Today, when the Hub went to fire up Netflix on the Playstation3, the Netflix app asked to upgrade itself and it installed a new version: 2.0.3. On the surface, there does not appear to be any big changes with this version. One still needs to be signed into the Playstation Network to use Netflix....
I had the privilege of drinking from the firehose at Streaming Media East last week in New York. One of the highlights of the conference was the Broadband Device Pavilion, where you could compare more than twenty connected Blu-ray, video game and stand-alone streaming boxes. Device Pavilion at Streaming Media East In the past,...
It’s time for round two of the Netflix player shootout and review. In this round, the Hub is going to focus on the new crop of Blu-ray players. Tech of the Hub has looked at the 2011 models from LG, Panasonic and Samsung. At minimum, each model had to have built-in wireless capability. In...
VUDU took a step towards challenging other streaming services as it expands its line up of TV shows. Up to this point, the lack of TV series has been the biggest content hole for VUDU. When we recently looked at streaming services, the Hub liked VUDU since it offered the best audio and video...
With the Playstation network being down, you’re robbed of the best audio and video experience Netflix can offer: 1080P and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. What devices offer the best alternatives? Unfortunately, only the Playstation 3 offers a 1080P Netflix video stream. There’s apparently an exclusive arrangement between Sony and Netflix. All of the...
On the playground the other day, parents were swapping stories about movies they recently saw on Netflix and Amazon Instant. We all enjoy watching movies through our Rokus, Apple TVs or other streaming boxes. During the conversation, one parent stated how a friend had challenges enabling parental controls with one of the streaming services....
For a little while, it appeared that Netflix was on the ropes. First, there was the the loss of Showtime first-run series such as Dexter and Weeds. Then Starz announced they were adding a 90-day window to their shows after the first broadcast date. In addition, there was also speculation that Starz would renegotiate...
Given the recent announcements from Netflix and Amazon, there’s been a lot written about video streaming services lately. One thing not thoroughly covered is the audio and video quality of streaming services. It’s ironic that you’ve invested all of this money in your home theater system–large HD screen, receiver and speakers–and you end up...
Just when you thought TiVo was only focused on the Premiere, there have been a number of enhancements to the Series3 platform as of late. In particular, Pandora was released for the Series3 last October TiVo is about to roll out a software patch to fix stability issues for the Series3 Netflix client (version...
Yesterday, Amazon announced and released their new streaming service as an added bonus to their Prime customers. Amazon Prime is a value-added service that gives you free two day shipping on all of your Amazon purchases for a yearly fee of $79. So, Amazon enters the all you can watch buffet competing against Netflix...
See below for an update to this story During our Netflix testing, the Hub noticed that Star Trek VI was playing in surround sound on the TiVo. While most Netflix devices can play movies in stereo, the Hub thought the PS3 (and now the Boxee, Apple TV and 2011 Panasonic blu-ray players) was the only...
2012 CES Coverage