Posts Tagged ‘Netflix’

Nintendo 3DS: Not Just for Games Anymore!

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Nintendo 3DS now has a Nintendo Video channel, consisting of free 3D video downloads that can be watched right on the handheld.  Included in these videos is the popular entertaining video stream College Humor.

The program released only a few videos total so far: Sunday Jog, Dinosaur Office from College Humor, the Captain America: The First Avenger trailer, and a What is Nintendo Video? trailer.  At least one of these will be a series and other videos—such as music videos from OK Go and Foster The People, sports, and movie trailers—will be released soon.

In addition to Nintendo Video, Netflix became available to 3DS users last month and allows users to watch movies right on their portable game console.

College Humor joining Nintendo 3DS is the perfect new platform for the lovable video stream.  College Humor already has a steady 15 million monthly visitors to the site, over 1 million mobile site users, and is the 7th most-subscribed YouTube channel.  This addition is only going to generate more views.

A few months ago, it was hard to imagine having access to 3D videos and movies right in the palm of your hands, but now, it’s hard to imagine life without it!

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Social Media Outrage Over Netflix Plan Changes

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

Yesterday, Netflix announced that they will be separating DVDs by mail and streaming into two separate plans rather than offering plans that provide both services.  As usual, unhappy customers took to social media to air their grievances.

Previously, for $9.99/month, you could get unlimited DVDs by mail (one at a time) and unlimited streaming from a computer or streaming enabled device.  There was also a streaming-only plan for $7.99/month.  Once the two services are separated, the unlimited streaming plan and the unlimited DVDs by mail plan will each be $7.99/month.

Netflix explained in their blog that “When we launched our $7.99 unlimited streaming plan, DVDs by mail was treated as a $2 add on to our unlimited streaming plan.”  But because of the continuing demand for DVDs by mail, they have decided to offer DVD-only plans.

Customers of Netflix have been taking to Twitter, Facebook, and the Netflix blog to express their opinions about the changes, and almost all of the feedback is negative, to say the least.  One day later, there are over 38,000 comments on the status update on Netflix’s Facebook page announcing the change.  On Twitter, ‘Dear Netflix’ is still trending.  There are almost 8,000 comments on the blog post announcing the change.

One reason customers are so surprised and outraged is because Netflix used to be known for customer loyalty and satisfaction.  But this move has turned many customers against them.  A lot of people understand the reasoning, but don’t want to choose between a DVD plan and a streaming plan.  With only a fraction of their titles available for streaming, most people don’t want that service.  What happens when a movie you want to see is only available on DVD?  If Netflix improves their streaming library, people might be more accepting of the change.  Until then, the social campaign to cancel Netflix lives on.

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MoviePass: An All-You-Can-Watch Buffet…Kind of

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

MoviePass is the new service allowing people to watch unlimited movies for a flat fee of $50 per month. Sound too good to be true? Well, there is a catch…a few actually:

  • You can only see a movie one time. If you want to watch the last installment of Harry Potter again, you need to either pay for another ticket or “apparate” into the theater.
  • You can only see one movie per day, so no movie marathons. If you are generally busy during the week, you can watch about 2-3 movies per weekend, which is 8-12 movies per month if you are so inclined.
  • Tickets are non-transferable which means you cannot (or should not) give the ticket to someone else. Unlike kindergarten, sharing is not caring in this case.
  • Tickets must be purchased the day of the show. If you want to guarantee your ticket for the next much anticipated blockbuster, you probably have to buy it on Fandango instead…or wait a few weeks.
  • 3D and IMAX films will still cost you an extra but you will only have to pay the  $3 surcharge.

Also, people generally like to go the movies with other people. At the present moment, there does not seem to be a “partner discount” like guest passes at the gym or a “family plan” ($200 per month for a family of four, yikes!).

Considering the average ticket is about $10 (there can be a huge variance depending on what time you watch and where you are located, so for the sake of simple math, just bear with me) you would have to watch at least FIVE movies per month to make it worth your while. For movie buffs and film connoisseurs, this is a good deal and you don’t have to wait months for it to get on Netflix.

