Tag: Amazon Prime

Amazon Allows Viewers To Choose Which Comedy & Kids Pilots They’ll Produce

Linda Reimer

Over the weekend Amazon introduced a new page on its site the “Amazon Original Pilots,” the page has the subtitle “You help decide which shows become series. Watch now for free.” And essentially this is the new cutting edge way to both watch video content (streaming show from the web to your TV, laptop or other device) and to put forth your more than two cents worth about which shows you’d like to see developed and to continue being produced (by both voting on free shows like the eight comedy pilots Amazon is asking for feedback on and paying $1.99 for streaming television episodes and slightly more for movies). You do have to have an Amazon Prime membership in order to watch these pilots for free – that costs $79 per year and does give you other perks including free second day shipping of items, access to all items in the Amazon Prime streaming video library and one free e-book, from Amazon’s lending library, per month.

As far as producing television shows goes Amazon in essence is doing what Netflix has done with its very popular House of Cards series – produced exclusive video content to offer to its members and completely bypassing traditional media and cable companies in the process.

And getting back to the Amazon comedy pilots, the eight pilots (& their plots) currently available for viewing are:

“Alpha House: They work in the Senate. They live in the Alpha House.

Betas: Four friends think they’ve cracked the code for Silicon Valley success.

Browers: Fresh-faced interns face the music, and sing along with it.

Dark Minions: Rules, reports, a Galactic Overlord…just another day at the office.

Onion News Empire: Onion News Network journalists will do anything to stay on top.

Supanatural: These divas are humanity’s last line of defense.

Those Who Can’t: The most immature guys at this high school are teachers.

Zombieland: Four survivors are killing zombies and searching for a home.”

And for John Goodman and Bill Murray fans – check out the Alpha House pilot which features John Goodman in a starring role and Bill Murray in a hilarious cameo!

And the Kids’ Pilot shows include:

“Annebots: Kid scientist Anne explores the world.

Creative Galaxy: Soar with a loveable alien artist.

Positively Ozitivley: Enjoy magical adventures in Oz.

Sara Solves It: Unravel mysteries with Sara and Sam.

Teeny Tiny Dogs: Canine pals help one another.

Tumbleaf: Join the journeys of Fig the fox.”

Here’s a Google shortened direct link to the Amazon Pilots page:

http://goo.gl/yo5FN

A second link to a Slate article on the comedy pilots titled Can Amazon Transform TV? With eight new sitcom pilots and stars like John Goodman and Bebe Neuwirth, the bookselling giant is willing to try:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/television/2013/04/amazon_tv_pilots_john_goodman_and_bebe_neuwirth_star_in_new_streaming_sitcoms.html

And a third link to a New York Times article that offers more information on the new Prime series pilots for kids titled Amazon Introduces New Children’s Programs:

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/amazon-introduces-new-childrens-programs/

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Amazon Original Pilots. Amazon. Online. Accessed April 22, 2013.

Dell’Antonia, K. J. (2013, April 22). Amazon Introduces New Children’s Programs. New York Times. Online.

Thomas, June. (2013, April 22). Can Amazon Transform TV? With eight new sitcom pilots and stars like John Goodman and Bebe Neuwirth, the bookselling giant is willing to try. Slate. Online.

 

Aereo Streaming Television Service Wins Appeal & Expands Service

Linda Reimer

I’ve mentioned Aereo in blog postings before but just to refresh all our memories; Aereo is a New York City based company that offers broadcast television shows that go out over the airwaves and into Aereo’s office and then are sent to subscribers via the Internet. The idea is that you don’t have to be home in front of your television set to watch content that you could get for free via aerial antennae if you were at home.

And to give you an example, it used to be, and sometimes still is, that people lived far enough out of town that they couldn’t subscribe to a cable TV service via a cable service provider like Comcast or Time Warner Cable because the cable wires were not set up that far out of town – so no service was offered in their out-of-town region. So instead they hooked antennas to their roofs and/or television sets to receive a basic number of broadcast television channels for free. Now granted you couldn’t get all television channels that way – premium paid channels like HBO and Showtime weren’t available; however your local network stations and PBS were – so you could tune in to ABC, NBC, CBS or PBS if you were at home and watch whatever programs were being shown. And Aereo offers those free over-the-air (aerial) broadcast channels to customers in their service areas by actually having a small antenna for each customer in their service centers that receives the free broadcast programming and then sends it to customer’s accounts over the Internet.

And thus Aereo offers the free over-the-air broadcast television stations to their customers to access via an app on their smartphones and tablets. And Aereo further offers a certain amount of DVR storage for each customer so if you live in one of their service areas you can record that episode of Law & Order or Seinfeld that you missed the first time around and watch it later via your smartphone or tablet whenever you want to.

