Tag Archives: Television program

Netflix Airs Own TV Show, Lilyhammer; Might Air House of Cards Late This Year

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Posted by on in Internet, Web Services
Netflix Roadshow 004

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Update:  Before you go on reading the rest, please read this correction.  Netflix will air Lilyhammer show next month.  If you check out Lilyhammer on Netflix now, the show will not be available.  I guess, until next month then.

Forbes reports Netlfix airs its own original show Lilyhammer.  The shows is about a mobster who got shipped to Norway, because he entered a witness protection program.  From watching the trailer, I think the show is along the category of mix elements of crime and comedy.  Nonetheless, I don’t really know since I haven’t watched the show yet even though I have Netflix account.  I’ll be checking out the show soon.

As long Netflix can launch more original shows, I think Netflix will be a force to be reckoned with.  Unfortunately, I think Netflix will always be held hostage to Internet Service Providers, because they actually have to rely on the networks of Internet Service Providers to deliver the contents.  It’s understandable that several big Internet Service Providers are also providing their own TV programs.  The conflicts between Netflix and big Internet Service Providers are bound to happen and continuing to happen as things are that obvious between them.

Netflix might want to try to launch satellites of their own to partly break free from Internet Service Providers.  You never know if the big Internet Service Providers decide to become unreasonable.  Also, you never know new law and regulations might become inhospitable toward the services that Netflix provides.  Having a network which Netflix can totally rely on to deliver contents is probably invaluable to Netflix’s future.

I think Netflix is heading in the right direction by providing Netflix original shows.  I do not know how much I’ll like or hate Netflix’s Lilyhammer show, but I know I’m still waiting for Netflix’s the House of Cards.  If I’m right, Netflix might air the House of Cards in late of this year.  Check out Lilyhammer trailer right after the break.

Sources:

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It’s Iffy For Moving iTunes’ Rental Movies To Another Computer Or Device; Don’t Expect A Solution!

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Posted by on in Apple, Internet, Web Services
A man protests Digital Rights Management in Bo...

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It’s iffy that Apple makes it near impossible for iTunes users to move rental movies from one computer or device to another in most cases.  Notice how I said near impossible and most cases, because some people suggest that you can actually move iTunes’ rental movies from Mac to iPad, but not vice versa; others people suggest other things; I know for sure you can’t move iTunes’ rental movies from one computer to another computer directly.  I surmise Apple has this limitation in place to prevent iTunes users from rendering the rental expiration time frame useless.

Is it weird that you can move iTunes’ rental movies from Mac to iPad but not vice versa?  Once you move the iTunes’ rental movies, they’re gone from the original computer or device (i.e., original destination or the container of contents).  I think Apple should try harder by allowing iTunes users to have the ability to move rental movies from one computer or device to another; of course, doing it in such a way that the whole process can still work out as intended such as not allowing users to render the rental expiration time frame useless.

In my case, I was using iTunes on a Macbook Pro and rented couple HD movies, but I wanted to move the rental movies to the iTunes on Windows 7 computer so I could watch the HD movies on a bigger monitor.  Apple is making it impossible for me to do such a thing, and so I was disappointed.  Sure, I could have planned the rentals out better such as I should have rented movies within the iTunes that resided on Windows 7 computer, but it was easy for me to blame Apple for not making things easier for me.

Some people suggest that it’s possible for you to move iTunes’ rental movies from a computer to iPod and then from iPod back onto a computer.  For iPad and iPhone, people suggest that you can move the iTunes’ rental movies to these devices, but not in reverse as in moving the rental movies back to a computer.  I don’t think you can move iTunes’ rental movies from a computer to another computer directly.

Would Home Sharing for iTunes allow iTunes users to move rental movies from one computer or device to another?  Don’t even try that, because I tried and it turned out to be a waste of time.  How about iPhone’s iTunes?  Well, it is kind of weird that iPhone’s iTunes allows you to check TV shows and music under Purchased, but movies aren’t made available to be viewed under Purchased.  I figure that rental movies are rental after all, and so rental movies are appropriately made unavailable under Purchased.

I guess when one wants to rent a movie from iTunes, one better makes sure that one has to be on a computer that one wants to watch the rental movie.  As iTunes can be installed on almost all computer platforms (i.e., iTunes isn’t compatible with Linux), it won’t be a problem for iTunes users to watch iTunes’ rental movies on most computers.  Doing anything different, iTunes users just beg for the inconvenience.

Business wise, this inconvenience isn’t a big deal for Apple, because Netflix and other Apple’s competitors probably are facing the same problem of making brand new movies to be available in ways that won’t make their customers feel irritating.  Of course, streaming old movies should not have such a painful DRM experience, because Netflix is superb in making the streaming of old movies to be available on most computer platforms and devices.  People should not even bother with moving any movie while using Netflix; it’s not a part of the equation; it’s all about streaming and what devices can be streamed Netflix’s movies and what not.