For others, they may just have to pass on MoviePass.

*MoviePass is currently beta testing in San Francisco, but you can sign up on their website to receive an email notification when it is available.

Would you use MoviePass? If not, what changes have to be made for it to be worth your while?

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Weekly Wrap – Facebook Friday

Friday, June 24th, 2011

750 Million Users…Mwa ha ha ha

Reports are swirling about Facebook’s latest and greatest milestone. “A source close to the company” informed Techcrunch that the social media giant has reached and surpassed the 750 million user mark. This feat comes less than one year after reaching 500 million users. While the company has not confirmed or denied the report, it’s not hard to believe. Nowadays it’s hard to find someone other than your grandparents who don’t have a Facebook page….well actually; my grandfather is on Facebook more often than I am. I think I’ve proven my point.

 

Faceflix? Netbook?

However you want to call it, Facebook has teamed up with yet another big name: Netflix. Reed Hastings, Netflix chief executive, is now working on the executive board at the social media giant. The reason being to make Facebook a more video friendly site

Facebook plans to become a place for users to upload and share videos, much like it has been for pictures. There are also hints that make it appear that Facebook is looking to stream production videos, so the new Netflix partnership will undoubtedly aid in that regard.

 

Facebook Used as a Tool in Hostage Situation

Picture it: An Ogden, Utah gang member, holding a woman hostage is engaged in a 16-hour standoff with police. The motel where the man is taking refuge is surrounded by SWAT teams, the man is wielding a gun, and he does what any criminal in his situation would do – gets on Facebook.

Yes, that right. Jason Valdez, 36-year-old Nortenos gang member, posted six status updates, added 15 new friends, and answered numerous comments made by friends and family who were watching the stand-off as it happened on the social media site on Saturday morning. Valdez claims that the woman in the motel room with him was there by free will, however after she requested to leave and he denied her request, she then became his hostage.

Valdez eventually shot himself in the chest and is currently in stable condition at a local hospital. The female hostage was unharmed and no charges are being filed against her, which won’t necessarily be the case for some of Valdez’ Facebook friends. Those users who utilized the social media site to give Valdez tips as to the locations of police officers could face charges relating to the obstruction of justice.

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Weekly Wrap – Facebook Friday

Friday, May 27th, 2011

Zuckerberg Says Pre-teens Should Be Allowed on Facebook

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg made a statement this week claiming that kids under the age of 13 should be able to access and use Facebook, despite warnings that it puts children at risk for harassment and predators. He went as far as to say that he will fight for kids to use his social media site, claiming that it has educational benefits.

Currently, the age limit for Facebook use in America and Britain is 13 years old; however, Facebook is being criticized for not sticking to and regulating those restrictions enough. Some say it’s easy for kids under 13 to create an account, and with such terrifying scenarios like online bullying and sexual predators on Facebook happening, it makes sense for Facebook to be under fire.

Would you allow your pre-teen to use Facebook?

 

Facebook is Singing a New Tune

Remember when everyone used to have their favorite song on their Myspace page? That was pretty cool…until Myspace wasn’t cool anymore. Well, now Facebook is teaming up with Spotify, a music streaming service which will allow Facebook users to listen to and share music through Facebook. There are rumors that the deal between the social media giant and Spotify may happen in only two weeks.

Basically, how it works is Facebookers will click on a Spotify icon on the left hand of their Facebook news feed, which will allow them access to Spotify’s library of songs. The cool thing about it (other than having over a million songs to choose from) is that users will be able to listen to the same song as their friends at the same time.

Here’s the kicker: it may not be available in the US right away.

 

Faceflix? Netbook?

