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So does Google Friend Connect http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10113648-2.html… Read more
UPDATE: 3:29 p.m. PT: To include Roku's statement.
Netflix, the Web's top video rental store, has corrected a glitch that has plagued some customers of the company's streaming-video service for several weeks, Netflix said Friday.
Beginning in mid-November, owners of Roku's Netflix Player and Microsoft's Xbox 360 began complaining on Web forums about seeing dramatic drop-off in video quality and long buffering delays, which prevented them watching films.
This was the first setback for Netflix's streaming service, which has won accolades since last spring when the Roku box made its debut and … Read more
Some owners of Microsoft's Xbox 360 who have signed up to receive movies via Netflix's streaming movie service have seen the same loss of video quality as owners of Roku's Netflix Player.
A mysterious glitch has been hobbling video streams distributed by the two set-top boxes for at least two weeks, said a source close to Netflix on Thursday. The problem is the first setback for Netflix's streaming, which has won accolades since the $99 Roku box debuted last spring. Microsoft, LG Electronics, and Samsung followed with their own set-top boxes featuring Netflix's service. Microsoft … Read more
Boxee is releasing on Thursday a new version of its media center software that adds support for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming movies.
Unlike streaming solutions from Roku and Microsoft's Xbox 360, Boxee's effort includes the option to both browse and search through Netflix's library. Roku's box and the Xbox are currently limited to showing users the videos from their saved queues. The two also require special hardware (and in the Xbox's case a paid Xbox Live Gold membership), whereas Boxee works on any Intel-Mac or Linux PC. Boxee's service is not yet available for … Read more
Some Apple TV owners have complained for several weeks that it takes much longer now to download and playback high-definition movies.
"I started downloading an hour back and it says it will take two hours," wrote someone with the user name Reachg. "It's already 25 percent downloaded but it's not letting me play. In the past I was able to play the movie in 10 minutes max...seems something is happening."
The complaints at Apple's forums first appeared on November 14. That was the day after Roku, maker of the Netflix Player, notified customers … Read more
As expected, Samsung has added support for HD streaming of Netflix video to its BD-P2500 and BD-P2550 players. The upgrade is available as a free firmware update (players should automatically prompt users to install the software update, or DIYers can download it from Samsung's support site and burn it to disc). Still no word on the promised DTS-HD Master Audio support for these players, but that will likely come in a subsequent firmware update soon.
The Netflix HD catalog is currently just a fraction of Netflix's streaming selection (300 titles out of around 12,000), but it will … Read more
Netflix suffered a nearly hour long site outage on Monday, the company confirmed.
The site went down at about 3:40 p.m. PT and Netflix posted this note to the site's front door at about 4 p.m.:
"We're sorry, the Netflix website is temporarily unavailable. Our shipping centers are continuing to send and receive DVDs , so your movies will be processed as usual. And you can still instantly watch movies via your Netflix ready device."
Netflix has suffered several costly outages in the past year. A hardware glitch prevented the company from shipping DVDs … Read more
The Netflix Player by Roku, which enables owners to watch streaming Web video on their TV sets, has received plenty of applause from pundits and owners since debuting last May. But the box now faces its first major challenge.
Customers from around the country have been "experiencing inexplicable loss of video-streaming quality," for at least three weeks according to Roku's engineers, who have posted comments at the company's Web forums. Device owners have posted complaints to the same forums about receiving less than half of the video quality they've had in the past. One user told CNET that the video stream is now "unwatchable."
Tim Twerdahl, vice president of consumer products at Roku, told CNET News on Monday that the company is still unsure about what exactly triggered the problem, but he said indications are it originated at Netflix. Twerdahl added that the problem likely affects Netflix's other boxes as well as Roku's player.
"All we know is Roku didn't make any changes," Twerdahl said. "This is not a box problem. We know from some reports that this seems to be correlated with a change in Netflix's content distribution network (CDN), and Netflix is trying to figure out what the issue is." … Read more
If ever there was a Web service that experienced a rapid fall from grace, it was online video start-up Joost. What started out as a much anticipated new service ultimately fell short of expectations and has recently struggled for attention. Friday, Joost released an iPhone app for its service that might be a game changer. Joost's iPhone app lets users stream and watch any of Joost's 46,000-plus videos for free.
Say what you will about Joost's library of content, the concept behind this app is fantastic. The ability to stream a movie, TV show, or other … Read more
Apparently Netflix and Sony have solved some of their licensing issues. An unknown number of films from Sony Pictures that disappeared last week from Netflix's streaming service for the Xbox have returned, but still no word on when the rest might be back.
Steve Swasey, a Netflix spokesman, has declined to discuss licensing deals with specific movie studios since last week, after Xbox owners complained that Netflix' streaming service was no longer offering Sony films on the console. Swasey said some of the movies have returned but not all.
"We said earlier that titles come and go," … Read more
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