Netflix

Entertainment is the lifeblood of streaming services, bringing TV shows and movies to customers. That includes both original content and that which comes from studios. However, deals don't always work out as planned. The studios can be notoriously bad with licensing content.

Netflix points out that "We hear from our members that you wish we had newer movies. So do we. Studio licensing practices means it often takes more than a year before consumers can watch a theatrically released movie when and how they want".

The media landscape has been changing at an increasing rate. It's not something that cable and satellite providers wish to face, because it pushes out the most lucrative part of the business in favor of making them an ISP. As it is, Netflix has had to pay off Comcast, something John Oliver likened to a mob shakedown.

So how much is a service like Netflix changing TV habits? Obviously there's a variety of on-demand entertainment available from it. There's also an increasing amount of original content, some of which has been nominated for, and actually won, awards.

Video streaming is one of the quickest ways to max out a data plan. This is especially true for high-definition videos, which are the commonplace on websites like Netflix and YouTube and, understandably, the obvious quality choice for many mobile viewers. Since not everyone can afford or have the option to use an unlimited data plan, we often have to sacrifice how much content we watch to not pass the traffic limit.

However, an update to Opera Max for Android promises to let us watch more videos without sacrificing much in terms of quality. The app can achieve such results through compression, and the feature is now enabled for Netflix and YouTube.

Netflix has had another excellent quarter, announcing 3.3 million new subscribers in the past three months. The company’s revenue continues to grow with £1.05 billion this quarter, but investment in originals and advertising is taking a bite out of the profit, with only £16 million reported this quarter.

Even with the profit issue, Netflix’s stock went soaring once again. The video streaming service has managed an 100 percent rise in stock price in six months, and announced in the financial report a seven-to-one split in revenue, bringing the price back down to $100 (£64).

Netflix wants to reach 70 million subscribers by the end of 2015, adding an additional 13 million in 12 months. The ambitious goal follows several launches in Western Europe and South America, alongside Netflix’s saturation in the United States.

In January, Netflix reported 57 million subscribers in an investor’s call. Most of the subscribers, a large 43 million, are based in the US. The second largest region is the United Kingdom, where Netflix has five million subscribers.

Netflix has been busy with content, although the video service has somewhat been neglecting the website it maintains. But that's all changing now as the company unveils a complete revamping which it hopes customers will find much more useful.

This update promises a better user experience that "has been built from the ground up to make it faster and easier to discover something".

Video streaming service Netflix has announced another price increase to its monthly subscription, now costing £7.49 per month to watch House of Cards, Better Call Saul and other favorites in the UK.

The price increase is the second in the company’s history. It bumped the price up from the original £5.99 to £6.99 two years ago, following an expansion in Netflix Originals.

You might assume that Netflix, the world’s most popular video streaming service, would put out a fierce condemnation of online piracy, but CEO Reed Hastings is taking a much more accepting stance.

Speaking ahead of his company’s launch in Spain in October, Hastings indicated that piracy creates a market receptive to watching content online -- a necessity for his businesses to succeed.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been revealed as the most influential technology leader by Juniper Research’s latest industry rankings.

The rankings are based on a number of factors, including vision, innovation and personal capital, and saw Nadella gain top spot as a result of the fundamental changes he is implementing at his company.

Online video services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are undeniably popular, but they are set to explode in the next few years. A study published by Juniper Research suggests that in a period of just five years (2014-2019) the number of people subscribing to streaming video services will rocket from 92.1 million to 332.2 million.

Despite what many people may have thought, it is not growing use of mobile devices for entertainment that will be responsible for the increase. The nearly fourfold growth will be driven by the success of the likes of Google's Chromecast and Amazon's Fire TV Stick.

Netflix might be looking to revive Top Gear, following Jeremy Clarkson’s BBC outing after punching a producer in the face over a cold steak.

That is not the weirdest part of the rumor, it is what Netflix is planning to rename Top Gear, since it cannot use the BBC’s brand. The Mirror is reporting that Netflix plans to name the show House of Cars, and it will feature a similar format to Top Gear.

While the internet is supposed to be an open-access resource, there is a great deal of content which can only be accessed in certain parts of the world. To comply with licensing rules, broadcasters in particular will often restrict access to their services to specific countries, but in Europe there are plans to bring such geo-blocking to an end.

Described as "a discriminatory practice used for commercial reasons" geo-blocking is derided by the European Commission as little more than a money-making venture. The aim is to create what has been dubbed a Digital Single Market, breaking down barriers and simplifying regulation.

Everyone loves a good movie or TV show. Not only are they entertaining, but an opportunity for you to forget about your troubles too. My favorite thing about TV shows and movies, however, is the ability to be transported into a different world. By watching the film "Gravity", I can travel to space. "Game of Thrones" allows me to travel to the fictional Westeros. You get the idea.

While these are very much a visual affair, the audio isalso important. Besides dialogue and natural noise, the soundtrack plays a huge role too. Star Wars for instance offers a beautiful score. Unfortunately, not everyone has the ability to see; some people are blind or visually impaired. For these people, the audio is even more important. Today, Netflix recognizes this important group of people with a new Audio Description feature, starting with the all-new "Marvel's Daredevil".

Netflix just won another indirect victory in the form of a net neutrality proposal passed by the Federal Communications Commission, which would ban all types of paid prioritization on the Internet.

This means Verizon, AT&T and Comcast will be unable to seek more revenue from Netflix, in exchange for fast video streaming rates to Netflix’s 40 million US subscribers.

It's that time again -- the part of the month where Netflix rolls out its report on ISP performance. This is something that became important back during the Comcast debacle. That was when the streaming service was held hostage while negotiating a deal, all the while with its speed on the carrier steadily dropping.

Well, the top three have not changed and, despite the shakedown, Comcast still is not among them. Verizon FiOS retains its seat at the top, follow by Cablevision and Bright House. Comcast at least hasn't ceded its number four position.