streaming

Today Westinghouse announced a line of TVs designed to work with the Roku Streaming Stick, a USB-key-size dongle that provides the functionality of a full-fledged Roku box -- our Editors' Choice for streaming video -- without having to connect additional wires.

The TVs have MHL (Mobile High Definition Link)-enabled HDMI inputs, into which the stick can be plugged. Numerous other MHL-equipped TVs will also be announced at CES next week, theoretically allowing them to also work with the Stick, but many will likely have their own smart TV suites built in, and few will be guaranteed such functionality by … Read more

It's frustrating when you share the Internet between multiple devices and some of them hog all the bandwidth, leaving the rest crawling. Qualcomm has something that could potentially ease this pain.

The mobile chipmaker today introduced its StreamBoost technology, which is designed to "optimize performance and capacity of home networks" by enabling the home router to intelligently manage the broadband connection. Qualcomm says the new technology allots to each connected device and each application the bandwidth it needs, and no more, to ensure the best possible experience on all connected devices.

It's important to note that … Read more

Want to rent a movie from Amazon Instant Video? Usually it'll cost you $4-5, depending on whether you choose the SD or HD version.

Today only, Amazon is letting you buy 22 popular movies for under $5 each.

And by "popular" I don't mean "Weekend at Bernies 2" and other Z-grade flicks you usually see at this price point. This sale includes Academy Award winners, personal favorites, and titles you'll find on AFI top-100 lists.

For example, you can get "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" for $4.98 … Read more

Millions of Instagram users are documenting their night as confetti is thrown, party horns are blown, and revelers count down to 2013. The photo-sharing social network has decided to put all of these photos in one place -- a desktop-optimized New Year's Eve photo stream.

"We love seeing photos shared from all different parts of the world," Instagram wrote in a blog post today. "At instagram.com/nye, you can see photos from every part of the world as the clock strikes midnight in a given time zone."

Spotify has rounded up its 2012, and revealed that Gotye, Rihanna, and David Guetta had huge years on its service.

According to Spotify, the most popular track this year was Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" both in the U.S. and worldwide. Fun's "We Are Young" and Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" rounded out the top three most popular songs in the U.S. this year.

Spotify then turned its attention to artists, and discovered that Rihanna was the most popular female artist this year. David Guetta took … Read more

VP9, the successor to Google's VP8 video compression technology at the center of a techno-political controversy, has made its first appearance outside Google's walls.

Google has built VP9 support into Chrome, though only in an early-stage version of the browser for developers. In another change, it also added support for the new Opus audio compression technology that's got the potential to improve voice communications and music streaming on the Internet.

VP9 and Opus are codecs, technology used to encode streams of data into compressed form then decode them later, enabling efficient use of limited network or storage … Read more

Deezer, a Spotify competitor operating internationally, has set its sights on the U.S.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal in an interview published today, Deezer CEO Axel Dauchez said that his company is "looking for a partner in the U.S." that would allow it to gain access to a "significant volume of subscribers."

It's not clear what Dauchez is looking for in a partner in the U.S.

Deezer's service is available in 160 countries. The company offers two free hours of ad-supported music streaming, but also has monthly plans ranging in … Read more

Roku is getting its groove on to deliver music streaming service Spotify and music video service Vevo to living room TVs via its set-top boxes.

Available only to paying Spotify subscribers on select Roku devices, the new music streaming offering allows users to listen to music and manage playlists. However, Spotify says new customers can try the premium subscription free of charge for 30 days.

"Spotify wants to make all of the world's music available for people to enjoy whenever and wherever they are," Pascal de Mul, global head of hardware partnerships at Spotify, said in a … Read more

Like movies? Like free stuff? Then today is definitely your lucky day.

For what promises to be a limited time, Walmart movie-streaming service Vudu is offering 10 free movies when you sign up for a new account. (Just click the green Sign Up button and you'll see the promo.)

This is a surprisingly no-strings attached offer. All you need to create an account is your name, e-mail address, and date of birth. Or, if you prefer, you can sign up using your Facebook account. Although Vudu will ask for billing information, you don't need to provide it (though … Read more