google Videos is going to be mighty huffy about this. Not only has it endured repeated attempts on its life following Big G’s acquisition of YouTube, but now its very identity has been humiliatingly copied and pasted onto an entirely different service. The new Google Videos is a movie rental app that will give Android users in the US mobile access to the 3,000+ premium titles that are already available to rent on a desktop. So far, no one has been able to break out the popcorn except a few lucky Xoom owners, but last night the app mysteriously became available to everyone else in Android Market, too. Unfortunately, those quick triggers who managed to install the app before it disappeared were rewarded with a riveting succession of server errors, but at least it gives us hope that the real-deal will be with the masses in short order. Google Videos is dead, long live Google Videos.

Google Videos rental app makes fleeting cameo in Market, portends of an imminent release originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jul 2011 18:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It hasn’t even been a year since Roku last updated its line of streaming media players — but nine months is a long time in the gadget world. So it was pleasant, though not entirely surprising, to spot a trio of new devices from the IPTV pioneer sauntering through the FCC bearing the model numbers 3000X, 3050X, and 3100X. Eventually the three boxes will likely be sold as the Roku 2 HD, XD, and XS respectively. We’ll have to wait to see if there’s anything new on the software side, but we can tell you there have been a host of hardware changes, even if they don’t amount to a major upgrade.

First off, the new models are more rounded and much smaller than their predecessors. Judging by the label affixed to the underside — which we know is 44.65mm x 44.65mm (about 1.7 inches) — the latest Rokus are about the size of an Apple TV, and perhaps a bit smaller. Inside that tiny case is a new Broadcom 2835 SOC, an 802.11n radio, a MicroSD slot, Bluetooth, and (most exciting) a reset button — no more unplugging when Hulu freezes up. Oddly, only the XS retains the Ethernet jack, though the top of the line model ditches support for dual-band WiFi. The primary difference between the HD and XD models still appears to be the latter’s ability to push out 1080p video, while the XS adds a USB port and gets a spiffy new RF remote, which we’re hoping takes a cue from the Boxee clicker. While you impatiently await important information, like pricing and release date, check out the comparison chart after the break.

Continue reading Roku 2 line passes through the FCC with modest hardware updates and a reset button

Roku 2 line passes through the FCC with modest hardware updates and a reset button originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Space nerds, get your browsers ready — UrtheCast will soon be streaming HD video of Earth straight from the ISS. The system will actually consists of a pair of cameras, one still and one video, that will be mounted on the Russian arm of the station. The still shots will be very wide, covering about 30 miles with a resolution of 18-feet per pixel. Much more exciting will be the three feet per-pixel stream of 3.25fps video that will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You probably won’t be able to see yourself waving as the ISS passes overhead, but you should be able to spot your cardboard box fort house. The feeds won’t be your typical boring NASA fare either — you’ll be able to search, rewind, and tag objects or events, and UrtheCast is providing APIs for developers to build upon the service. The project won’t be launching until June 28th, so bide your time by checking out the video and PR after the break.

Continue reading UrtheCast to stream live HD footage of Earth from ISS, like Stickam for space

UrtheCast to stream live HD footage of Earth from ISS, like Stickam for space originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Jun 2011 09:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The good news is that Hulu Plus for Android is on the market, but the bad news is that you may not be able to install it yet. The official Hulu Blog has just been updated with news that six phones — Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Atrix — are on the compatible list with “additional device announcements” due later in the year. While there’s some crossover with the list of Netflix-compatible devices, it’s hardly complete and many flagship phones are still missing. Here’s hoping the tweakers can work their magic on that apk and get it running for the rest of us, whether we’re shelling out $7.99 a month or just want to leech some Chappelle’s Show eps on a free one week trial. If you can’t get it running yourself, check out a quick video demo embedded after the break.

[Thanks, Tyler, Isaac]

Continue reading Hulu Plus for Android is available now… for six devices

Hulu Plus for Android is available now… for six devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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