Although I haven't looked at the numbers myself, hearsay indicates that the gaming industry is really in a slump--which is only offset by the repurposing of consoles as all-encompassing home entertainment devices. A good friend made a valid note which clarifies an argument that has never been clearly expressed by those attempting to make it: while mobile gaming isn't 1:1 competitive in quality and depth, it's scratching an itch that's never been satiated before. Such casual gaming is taking the...
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I have a simple feature request for Hulu, Netflix, and all of the other online video services out there: let us cache programming for offline viewing. I know I can't be the only one out there who'd love to be able to load up my phone or tablet with a few hours of movies and shows before getting on airplane, or just to be able to watch something while I'm out of the house without having to worry about chewing up my battery by pulling down all that data over 4G. We've already seen streaming services...
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Great to see that Netflix is going to launch in the UK. We desperately need more content for our Smart TVs and Lovefilms streaming options have been pretty poor.
Reed Hastings has announced on the Netflix blog that the streaming and DVD services will both be staying under the Netflix banner, one site, under one password, indivisible with liberty and justice for all (actually, the price increases will remain). http://blog.netflix.com/2011/10/dvds-will-be-staying-at-netflixcom.html So in short, no Qwikster. The haste with which they've reversed this makes me wonder how on earth they didn't anticipate the backlash. It isn't like they knew there would be a...
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I'm really stoked that Netflix Qwikster is adding video games to their catalog, but I'm not so sure breaking the companies up is the best idea. I get that there are a ton of reasons why they might want to do it, and I actually think their concerns about doing the best possible job at each discipline (media-by-mail vs. streaming media) is admirable. The thing I'm worried about, though, is the user experience. Really, that's it. The fact that Qwikster strikes me as a crappy brand is irrelevant. One...
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On the Netflix blog CEO Reed Hastings just announced that Netflix's DVD-by-mail service is being split off into a new service called Qwikster, with the streaming remaining under the Netflix brand. http://blog.netflix.com/2011/09/explanation-and-some-reflections.html Movie selection and queue management will now be found at Qwikster.com, and apparently they will also start offering game rentals for Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 for an extra fee, just like they do for Blu-ray right now. He says that...
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Sign up for it here: http://gdgt.com/newsletter/ *** The past few months have been big ones for the future of television: the Boxee Box finally shipped, Hulu Plus rolled out of beta, the first Google TV boxes and TV sets came out, Apple rebooted Apple TV, and Netflix announced a streaming-only option. There's no denying that more and more households are canceling their cable or satellite in favor of getting their TV online, and while the numbers are still relatively small, it's...
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And you can use a bluetooth keyboard to it. Can Netflix access the video out through the dock connector or is it just for Apple's own apps? And now the Apple Tv makes even less sense.
When I first got my Wii, I played it all the time, and I loved it. But as soon as I got an Xbox, the poor Wii was left unused. I moved it from my living room into the bedroom, where it sat for months never even being turned on. It took my wife 2 or 3 months to notice that I hadn't even plugged the Wii into anything. Now that we have the Netflix disc, the Wii has gone from not being used to being a way to watch Netflix from the bedroom! So now my Wii has a purpose again. Of course the much...
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The 3G has remained on the entire time and the WiFi is turned off. I have streamed two movies over the AT&T network and it never skipped a beat. I live on the outskirts of my town and have never gotten a good enough broadband connection to stream Netflix, so I'm stoked right now! I've also streamed YouTube, Vimeo video, played games, and surfed the web. As for battery life? I'm at 38% right now! That means I've probably got at least a couple more hours before I have to worry...
So I just read the Engadget article about the Wii Netflix discs shipping... normally I would be pretty happy but now I know this will go unused in my home. Let me tell you why. I keep getting this message from Netflix: "YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR LIMIT OF 6 DEVICES". When I go to my account and click "Manage Netflix ready devices and computers", it shows a list of 6 devices registered - the list goes: Xbox 360, PS3 System, PC, Xbox 360, Xbox 360, Roku. Now I know this isn't a...
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I have a netflicks account and I just wanted to know if I could watch netflicks on it? Oh, and on more thing how do I hook my computer desktop to my T.V.?
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/13/netflix-streamin... So now the Wii much like PS3 will also have netflix using the DVD streamdisc. No HD but should be DVD quality and with broadband should be just fine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am getting a Roku pretty soon anyway but I like that now all 3 systems have it. It will probably be the least used hardware to distribute netflix media but hey...
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We have a television, and a high speed internet connection, but because of some conflicts with a cable provider we have decided to forgo cable or satellite television. So now we're looking into what the best way to get television content is. We have a very basic HDTV, nothing special. I'm not really a fan of smart TVs because they lack longevity, so I'd like to stick with a device that can stream television content to our TV. What device would be best for that? We have a Netflix account, so it...
