Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon’s Disc+ is simple and smart: buy a DVD or Blu-ray disc and get a free digital copy to stream right away and keep for later. It’s based on the premise that physical and streaming media go better together. Now, the program is expanding, going from just a few hundred titles at launch to over 10,000 today.

“Customers love instant gratification,” says Amazon’s Steve Oliver, “and this program allows customers to watch Disc+ On Demand titles instantly, without having to wait for their DVD or Blu-ray to arrive in the mail.”

Disc+’s expansion means more than it would have just a few months ago, as more televisions and set-top boxes offer direct support for Amazon’s VOD, including the new Roku Player, TiVo Premiere and Google TV. This makes the downloads much more valuable than just streaming the device to your laptop. And it’s a natural way for new customers who might be reluctant to pony up for download-only or streaming video to get familiar with the service.

Amazon started offering digital downloads with physical media purchases to customers years ago with music, leveraging their unique position as a top retailer of both physical and virtual media. The model is slowly growing in movies and television. Now we just need a Book+ program for books offering a Kindle edition bundled with hardcovers. Then we’re really talking about something.

See Also:

• Amazon Will Offer Video On Demand, Streaming Direct to TV
• Streaming Wars Heat Up: Now Amazon Reportedly Is in the Hunt …
• Amazon Prepares to sell HD TV Shows on Demand
• 7 Ways to Watch Web Video Without Google TV
• Amazon's Online Video Gambit

It may not be quite the same obvious transition that Netflix made, but it looks like DVD kiosk company Redbox will soon be making a push of its own into the streaming business. That word comes straight from the CEO of parent company Coinstar, Paul Davis, who told listeners to the company’s recent earnings call that it is in “detailed negotiations with a number of highly interested parties” to launch a “Redbox-branded” streaming service sometime next year. That would seem to suggest that Redbox will be relying on a partner already established in the field rather than rolling its own service, but Davis was otherwise light on details, adding only that streaming represents a “significant opportunity” for the company. That doesn’t mean Redbox will be getting out of the kiosk business anytime soon, though — according to Davis, there’s still a “long, profitable life ahead” there.

Redbox announces plans to enter streaming business next year originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aw, suki suki now! Roku — the guys responsible for taking over your living room — just announced that it’s making its hardware and software platform available to license. At first glance, you may assume this means little to nothing for consumers, but you’re (hopefully) mistaken. If you’ll recall, the Roku XD was rebranded in order to slip into Netgear’s vast sales channels, but the software part of this equation has our interest very much piqued. We’ve already seen Vudu’s software baked into a number of HDTVs, and we’re envisioning a future filled with world peace, In-N-Out for all and Roku-embedded television sets. We’ll take two outta three if we have to, though.

Continue reading Roku makes hardware and software available to license, embedded TVs can’t be far out

Roku makes hardware and software available to license, embedded TVs can’t be far out originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 17:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And now we’re at a crossroads. Apple is about to start hitting the wireless media streaming game hard with AirPlay and an armada of third party manufacturers. Meanwhile, Sonos is improving its already impressive streaming ecosystem with a now-shipping Sonos Wireless Dock (WD100) for your iPod or iPhone that can stream your device’s music digitally to any of your Sonos ZonePlayers. It’s not that bad a buy at $119, especially if you already have a big investment in Sonos. Plus, Sonos has plenty of other perks (like great support for online streaming music services) that it would be happy to point out to you. Still, we can’t help but wonder what this sort of product will look like in an AirPlay-contoured market, say, one year from now.

Continue reading Sonos Wireless Dock for iPod and iPhone is out now for $119

Sonos Wireless Dock for iPod and iPhone is out now for $119 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 11:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WD’s no stranger to the media streaming game, but things apparently just got serious. Gone is the My Book-esque design that has been used on all of the units prior, and in is a sleeker, sexier box that’s quite clearly designed to slip right on top of your existing cable set-top. The WD TV Live Hub is easily Western Digital’s most feature-packed streamer yet, with a 1TB HDD within for storing who knows what locally. There’s also an Ethernet socket for pulling down content via the web or your local network, and a pair of USB ports allow for storage expansion or transfers. Naturally, it’ll handle Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, Blockbuster on Demand and UPnP / DLNA streaming to your favorite game console, but the lack of inbuilt WiFi (it’s available via an optional adapter) puts a mild damper on an otherwise fantastic sounding product. It’s available immediately around the globe, with Americans able to snag one for $199.99 directly from WD or at Best Buy.

Update: Looks as if Desktop Review has a lengthy review on this guy, along with a slew of user interface shots. The botto line? It’s the best player yet from the company, though the price tag did present a bit of sadness. Hit it up for the full skinny.

Continue reading Western Digital stuffs 1TB HDD into Live Hub networked media streamer

Western Digital stuffs 1TB HDD into Live Hub networked media streamer originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 08:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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