streaming

Reed Hastings says rise of rivals helps Netflix

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings insisted today that the rise of rivals Amazon Prime Instant Video and Hulu Plus has actually helped the relationships his video streaming service has with studios.

The competition has led to bidding in the marketplace for programming, allaying studios' fears of Netflix dominance in video streaming.

"One fear they had is that we would run away with the prize.... They don't feel as strategically vulnerable," Hastings said at Morgan Stanley's Technology, Media & Telecom Conference this morning. "It's an overall healthier situation than it was two years ago."

Netflix, … Read more

DoubleTwist and Qualcomm to bring AirPlay-like streaming to Android

DoubleTwist, maker of the popular eponymous music player software, has teamed up with chip maker Qualcomm in an attempt to make wireless streaming easier for Android users. The fruit of their collaboration is dubbed MagicPlay, a new open-source wireless streaming platform that the two companies hope OEMs will integrate into present and future devices.

Built atop Qualcomm's already existing AllJoyn platform, DoubleTwist's MagicPlay can stream to wireless speakers, headphones, televisions, and other devices. Since MagicPlay is open-source, any number of devices or apps could potentially integrate its code and stream to hardware that has a Qualcomm chip and … Read more

Oscar awards show can now be seen online via ABC, Hulu

Those of you who missed the Oscars on TV last night can catch the entire show online.

As of 3 a.m. PT this morning, the full awards ceremony has been available for streaming through several outlets, including ABC.com, the ABC Player app for iOS, the free Hulu site, Hulu Plus, and ABC On Demand.

The streaming Oscars will be available only until this Wednesday at 9 p.m. PT. The online version will also offer its fair share of commercials. But the ads will be short and sweet -- 15 to 30 seconds in length.

"Tonight's … Read more

Live stream your life with Looxcie HD (hands-on)

BARCELONA, Spain--If you live an extraordinarily fascinating life and believe that everyone should be able to witness every glorious second of it as it happens, the Looxcie HD may well be the gadget for you. It's a video camera that's small enough to attach anywhere on your person that, thanks to its built in Wi-Fi, allows you to live stream everything to your Facebook wall.

Like the ever-popular GoPro Hero range of video cameras, the Looxcie HD is designed to be as small and inconspicuous as possible. It's small enough to sit comfortably in the palm of … Read more

Google in talks with labels over streaming music service -- report

When your market cap is north of $263 billion and the company's stock price is hovering around the $800 level, the prevailing question du jour becomes "well, why not?"

So it is that we learn, courtesy of the Financial Times, that Google has been talking with the major music labels about a possible streaming music service. The Times report said that "it is expected that the streaming service will offer a subscription model as well as free unlimited access to songs, supported by advertising, mirroring models adopted by Spotify and Deezer."

What with everyone seemingly … Read more

The 404 1,213: Where Sphere says no to 'Yes to the Dress' (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Is Spotify unfair to musicians?

- Spotify reports net loss of $59 million 2011.

- Spotify will pay $500 million to artists and rights holders in 2013.

- Benford's law, also called the first-digit law.

- Godwin's Law, also known as Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies.

- The Audiophiliac wants to see your audio system.

- Are the Monoprice 9774 speakers inspired by, or knocks-offs of, the Energy Take Classic 5.1?… Read more

The 404 1,212: Where there's a PS4...in the controller? (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Sony PS4 is official: Coming in 2013, but design and price remain a mystery.

- Five unanswered questions about PlayStation 4.

- Sony: Fear not, the PlayStation 4 will play used games.

- Making sense of the PS4 game lineup.

- Sony plans second-screen app for PlayStation 4.

- Sony mum on PlayStation Vita price drops for U.S., Europe.

- Microsoft spokesman takes potshot at PS4 event.

- Sony PS4 event skewered in animated parody.… Read more

Slacker Radio gets a new look, same great content

Slacker Radio is a great option for listening to streaming radio with an intuitive interface that makes it easy to find what you want quickly. To use Slacker you must sign up for an account or log in with your Facebook credentials.

After logging in, the blue-tiled interface gives you several options for launching stations. You can search for artists using a field at the top, check out the Music Guide curated by Slacker, or search by genres, stations you've previously listened to, specialty stations, or news, talk, and sports stations. Each selection on the first screen leads to … Read more

Five unanswered questions about PlayStation 4

Update, Feb. 21, 2013: We've added several bonus questions, as the more we learn about the PS4, the more we realize we don't know.

NEW YORK--Now that Sony has officially unveiled its next-generation living room game console, it's time to start speculating about all the important details that were left out of the press conference.

We know, for example, that the name of the system is PlayStation 4, and that it will feature a mix of disc-based and cloud-based games, and also that the new controller -- a modified version of the classic Sony game pad -- is adding a small touch panel.

We also know that Sony plans to push a wide-ranging list of games at launch (whenever that is), including Killzone: Shadow Fall, Watch Dogs, and The Witness. That's a deep software bench, and shows a clear emphasis on games and content, but many important questions about the PlayStation 4 hardware and user experience have been left unanswered. … Read more