(Gamespot) – Though the Royal Wedding in the UK will dominate the airwaves on April 29, the day will also mark another significant event in the television realm. Following several days of rumors, Microsoft has confirmed that Hulu Plus will launch on Xbox Live starting tomorrow.

To use Hulu Plus, gamers must be Xbox Live Gold members, at a cost of $60 a year, and also subscribe to Hulu Plus, which costs $10 per month. The service allows users to stream shows and select films from a range of networks, including NBC, Fox, ABC, FX, PBS, Bravo, SyFy, and the Sundance Channel. The free version of Hulu, available on PCs, only lets players watch the most recent episodes of select shows gratis.

Hulu Plus joins such other services as Netflix and ESPN on Xbox Live, along with the Zune video marketplace, which allows for high-definition streaming of films and TV shows. Last November, Hulu Plus became available on the PlayStation Network, where it is accessible at no additional charge from Sony.

3DS to pack a multi-media punch!

(CNN.com) – Nintendo 3DS, a glasses-free 3-D handheld video game system, arrives March 27 for $249.99.

But calling it a gaming console may be the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American public. Gaming, it turns out, might be among the least of the system’s capabilities.

The device will also deliver an array of other fully-connected entertainment experiences, according to Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime at the 2011 Game Developers Conference.

From 3-D movies to TV shows, digital music to augmented reality applications, the company is clearly assigning tremendous importance to non-gaming applications.

Though they won’t say it directly, Nintendo clearly plans to make the system a Trojan horse for the larger world of 3-D multimedia. This should scare the competition.

It’s an infinitely more practical, and reasonably priced, 3-D argument than a $1500+ HDTV that tethers you to your couch.

If Nintendo can make this portable device as common and trusted for 3-D entertainment as smartphones are for e-mail or Web surfing, it may single-handedly deliver the breakthrough that carries this technology to mainstream prominence.

Yes, the system will play 3-D versions of premium game franchises like “Street Fighter” and “The Legend of Zelda,” says Fils-Aime. Yes, in the wake of increasing pressure from tens of thousands of readily available free and 99-cent apps, it will redouble efforts to justify $39.99 average software prices by offering “premium experiences you can’t get anywhere else.”

But with free AT&T WiFi hotspot availability, Netflix movie streaming and the ability to create, download and physically interact with 3-D content among its arsenal of tricks, the company may have yet to play its trump card.

[Full article at CNN.com]

Can WB and Facebook > Netflix?

(Reuters) – Warner Bros is making some of its films available on Facebook, opening up a new revenue source for the Internet social network and signaling new competition for online entertainment companies.

Consumers can pay for the movies using Facebook Credits, a virtual currency so far used mainly in social games on the site, according to Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc, on Tuesday.

Facebook, which makes money mostly through online advertising, takes 30 percent of the revenue from sales by third parties on the website using Credits.

The service will initially be available in the United States, the company said.

The streaming of full-length Hollywood films on Facebook creates a new role for the 500-million-plus member social network, which has grown into one of the most powerful Web players by making it easy to share photos, videos and other content with friends.

In a note to investors on Tuesday, Goldman Sachs analyst Ingrid Chung said Facebook represents a long-term threat to online rental service Netflix Inc that caught Wall Street investors by surprise.

“The ‘wisdom of friends’ could be a bigger driver of movie viewership than the ‘wisdom of crowds,’” wrote Chung.

[Full article at Reuters.com]

OnLive: The 'Netflix' of Video Games

As Netflix released what seems to be an unlimited access to streaming films through your entertainment systems, OnLive wants to stream an infinite ammount of games through your TVs and other entertainment devices. Currently, the only way to access the cloud gaming service is through their micro-console, a PC or a Mac. OnLive wants to spread their demographic to those purchasing new TVs and Blu-Ray players just as Netflix and Pandora music service has done within the last two years. According to Gamasutra, this is becoming a reality according to their interview with OnLive CEO Steve Perlman:

Today’s OnLive/VIZIO announcement marks a major milestone: for the first time in the history of video games, consumers will be able to enjoy premium video games directly on a TV, no console or computer needed.

