hbo

Strategy Analytics recently gathered some information about how the apps Hulu Plus, HBO Go, and Netflix are faring in Apple's App store.

The research firm's report collects the rankings for each of the companies' apps once a week. Strategy Analytics' data from May 2 to June 20 showed Hulu Plus to be well behind Netflix and HBO Go in popularity.

Some observers suspect that Hulu Plus has failed to catch on with consumers. One of the top complaints about the service is that Hulu Plus charges a monthly subscription in addition to requiring users to watch ads. Netflix … Read more

When it comes to fantasy shows on HBO right now, I'm more of a "Game of Thrones" kind of guy, but I've been hearing a lot of chatter about the new season of "True Blood" as well. As V-Moda continues to offer more personalized headphones, the company's latest addition to the lineup is a partnership with HBO to bring "True Blood" fans a special-edition V-80 on-ear headphone.

The hardware features dual "ear shield" covers that pop off and allow the user to customize the design to go along with favorite images from the show, including a night club, Fagtasia, and the Japanese symbols you see on the "Tru Blood" beverage. V-Moda goes a step further and even lets you choose your own blood type to laser etch onto the earpiece, bringing you that much closer to the action.

In terms of the headphones themselves, the V-80 model is V-Moda's lightweight mobile headphone that features dual 40mm drivers and an extra bass push without the hassle of popping in extra batteries (looking at you, Monster). Other accolades for the V-80 include a Kevlar-wrapped cable, integrated remote control and microphone, and a "True Blood" exclusive "exoskeleton" protective case with a blood vial zipper.

The True Blood V-80 headphones are available now at the HBO online store and other online retailers for $230.

More pictures of the True Blood V-80s after the break.… Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down California's attempt to ban the sale of violent video games to minors, arguing that the current ratings system is enough to let parents make informed decisions about what to buy. Unlike the MPAA's rating system, which led me and my 4-year-old to "Cars 2." Thanks for that, MPAA. Also, LulzSec tucks its puppykicker tail and runs away, but not before hacking a librarian and book-sharing Website. Nice.

If you don't believe cord cutting exists and that there isn't any competition between Netflix and cable programmers, then you needn't read on.

If on the other hand, you at least see the potential for Netflix to some day snatch customers away from the cable guys, then take note: this weekend HBO expects to see the 3 millionth download of the HBO Go app, which debuted on May 2, a company spokesman told CNET. There are 28 million HBO subscribers in the United States so the 3 million downloads would indicate that roughly 10 percent of the … Read more

Feature films could be part of Apple's iCloud launch next week.

In the past several weeks, Apple executives have stepped up their attempts to convince some of the major Hollywood film studios to issue licenses that would enable Apple to store its customers' movies on the company's servers, two sources close to the negotiations told CNET. Apple began discussing a cloud service with the studios over a year ago.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Apple announced today that next Monday, the start of the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, it will unveil the iCloud, a long-anticipated service … Read more

HBO's mobile app has apparently caught on quickly.

Speaking yesterday at the Streaming Media East conference, HBO co-President Eric Kessler said HBO Go's mobile application, which is available on iOS- and Android-based devices, was downloaded over 1 million times during the first week of availability. The free app launched April 29.

HBO Go itself launched on the Web last year. The service offers a wide range of HBO content, including movies, original series, and documentaries. Currently, it has about 1,400 titles available. However, the service is not available to everyone.

AT&T, Dish, Verizon, and DirecTV … Read more

In this episode, we talk about how cable companies' attempt to port their services to digital apps both frustrates and confounds us, the debut of the NFL 2011 iPad app, what's new in Netflix streaming, and how busy broadcast news was this week--from the royal wedding to the reported death of Bin Laden.

Bonus: You can download the show's theme song as a free MP3 here for a limited time! … Read more

Dear HBO,

Hey. It's me, Scott. Remember me? I used to be an HBO subscriber, back when I had cable. That was about a year and a half ago. It's been a while. I miss you a little. Hope you're doing OK.

I mean, I hear you are. Everyone's talking about your latest shows. "Game of Thrones" sounds great. I used to follow some of the others. Now, I've sort of lost track. I've been doing great, by the way. I'm watching TV on Hulu Plus and Netflix, and getting by. … Read more

On today's show, the iPhone is apparently storing your location data even when you've turned off the location tracking services. And law enforcement agencies and a cottage industry of iOS forensics companies have been taking advantage of these logs for years. Nevertheless, Steve Jobs appears to insist in an email to a customer that Apple is not tracking anyone. Really. Hunch shows you why you love both hummus and Macs, even if you don't love Apple. Plus, Sony is rebuilding its PlayStation Network security after its now five-day outage, and an innocent man is accused of child pornography because it's still just too damn hard to put a password on a WiFi network. --Molly