Posted on Sep 28, 2009 by emily at 8:09 am
CNET recently announced that podcast aggregator, Mediafly will soon be available on the Roku media player. Mediafly will make content available from popular television and web content providers, including Comedy Central, CNN, ESPN, and NBC. While these programs are easily available on a PC, the Mediafly channel should provide a quick and easy way to enjoy them on a TV or living room audio system as well. The capability to access audio and video podcasts exists on competing products such as Apple TV and TiVo DVRs, but both of them are considerably more expensive than the $99 Roku box.
For the full story from CNET, click here.
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CNET, cnn, comedy central, espn, FrameChannel, mediafly, nbc, Netflix, podcast, roku, Set Top Box
Posted on Jul 29, 2009 by emily at 6:54 am
A CNet article today announced that Vudu’s Internet video-on-demand service will be coming to select LG TVs in August. The service will effectively embed the functionality of the Vudu BX100 set-top box into the televisions.
The Vudu feature will appear on LG’s LH50 LCDs and the PS80 plasmas along with other interactive features already on those sets, including Netflix, YouTube, and Yahoo Widgets.
Click here to read the article.
Posted on Jul 10, 2009 by emily at 7:55 am
LOS GATOS, Calif., July 9 — Netflix, Inc., (NASDAQ: NFLX) the world’s largest online movie rental service, today announced a partnership with Sony Electronics that will enable Netflix subscribers to instantly watch movies streamed from Netflix on Sony’s BRAVIA Internet Video-capable HDTVs and on previous BRAVIA models compatible with Sony’s BRAVIA Internet video link module.
In the fall, Netflix members on an unlimited plan can use the Sony BRAVIA Internet Video-capable HDTVs to instantly watch more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix.
Sony is the latest consumer electronics (CE) company to partner with Netflix. Other CE companies partnering with Netflix are Microsoft (with the Xbox360), LG Electronics, Roku, Samsung, TiVo and VIZIO.
Netflix members pay as little as $8.99 a month for unlimited streaming from a library of more than 12,000 choices and unlimited DVDs by mail from a library of more than 100,000 DVD titles in more than 200 genres.
“Sony has been a world leader in consumer electronics for decades,” said Netflix Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings. “We are proud to include Sony Electronics among our CE partners who continue to provide new and exciting ways for Netflix members to instantly watch movies and TV episodes in their living rooms on their TVs.”
About Netflix, Inc.
Netflix, Inc. is the world’s largest online movie rental service, with more than ten million subscribers. For one low monthly price, Netflix members can get DVDs delivered to their homes and can instantly watch movies and TV episodes streamed to their TVs and PCs, all in unlimited amounts. Members can choose from over 100,000 DVD titles and a growing library of more than 12,000 choices that can be watched instantly. There are never any due dates or late fees. DVDs are delivered free to members by first class mail, with a postage-paid return envelope, from 58 distribution centers. More than 97 percent of Netflix members live in areas that generally receive shipments in one business day. Netflix is also partnering with leading consumer electronics companies to offer a range of devices that can instantly stream movies and TV episodes to members’ TVs from Netflix. For more information, visit http://www.netflix.com/.
SOURCE: Netflix, Inc.
Web site: http://www.netflix.com/
Posted on Jun 8, 2009 by emily at 8:10 am
Lots of rumors have been circulating about the possibility of Hulu support on Roku players. With hundreds of movies and TV shows available on the Roku player from NetFlix and Amazon.com, the addition of Hulu could make Roku the top set top box.
This does beg the question – will Hulu remain free? News Corp’s (the company that owns Hulu) chief digital officer Jonathan Miller has been quoted saying he “envisions a future where at least some of the TV shows and movies on Hulu, the premium video site co-owned by News Corp., NBC Universal and Disney, are available only to subscribers.” A paid model would certainly put a dent in the overall number of Hulu users, but would likely be readily adopted by those with set top boxes.
Time will tell what the future holds for Hulu and Roku, but it seems like a great pairing. I know I’d be more likely to buy a Roku player if they added Hulu support.
Posted on Apr 8, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:15 am
Getting content from the web to the TV is a key goal for a lot of content companies these days. While set top boxes are one approach, those trying to reach that particularly tough young male demographic are targeting other hardware: game consoles.
All the major game consoles – Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii – have web connections and content delivered online. The Xbox boasts integration with Netflix to allow the online rental company’s Watch Instantly service to route through the box to TV.
Now, though, it appears that Netflix is looking to expand its domain and bring its service to both the PS3 and the Wii. Though these reports are basically in the rumor category for now, they make a lot of sense and point the direction a lot of content – not just video – may be headed in coming years.
Posted on Apr 1, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:11 am
As chronicled in this space over the last year or so., the integration of web-based video content and the living room entertainment center is accelerating and expanding seemingly every week.
One the leaders of that pack is TiVo, the DVR company whose set top boxes are already in thousands, if not millions, of homes. With two new moves, TiVo is making even greater strides in the web/couch integration space.
First, the company has announced that it’s teaming with Blockbuster to bring the video rental giant’s Blockbuster OnDemand video-streaming service to its set top boxes. This is in addition to an earlier deal with Blockbuster’s ach enemy, Netflix. Expect to see the fruits of this deal in the second half of 2009.
Second, TiVo and Amazon are working together to bring the web retailer’s Video on Demand HD offering to TVs. Dates for rollout are less clear on that one.
What is clear, though, is that web/TV integration is continuing to grow and that the set top box is one key point of growth. Streaming music is joining video as a prominent content type in this space and I suspect we’re going to see that menu broaden sooner than later.
