Video Archives - Page 29 of 122

Roku Brings HBO GO To The Living Room

We’ve been pining for HBO GO on our HDTVs for some time. While we’ve seen some hacks and support is supposedly headed to Samsung devices this fall, I’ve got even better news to share with you today. As all Roku models will receive access to a dedicated HBO GO app by the end of the month. … Read more

CNET’s Sony SMP-N200 Streamer Review

There’s been a decent amount of interest in Sony’s new SMP-N200 digital media streamer – at least amongst those in the know as we’ve yet to see much marketing. Like many other players in this space, such as the recently revised WDTV Live and Apple TV, Sony’s latest iteration clocks in at the $100 price … Read more

Western Digital Refreshes WDTV Live Hardware

Western Digital has refreshed their WDTV Live line today and the new 1080p streamer ($100) features two notable upgrades over its WDTV Live Plus predecessor. First, WD has integrated 802.11n wireless capabilities – finally putting that competitive disadvantage to bed. Second, it inherits the richer UI as found on its big brother – the 1TB WDTV Live Hub (~$200). This iteration of the WDTV Live is bundled with the Hub’s somewhat larger remote that includes a numeric keypad. It’s not the most attractive thing, but it gets the job done on anything other than text entry and is certainly more practical than the minimalistic AppleTV remote. Also, on the hardware front, the new unit follows the industry trend of dropping component output. Regardless, the WDTV Live comes better equipped in the connectivity department than aTV or the Roku 2. The WDTV Live shares the same footprint as the prior generation model but it’s shorter and sleeker with enough heft that your HDMI cable won’t pull it off the TV stand (as it might a diminutive Roku 2).

Microsoft TV is About Cable Testing IP

Microsoft formally announced partners for its latest Xbox TV initiative today. In addition to Comcast and Verizon FiOS (two partners that were leaked last week), Xbox owners will be able to access content in varying degrees from Bravo, HBO Go and Syfy in the US, along with BBC in the UK, Telefonica in Spain, Rogers … Read more

Why Is Verizon Sweating Netflix?

Click to enlarge.

Apparently Verizon didn’t get the memo: If it’s Netflix versus cable, the MSOs have won. Verizon seems to think Netflix is some sort of competitor given recent FiOS TV customer outreach. As you can see in the photo at the bottom, for months, Verizon has run video on demand television commercials that prominently display their new release titles are available 4 weeks before Netflix DVD rentals. And today, I received the email below with a subject line that reads, “Want to know how FiOS beats Netflix?” Verizon does score a few points for calling out Netflix’s upcoming boneheaded division of services:

Netflix now makes you go to two places and pay two prices to watch movies on both streaming and DVDs.

Irrespective of Netflix’s upcoming split, for most of us, they’re just not direct competition to a cable company’s video on demand offering. There’s a sizable and growing contingent of cord cutters who utilize Netflix, amongst other services and other-the-air broadcast, to round out their entertainment options. But for those of us who subscribe to both cable and Netflix, the streaming service primarily and economically augments pay TV with a wide array of supplemental content — including back catalog movies or more obscure content and entire television seasons.

Will Amazon Abandon The iPad?

As expected, Amazon went ahead and launched their tablet entrant earlier this week. And while the Kindle Fire ($199) isn’t some mythical dual-screen affair, the 7″ Android-based slate is a unified portal into Amazon’s online content services — including video streaming, MP3 playback, and of course e-books and digital periodicals. All which makes me wonder … Read more

Roku Channels Disney Video (the short kind)

Roku’s line of digital media streamers lands Disney video today. While it’s not full length movie or television content, the companies are providing hundreds of short-form video segments from Disney.com. As you can see from the brief walk-thru I filmed, it’s an interesting mix of entertainment and advertisement. And a pretty good deal at the … Read more

Roku Confirms Official YouTube Channel Under Development

While many of us continue to enjoy the rogue Roku YouTube channel that Google asked to be removed, we finally have word of official support that would enable new customers to partake: We are working on the channel and know just how much our customers want it. Hopefully, I’ll have a date for launch soon, … Read more