Articles about Streaming

Over the weekend, it was suggested that Steve Stephens used Facebook Live to livestream himself fatally shooting a man in his 70s. He went on to use the social network to admit to other murders, as well as saying that he wanted to "kill as many people as I can."

Despite rumors of a murder having been committed live on Facebook, the social network issued a statement clarifying that, while Stephens had broadcast on Facebook Live over the weekend, the footage had actually been uploaded rather than livestreamed. Whether broadcast live or not, the story -- once again -- brings into question Facebook's content vetting procedures.

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Most people alive today have seen the evolution of the internet over the course of a couple of decades, and can remember life before it was so integral. But there is a growing proportion of the population that has never lived without internet access, and such people have developed something of a different outlook on things.

Millennials, in particular, have been able to reap the benefits of being permanently connected, and have no experience of what it was like before. One of the side-effects of the always-on, always-available nature of content is that piracy has become second nature. Not only are most millennials streaming pirate content, they do not see it as wrong -- although downloading the same content is viewed differently.

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Streaming services like Netflix are proving increasingly popular as fans of television and movies cut the cord and look for on-demand options that better suit their needs. Having previously made it possible for iOS and Android users to download content for offline viewing -- complete with optimized codecs -- Netflix is now doing the same for Windows 10 users.

The idea is pretty simple. Netflix acknowledges the fact that subscribers may well want to be able to access their favorite shows when they do not have an Internet connection, and is therefore providing the perfect solution: Download & Go.

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For anyone looking to stream music and movies around their home to various devices, Plex is a solid media server solution that won’t hurt your pocket; it's free! But things are about to get even better for Plex Pass subscribers thanks to the arrival of the Plex Pass Perks hub.

Depending on where you are in the world, you might be able to bag yourself a discounted external hard drive or NAS to use with your server, and there is the promise that new deals will be added all the time.

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Facebook Live has been with us for a little while now, but it has been limited by the fact that it has only been possible to broadcast from mobile devices. Today this changes as Facebook opens up broadcasting to desktop and laptop users too.

On top of this, Facebook is adding the ability to stream from other software or external hardware. This has many uses, but the social network suggests that gamers might like to use it to broadcast their gaming sessions live online.

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Relying on a Linux distribution as your full time operating system can be great -- until it isn't. While there are many quality packages and applications that are compatible with the open source kernel, every once in awhile you will run into something that simply isn't available. When this happens, it can be very frustrating.

For a while, Netflix was not available for traditional Linux-based operating systems, meaning users were unable to enjoy the popular streaming service without booting into Windows. This was due to the company's reliance on Microsoft Silverlight. Since then, Netflix adopted HTML5, and it made Google Chrome and Chromium for Linux capable of playing the videos. Unfortunately, Firefox -- the open source browser choice for many Linux users -- was not compatible. Today this changes, however, as Mozilla's offering is now compatible with Netflix!

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You probably know Sling TV, one of the darlings for "cord cutters", and you certainly know Xbox, a favorite of gamers. The latter is also great for media with countless apps and HDMI pass-through. Microsoft hopes that is enough to make you remain on its platform and never change systems.

In conjunction with Microsoft, Sling is today introducing two big new updates -- a new interface on Xbox One, and Sling TV pre-loaded on Windows 10.

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Now that we've had Selection Sunday, people can begin filling out their brackets and putting their money where their mouths are. From number one ranked Villanova all the way back to number 68 Mt St. Mary, and all of the schools in between.

But what if you don't have cable or satellite to watch the action? You have some viewing options. Using a set-top box like Roku you need never miss a moment.

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Plex has introduced a new feature that makes it possible to store media files in the cloud.

Plex Cloud has been in beta for some time, but it's now available to anyone with a Plex Pass subscription, and it works with Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive.

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Just as operating systems borrow ideas from each other, the same is true of social networks -- and just about all sites and services feature social networking elements. Twitch, the streaming video platform for gamers, is copying Twitter and launching a social media feed called Pulse.

Described as "a place where streamers can post and engage with all of their followers and the greater Twitch community right from the Twitch front page", Pulse is not just about text updates, but also sharing GIFs.

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If you happen to have an Amazon Prime account then you're aware of the benefits that come along with your annual fee. There's the free two-day shipping, the streaming video service, the music, and more.

Amazon is also producing its own original shows, several becoming big hits, like The Man in the High Castle and Transparent.

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If you have one of the many modern and tiny streaming set-top boxes then chances are it may be a Roku. There are others on the market from Amazon, Google and Apple and plenty that have failed. Roku got in early and gained traction.

So much traction, in fact, that it has been showing some pretty serious numbers regarding how it is doing in the market.

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Ads -- be they on TV, on the web or in apps -- can be deeply annoying, hence the prevalence of ad-blocking software. But there are some ads that you can't always avoid, such as those tacked onto the beginning of YouTube videos; not all ad-blocking software is made equal, after all.

If this is a bugbear of yours, there's good news on the horizon. While YouTube is not ditching ads altogether, the 30-second monstrosities which cannot be skipped are being dropped.

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Are you ready for one of the biggest nights in music? The Grammy awards are just hours away from kicking off and many fans are likely wondering how they can watch the festivities live. For those without cable that is a real concern.

Everything kicks off tonight at 8pm ET and it will be hosted by James Corden. If you are one of those of a growing number that don't have cable TV then there are no worries, providing you do have a Roku.

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If you have used a streaming service like Netflix then you know the value of profiles. In a household of two or more people, profiles keep things sane. Especially when two people watch the same show, but not always on the same schedule -- you can each have it in your profile to keep track of which episode you're both on.

It may seem like simple technology, but it's something Hulu has lacked since its inception. While the service has grown in both terms of popularity and shows available, separating things has never been possible.

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