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Your pals can broadcast during your Meerkat streams, if you let them
To let viewers feel like they're part of the action, Meerkat announced a new feature that lets you ask for some crowd participation. The video-streaming app now has a Cameo tool that'll allow broadcasters to hand the reins over to viewers for up to a minute. "It's a simple yet powerful way to create a deeper human connection with people — going from 'broadcasting to' towards 'broadcasting with,'" the company said in a blog post. The ability to highjack streams popped up back in March and was quickly nixed. Now, it's an actual feature, which makes me wonder if someone flipped the switch a little early.
Comedy Central channel starts streaming on Roku
It took a while, but Comedy Central is finally bringing its video content to Roku's streaming devices. As Variety points out, although the network hasn't made an official announcement, the channel's now available for download. You will need a pay-TV subscription to access most of Comedy Central's on-demand library, however, which includes The Daily Show, Key & Peele, South Park, Broad City and many more shows. That said, cord-cutters won't be completely left out, since they'll be able to enjoy the latest episodes of some shows -- like The Daily Show, The Nightly Show with Larry More and a few select others. Don't have it on your Roku player yet? You can install it directly from here.
Meerkat's embeddable player puts your streams all over the web
Want people to see your Meerkat streams in more places? Well, you're in luck. The company announced an embeddable player today, a feature allows you to place your channel on the web so that folks don't have to venture too far to find your video. If you aren't broadcasting live, the player will display the details for your upcoming stream. Don't have one scheduled? It'll show the stats from your last session. And if you haven't captured any video yet, it'll fill the space with your profile. The embed options include three sizes -- Portrait, Square and Big Square -- so you can find the right fit, and Meerkat is giving you the ability to nix comments if you'd like. Because sometimes you just want to avoid any unwanted noise from the peanut gallery.
Amazon's Fire TV is a hit among US consumers, says report
Its ability to do everything, from video-streaming to gaming, makes the Fire TV a solid home entertainment product. And people in the US are starting to take note of this. According to Strategy Analytics, an independent firm that researches the consumer market, Amazon's Fire TV accounted for 30 percent of streaming set-top box shipments in Q1 2015. During this period, which measures numbers from January 1st to March 31st, a total of 3.5 million units were shipped to US consumers, with Fire TV picking up steam despite being introduced over a year ago. That said, the Apple TV is reportedly still king of the streaming set-top space, having shipped more than 15 million units to date -- not bad for a hobby, Apple.
Aereo to pay broadcasters $950,000 for copyright claims
As if the situation couldn't get worse for Aereo, the defunct TV streaming service is now set to make a payment to the broadcasters responsible for its downfall. And, all things considered, it's getting off quite easy. According to Bloomberg Business, Aereo has agreed to pay CBS and other television networks $950,000 to resolve copyright claims, although the damages are said to total over $99 million. Simply put, Aereo's only expected to compensate for a little less than a penny on the dollar, a deal that was agreed upon by all parties involved.
BET brings live broadcasts to its iOS and Android apps
Nowadays, most TV networks offer live and on-demand content through mobile apps, including their own and those from service providers like Time Warner Cable, Dish and DirecTV. Today, just as ABC and others have done, BET is set to start broadcasting live on its iOS and Android applications, making it easy for fans of the channel to keep up with their favorite shows while on the go. The BET NOW app has served up access to on-demand programming for quite some time, but the addition of a live video feed will likely put a smile on the face of BET viewers.
Beatport's dance music streaming service lands on iOS and Android
There are more music streaming apps than the world needs. But there hasn't really been a streamlined experience for electronic dance music listeners until now. Most of the popular apps -– Spotify, 8tracks and Pandora -– have a plethora of dance music tracks and amateur playlists to choose from, but they're not dedicated to the fist-thumping, bass-pounding needs of a dance music lover. Beatport, the go-to stream and download site for DJs and their fans, has finally stepped up its game with the launch of iOS and Android apps today. It's the latest service to join T-Mobile's Music Freedom program, which streams music without eating into your data plan.
Dish Anywhere adds profiles for personalized recommendations
Even though Sling TV has kept Dish extremely busy over the past few months, the company hasn't forgotten about its core user base: the satellite service customers. As such, Dish let it be known today that it is bringing some new features to Anywhere, the companion app subscribers use to stream live or on-demand content, control DVR settings and more. The main highlight is a new feature that lets each user in a household set up their own profile, complete with a name and icon, among other things. Most importantly, though, this makes personalized content recommendations possible, since they are based on personal viewing habits -- rather than what everyone in your family watches.