How will this affect the future of the gaming market? According to what we have seen comparing to Netflix, OnLive won’t support new titles but will enable gamers to catch on year-old games that they never played for dirt cheap. For unlimited access to their streaming service for only $9.99 per month , OnLive, a service that appeared as the industries biggest joke when revealed last year, looks to possibly become the most popular streaming service for the video game industry.

With OnLive joining Vizio for development of their OnLive TVs, this will shake the entertainment industry in a way that Microsoft and Sony have not even begun to contemplate. The only question is: will OnLive get exclusive titles on their streaming service? It will most likely be up to the developer or publisher of thus exclusive titles just like what Bioware and EA did for Mass Effect 2 when they moved the Xbox 360′s most successful RPG over to the Playstation 3. What do you all think of OnLive’s development move into the Blu-Ray and TV market? Will this bring the number of casual sales down in the main console market or will it drive those gamers to eventually get these consoles?

New Xbox Live UI installs today!

(Gamespot) – The update brings a new look to the Xbox 360′s dashboard and adds new features and functionality for existing items. The dashboard still utilizes the same panel orientation that was first implemented with the New Xbox Experience from 2008, but its colors have been changed.

Further, Xbox Live members in the United States can now view ESPN programming via their Xbox 360s. Xbox Live Gold subscribers will have access to upwards of 3,500 HD-broadcasted sporting events throughout the year, as well as the ability to chat with friends during matches.

Xbox Live gamers spend over 1 billion hours on Xbox Live per month, and now all users will be able to hear each other with better clarity, thanks to improvements made to the service’s voice chat audio codec.

For the movie and television fan, the Netflix application for the Xbox 360 has been reworked with the new update. Now, users will be able to search for programs via the dashboard application, instead of having to add them at Netflix.com.

For the full list of changes and updates bundled with the fall update, check out Major Nelson’s blog.

(CNNMoney.com) – Netflix unveiled its long-awaited app for the iPhone on Thursday, sending the company’s shares almost 2% higher.

The free app lets Netflix members stream TV episodes and movies to their Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone or iPod Touch for no additional cost.

“Apple has changed the game for mobile devices,” Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The shows can be streamed over both Wi-Fi and 3G networks, and they are organized based on members’ personal preferences, genres, new arrivals and individual instant queues.

Netflix (NFLX) shares were up 1.7% to $126.33 in afternoon trade on Thursday. The stock has been on steady upward streak this year, crossing $100 for the first time in April after the company reported a blowout first quarter.

“Netflix Android” was a trending Google search on Thursday, and Twitter users were also grumbling about when the app would be available for their Android phones.

But Netflix is already available beyond the standard television. Video game consoles such as the Nintendo Wii let users stream to their TVs, and an iPad app has been around since April.

[Read Full Article Here]

"You want more data? Keep putting large bills in my hand, I'll see what I can do."

I’ll admit that over the years, as the speed of my Internet connection has gotten progressively faster, I’ve taken it for granted that there are limitations to every data connection. I’ve been in neighborhoods where there were very few people connected to my provider and the data speeds were only limited by the hardware on my end. But I’ve also been in neighborhoods where my provider was suffering from an overpopulation of heavy data users and I’d see my downloads slow to a crawl. But even then, I didn’t consider the fact that there might one day be a cost above and beyond my monthly service fee.

Unfortunately, that may be were we’re headed… Connections to data intensive applications and sites could be strictly monitored and even produce additional costs on your cable bill.

Fiction, you say? I wish it were.

A federal court ruled on Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission (that’s the FCC for you acronym lovers out there) had neither the right nor the authority to prevent broadband providers from charging “premium service” fees or prevent certain data from gobbling up network capacity. The three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia essentially overturned the concept of “Net Neutrality” opening the door for companies such as Comcast to begin charging additional fees for access to data intensive applications.

You may be asking what exactly Net Neutrality is and what it might mean to you. Fortunately, Uncle Gritskrieg is here to give you a few pointers on just that.