Aereo debut its service to consumers living in the New York City region last March. And as you can imagine this system is not one that the cable and media companies are pleased with! Comcast, CBS & Walt Disney have so far brought two law suits against Aereo claiming that Aereo is illegally broadcasting their content by essentially cutting cable service providers out of the picture altogether. They claim that Aereo is infringing on their copyright for the channel programming they sell to their customers even though it is perfectly legal for consumers to put a TV antenna on their own roofs and to access over-the-air television channels for free when they are at home; and Aereo is only broadcasting over-the-air channels to people who could obtain those channels for free, via rooftop antenna, in their area. So last March, just before the Aereo service debuted, Comcast, CBS & Walt Disney filed an initial law suit against Aereo claiming that their service was illegal – the court ruled against them and for Aereo stating that the Aereo service was in fact legal. And not surprisingly the plantiffs appealed the ruling. This morning a second court decision was also handed down upholding the first decision and yet again ruling that the Aero service is legal.

And so far this year Aereo has expanded its service to include 29 additional near-by counties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut so the ability to access broadcast television networks and their shows via the Internet may become the new norm.  I’m sure most people, including myself, would be willing to pay the $8.00 per month subscription fee (or the $80 yearly fee) to watch broadcast television programs via our smartphones, tablets or streaming media players whenever we want to.

And in relation, I think that they cable companies, by tight fistedly trying to hang on to their outdated bundled channel business model, are missing the proverbial boat and the opportunity it presents to make money in this new high tech Internet streaming age of ours. I can’t of course speak for anyone but myself but I did that cord-cutting thing three years ago and I much prefer it! I stream video content at home via my Roku and Apple TV players via my Wi-Fi network, and on the go via my smartphone and iPad. And I pay Netflix $7.99 a month for their all-you-can-eat (okay all-you-can-view) subscription to their catalog of titles and $79 per year to Amazon for unlimited access to their Prime Library of video titles and I can then watch them anywhere I can access the Internet. I can also purchase or rent videos from Amazon and buy videos from Apple so if I want to watch the latest episode of Grimm or Mad Men I can buy it the day after it airs on television. TV episodes come in standard definition for $1.99 and HD for $2.99 and I don’t mind paying that for episodes of a series I really like but I did mind an ever increasing cable bill that had me subscribing to many channels I never watched just so I could watch the handful of channels that I did want to watch. And did I mention the price? Amazon Prime & a yearly subscription to Netflix totals $175.77 – and I was paying almost that for my monthly cable bill before I cut the cord.

So I am excited by the second court ruling in favor of Aereo because I see this as not just a win for Aereo but also a win for consumers who today increasingly like to be able to watch whatever video content they want to watch when and where they want to watch it and not be tied to a cable TV cord.

Here’s a link to a New York Times article on Aereo and the new court ruling in its favor:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/business/media/aereo-wins-in-appeals-court-setting-stage-for-trial-on-streaming-broadcast-tv.html?ref=technology&_r=0

A second link to a Tech Crunch article on the same subject:

http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/01/aereo-looks-to-tv-providers-isps-to-accelerate-growth/

A third link to a short USA Today article that sums up the basics of the subject:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/04/01/aereo-wins-appeals-court-ruling/2042527/

And a link to the Aereo website that offers you a look at the pricing of their service plans:

https://aereo.com/plans

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Compare Plans. Aereo. Online. Accessed April 1, 2013.

Crook, Jordan. (2013, April 1). Aereo Looks To TV Providers, ISPs To Accelerate Growth. Tech Crunch. Online.

Stelter, Brian. (2013, April 1). Aereo Wins Appeal: Trail Likely for Streaming TV.

Yu, Roger. (2013, April 1). Good news for cable cord-cutters in Aereo win. USA Today. Online.

 

Video Streaming: Netflix, Vs. Hulu Plus & Amazon Instant Video Available for Wii U

Linda Reimer

Video Streaming: Netflix Vs. Hulu Plus: The Geek website offers an article today that is a basic introduction to the differences between the Netflix and Hulu Plus streaming video services.

Both services cost $7.99 per month for unlimited streaming and both services are available via laptops, Macs, PCs, smart phones, most smart TVs, some gaming consoles and traditional (aka non-smart) TVs via inexpensive media streaming players (Roku, Apple TV etc). Netflix offers a more extensive catalog of movies and TV shows but Hulu Plus offers more currently-on-the-air shows.

So just FYI if you’re thinking of buying a new tablet, smart TV or media streaming player this season!

