Streaming media

55 'Streaming media' stories September 2011 - November 2012

Amazon Prime now available as a $7.99/month plan (Updated)

9to5 Staff Nov 6 2012 - 3:32 am PT

Update: An Amazon spokesperson says this is just a test (but you still can order this per month)“We are always looking at ways to improve the shopping experience for our customers. We are testing a monthly Prime subscription. Beyond that, we don’t have anything further to offer.”

It appears Amazon is joining Hulu and Netflix with a monthly subscription plan for its Prime video streaming service, according to a new pricing scheme found by Hacking Netflix. Some users are seeing the new pricing scheme come up, while others see only the $79/year options (compare right and above).

Amazon also offers a one-month free trial (Hulu free trial, Netflix free trial).

In addition to the free streaming video service, users of Amazon’s Prime get access to free two-day shipping on product orders (amazing to have for the holidays—especially on a month-to-month basis), as well as access to the Kindle lending library.

While Amazon’s streaming player isn’t yet available on Apple TV like Netflix/Hulu, its recent iPad app has impressed us. The $7.99/month price comes out to $95.88 per year. So, if you aren’t timid about joining Prime, it is probably better to jump on the $79/year plan.

9to5Toys.com deals: Get a new Toshiba Wifi-ready BluRay player with Netflix for $30, or a Toshiba 24″ 1080P slim HDTV for $150

With more and more first rate content, according to a recent Changwave/451 Group study, Amazon’s Prime streaming service is said to be gaining on industry heavyweight Netflix (graphed below):
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Spotify expanding into Canada soon, with further plans for Asia and South America. Hulu gets a facelift

Jake Smith Aug 22 2012 - 5:39 am PT

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Spotify made a huge stride when it launched in the United States in July 2011, which opened a partnership with Facebook that has paid off. The music streaming company looks to be expanding even further, as the Wall Street Journal reported this morning that Spotify is expected to launch in Canada soon. Furthermore, Spotify may also expand into Asia and South America. Spotify’s latest annual accounts tipped WSJ off on the news:

Last year, Spotify established subsidiaries in Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong, all places where its service isn’t yet available. Spotify is currently available in 15 countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Germany, and recently launched in Australia and New Zealand. Company spokeswoman Sofie Grant declined to elaborate on the details of the company’s expansion plans, but said Spotify “of course plans to launch in new countries.”

Many ditched Apple’s iTunes and services like Pandora for Spotify, including me, because the ease of building playlists and finding new music on Spotify is certainly impressive. The only downfall is that the premium plan costs $10 a month, which offers unlimited music without ads, but I find the money to be worth it. Spotify recently introduced a free unlimited radio — launched on its Android — in July.

In other media news, Hulu, which just recently came to Apple TV, got a bit of a facelift on the web.

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iTunes Match rolling out in Poland, Hungary and others today?

Jordan Kahn Jul 19 2012 - 7:27 am PT

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[tweet https://twitter.com/Fallen_Zen/status/225881467727773696]

We received several tips that Apple started rolling out the iTunes Match service in Poland, Hungary, and possibly a few other unconfirmed markets. Apple’s official list of availability for iTunes Match by country has not been updated to include Poland, Hungary, or any additional markets, but currently lists 55 countries with access to the service. Local reports claim the service is available for 24.99 euros in Hungary, which is on par with pricing in other markets.

Let us know in the comments if you notice iTunes Match available in your country.

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MOG unlimited music hits the iPad ahead of Spotify

9to5 Staff Mar 25 2012 - 5:22 pm PT

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[slideshow]

MOG is a Spotify-like service that streams 14 million songs to your devices and allows you to download music for offline viewing. The free version allows you to stream music against advertising. Meanwhile, the $4.99 version allows you to not only listen to ad-free music but also download music. The $9.99/month version allows unlimited downloads on mobile devices. Today, MOG added one new big device to its list: The iPad.

The iPad version (not universal?) hit the App Store today joining the earlier iPhone version. Perhaps, if you like your music on a native iPad-sized app, it is time to move to MOG (14-day free trial here with unlimited downloads).

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New iPad users blowing by their monthly plan in hours thanks to LTE

Jordan Kahn Mar 21 2012 - 6:35 am PT

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While it is no secret that LTE devices are capable of burning through data quicker than their 3G counterparts burn, several reports claim many new iPad users are concerned about how quickly they are reaching their data cap. In some cases, users reported reaching their 2GB monthly cap within hours of just streaming video. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journalthatprofiled several disgruntled AT&T and Verizon customers, Apple’s “promise of superfast wireless connections collides with the reality of what those services cost.”

Doing some math that any consumer could: LTE speeds often hit 2 Megabytes/second. You would hit 2GB in 1000 seconds—or under 17 minutes.

One man profiled in the story, Brandon Wells, went through 2GB of his Verizon plan streaming March Madness college basketball games to his new iPad. WSJreports:

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Skype adds Facebook-to-Facebook calling to desktop client

9to5 Staff Nov 17 2011 - 7:36 am PT

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Skype announced in a blog post today a new version of its desktop client that supports Facebook0-to-Facebook video calls and other enhancements such as smoother video rendering on the Mac platform and group screen sharing for Windows users with a Premium subscription, which is currently available for Mac users. Users who are chatting one-on-one will also be able to screen share with live video streaming.

The Facebook video calling is obviously the most interesting feature. You could previously see your Facebook friends’ social feed, like posts and update your Facebook status from within the Skype app and now you can call them in-app:

Initiating a Facebook-to-Facebook call from within Skype is quite easy; all you need to do is connect your Skype and Facebook accounts. Then, select a Facebook friend and hit the video call button in Skype- your friend simply picks up the call from Facebook.

If Skype weren’t such a unwieldy app, we’d be tempted to consider it as a replacement for Facebook clients. To get the aforementioned features, download Skype 5.4 Beta for Mac or Skype 5.7 Beta for Windows.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v=DO5GbYHv7HM]

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Netflix spins off by-mail group as Qwikster

Seth Weintraub Sep 19 2011 - 3:14 am PT

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Some interesting news from Netflix this morning: They are spinning off their by mail group, which will also include video games and giving it a new name ‘Qwikster’.

While the video below and the announcement blog post set a conciliatory tone for the way the recent changes (price hikes) happened, those changes are still in place and will continue going forward.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Tn8n5CIPk]

In fact, it sounds like Netflix is set to spin off its old mailing business in the future even though in-house Qwikster now sells game rentals as well as movies and TV shows.

The future of video and gaming is clearly streaming and it appears that Netflix doesn’t want to be associated with that entity.

Apple, for what it is worth, has been shunning optical for years, refusing to put Blu-ray optical discs in its Macs or Apple TV products and instead pushing the streaming of media.