Hasta La Gadget!

Sony has just informed Euroland that its Qriocity on-demand ecosystem will be showing up in the continent’s wealthier regions this fall. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK will get a chance to savor the Video On Demand option, which will form the vanguard of a wideranging content streaming service, available on Sony networked devices — yes, that includes the do-it-all PlayStation 3. The heavyweight movie studios behind the venture include 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, NBC Universal, Paramount and, of course, Sony’s moviemaking arm. But you already knew that, given that the whole enchilada’s been available to American gringos since April. All Qriocity participants will get to use a new Music Unlimited service, which is launching by the end of the year with as yet undetermined pricing. Plans are also afoot to offer Qriocity on third party devices, but until then you’ll wanna make sure to have one of them newfangled web-connected Bravia TVs or any of the litany of Blu-ray players and home theater setups Sony is busy promoting right this minute.

Continue reading Sony Qriocity on-demand movie service extends into Europe, ‘Music Unlimited’ coming by year’s end

Sony Qriocity on-demand movie service extends into Europe, ‘Music Unlimited’ coming by year’s end originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perhaps you’ve heard that Apple’s investing in digital video distribution at the moment? Perhaps you’ve read that Amazon’s working on a subscription video network, too? Sony makes number three, as the Financial Times is reporting the electronics giant is looking to launch a multimedia platform of its own. Starting with the PlayStation 3 and PSP, and then later extending to internet-connected Sony TVs, Blu-ray players, Vaio computers and phones, the service will reportedly offer both music and video sometime next year in what’s no doubt an attempt to work out deep-seated guilt at the death of Connect. You won’t have to wait nearly that long, however, to find out what’s what — the publication says Sir Stringer intends to preempt Apple’s six-string reveal by announcing the PlayStation Network-based service from IFA 2010 in Germany. Call us crazy, but this sounds like a perfect fit for the Sony’s out-of-the-blue $130 Netbox.

[Thanks, dedparrot]

Sony’s scheming a streaming music and video subscription service, too? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At this point we’re fairly certain we’ll see updated iPods at Apple’s event on Wednesday, but we’re still in the dark when it comes to that updated iOS-based Apple TV — we know it’s in the works, but we don’t know if it’s coming this week. But if you’re feeling optimistic, a new Apple iTunes customer survey seems to offer a tiny little hint — it lists “Titles are available to watch instantly” as a reason you might totally love watching video on the iPad. Of course, you can’t watch iTunes videos “instantly” right now — the iPad requires the entire video file to download before playback begins, and the current Apple TV requires a fair bit of buffering — so this could be a big hint that instant streaming is coming quite soon. On the flipside, this could just be a mistake or oversight and actually mean nothing at all, but honestly, where’s the fun in that?

[Thanks, PeteO]

Apple survey hints at iTunes streaming video service coming soon? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week Netgear made a battery of new product announcements related to home entertainment and Powerline networking. On the media side, the NeoTV 550 & 350 HD players look a lot like last year’s Digital Entertainer Elite, minus the 500GB of internal storage and access to VOD services like CinemaNow. Both are however capable of playing a robust list of codecs in full HD from a variety of attached sources like USB, eSATA (in the case of the 550) or SD storage, as well as streaming content from UPnP, DLNA or WMP11 networks. The 550 adds in support for external Blu-ray drives and BD-Live too, all for $219, which should appeal any of the poor souls with an unused standalone drive.

Three new Powerline kits — AV 200, AV 500, and AV+ 500 — were also announced to help consumers avoid the pain of stringing Ethernet in every direction. The entry level AV 200 appears to improve on the previous HDXB101 kit by offering the same theoretical 200mbps in addition to push button security enhancements and greener power consumption. The AV 500 kit provides the same and ramps the networking speeds to up to — you guessed it — 500mbps, while the “+” version throws in a pass-through filtered AC socket to avoid sacrificing precious outlets. Priced all below $200, every kit will available by mid November for all the fall home networking networking your heart could desire. Peep the galleries and PR below for further details.

Continue reading Netgear announces NeoTV 550 & 350 HD Media Players plus other networking goodies

Netgear announces NeoTV 550 & 350 HD Media Players plus other networking goodies originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hulu Plus is more than just extra content, it’s an iOS, game console and TV-based app that streams in HD, but if programming is indeed your primary concern, you might be disappointed with what’s included in your $10 monthly fee. Research firm One Touch Intelligence decided to catalog each and every episode on Hulu and Hulu Plus, and discovered the paid service had 28,418 full-length episodes — only 14 percent more than regular Hulu’s 24,854 — during one week of testing in August. Looking at the sample chart immediately above, it’s plain to see you’re getting your money’s worth if you’re a Supernanny or Law & Order fan, but Hulu’s got a content deal or three to make if it wants Hulu Plus to leapfrog its existing ad-supported service.

Continue reading Hulu Plus has 14 percent more content than Hulu, 2,840 percent more Family Guy

Hulu Plus has 14 percent more content than Hulu, 2,840 percent more Family Guy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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