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Sony's connected BRAVIA HDTVs score Netflix streaming, PS3 left in the cold
It's with mixed emotions that we present to you Netflix's latest partnership with Sony, which is awesome, but could be so (so!) much more. Today, the world's leading online movie rental service inked a deal that'll bring instant Netflix streaming to Sony BRAVIA Internet Video-capable HDTVs this fall along with older BRAVIA models that are compatible with Sony's BRAVIA Internet video link module. Sadly, the PlayStation 3 is glaringly absent in the announcement, which is a golden opportunity missed in our humble estimation. Ah well, at least there's PlayOn, right? Full release is after the break.
NumbThumb online game rental service closes its doors
Subscribers of the online video game rental service NumbThumb received an e-mail yesterday with a very misleading subject line: Exciting News from NumbThumb.com. The four-year-old company is closing its doors, killing all accounts as of July 5th and requesting all games be returned by the 15th. The "exciting" news is subscribers were given a special link to sign up with Gamefly for a 44% discount on the first month of service and a free magazine subscription.The competition is fierce in the online rental biz and NumbThumb has always had an uphill battle. It became one of our favorite services largely due to its speedy turnaround times. It never had the flash and features of Gamefly, but it felt worth it to support the little guy.
Netflix, Blockbuster settle patent dispute
Like so many other hyped patent lawsuits before it, the Netflix / Blockbuster suit ended today with the relatively quiet announcement that both parties have settled out of court for undisclosed terms. You might remember the two rental giants taking each other to court last year -- Netflix claimed that Blockbuster had violated its business method patent for online rental services, and Blockbuster claimed that Netflix hadn't properly disclosed prior art in its patent applications. As always with these settlements, neither party is conceding anything, so it looks like Netflix gets to hold onto those patents, and Blockbuster gets to keep letting people rent movies online. At least the lawyers got something out of it.
