television

Vdio, the online movie and television service from the makers of Rdio, is now open to anyone in the U.S. and U.K.

Rdio announced the news on its blog Wednesday, saying Vdio is no longer available solely to those people who have Rdio subscriptions.

Rdio launched Vdio in April as a competitor to similar services from Apple and Amazon. The offering lets users buy, rent, and share movies and television shows with others in real time. In addition to Web-based viewing, Vdio lets users access its programming from the iPad through its mobile application.

Vdio is available now … Read more

Netflix streaming is heading to the Netherlands.

The company said Wednesday that the service will be available in "late 2013," adding that its streaming service will offer "Hollywood, local and global TV series and films, including critically-acclaimed Netflix Original Series such as 'House of Cards' and 'Arrested Development' whenever and wherever they like on tablets, phones, TVs, game consoles and computers."

Last year, Netflix made a significant push into Europe by launching its streaming service in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. The service is also available in the U.K., Ireland, and the small island country … Read more

For some people, an ordinary old giant flat-screen television and Blu-ray player just aren't enough.

How much would you spend for the best of the best? Some hard-core videophiles and audiophiles dump incredible amounts of cash on home theater equipment (and fancy home theaters) that can cost as much as the average car or house. … Read more

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg -- the two men perhaps most responsible for the model of the summer blockbuster -- see the studios' obsession with such hits putting the in-theater film experience on a crash course -- perhaps with Internet TV there to pick up the pieces.

Studios would rather pour $250 million into one movie to have a shot at a mega-blockbuter than invest in personal, interesting, or historical projects that can get lost in the hubbub of a entertainment-saturated world, Spielberg said Wednesday during a panel discussion at the University of Southern California, according to The Verge and … Read more

The Pirate Cinema chaotically visualizes the most popular video torrent files found on The Pirate Bay in a mesmerizing and sometimes visually overwhelming way.

Created by artist Nicolas Maigretto and programmed by Brendan Howell, the cinematic collage involves a custom-programmed box that intercepts real-time peer-to-peer file sharing among the top 100 torrent files (on The Pirate Bay) and projects flashes of the actively downloaded video content on one of three screens.… Read more

ABC's new live TV video service Watch ABC has arrived on smartphones, tablets, and the Web, though its availability is highly limited for now.

Disney/ABC on Tuesday announced the availability of the live programming feature in its mobile app in New York City as well as Philadelphia though local respective networks WABC-TV and WPVI. The update adds a "live" button to ABC's newly renamed Watch ABC software for iOS devices that lets users in those markets watch live streams of those two stations, just like they would on a TV.

News of the feature came over the weekend … Read more

Six months after wireline telephone operators and trade groups asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to begin shutting down their aging switched networks, the agency responded late Friday, calling for further study.

In a public notice (PDF) issued by an agency task force created in December 2012, the FCC reiterated the importance of accelerating the transition from switched networks to native IP infrastructure. But rather than approving limited trials to test technical and regulatory obstacles to a full conversion, the agency instead raised more questions about the trials and called for more rounds of comments.

The task force also … Read more

Android users who employ the TWC TV application will soon have far more functionality available to them.

Time Warner Cable announced on Tuesday that the upgrade to its Android application will deliver access to more than 4,000 On Demand TV shows and movies. The app will also allow for out-of-home access to some On Demand programming and live TV viewing over a Wi-Fi connection. Time Warner Cable says mobile users will have access to over 1,100 On Demand shows and movies and live television from "a dozen or so" news, sports, and entertainment channels.

Time Warner … Read more

Welcome to the start of a new franchise here at CNET -- the first episode of Hooked Up! It's the only show where the world of celebrity and technology collide.

This week, Kevin Frazier checks out Cee Lo Green's Las Vegas show "Loberace" and the technology that's involved in creating a massive production that only Las Vegas can do. Cee Lo also talks about his personal health goals, Goodie Mob's comeback, and their search for the next big music artist.

I'll also break down some of the best ways to bring the biggest … Read more