Net Neutrality is the idea that there needs to be a policy in place to prevent broadband providers from restricting access to certain types of data. The policy would also prevent those same providers from charging you, the consumer, extra dough if you want to use a service like Netflix which is data intensive when you’re streaming that High-Def movie to your big ol’ plasma screen tv. It would prevent the companies from favoring or discriminating against which sites you could access from your provider’s network.

Still unclear? Let me break it down even further. Big Cable Provider Inc. decides to open a web site similar to BusyGamer.com. In order to make certain they get the users on their network that are currently viewing BusyGamer.com, they limit the amount of traffic that can visit the site while at the same time allowing their users to visit BCP Inc.’s own BusyBusyBusyGamer.com. Or worse, accessing the original site for Busy Gamer’s incurs an extra charge on your monthly statement.

(more…)

With the fairly recent inclusion of a Netflix application added to the functionality of the Xbox 360, I’ve been streaming a fair amount of content to my living room. Movies, TV shows, more movies… And I’ve taken advantage of the DVD rentals as well, catching up on some movies I missed and more TV shows that I didn’t catch when they originally aired. Since they’re mailed straight to my home, I can skip the whole putting on pants thing to get a new movie.

I’m mentioning this because of a recent development. Warner Bros. has “negotiated” an agreement with Netflix that requires 28 days before new releases from WB is allowed to be shipped in DVD format or streamed to your home. It may not be the end of the world but it certainly raises some concerns for me.

You can look at the numbers for how the Netflix and related services have affected DVD piracy. You can look at the numbers and see how more people are renting DVDs even if they’re not going to the local video rental outlet to get them. By looking at the numbers, you can see that services like Netflix or even Red Box are doing exactly what Hollywood wanted… Getting more people to pay to see movies instead of illegally downloading them or buying pirated copies.

But Warner Bros. wants to be sure and “capitalize” on their new movie releases. The thought behind the process is that more people will buy the movies if they aren’t immediately available for rental through Netflix. I’m no expert but this sounds like they’re shooting themselves in the foot. But, in exchange, Warner is to make more movies and TV shows available from their extensive library for download and rental through Netflix.

I can see the pros of this move. Netflix will have a more extensive library with Warner making more of their content available. Warner will benefit from the surge in views of their content and finally, we the consumers would have more things to keep us on our couch when the weather outside is frightful. So it would seem the benefits are substantial for all parties involved.

Here’s where I tell you about the cons I see. Mr. Impatient decides He wants a newly released DVD to view immediately. He doesn’t want to wait the 28 days for the movie to be released on a service like Netflix and so he ends up with a five dollar copy in his DVD player and the only person who sees that money is the joker with the DVD burner and the time to kill. And then the DVD sales flop and the result is higher costs at the theater for new releases and at the video store for new DVDs.

Overreaction on my part? I think not. What’s to stop Warner from doing this with other outlets? And if they convince other companies to hold off on rentals or streaming, then what’s to stop other companies from following suit?

If you were to walk into my living room, you would see that I have a very, very healthy collection of movies on DVD. I’ve spent the time and the money building the collection. Netflix offers me the opportunity to revisit those movies that I have yet to purchase on DVD and still, most likely, own on VHS. It allows me to watch full seasons of television shows that I would not otherwise see. And by doing so, it only fuels my interest in shows that are still on the air, thereby assuring the networks and the movie industry that they still have one more faithful viewer.

Will I stop watching the movies and the shows available through Netflix because of this move? Most certainly not. I will, however, be less likely to purchase a movie when it comes out because I am the type that prefers to rent and watch before purchasing. The majority of my DVD library is so I can show other people what I like or turn them on to a new series. I’ve seen the movie and while there are some notable few that make their way into my DVD player on a regular basis, most I will not watch without company.

28 days doesn’t sound like a lot on the surface but for someone like me who doesn’t always have the time to see movies in the theater or catch shows the nights that they air, I rely heavily on my DVR and Netflix to keep me up to date. Push me out another month and I may not be nearly as interested any more.

And I sincerely doubt I am the only one who feels this way.

Gritskrieg – End of Line