streaming

Redbox Instant launches private beta for video streaming

Redbox Instant -- Verizon's stab at a video-streaming service to compete with Netflix -- was rolled out into private beta today. For the first time, users can sign up for the service and see what it has to offer.

The service will give new users, who sign up to try it in beta, unlimited streaming and four DVD credits for free for one month, according to the Web site. Once the month-long trial ends, the service will cost $8 per month.

Redbox Instant is a joint venture announced in February between Verizon and Coinstar -- the company that owns … Read more

Get free seasons of BBC America's 'Copper' and 'Luther'

Poke around Amazon Instant Video's freebies section and you'll often find pilot episodes of new TV shows, previews of upcoming seasons, behind-the-scenes bonus content, and so on. But an entire season of a critically acclaimed (if little-known) series? That you usually have to pay for.

Not today. For what promises to be a limited time, Amazon Instant Video is offering BBC America's "Copper" Season 1 HD absolutely free. (It's also available in standard definition.) That season consists of 10 episodes.

Also available: BBC America's "Luther" Season 2, again in HD or … Read more

ESPN to embed sports instant-replay videos in tweets

Before you know it, smartphone-wielding football referees will be able to review their calls and respond to nasty tweets about those calls all in one go.

ESPN is set to start embedding video streams of instant replays into its tweets, according to various reports. Through a partnership with Ford and Twitter, ESPN's college football account, @ESPNCFB, will begin the effort today, as the bowl games kick in, and continue it through January 15, one week past the end of the college football season, according to Adweek.

A Twitter rep told Adweek that the clips would be 30 seconds or … Read more

Aereo streaming joins forces with Bloomberg TV

Despite major TV networks claiming Aereo's illegitimacy, the streaming service now has an official cable TV partner: Bloomberg.

Aereo struck a deal with Bloomberg TV today to allow streaming news, according to The Wall Street Journal. Reportedly, Aereo will pay Bloomberg TV for its content, but the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We believe that our members will see deep value adding in Bloomberg Television as their 'go-to' source for financial news," Aereo founder Chet Kanojia said in a statement, according to the Journal. While Bloomberg TV announced that it was "pleased to have … Read more

Dropbox acquires music streaming service Audiogalaxy

Dropbox has acquired streaming-music provider Audiogalaxy in a move that suggests the file-sharing service might be getting ready to launch a cloud music offering.

The Seattle-based startup announced the acquisition in a blog post on its Web site but did not reveal the financial details of the deal. As part of the acquisition, Audiogalaxy said it has ceased accepting new signups and playlists will only be available to users until the end of December:

Today, we are thrilled to announce our team is joining Dropbox! We are excited about the opportunity to join the amazing folks at Dropbox and bring … Read more

Listen to Grand Theft Auto radio stations on your smartphone

Playing the new Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on my iPad (it's coming soon for Android) made me nostalgic for other GTA games. Not so much for the gratuitous violence, but for the radio stations that have become a hallmark of the series.

Indeed, these in-game stations play not only a huge variety of commercial tunes (in GTA IV alone, you'll find everything from Count Basie to Genesis to Kanye West), but also some crackling DJ banter and hilarious fake ads. (The Public Liberty Radio station is bust-a-gut funny.)… Read more

Netflix ranks ISPs by streaming performance, Google Fiber wins

Internet service provider (ISP) performance is notoriously hard to quantify, but there's at least one company that has tons of real-world data: Netflix.

The streaming-video king released a report this morning ranking 21 major U.S. ISPs based on real-world streaming performance. Google Fiber came in the lead by quite at bit, with an average of 2.55 Mbps in November, with the next closest competitor (Verizon FiOS) coming in at 2.19 Mbps. Unsurprisingly, DSL services came in behind all the major cable/fiber services, with the best performer averaging just 1.42 Mbps in November. The best … Read more

Traditional TV business model gets turned on its head

The business of home entertainment is changing slowly but surely, and 2012 moved the needle even further away from traditional cable company models and toward streaming services. DVR usage is higher than ever, but more importantly people are looking to on-demand brands like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant, and HBO Go to augment and in some cases replace regular TV. This year we also saw new products catering to "cord cutters" -- startup-centric upstarts like Simple TV (a DVR for over-the-air TV), Aereo (app-based TV delivered over the Internet), and the Boxee TV (featuring a Cloud DVR). TV providers … Read more

Get a wireless HDMI transmitter for $149.96

If there's one thing sci-fi movies and TV shows have taught us, it's that the future will be blessedly wireless. The present, however, has cords everywhere.

For the next seven days, and while supplies last, ShopTronics has the Nyrius Aries NAVS500 HDMI digital wireless transmitter for $149.96 shipped when you use coupon code NAVSC at checkout. That's a Cheapskate exclusive, cheeps!

The Aries can stream HD video from just about any source -- cable/satellite box, Blu-ray player, game console, computer, etc. -- to any HDMI-equipped HDTV or projector.

That could prove incredibly useful if you'… Read more

Friday Poll: What do you use most to stream Netflix?

How do I stream thee, Netflix? Let me count the ways. There's PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox, Apple TV, Mac, PC, tablet, smartphone, networked TVs, Roku, and other streaming-media boxes. I've probably missed a few methods.

It seems like you can't turn around without bumping into a device that can stream Netflix. Still, one streaming method has broken away from the rest this year. The PlayStation 3 recently took the crown as the most popular option for streaming Netflix content to televisions, beating out other options like set-top boxes and smart TVs. … Read more