And I will also put in a good word in for this cord cutter’s favorite streaming video service – Amazon Instant Video (and Pandora via Roku) which actually offers most television shows for streaming the day after they air – and I find Amazon Instant Video offers a more extensive catalog of newer movies and TV shows than Netflix or Hulu Plus so it is another service to consider. And you can try out any of these video streaming services on your computer if like. You can rent or buy movies and TV shows from Amazon without subscribing to a service.

Netflix and offers a 30 day trial version of their service and Hulu Plus offers a free one week trial.

Also of note, in addition to their Instant Video service, Amazon offers a “Prime” streaming service that you can try for free for 30 days. It costs $79 per year and allows movie and TV fans unlimited streaming access to any of the videos in the prime library.

And here’s the link to the Geek article which discusses the differences between the Netflix and Hulu Plus streaming subscriptions:

http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/netflix-vs-hulu-plus-video-streaming-2012123/

Amazon Instant Video Available For New Wii U: And here’s a second link that discusses the fact that Amazon Instant Video is available for the new Wii U so if you are one of the thousands of people nationwide that have purchased the new Wii U – or if you receive one during the holiday season — you can check out Amazon’s Instant Video store – when you’ve completed the current level of whatever game you’re playing that is!

Here’s a link to the aptly titled Slashgear article, Amazon Instant Video For Wii U Released, on the subject:

http://www.slashgear.com/amazon-instant-video-for-wii-u-released-22258024/

Have a great day!

Linda R.

Amazon Prime Goes Monthly & Sony E-Books App Approved by Apple

Linda Reimer

Amazon Prime Goes Monthly: As you may already know Amazon has been offering a service called Prime for quite a while. The service offers subscribers unlimited streaming of videos from Amazon’s Prime Video library to their PC, Mac, iPad, smartphone or TV (via a media streaming box like Roku or through the TV directly if you have a Smart TV); free access to one e-book a month from Amazon’s Prime Lending Library, free second day shipping for any item purchased from Amazon and $3.99 over night shipping for any item purchased from Amazon.

Prior to this week a subscription to prime costs $79 per year and was paid annually in one lump sum; but now you can subscribe to Amazon Prime and pay $7.99 a month. And it is certainly not a coincidence that Amazon has done this since both Netflix and Hulu Plus streaming (video) subscriptions are also available for $7.99 per month.

Here’s a link to a CNET article on this subject titled Amazon eyes Netflix, Hulu with $7.99-per-month Prime plan:

http://goo.gl/ZR24b

 Sony E-Books App Approved by Apple: And you may by wondering what I am talking about with this one! Sony has offered e-book readers for years. And in fact, Sony had e-book readers on the market in the U.S. in 2005 so their e-readers were on the market before the first iPad came out in 2010 and even before the first Kindle was introduced by Amazon in 2007. And anyone who first purchased a Sony E-Reader (usually known as Sony Readers) and later purchased an iPad or iPhone knows there hasn’t been a Sony Reader app available in Apples App store previously – so those of us who purchased Sony Readers and later upgraded to iPads or iPhones couldn’t read our Sony purchased e-books on our iPads; this has now changed! Hurray! There is finally a Sony e-reader app available for free from Apple’s App Store! The app is titled Reader – eBooks from Sony and is free. So anyone else out there who also has an old Sony E-Reader can now access their Sony purchased e-books on their iPad , iPhone or iPod Touch and donated that old Sony Reader they still have to one of their friends or relatives!

CNET has a story on this subject titled Sony finally gets Apple approval for iOS Reader app which can be accessed via the following link:

http://goo.gl/5WkqZ

Have a great election day everyone!

Linda R.

Kindle App Upgrade, Amazon Prime Versus Netflix, Californian Legislature Approves Self Driving Cars & New Kindle Fire To Be Introduced Next Week

Linda Reimer

Kindle App Upgrade : Amazon has updated its Kindle App for iOS (aka Apple) mobile devices. The new features include advanced highlighting, a new brightness control and the ability to change the backlight background from the usual white backlighting to sepia (a shade of beige) or black (with white letters).

CNET offers an in-depth article on the subject today titled Kindle ios app is now easier on the eyes and can be accessed via the following link:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57503398-93/kindle-ios-app-is-now-easier-on-the-eyes/

Amazon Prime Versus Netflix: Head New York Times tech guru David Pogue offers a comparison of video streaming via Netflix or Amazon. In essence, Pogue notes that both services offer unlimited streaming of video content from their streaming video libraries, Netflix for $7.99 a month and Amazon for $79.99 per year, and that the bulk of their titles which do number in the thousands are several years old. What Pogue doesn’t mention something is this video streamer knows well and that is that with Netflix what they have in their streaming video catalog is what they have – there is nothing else you can access. In contrast, Amazon offers streaming video fans the option to purchase and/or rent new movies and new TV episodes so if there is a new episode of Mad Men or Downton Abbey you can see that episode within 24 hours of its TV broadcast by purchasing it.

