Items tagged with Netflix
The back and forth between Internet service providers (ISPs) and Netflix as to which side is to blame for poor streaming performance continues with Verizon penning a blog post saying its hands are clean. According to Verizon, it's not throttling streaming video from Netflix, and the reason why some of its customers...
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After Netflix posted a message on broken video streams stating that Verizon’s congested network was to blame, the former went ballistic, going as far as sending Netflix a cease and desist letter. The FCC has now stepped in to investigate (and possibly mediate) the spat. However, it’s not just Netflix...
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In case you hadn’t noticed, ISPs and Netflix aren’t exactly friendly right now. In addition to bowing to Comcast and paying extra fees (that surely stuck in Netflix’s craw), the video streaming provider passive-aggressively accused Verizon of delivering substandard network performance, and Verizon countered by blasting Netflix...
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Netflix and Verizon are in a bit of a spat at present. The issue is that some Netflix users on Verizon networks started seeing an error message when experiencing a laggy connection that said “The Verizon network is crowded right now” followed by a note that said Netflix was “Adjusting video for...
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Is the FCC trolling ISPs (on our behalf)? The agency is considering raising the standard minimum speed for what is considered “high-speed Internet”, which would potentially force ISPs to work faster to roll out better service to more areas. Currently, broadband Internet speed is defined as 4Mbps, but according to an anonymous FCC...
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The ability to stream movies and other content to your TV is relatively commonplace thanks to set top boxes such as the Roku 3, Apple TV, gaming consoles that support streaming, and built-in functionality that comes with many of today’s Blu-ray players and TVs. Even so, there’s always room for additional competition, right? Amazon...
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The ability to stream movies and other content to your TV is relatively commonplace thanks to set top boxes such as the Roku 3, Apple TV, gaming consoles that support streaming, and built-in functionality that comes with many of today’s Blu-ray players and TVs. Even so, there’s always room for additional competition, right? Amazon...
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If there was any doubt about Netflix’s huge popularity in North America, consider that according to a new report from Sandvine, the streaming video service accounts for more than one-third of all Internet traffic. Netflix was responsible for 31.6% of traffic, but with a bump to Super HD (4K) content for users...
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The number of connected devices offering access to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu continues to grow. Heck, don't be surprised if the capability is baked into the next smart toothbrush you buy. What most of these devices have in common is they typically don't sit behind a paywall, though that isn't true of...
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This morning Netflix confirmed that it will be raising its rates for monthly streaming subscribers to $8.99 per month, which is a $1 increase over the current price. However, current customers can keep the old rate in place for two years if they don’t change their plan. Netflix said it was upping rates “in...
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Netflix is staying ahead of the curve by offering a small amount of content in 4K, readying a near future where the streaming TV and movies service can take advantage of the slew of Ultra HD 4K TVs that will be hitting the market from the likes of Samsung, Sony, LG, and Vizio. “Breaking Bad” is one program...
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The future of television is upon us. With pay-TV transforming, slowly but surely, service providers have little choice but to come to grips with the realities surrounding their business. More and more individuals are growing up on a steady entertainment diet of Netflix and YouTube, and once they grab jobs and own...
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The FCC has confirmed that it will hold a May 15 vote on a new set of policies governing net neutrality and ISP behavior -- but according to the Wall Street Journal, the commission's proposed regulation will effectively kill the idea of a level playing field. The Wall Street Journal reports that the proposed rules would prevent ISPs from blocking...
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It should come as no surprise that Netflix is doing well, and indeed the company’s Q1 earnings report evinces just that. Revenues are up across the board--with the lone exception of its international streaming business, which is still less in the red than ever and will turn black sometime this year--and Netflix...
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Last month, Comcast and Netflix announced a controversial deal in which Netflix would pay Comcast directly for improved service. The reason this deal is controversial in many quarters is that it's seen as triple-dipping by Comcast -- the company is already paid by companies like Level 3, which provide Internet back-haul across the country,...
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It seems like everybody thinks they can make great TV shows these days. Following in the formidable footsteps of Netflix and (to a lesser extent) Amazon, both Microsoft and Yahoo are looking to get into the original programming business. Yahoo’s effort in that direction, as reported by the Wall Street Journal...
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Proving once again that there are two sides to every story, a senior executive for AT&T fired back in contentious fashion at a blog post written by Netflix chief Reed Hastings calling for net neutrality. AT&T's Jim Cicconi called Hastings' plea "self righteous" and "arrogant," to use a couple of choice terms...
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After reading through the latest rhetoric by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, you get the feeling that he views his company's recent deal with Comcast as essentially sleeping with the enemy. The multi-year agreement ensures that Comcast subscribers will enjoy higher quality Netflix streams and less buffering, but Hastings...
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Spoiler alert: Yes, Amazon Prime is still totally worth it for $99 a year, if you actually take advantage of what the service offers. The company announced today that it’s jacking up the annual cost of Amazon Prime from $79 to $99 (and up to $49 for students). Amazon cites rising fuel and transportation costs as the need to bump up the...
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In what had been a standoff between Netflix and Comcast -- one in which subscribers of both companies were caught in the crossfire -- Netflix was the first to blink by agreeing to pay the ISP for faster speeds. The two media giants inked a multi-year deal that should ensure less buffering and higher quality Netflix...
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Over the past 12 months, Netflix performance has been dropping steadily across most of the major ISPs. Comcast, Verizon, and Time Warner Cable have all recorded significant performance drop-offs. The issue has been particularly acute on Verizon, where measured bandwidth rates have fallen a high of 2.3Mbps in October 2013 to 0.97Mbps in January,...
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Netflix has long chased after methods of improving its movie recommendation algorithms, once even awarding a $1M prize to any team of people who could substantially improve on the then-current design. As part of that process, the company has been researching neural networks. Conventional neural networks are created...
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