Time reported today that Facebook and Netflix are in talks to join forces to integrate content and “take over the world as we know it”. If the merger is true, I would say that’s a fair assessment. Apparently, should this deal take place, Facebook would only work with movies and shows already licensed by Netflix, rather than licensing content itself. Zuckerberg’s comment on the subject (and the aforementioned Spotify deal) was as follows:

“Listening to music is something that people do with their friends. Music, TV, news, books — those types of things I think people just naturally do with their friends. I hope we can play a part in enabling those new companies to get built, and companies that are out there producing this great content to become more social.”

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Netflix is the Champion

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

Netflix now holds the title of the biggest source of internet traffic with nearly 30 percent of broadband traffic during peak hours. Analytics company, Sandvine, which sells network services software to ISPs, reported the news in their Spring traffic report 2011. The video streaming giant even surpassed peer-to-peer file sharing, which has historically been tough to beat.

The interesting part of this new stat is not simply that Netflix is “winning the race”, but that for the first time the largest source of internet traffic is paid for.  This mean ‘buku’ bucks for Netflix and its advertisers.

Competitive internet search providers see it differently, however. They are arguing that TV shows and movies streamed from Netflix online are an overwhelming burden on their networks. Some companies (AT&T in particular) are even considering changing their price points depending on each user’s GB usage.

Unfortunately for those of you who are avid Netflix viewers, this might be the future in internet bills for you. Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that the “data will surely stoke the debate on usage-based pricing for Internet consumption, which companies like Netflix–with 23 million users– warn could curb consumer appetites for watching streaming video online.”

Nonetheless, an unlimited month of TV and video viewing per month cost just $9 as of now. How can cable compete with that?

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Original Series Starring Kevin Spacey to Hit Netflix

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

A new original series, “House of Cards” starring Kevin Spacey, may become the first original programming offered from Netflix. The video giant is rumored to have outbid both HBO and AMC for a two season contract with the series. The 26 episodes will reportedly cost Netflix over $100 million.

If true, Netflix is placing significant faith in “House of Cards” considering most networks and premium channels only sign on for one pilot or 6-13 episodes.  The expectation is that the acquisition of the series will draw in millions of new subscribers and possibly change the way viewers watch television shows.

The show’s creator, David Fincher, is coming off a huge success with his film The Social Network. Fincher will be the first original director for Netflix, which is the leader in both streaming online video and DVD. This new venture for Netflix will be similar to HBO’s shift from being chiefly a cable movie network to that of an original series juggernaut.  If Netflix is able to follow in the huge success of HBO with original programming, it has the potential for enormous achievement.

In addition to Media Right Capital’s drama series, Netflix has previously budgeted over $1.5 billion to deals with CBS, Paramount, MGM, Starz, Lionsgate, and Relativity Media. Depending on how you look at it, Netflix’s attempt to diversify beyond movies is sure to either put them on the map or keep them in the running as top media moguls.

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Warner Brothers Begins Offering Titles on Facebook

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

In a move that makes perfect sense for both parties – the best kind of move there is – Warner Brothers will begin offering select movies for sale and rental through Facebook fan pages.

Launching today with The Dark Knight, Facebook users who ‘like’ the movie’s page can rent it for 30 Facebook credits or $3 and will be able to access the movie on their accounts for 48 hours. The program will last a limited time, as the motion picture giant aims to test the waters before moving full throttle with the initiative.

As Facebook stands at the forefront of internet interaction, Warner Brothers saw a platform that could help aid a slipping movie industry. With the number of movie-goers decreasing and the number of Facebook users increasing, it seemed like a no-brainer to bring the movies directly to where people are.

While companies like Netflix (which is beginning to feel the effects of this announcement) offer the chance to watch titles at home at a given consumer’s convenience, Facebook is banking on its users being wooed by the potential of never leaving its pages to get that same experience.

While that sounds about as lazy as it gets, this could have legs – long and powerful legs.

Warner Brothers Digital Distribution said users will be able to pause the movie upon logging out from Facebook if need be and resume it after logging back in. Also, users will be able to continue their standard Facebook activities such as commenting, status updates, and chat while watching the film.

There is no news on what titles will be made available to Facebook users in the future, but Warner Brothers did say more films will be added in the coming months.

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