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I've been thinking about getting my own Amazon Prime account so I can take advantage of Amazon's VOD service. I was just wondering how the library, quality and speed was comparative to other streaming services?
I am trying to hook up my RCA Blu Ray player model #BRC11082 to our wireless internet to stream Netflix, but when I go to the set up menu it will not let me choose the wireless option. How do I get my dvd player to pick up the wireless signal?
When Qwikster was announced, video game rentals were one of the services that were promised (I think?) to the consumer. Will Netflix continue to work towards providing that service since they have decided not to split the company's services into two brands?
It's getting to be a hassle to find stuff to watch on Netflix so I thought I'd ask for people's list of favorite movies, documentaries, series, whatever. Can be as long or as short as you'd like. Also, if you have any great links to sites that list or make it easier to find good streaming content on Netflix, please share.
Hey all, I just got a new laptop yesterday and started it up today to find that the date was set to Friday, September 30th (it's the 29th currently here). I changed it back to the 29th in the time/date settings menu, so that worked, but when I go to Netflix I get a DRM error that tells me that: "We're sorry, but there is a problem playing protected (DRM) content. The date on your computer is set to 9.29.11, which may be incorrect. Please correct the date on your computer and try again." The only...
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It looks like Qwikster neé Netflix is getting into the game rental business, are you going to start using them for game rentals? Do you use Gamefly already? Will you switch to Qwikster?
According to Mashable, some users are now experiencing a strict cap on the number of movies they can have streaming at one time—as they can only stream one movie at a time. (It doesn't affect streaming a movie and a TV show at the same time, apparently.) http://mashable.com/2011/09/06/netflix-movie-strea... However, I just tried streaming a movie on my Wii and a movie on my laptop, and they worked just fine. Comments on Mashable seem to indicate that DVD + streaming plans (like the one I...
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Since 2008 Netflix subscribers have had access to "Starz Play," which let them view content that was licensed to (or created by) Starz via Netflix without having a Starz subscription. This included new movies from Sony and Disney, as well as original programming like Camelot and Spartacus. The contract was four years, but renewal talks broke down last week, so Starz Play will be shut down after February 28, 2012. The writing's been on the wall for a while—Sony movies were pulled from Netflix...
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If I were to want to let my gold account expire, I couldn't stream Netflix on the TV anymore. The Netflix experience is very good on 360. Are there any other hardware devices, such as the Roku HD or similar, that are comparable or better for streaming (and searching Netflix? I guess I could use WMC (Win 7 version) also. I've heard rather bad things about Netflix built in to hardware (blu-ray players mostly), though that maybe wifi issues and not the hardware necessarily.
Looking for a well-rated Blu-ray player that has wireless built in (no dongles). Netflix support also seems to be sketchy with many -- it's available but has issues. So a player that has no Netflix problems is preferred.
Today Netflix expanded support of it's mobile app to 24 more android devices, as reported by engadget ( http://engt.co/r5VAZk ). If you were planning to cancel your subscription after the recent rate hikes, will this make you reconsider?
I'm in the market for a Honeycomb tablet, and the full-sized USB port and $300 price tag ($100 off coupon at Staples until July 31) is drawing me to Acer's tablet. I've still been hesitant because I'd love to have Netflix on it, but with the new version of the Netflix app today working on several other tablets, I'd love to get confirmation that it is working on the Acer ICONIA. Thanks in advance!
Tim Stevens wrote an interesting editorial on this topic over at Engadget.com. He proposes that Netflix should charge $7.99 for the streaming plan, and then charge a la carte at the rate of $2 per DVD / 3$ per Blueray. I wonder if people here at gdgt would agree with his proposal? You can check out the full article here: http://engt.co/pKfRcS
Personally, I'm not a fan. I've always loved Netflix and what they've been doing, but this is a big price hike. I'm a little irritated they haven't addressed the fact that this makes Bluray renting rather price-prohibitive. All they're doing here is stopping the free streaming that DVD subscribers have gotten for so long, and these new price plans make it more difficult to justify spending the money they're charging. I think my biggest problem with the changes is that Netflix seems to have an...
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Netflix announced today that they're changing up their pricing scheme. First, they're launching (or re-launching) DVD-only plans: $7.99 for one DVD out at a time, $11.99 for two DVDs out at a time. Second, they're splitting up the DVD and streaming plans, and charging more for each. $7.99 for DVDs (one at a time), $7.99 for unlimited streaming, get both for a combined price of $15.98. My current plan is two DVDs at a time + streaming. I currently pay $14.99, but in September it's going up to...
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I love my Roku. I use it primarily for Netflix and MLB.tv. Someone told me yesterday that the programming offered by Hulu Plus on Roku is much more limited than what is offered on the Web. Is that true? What exactly is the difference?