streaming

Netflix to discontinue sales of used DVDs

Netflix plans to stop selling DVDs that were rented by subscribers, another step toward expanding its subscription focus from DVDs rented by mail to include movies streamed over the Web.

In a Netflix blog posting Monday, the company announced that it would discontinue sales of previously viewed DVDs on November 30:

As you know, our core business is delivering great movie rentals to you on DVD by mail and instantly to the computer and TV, so we've decided it makes sense for us to focus exclusively on that. This means we will stop selling previously viewed DVDs through the … Read more

Netflix welcomes Mac users to 'Watch Instantly'

Netflix has expanded its "Watch Instantly" movie-streaming player to include Macintosh-owning subscribers.

The company announced on its blog Friday that it is past its first phase of beta testing and invited subscribers who wanted to opt in to do so. But the company had a few warnings for prospective users:

• There may be bugs. We are logging all errors, but if you run into problems, you can help out by posting details here in the blog comments.

• Not all movies are available to watch with Silverlight. You may notice errors or lower than normal quality when … Read more

Xbox 360 to offer first-ever Netflix HD streaming

When Microsoft unveiled the plan for the new Xbox Live experience back at E3 2008, we were thrilled to hear that Netflix instant streaming was among the features announced.

That news just got a little sweeter now that Engadget HD is reporting that Xbox 360 owners will also be able to stream selected Netflix titles in HD.

While a list of HD-ready movies is not immediately available, some 300 titles will be ready for HD streaming when the service launches--along with the new Xbox Live experience--November 19.

Judging from the screen grab, it looks like the Netflix 360 player … Read more

Microsoft, Akamai team up on high-def video streams

Microsoft and Akamai Technologies are teaming up on high-definition video streaming efforts for PCs, the companies said Tuesday.

Akamai plans to release a beta service, AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight, early next year to select media customers. It will run on Windows Server 2008 with Microsoft's Silverlight media player.

The move comes as broadband increasingly becomes a fixture in homes and as consumer expectations grow for smooth-running video on PCs. The clarity of HD images is also ramping up in consumer interest in video on PCs.

Microsoft will bring its new Web server technology, Internet Information Services 7.0 … Read more

Qik announces streaming video for BlackBerry

California mobile video company Qik on Sunday announced the alpha release of version 1.0 of Qik for BlackBerry. The free, downloadable application (covered here and demoed here) lets cell phone filmmakers stream video live from their mobile phone to Qik.com, social networks like MySpace, Orkut, and Facebook, and to any personal blog.

When you're done filming, Qik also plays a post-production role by auto-publishing the recorded video stream to YouTube or Seismic. You can opt out by turning the feature off before or during the stream.

At the outset, Qik's alpha download will only be available … Read more

Streaming Google results are back

When I fired up my Mozilla Firefox browser this morning, I received an unpleasant surprise. I tried my first Give Me Back My Google search of the day, only to be confronted with a 10 search results and a "Next" button for more results. What the deuce?

I haven't seen a "Next" button for Google results in a few years, ever since I installed the CustomizeGoogle extension for Firefox way back when. Along with key features such as ad blocking, secure connections for Google Docs and Gmail, and alternative search-engine results, my favorite feature of … Read more

Featured Freeware: Orb

This is not a flashback to the chart-defying tricks of ambient house music progenitors The Orb, although if you have their music you can use this Orb to play it anywhere. No, this Orb melds module-based personal portals with your hard drive's media content and lets you stream it to almost any Internet-connected handheld device, including iPhones.

The setup will probably be challenging to users who aren't familiar with how to open ports, but, fortunately, there's plenty of help in Orb's user forums. Once you're good to go, the program launches in your browser and … Read more

Lala's awesome music locker service

I wrote about the latest version of Lala when it started beta-testing back in May. At the time, I dismissed it as a weird hybrid between all-you-can-eat subscription services like Rhapsody and free streams from the likes of Imeem. I didn't understand who'd pay 10 cents to stream a song an unlimited number of times when there are already plenty of free (mostly ad-supported) streaming sites out there.

So I was surprised to see reviews of that service Monday that used words like "spectacular" and "revolution." As it turns out, Lala has made a … Read more

Microsoft ready for Silverlight's second act

Updated 9:20 a.m. PDT, with comments from conference call and at 10:20 with additional comments regarding Silverlight and the iPhone.

Microsoft on Monday announced, as expected, that it is ready with a final version of its Silverlight 2 media player.

Silverlight 2 will be available for download starting Tuesday, Microsoft said. Among the new features are support for digital rights management technology, improved cross-platform support and deep zoom technology. Microsoft also announced a range of new partners including AOL, Blockbuster, CBS College Sports, Toyota, and Yahoo Japan.

Microsoft also disclosed some numbers for the Olympics work it did with NBC. … Read more