The New York Times article is titled Potluck for the Eyeballs: Amazon’s Streaming Service. Here’s the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/technology/personaltech/amazons-streaming-movie-service-offers-its-own-potluck-state-of-the-art.html?_r=1&ref=technology

Californian Legislature Approves Self Driving Cars: You may have heard that Google has developed a self driving car also known as an “autonomous car.” The car drives by an advanced computer system and additional high tech bells and whistles that allow the car to know where it is and sense where other vehicles or obstacles in the road are and is much safer in theory than human driven car because it has the proverbial eyes in the back of its head (and on all sides too!). Google has been testing its self driving cars for quite a while, with actual non-driving-the-car humans in the car, in California and Nevada and the California Legislature has just approved a law that will if approved by the governor allow these cars to operate sans humans on California roads. The Ars Technica article is titled Robot cars on public roads? California says yes and can be accessed via the following link:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/08/robot-cars-on-public-roads-california-says-yes/

And here’s a link to a related Forbes article that discusses how some of the self-driving car options are already being built into cars today. For example, the 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL sport-utility vehicle has an built in scanning device that will stop the car of the car’s computer system sense the driver is about to back into an object. Here’s the link to the article titled Cars That Can Drive Themselves Are Still A Ways Off; Cars That Can Stop Themselves Are Already On Sale:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimhenry/2012/08/30/cars-that-can-drive-themselves-are-still-a-ways-off-cars-that-can-stop-themselves-are-already-on-sale/

And another related article from 360 Yale titled Self-Driving Cars: Coming Soon to a Highway Near You which is cool because it offers a few practical illustrations of how self-driving car technology would benefit one and all:

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/self-driving_cars_coming_soon_to_a_highway_near_you/2554/

New Kindle Fire To Be Introduced Next Week: Amazon has completely sold out of its popular Kindle Fire tablets. This is usual in the tech world – that is to sell through the old model before the new model of a tech item is released. And next week Amazon is holding a press event to introduce new products which will most assuredly include a new and improve (and possible larger) Kindle Fire.

Here’s a link to a Washington Post article on the subject, with a super long title! Titled Fire’s gone out: Amazon says Kindle Fire is sold out, as announcement of new model expected:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/fires-gone-out-amazon-says-kindle-fire-is-sold-out-has-mystery-event-next-week/2012/08/30/f65afc66-f2a7-11e1-b74c-84ed55e0300b_story.html

And on a final tech note — the library will be closed tomorrow for cleaning and staff development. We’ll be open our usual hours on Saturday, closed on Monday, September 3 for the Labor Day holiday and will re-open at 9 AM on Thursday.

And on another hours note — our fall/winter/spring hours start September 9, 2012 and they are:

Monday 10-6 pm
Tuesday 10-8 pm
Wednesday 10-6 pm
Thursday 10-8 pm
Friday 10-6 pm
Saturday 10-4 pm
Sunday 11-4 pm

Linda R.

3 D Video Sans Glasses, Amazon Prime Instant Video Increases Its Library Holdings & Microsoft Drops The Price Of Its Xbox Kinect

Linda Reimer

3D Video Sans Glasses: The tech site Mashable offers a brief article and video today that show how 3-D technology is evolving and it illustrates the point that in the near future we won’t have to wear those goofy looking plastic glasses to watch 3-D videos!

Here’s the link

http://mashable.com/2012/08/22/3-d-movies/

Amazon Prime Instant Video Increases Its Library Holdings:  Amazon has entered into a licensing agreement with NBC Universal to offer its Prime video subscribers access to many NBC/Universal TV shows including Battlestar Galactica, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights and Heroes.

Amazon Prime costs $79 per year and offers unlimited viewing of Prime videos accessed via computers, smart phones, tablets and media streaming players. In addition to video streaming, Prime members can read one free e-book per month from Amazon’s Prime Library, receive free second day delivery of items and reduced overnight shipping fees for most items. For example, shipping for books and DVDs usually cost $3.99 for overnight delivery for Prime members.

Here’s a link to a PC Magazine article on the subject:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2408883,00.asp

Microsoft Drops The Price Of Its Xbox Kinect: Kinect is a motion controlled sensor that allows Xbox gamers to play games via physical motions instead of by using a hand held controller. You simply raise your hand or place a kick in real life in front of the sensor and your character on screen does the same! And Microsoft has just dropped the list price of this great gaming add-on from $149 to $110.

Here’s a link to a USA today article on the subject:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2012/08/22/microsoft-price-drop-kinect/100000000001828/1

Have a great weekend everyone!

Linda R.