Posts in June 11, 2014

Netflix made a big push into educational video when it picked up Scholastic's TV shows, and we now know that this effort has paid off -- The Magic School Bus has been "remarkably popular," Netflix tells the New York Times. It only makes sense, then,... -- For more information read the original article here.

While we argue about how to best curtail the NSA, and precisely what constitutes meaningful reform, a gaping privacy hole remains open regarding our email: The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986 allows for email that has been stored by a user for more than 180 days to be accessed without a warrant. Read More -- For more information read the original article here.

Amazon could launch its long-rumored music streaming service Thursday, sources told The New York Post and The New York Times.

The company will reportedly be making a catalog of music six months and older available free to all of its Prime members, BuzzFeed's Reggie Ugwu previously reported.

Amazon has apparently reached agreements with two of the three major labels: Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. The New York Times reports that the streaming service will not include the music of Universal Music Group.

One industry source told The New York Post that the music industry was behind the idea because it could grow into something much larger: "We wanted to support it. It is a stepping stone. It shows that music is a priority for Amazon."

Although it won't have as much music as larger, more focused streaming competitors like Spotify or Pandora, Amazon's service will be just another way for the company to try to entice people to sign up for its $99 Prime service. Prime members tend to spend almost double what non-members do on Amazon, so it's in the company's favor to make the two-day free shipping service as attractive as possible.

Music streaming is becoming increasingly competitive. Apple just bought Beats for $3.2 billion in part because of its subscription music streaming service. iTunes downloads have suffered as people have turned to apps like Pandora to stream music for free. Pandora is on track to have $1 billion in revenues annual. Spotify has perhaps $1.2 billion in revenues. There are rumors that Google was thinking of buying Songza.

Amazon has also recently been beefing up its video streaming content. Selling digital content — be it movies, television shows, books, or music — instead of its physical counterparts, lets the company save money in storage and shipping.

This move also makes sense now because Amazon is likely releasing its own smartphone next week. BGR reported in April that the company is planning to offer a unique wireless data plan, called Prime Data. Although BGR's sources couldn't confirm exact details, it's speculated that Prime Data could take advantage of AT&T's "sponsored data plan" to let phone owners use various Prime-branded services — like TV and movies from Prime Instant Video and music from this s soon-to-be-released -- For more information read the original article here.

Fights over the armrest in an airline cabin or auditorium could be eradicated with this two-tiered support by Hong Kong designer James Lee (+ slideshow). (more...)

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Finding the perfect set-top box can be tough. Varying prices, features, and services all mean there's no one solution for everyone. Still, we asked you for your picks , and then highlighted the five best streaming set-top boxes based on your nominations. Now we're back to crown a winner.

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Confirming previous rumors, the New York Times purports that Amazon's streaming music service will launch this week, ahead of Amazon's launch event next week. The service is said to be for Amazon Prime subscribers, and provide tracks six months after a new release, using a Spotify-like delivery method....






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A British company called Titan just unveiled a new TV, and it's ridiculous. At 370-inches, it's the largest television in the world, and at $1.7 million, it's also got to be the most expensive. But who could say no to 4K resolution on a screen that's the size of a house?

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Facebook slid some new location sharing features in its 11.0 update for iOS today, despite saying “What's New” was only reliabity and speed improvements. I dug through the app and found Facebook is trying to get more people opting into and using its new ambient proximity tool by adding a search box and invite button atop the Nearby Friends screen. Facebook may be… Read More -- For more information read the original article here.

We've seen bits and pieces of technology that hint at the future of computing, but HP has just taken a big, big step toward bringing them all together. The company has unveiled The Machine (yes, that's the name), a processing architecture designed to... -- For more information read the original article here.

Unbeknowst to many, another minority-stake owner in Beats Electronics may be seeing a healthy payday when the Apple acquisition of the headphone, accessory and music service company goes through: basketball star and Samsung pitchman LeBron James. The Miami Heat star struck a deal back in 2008 to acquire a small stake in Beats in exchange for promoting its high-end headphones, ESPN reports, and could see a profit of more than $30 million in cash and stock according to sources....






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