>> Netflix raises prices on Blu-ray, Google starts throwing around some money and how to declare you pirating habits to all of your Facebook friends. It's Tuesday, March 31, I'm Natali Del Conte and it's time to get Loaded.
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>> Netflix is hiking prices on Blu-ray rentals starting April 26. The fee hike per disc could be as low as $1 and as much as $9 per month more. Netflix says this is due to the increased number of titles on Blu-ray and the high cost of the discs. For some people this is a significant percentage in their monthly bill and could it really cost Netflix a proportional percentage? I'm doubtful. Perhaps this will push us all to seriously consider all digital downloads.
We have a lot of Google news again today, so let's get to it. First off the company is launching a venture fund so that they can invest in up and coming products on the Web. They are starting small just $100 million to spread around industry such as consumer Internet -- of course, software, clean-tech, bio-tech, health care and more. Google is also launching Gmail Labs for users outside of the US. The experimental Gmail features will now be available in 49 languages including all of Gmail's supported languages except Hebrew, Arabic and Urdu. This means more users can get drunken used Google goggles and take back emails to ex-girlfriends with Gmail Unsend. And in YouTube news the video site has signed a deal with Disney to serve video from ABC and ESPN. The two companies will share ad revenue from videos served on the site much the same way that CBS shows are on. Good for all you Miley Cyrus fans.
Playing violent videogames could improve your vision. A study out of the University of Rochester showed that adults who played action videogames saw improvement in their eyesight. Students were divided into two groups, the first group played first person shooters like Call of Duty, while the other team played The Sims. Over the course of nine weeks the first person shooter group showed 43% improvement in their ability to discern gray shapes, while The Sims team showed no improvement. So, if you want to improve your vision either eat some carrots or play violent games.
Rumors has it that the PlayStation 2 may go on sale for $99. Don't get too excited though I said PS2 not PS3. We've been waiting for the PS3 to get a price cut for months, but there are still no signs of that happening yet. But if you want a PS2 you could get a $100 discount on the console as soon as today.
Dell launched a new line of Inspiron machines. These are desktops that are as cheap as $300 and come in a variety of fruit flavors. They have up to 8-gigs of memory, 750-gigs of storage and 6 USB ports. There perky!
If you absolutely positively cannot wait to get your hands on Chrome for the Mac, well, where there's a will, there's the way. Chromium, the open source version of Google's Chrome browser can now be downloaded for the OS X and here's the catch, it must be compiled. Yup! Grab one of your tech-head friends and head on over to Chromium.org to download the source code. But from what we've heard it's really rough around the edges, so expect browser crashes galore.
BitTorrent is on Facebook. Looks like the crazy guys at the Pirate Bay in the midst of their criminal trial have released a Facebook app that let's you share your favorite torrents on someone's wall or in private if you're favorite torrent happens to be prone. We're not sure this is the smartest idea in the world given that having evidence of your pirating will live in your Facebook profile forever, but if you're the daring sort, go for it. Just don't be surprised if the MPAA, the RIAA, the Feds, or the software industry sends you a friend request, if you know what I mean.
Last week we asked you if you would pay for Last FM, oh man, you do not like this idea. June [assumed spelling] in South Korea went so far as to say that this model is responsible for piracy. He writes, "There's no way I'll pay for streaming radio, there are so many free alternatives. This is the reason that piracy is so rampant in Asia and other parts of the world. Lack of availability." Core [assumed spelling] in the Netherland says, "It's not an awful lot of money, but I wouldn't see the point in paying for something that's trivial as last.fm. I don't use it that much, only to show off on a narcissistically deranged level -- the cool music I listen." I love an honest answer and finally here is a little too much honesty from Jeremy [assumed spelling]. He says, "I am very displeased. Isn't Last.FM radio supposed to be free for all? That's terrible. CBS should think twice about its users before coming out with such crap." And I hope I don't get fired for reading that email.
Those are all your headlines for today, but I will see you tomorrow with more. Thank you for watching. I'm Natali Del Conte with CNET TV and you've just been Loaded.
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