Renting old movies through iTunes might still prevent iTunes users from moving rental movies from one computer or device to another, because it’s all about DRM again.  Indeed, it’s clear that streaming and renting are two different beasts altogether.  In the end it’s up to which beast you like to hang out with.  For me, I guess I might hang out with both from time to time, because renting movies from iTunes does have one advantage over Netflix’s instant streaming, it’s that you can download and watch brand new movies.  Oh, don’t forget about Amazon too, because you can both rent brand new movies and streaming old movies through Amazon.  Nonetheless, I have digressed, and so let me end this long and rather moot post at this impolite juncture, OK?

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Boxee, Another Hulu?

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Posted by on in Internet, Web Services

By now some people may have heard of Boxee and others may have heard of Hulu.  The two services are somewhat similar, but Boxee is a little bit different for it has a hardware version.  Buying a Boxee box, you can watch TV shows and movies on your big screen TV.  Not everyone wants to spend some money for a Boxee box, and so Boxee allows you to download a software version onto your computer, install Boxee software, and connect your computer to a big screen TV to watch TV shows and movies.  Unless you don’t feel like taking the extra steps such as acquiring an HDMI cable and connecting your computer to a big screen TV, you can use Boxee right on your computer to watch TV shows and movies.  Many TV shows are free, and most movies are for rental on demand.

Boxee works with Mac, Windows PC, and Linux.  Installing Boxee on Windows PC and Mac is pretty straight forward, but I haven’t yet installed Boxee on Linux so I haven’t had a clue how easy it would be for installing Boxee on Linux.  Even better if you have a Facebook account, because you can connect Boxee with a Facebook account.  Boxee also allows you to connect itself with Twitter and Netflix.  OK, let get back onto the topic of installing Boxee.  Installing Boxee on Mac and Windows PC is simple as downloading Boxee onto your computer, double click on the download package, and following clear step by step instruction.  At one point, Boxee will ask you to create a username and a password for Boxee account, just do it so you can log into Boxee after the installation.  Don’t forget to check your email address to validate the Boxee account that you had signed up for.

I’m scratching my head now and wonder why I need cable or satellite any longer!  Unfortunately for me as my family requires an International channel which Boxee and Hulu and other similar services do not yet carry, otherwise I would have ditched cable or satellite altogether.  The point is to save money, and services such as Boxee allow we to do just that.  Even Internet radio services such as Last.fm are a blessing for us all.  The more accessible these services have become, I can see the doom day for cable and satellite is just over there.  What you think of Boxee?

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Revisiting An Old Theme, Once Again, Do We Need Another Browser? RockMelt Thinks We Do!

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Posted by on in Browsers, Internet, Software

Albeit, many people think browsers are not that important anymore since there are so many of them out there.  The Internet has enabled a confusing maze of new ways where getting hook up with information is the norm.  Don’t be surprise when you chat with a friend, a coworker, and the people you know about a favorite TV show, but they’re not necessary watching the same TV show on a same platform as you.  Your friends may watch their moving pictures on smart phones.  3D 52 inches TV is your preference, and so you often get your fix through a specific set-top box that is hooking to your big screen TV.  Your dad in California gets his fix on his laptop as he traveled there just last week.  Your sister is so busy that she has never had a chance to sit down and watch a TV show, but she records her favorite TV shows using recording feature on her specific set-top box so she could watch whenever she really has the time.  Playing games aren’t the same anymore, as you and I can just jump on various platforms to have our fixes.  We don’t need a game console to play video games unless we really want a game console just for the sake of having one since we can play video games on iPad, iPhone, various smart phones, laptop, computer, and so on.  Writing and calculating and recording don’t require Microsoft Office software that is installing onto your desktop anymore, you can get these fixes with just a browser using Google Docs — unless you just prefers Open Office where it’s free for downloading and installing onto your desktop.

With so many new things and so many ways to do things nowadays that anyone who is not from this world can get lost and nobody would feel sorry for such a being, so why companies are still coming out with new browsers?  To put that in another way, browsers are everywhere, why should we care that there is a brand new browser (i.e., another brand of browser)?  I think browsing the Internet is still the most appealing thing for me.  I don’t know about you, but the feeling of having the freedom of zigzagging throughout the world at the fingertips are just amazing.  Especially, social networks such as Facebook has increasing the fun for fingertips and the mind since its creation.  Browsers on smart phones are allowing people to have the freedom of connecting throughout the world conveniently and on the go.  Browsers are not as important as when browsers were first created in a sense that browsers aren’t young and youthful and new and eyeopening kind of stuffs, but browsers’ functionality has never waned since the freedom of accessing information from all over the world in seconds is the stuff of stuffs that cannot be outdone for decades to come unless I’m so wrong about it.

Yes, it’s true that it’s not the browsers but the Internet itself allows us to zigzagging the world in seconds beyond borders of countries and human cultures if you’re so insisting on the technicalities at the core of everything.  It’s the data that go through pipes of IP and traverse through backbone networks such as ISPs and so on that allow us the freedom of accessing information without borders.  For instance, increasingly we have seen everything is pushing through the IP such as Television.  Still, browsers are something that we can interact with so intimately, more so than on demand programs and applications all over the places.  In that, I have to say browsers aren’t going away for decades to come unless I’m so wrong of it.  New browsers such as RockMelt are bagging on the longevity of the nature of browsers as these come out with bravado, full of newer features and promises and unique capabilities and bold declarations such as making a browser more social.

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