Articles about Streaming

Plex, who makes a popular media server and client software package, has never been shy about adapting any platform it can manage to get on. Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Roku, Xbox, even NAS devices. Now the organization reaches out to yet another community.

While jokingly saying at the beginning that it was arriving on Sega Genesis consoles, the real target this time is Sony. Plex is headed for both games consoles available from the currently troubled company -- the PS3 and PS4.

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HBO is one of the most popular premium networks on TV, with shows like Game of Thrones and others. The channel has also launched an online and mobile app called HBO GO. This brings the content to your computer, phone or tablet.

Now the network has arrived on Amazon Fire TV, the tiny set-top box that launched earlier this year. It's a strong competitor to Roku and Apple TV. While arguably less capable than the former, it is also stronger than the latter in its offerings.

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Plex is perhaps the most well known media server among home theater and HTPC enthusiasts. Both a server and end-user app are provided, the former for free, while the latter will set you back a nominal fee. However, it's well worth the time to set up and few dollars out of your pocket.

Now the service is improving on it's offering to Google's mobile platform. Plex for Android has just gained Playlists, making things just a bit easier for its multitude of customers.

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YouTube is a great source of entertainment, but don't you wish that sometimes people would just cut to the chase? There are plenty of videos of epic length, often comprising a massive build up to a short punchline. Why not cut the crap and get to the point?

One way to do this when re-sharing YouTube videos is to convert the interesting portion into an animated GIF, saving viewers time and bandwidth. YouTube itself is getting in on the web's rekindled interest in animated GIFs. A new beta program has been opened up that lets YouTube users transform lengthy videos into snapper clips of up to six seconds in length.

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Music is important to many people, both current and the variety that brings back memories of youth or life events. While sometimes happy and occasionally tragic, it still raises emotions. Spotify has become one of the top destinations for this, and now it's getting ready for the holiday season.

If you wish to give the gift of music, then cards are available to you for purchase. The cards come in several increments, including $10, $30 and $60, netting the lucky recipient one, three or six months of streaming Spotify Premium music service.

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Coming to the end of 2014, it's time to start looking to what the year ahead may have to offer. After gazing into its crystal ball, Juniper Research has compiled a list of what it expects to be the biggest technology trends of 2015. Topping the list is a focus on security. Juniper Research predicts that there will be greater interest in encryption and tokenization, as cloud storage providers battle to regain customer trust.

The launch of Apple Pay will help to drive an increased interest in biometrics to help with security, but 2015 is also predicted to be the year that wearables really take off. Now that Apple has entered the arena, there should be a greater focus on aesthetics and smaller players will increase in popularity. Tied in with both security and wearables is a predicted jump in the use of NFC -- for payments, authentication, health and more.

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Pandora, one of the darlings of the music streaming industry, has been around for some time. But the old dog can still learn new tricks, and the service proves that by continuing to improve its offering. It's also one of the best priced services, if you care to get the premium subscription.

The latest update benefits iOS and Android users -- two of its biggest customer bases. "The design of this latest update is part of our ongoing dedication to innovate the UX and UI across platforms, and as a result, provide effortless music discovery and listening for more than 75 million listeners each month", Pandora announces.

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On the heals of Amazon shipping its Fire Stick, a new HDMI dongle that provides similar capabilities to the previously released Fire TV, the market for streaming devices has continued to grow. And it's also getting more competitive, as each company improves its offerings.

A new study published by Parks Associates shows that a record ten percent of US households now own a streaming device. That still seems a small number, but perspective is needed. First, it's growing, and second, some people just aren't going to buy in to this technology -- my parents wouldn't know what a Roku was, nor what to do with it.

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We've reached that time of the year when merchants offer deals and people are hungrily shopping. If you still read a newspaper then today's edition is likely a bit heavy, laden with ads for Black Friday sales, some of which are already underway.

Roku is also getting in on the action, offering some nice discounts on its TV devices, both set-top box and stick. Bringing streaming online media to your living room, the company is offering some good deals and throwing in a bonus to go along with your purchase. And you don't need to leave home and fight angry shoppers for it.

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Microsoft is giving Office 365 users an early glimpse of what it hopes will become the future of enterprise video sharing. Office 365 Video harnesses the power of SharePoint and Azure Media Services to create a tool that gives businesses a one-stop-shop for uploading, sharing, delivering and streaming videos.

A number of possible scenarios are set out by Mark Kashman, a senior product manager in the Office 365 group. From providing employees with access to training videos to delivering CEO messages, this is a flexible tool that has been designed with security and simplicity in mind. Office 365 Video is not expected to launch until early next year, but a sneak peak is available right now.

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Every month streaming video provider Netflix announces its speed results for the biggest ISPs in the US and other nations. The report is aimed to let customers know why their video may be dodgy and also to praise those that get it right. The order tends to vary each and every time, but there is some relative consistency seen in the results.

This time around, the October report reveals that Verizon Fios remains in the top spot. Comcast also retained its position, though sixth is still not great given the provider is getting paid by Netflix to provide the best service. In between those positions you will find Cablevision, Bright House, Cox and Charter.

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As a web user it's very easy to feel like just another cog in the financial machine. Visit just about any website and you'll encounter ads. These generate revenue that's needed to pay for developers, writers, servers and so on, but the likes of YouTube, which rely on user-generated content, can quickly generate large profits thanks to the costs to revenue margins. Now video streaming service Hang w/ is bucking the trend and sharing profits with its users.

The platform exists as an iOS and Android app, and enables users to broadcast to users around the world as well as conducting video chats. It has managed to earn itself celebrity endorsement from the likes of Cheech and Chong (oh, yes), 50 Cent, Soulja Boy, Timbaland, and Ultimate Poker, and has helped to drive 22 million downloads for major shareholder MEDL Mobile. Recognizing the fact that it is users creating content, Hang w/ now shares 25 percent of its advertising revenue with users.

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Despite a little spat with Taylor Swift, Spotify seems to be mostly improving all the time, adding updates and content on a regular basis. The latest update aims to marry your computers to your mobile devices via new, and rather unique, remote app.

The company is announcing a new feature for Premium subscribers, allowing users to access Spotify on their computer using remote control from the phone or tablet.

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Three months ago I reached the end of my tether. I'm lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful and unspoilt parts of the UK (it nearly wasn’t part of the UK had the Scottish referendum on independence taken a different turn), but there's one problem: truly awful broadband. There is a 'choice' of one broadband provider who is capable of trickling sub 0.5Mbps connections into houses in the area -- and that's on a good day.

One Twitter rant later, a few emails exchanged with Satellite Internet led to the arrival of two installers to get me set up with a 20Mbps satellite connection. My initial impressions were great. The internet worked as it should for the first time in months. But my fear was that this was just a honeymoon period. So what’s the story nearly three months down the line -- what is it like to live with a satellite internet connection? Were my initial concerns about data usage well-founded?

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Music streaming has become the norm. When did you last buy a CD or, gasp, cassette or album? And we will not even discuss the 8-track tapes. That made yesterday's news cycle a bit baffling. Artists should be falling over themselves for ubiquity, not heading towards obscurity. But some apparently simply don't get it.

It has been revealed that Taylor Swift, a vastly popular singer, has pulled her music from Spotify. The artist seems to be worried about piracy, something that seems of little concern to most musicians today.

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