NBC's rumored Apple TV app may require a cable plan
According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is getting ready to launch an internet-based TV service this fall. Interestingly, though, one of the most prominent US television networks, NBC, reportedly won't be a part of the technology giant's upcoming offering. The news outlet cites a recent "falling-out" between Apple and cable provider Comcast (NBC's parent company), which is what likely affected the contract negotiations. Now, 9to5Mac is reporting that NBC will be launching its own app on the Apple TV later in 2015, one that it plans to use to livestream content 24/7. However, unlike Apple's rumored cord-cutter-friendly TV package, NBC's app is said to require a cable subscription in order to be accessed.
YouTube Kids delivers a library of age-appropriate streaming
Last week we heard about YouTube's new app for little tykes, and now, it's ready to go to work. YouTube Kids is available on iOS and Android, delivering access to shows and music (Thomas the Tank Engine) with options for learning or exploring (Reading Rainbow), too. As you might expect, there are parental controls to keep tabs on content, sound levels and screen time, and items that don't need to be futzed with by children (comments, etc.) are absent. What's there, though, is a tiny finger-friendly interface of large images for easy navigation. If you're willing to hand your iPad or Nexus 9 over to junior, head over to the appropriate app repository to download.
UK minister calls for Netflix to offer the same content when Brits travel abroad
At the moment, if you travel abroad and open up the Netflix app you'll notice that its library of films and TV shows is vastly different. That's because the company has cut a variety of agreements with rights holders in different countries, which restrict what content it can make available to its subscribers. So while Netflix might have a deal to offer Doctor Who in the UK, it doesn't necessarily have the rights to offer it in other parts of Europe. It means that if you're abroad and want to continue binge-watching the Time Lord's adventures, you could be out of luck. It's a frustrating reality of the media industry, and why some savvy streamers have turned to proxies and VPNs in order to access Netflix's library in other countries. Now, the UK's Business Secretary Vince Cable wants to cover up these restrictions altogether with a "single online market" for Europe. It would, in theory, make services such as Netflix "portable," so that whenever you travel abroad your library remains the same.
Amazon is working on seven new pilot shows for next year
With the new year just around the corner, Amazon wants to get its customers excited by revealing fresh content for yet another Pilot Season. Today, the online retailer announced that it has seven shows due to debut in 2015, which will be made available to Instant Video subscribers in the US, UK and Germany "early" next year. The lineup is a collection of four 60-minute shows (Cocked, Mad Dogs, The Man in the High Castle and Point of Honor), plus three shorter, half-hour-long productions (Down Dog, Salem Rogers and The New Yorker Presents). There's something for everyone, it seems, ranging from categories such as drama, comedy and documentary. If you're interested, you can learn more about each one right here.
Sky Go adds the Channel 5 family and ITVBe to its streaming roster
If there's one slight criticism to be made of the free Sky Go service -- which lets Sky subscribers stream live TV and on demand content to computers and mobile devices -- it's that you can't access the full selection of channels found on your set-top box at home. The same can be said of Virgin's equivalent TV Anywhere service, and bit by bit, both providers are strengthening these offerings with additional channels. Today, it's Sky's turn to announce a handful you can now stream through Sky Go for the first time, including Channel 5, which is home to the new Batman-inspired Gotham series, and its sister channels 5* and 5USA. British Eurosport 2 is also now available on Sky Go, alongside the freshly launched channel ITVBe -- also known as the place braincells go to die.
The entire 'Friends' series is coming to Netflix next year
Look, folks, Netflix is (kind of) in the business of making you happy. So, what better way to do just that than by adding Friends to its content portfolio, right? Well, thanks to a new deal with Warner Bros., Netflix announced today it is bringing all 10 seasons of the popular series to its streaming service next year, on January 1st, 2015. The bad news, though, is that the Friends episodes will only be available in the US and Canada when it debuts on the platform, and there's no word on whether this will change anytime after the fact. For the rest of you, it's only a matter of time before you can reunite with Chandler, Joey, Monica, Phoebe, Rachel and Ross -- you know, in case you haven't already.
