Hasta La Gadget!

Let’s be honest, as much as we all like to play film snob, we’re thinking more of you watch Family Ties, Star Trek and Cheers than the works of Bergman and Kurosawa. As long as that’s the case, perhaps the pain of losing Criterion’s content to Hulu Plus will be eased by word of a new deal with CBS bringing a slew of its older shows including the aforementioned plus Twin Peaks, The Twilight Zone and newer-but-not-new shows like Medium to the service for two years starting in early April. No word on how big of a check the now-20 million strong Netflix had to cut to pull this off, but the deal is non-exclusive, so you could see all of these on Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, Redbox or… you get the picture.

Continue reading Netflix signs up some TV shows from CBS’ library for Watch Instantly streaming

Netflix signs up some TV shows from CBS’ library for Watch Instantly streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We heard it was coming and now here it is. Amazon has flipped the switch on its “free” video streaming for Prime members, the service we’ve been hearing about for the past month or so. If you’ve already been taking advantage of subscription-based two-day shipping so that your impulse buys get to your door a little quicker you can now enjoy streaming of 5,000 pieces of “prime eligible” content, including some recent movies and a lot of TV shows, much of which will look awfully familiar if you’re also a Netflix subscriber. However, on some foreign films (like The Girl who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest above) you have the choice of subtitles or dubbed, and much of this content is still available to “rent” or “buy” if you want to be able to download it to a mobile device. We’re just checking out the service now and will be back with some impressions a little later.

Update: We’re hearing that this is only for paid Prime subscribers, so if you’re a college student or the like with a free membership you’re sadly out of luck. Also it’s US only at this point. Sorry!

Update 2: Check out our impressions!

[Thanks, Chris]

Continue reading Amazon launches Prime Instant Video, unlimited streaming for Prime subscribers

Amazon launches Prime Instant Video, unlimited streaming for Prime subscribers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s always seemed weird to us that given its advanced fiber technology Verizon’s FiOS TV service opted to deliver its channels the same way as traditional cable companies, but starting today users can taste the future since it’s added access to ESPN Networks online, following Time Warner and Brighthouse. That means you can stream the live ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Buzzer Beater (and ESPN Goal Line when football season begins again) channels over any broadband connection after heading over to FiOSTVCentral or ESPNnetworks.com to get started. Support for other authenticated devices, like tablets and phones is still in the works per its deal with Disney but for now viewing is strictly a computer-only thing.

Continue reading Verizon FiOS TV service now offers ESPN channels over the internet

Verizon FiOS TV service now offers ESPN channels over the internet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to Company Town, Redbox prez Mitch Lowe informed analysts yesterday that its upcoming online movie service would be subscription-based like Netflix and Hulu Plus instead of charging per-movie like iTunes, Zune or Amazon VOD (we can guess why.) Users would pay the monthly fee to stream to various devices (perhaps to the new iPhone and Android apps) and access discs at the kiosks. Lowe mentioned Redbox would have a partner in the service and while previous rumors pointed to CinemaNow, the Seattle Times suggests Walmart / Vudu and Amazon — rumored to be launching a subscription service of its own this month — as possibilities. Meanwhile, in its existing disc based business, word is Disney has decided to raise the amount it charges Netflix and Redbox for each DVD to the full wholesale price, although they’ll still be available the same day the DVDs go on sale.

Redbox is planning a Netflix-like subscription streaming movie service, could partner with Amazon or Walmart originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 05:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hulu Plus just got a whole lot more appealing for cinephiles. The streaming service just rolled out 150 properties from the Criterion Collection, perhaps the premiere pusher of amazing films, with that number expected to top 800 in “the coming months.” It’ll include the regulars, like plenty of offerings by Kurosawa, along with some films “so rare that they have never been seen in the U.S. in any medium.” Indeed this deal is available only in America, so we’ll send our apologies to our friendly neighbors to the north, but you’re certainly welcome to come on down on movie night. Just bring some popcorn. Naturally the quality here won’t match a Blu-ray and we’re guessing the usually epic Criterion special features won’t be streaming, but you can’t have everything for $7.99 a month.

Update: We got a note from Hulu indicating that, yes indeed, special features will be here too. Director commentary, deleted scenes, and lots of other bonus goodies will be coming to the mix. Maybe there’ll be something in there explaining the deep, hidden meanings of Sans Soleil. Oh, and it’s an exclusive deal, which is a bummer for Netflixers.

Update 2: Netflix is losing out in more ways than one: “All of the films that are currently on Netflix streaming will be down by the end of the year,” reads a somewhat bitter Criterion Collection post on Facebook. Criterion will continue to ship Netflix discs, but we all know that Netflix doesn’t care about those so much anymore.

[Thanks, Dan]

Criterion Collection now streaming on Hulu Plus, maybe Sanjuro and Hanbei will settle differences (update: Netflix and Hulu won’t) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 22:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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