News

Some study done by a group that works with Comcast believes that Netflix traffic is greater than typicall web surfing traffic. I wouldn't typically post this as news, but I was drawn to a comment that was posted regarding the article. Someone mentioned that this will hopefully lead to more studios offering their movies to stream on Netflix, because it would be more profitable for them since people are downloading their movies using filesharing anyway. It's an excellent point. Not that I'm in favor of breaking the law, but at this point it doesn't seem to be a battle that studios can keep up with. If they offer the movies on Netflix, they'd at least make some money off of it rather than nothing at all from those that are sharing it. I also thought it was interesting that Netflix has more subscribers than Comcast, so it would make sense for studios to deal with them anyway. By the way, I have Comcast and they suck hard.....

Quote

A study published Tuesday by Sandvine Inc. shows that Netflix movies and TV shows account for nearly 30 percent of traffic into homes during peak evening hours, compared with less than 17 percent for Web browsing.

Only about a quarter of homes with broadband subscribe to Netflix, but watching movies and TV shows online takes up a lot of bandwidth compared with Web surfing, email and practically every other Internet activity except file sharing and videoconferencing.

As late as last year, both Web surfing and peer-to-peer file sharing — mainly the illegal trading of copyrighted movies — were each larger than Netflix's traffic.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43059955/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

Media players are converging to be all alike. There needs to be some differentiation in the market. Some players stream only network content, some get everything off the internet. Then there are some that can do both. What makes the WD TV Live Hub different is that it can not only consume content, it can serve it as well off its 1TB drive.Next Page »

NBC is adding more content to Netflix streaming service. In a few years, we'll all get a single internet connection with no other added services (like phone or TV). Everything will be done over IP. It actually is right now, but you are being charged for the service provided at an exceptional rate. Even I'm doing that as well, though.

Quote

Under the new arrangement, "hundreds" of "Saturday Night Live" episodes from the past 35 years, as well as "day-after broadcast" of the show's next three seasons, will be available on Netflix Instant Streaming. NBC is also offering every previous-season episode of "30 Rock," "The Office," and "Law & Order: SVU." Earlier seasons of those shows already on Netflix will still be available. All episodes of the venerable SyFy series "Battlestar Galactica" will also be available on the service. NBC Universal and Netflix said that "Monk" and "Friday Night Lights," among many other shows, will also be included in the expanded relationship between the companies.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20017517-17.html

The WD TV Live Plus has some great features over the original Netflix only players. While the Roku maybe well known for its Netflix streaming support, the WD TV Live Plus has Netflix and more. Combine tons of internet content with support for your internal network content and you've got a product ready to be at the center of your media needs.Next Page »

Most people should have heard about the ease of use that the Netflix streaming service provides. One of the major components of this ease of use would be the set top boxes that provide the service on TVs. Roku was the original and is still the best way to get streaming Netflix to your TV, right now.Next Page »