Channel 4 to replace 4oD with new 'All 4' service next year
Channel 4 basically pioneered online catch-up services when it launched 4oD for PCs eight years ago. Since then, 4oD has evolved and improved, most recently adding offline viewing for mobile devices and the ability to stream over 3G and 4G networks. Back in May, however, Channel 4 CEO David Abraham teased a "significant upgrade" to the service -- incidentally, the BBC pushed its iPlayer redesign out around the same time -- and today we're learning more about what that will entail. For starters, 4oD will be renamed "All 4" to reflect its comprehensive nature, with a new logo for good measure. It'll incorporate all the live channel feeds, on-demand content and Channel 4 shorts you can already find on 4oD, but packaged in a brand new user interface.
Use YouTube to queue videos for Chromecast viewing
Chromecast and YouTube are like a match made in heaven. And, since they're both part of Google's big picture strategy, it makes sense for both things to be as friendly as possible with each other. To that end, YouTube's taken to to Google+ (how meta, eh?) to reveal that Chromecast owners can now use its site (as in YouTube.com) to queue videos -- essentially, this is meant to simplify the process, since it lets you arrange what to play next from a single tab on your browser. Just as well, there are more changes coming to the YouTube watch page on the web (pictured below), including an easier way to create playlists and share videos across social networks, plus a new description box. The Chromecast feature is available now, while the other tweaks are expected to rollout over the next few days.
Vimeo's video app gets a major facelift on Roku
Discovery features are becoming the norm among video and music applications. Vimeo, naturally, has been taking note of this and is now introducing a redesigned app for Roku streaming devices. Along with making it simpler for viewers to find fresh content on its homepage, Vimeo's new application also lets Roku users get smarter search results and have easier access to their personalized feeds -- such as Incoming, Likes, My Videos and Watch Later. The online video company says this was all done with the future in mind, too; the application is setup to support in-app purchasing for the Vimeo On Demand service, which will soon allow creators to charge for productions directly from any Roku. Vimeo on Roku definitely looks much prettier than it did before, let's just hope those looks match its overall performance.
BBC's iPlayer redesign comes to a much wider range of TVs and set-top boxes
Since the BBC announced a substantial iPlayer redesign earlier this year, it's been rolled out to different platforms in stages, starting with the web and most recently, iOS, Android and Windows Phone. A limited line-up of connected TVs and set-top boxes, as well as the PS3 and PS4, were granted access to the new-look iPlayer at launch (though in preview mode initially). Today, the BBC's announced a vastly expanded roster of smart TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes that'll receive the iPlayer update within a week. Its diffusion to other TV-connected gear will continue, too, with an Xbox One app and updates for YouView, Virgin Media TiVo and BT Vision set-top boxes expected to be released by the end of the year. In order to conserve resources, the BBC's also said it'll be retiring the aged "Bigscreen" version of iPlayer next month. Apparently, only 0.1 percent of viewers still use it, and various devices will be able to access the new version of iPlayer anyway.
Dish Anywhere app now looks much better on tablets
Since the very beginning, Dish has been doing a really good job with its Anywhere mobile app. Aside from letting Hopper with Sling owners use it to view their DVR recordings, the application also offers access to a robust library of on-demand content. To that end, Dish Anywhere has now been further improved on iPad, Android and Kindle Fire tablets, with a redesigned UI and fresh discovery features that let users easily find new stuff to watch. But there's more beyond the pretty, image-heavy pages like the one pictured above. Dish made the app better in other ways, thanks to new features including a Watchlist, the ability to turn your device into a Dish remote, and more. If you haven't grabbed the update, you can do so via the App Store, Google Play or Amazon Appstore, depending on what tablet you're rocking these days.
What to expect from NFL Now, the league's new video network
It's been roughly six months since the National Football League announced NFL Now, a digital network designed from the ground up to, hopefully, fit the needs of fans on the internet. Today, the video service is finally scheduled to launch, just in time for the ongoing preseason and, soon, the start of the regular season. At first glance, it's easy to see that NFL Now has a lot of great attributes, but some that quickly stand out are its worldwide availability and the fact it doesn't require any sort of authentication, pay-TV and the like, in exchange for content access. Better yet, it will be available in a vast number of platforms and services from day one, including iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8, Windows 8, Roku, Yahoo Screen, Yahoo Sports and on the NFL Now website. That's not all, however, since the NFL's new service is expected to come to Xbox One, Kindle Fire and Fire TV soon, with the Apple TV reportedly in the same boat as those devices.
