service

The future of TV, movies, and home entertainment feels like it's changing by the day, thanks to the impact of the digital revolution. Netflix is the top dog thanks to its $8 subscription streaming service, but your viewing choices are severely limited. For a la carte, pay-as-you-go services, Apple's iTunes has been the default choice for many when it comes to buying, renting, and viewing videos. Splitting the difference was Amazon's Instant Video: it offers a diverse library of pay-per-view TV shows and movies, plus a subset of "free" content for subscribers to the company'… Read more

Google's Android operating system for mobile devices has gained significant traction in the market. Will Google follow this success up by pushing the OS into more sophisticated computing devices? Or will it use its browser based-OS Chrome to take on Apple and Microsoft in the PC software market?

These are the questions I tackle in this edition of Ask Maggie. I also offer some perspective on why it's still important to choose a wireless based on network performance and reliability.

Googles big strategic decision: Android or Chrome

Dear Maggie, I was at Google I/O this year, and … Read more

Skype has come under fire this past week for allegedly letting the U.S. government use its service to spy on its users. The online call service company is now saying that's simply not true.

"Some media stories recently have suggested Skype may be acting improperly or based on ulterior motives against our users' interests," Skype Chief Development and Operations Officer Mark Gillett wrote in a blog post today. "Nothing could be more contrary to the Skype philosophy."

Skype serves 250 million active users a month and supported 115 billion minutes of calls in the … Read more

Netflix has been no stranger of late to complaints about its services. And now Consumer Reports has released a study that might pile on.

In a recent survey of its subscribers, Consumer Reports found that 81 percent of over 15,000 respondents used Netflix's streaming service in the previous month, making it an exceedingly popular offering. However, in terms of overall satisfaction with the service, the respondents pushed Netflix down to sixth place behind Vudu, iTunes, and several others.

Out of a possible score of 100, Vudu took the top spot in subscriber satisfaction, earning a 76. Apple's … Read more

Roku, the maker of a popular player for streaming Web content to TV sets, has closed a new round of funding.

The company has landed a $45 million investment from companies including News Corp. and British Sky Broadcasting, it announced today.

Also participating in the round were prior Roku venture investors Menlo Ventures and Globespan Capital Partners, as well as an unnamed strategic investor. In addition to the cash injection, News Corp's chief digital officer, Jon Miller, has joined the Roku board of directors, while Roku CEO Anthony Wood remains chairman.

"Our philosophy is to give consumers the … Read more

Venturing out of its typical terrain Flurry announced today that it is launching a collection of cloud services to "empower developers to build better apps faster."

To accomplish this feat, the mobile app analytics company acquired the mobile startup company Trestle (it bought Trestle back in May but didn't announce the acquisition until today). Together they worked to create the data driven app built on cloud infrastructure. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The way AppCloud aims to work is by letting developers put cloud-driven capabilities into their apps, such as user account management, scalable … Read more

People who know me know I don't like paying for anything. If there's a free (or at least cheaper) alternative, you can bet I'll take it. I am, after all, a cheapskate.

That said, there are a handful of Web services I consider to be great values -- so great, in fact, that I actually don't mind paying for them. Well, OK, I'd rather get them for free, but they don't make me cringe the way I do when paying for, say, phone service and cable TV.

My three worth-the-money picks:

1. Followupthen

I'… Read more

Just as Google was working to settle the antitrust investigation launched by the European Union, the governing body has tacked on one more demand: change your mobile services too.

According to the Financial Times, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia saved this final stipulation until settlement talks were already well into process. It's unclear what exactly Google needs to change but if the search giant doesn't concede it could lead to the settlement talks falling apart.

The EU's antitrust probe was opened in 2010 when European regulators asked the company to explain how it ranked search results and … Read more

What a difference a month makes. (This is an update of a post I wrote a month ago, almost to the day.)

Landlines? Pffft. I haven't used one for years. And why would I when I'm already paying for broadband Internet service, which has more than enough bandwidth to carry my voice? All I need is a voice-over-IP adapter.

There are lots of options here, including well-known ones like MagicJack and Vonage. But there's another product that's just as good, if not better -- and it's on sale.

Today only, and while supplies last, 1SaleADay … Read more