barry

X-Wing Fighter coffee table goes galactic in your living room

If Luke Skywalker had a living room with a big-screen TV, he would also have a hand-carved X-Wing Fighter coffee table made of wood and glass. The detailed model looks like it's in mid-flight, except instead of blasting the forces of the Dark Side, it's calmly guarding your coffee.

The table is designed so that half of the spaceship is above the glass and half is below. That means it takes up quite a bit of space that could otherwise hold mugs, half-eaten bags of Doritos, and vintage issues of "Starlog" magazine. Still, the design is so cool, you won't miss having the extra room.… Read more

Aereo streaming joins forces with Bloomberg TV

Despite major TV networks claiming Aereo's illegitimacy, the streaming service now has an official cable TV partner: Bloomberg.

Aereo struck a deal with Bloomberg TV today to allow streaming news, according to The Wall Street Journal. Reportedly, Aereo will pay Bloomberg TV for its content, but the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We believe that our members will see deep value adding in Bloomberg Television as their 'go-to' source for financial news," Aereo founder Chet Kanojia said in a statement, according to the Journal. While Bloomberg TV announced that it was "pleased to have … Read more

Aereo TV streaming expands to major Web browsers

Watching live TV on your computer just got a lot easier.

New York-based startup Aereo today said its service has been expanded to all major Web browsers, including Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Opera. Previously, its service was limited to Apple devices and Roku's Internet-connected boxes.

"The vast majority of American households own laptop or desktop computers -- it's only natural that we expand the universe of Internet browsers that can access Aereo," Chief Executive Chet Kanojia said in a press release. "More flexibility, more choice, and more devices mean a better overall … Read more

New York Times Co. to sell About.com to Barry Diller's IAC

The New York Times Co. is expected to announce soon that it has reached a deal to sell the About Group, which includes Web site About.com, to Barry Diller's InterActiveCorp, a source with knowledge of the deal told CNET.

IAC is expected to pay $300 million in cash for the struggling information site, with the deal closing in the next couple of weeks, the New York Times Co. confirmed in a statement late Sunday.

"About's early expertise in search engine optimization, expert content and revenues from cost-per-click and display advertising made it a valuable component of … Read more

Barry Diller gets into bidding war for About.com, report says

Barry Diller, one of the premiere dealmakers in media, has bid $300 million for struggling About.com, The New York Times' information Web site, according to Reuters.

The offer from Diller's holding company, IAC/Interactivecorp, is about $30 million higher than a rival bid from Answers.com, Reuters reported.

The Times announced on August 8 that it was in discussions about selling its About Group but didn't identify the interested parties. Answers.com President Peter Horan is the former head of About.com.

About.com is designed to be a guide for Internet users and offers tips, advice, … Read more

Fox sues upstart TV streaming service BarryDriller.com

Fox has filed a lawsuit against another TV streaming service, alleging that BarryDriller.com is violating its copyrights by retransmitting the programming of one if its affiliates.

The network filed a lawsuit against the upstart service Friday in Los Angeles, claiming BarryDriller.com violates its right of public performance by streaming the signal of L.A. affiliate KTTV to BarryDriller.com subscribers without authorization, according to a Variety report. The site, which just launched this week, streams New York channel programming, as well as that of KTTV-DT, to subscribers for $5.95 a month.

"No amount of technological gimmickry … Read more

Aereo's founder has broadcast TV in a headlock--now what? (Q&A)

NEW YORK--Broadcast TV is the last frontier for Web video, and Aereo founder Chet Kanojia has just stuck a tiny antenna into the virgin turf to claim it for himself.

Last week, a federal district court denied a request for a preliminary injunction against Aereo that was sought by two groups of TV broadcasters. The injunction would have required Aereo, a Web TV service, to halt operations. In their lawsuits, broadcasters such as NBC, Fox, ABC and CBS (parent company of CNET) accuse Aereo of ripping off their programming without compensating them.

Aereo says consumers are the ones accessing this … Read more

Barry Diller predicts major Aereo expansion by 2013

Fresh from a legal victory against the TV networks, controversial streaming service Aereo expects to expand beyond New York to other large U.S. cities, Aereo backer and billionaire Barry Diller said today.

"We're going to really start marketing," Diller said in a Bloomberg Television interview at the Allen & Co. annual retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho. "Within a year and a half, certainly by '13, we'll be in most major [markets]."

For $12 a month, the streaming service allows subscribers to receive and record programs on any Internet-connected device over a dime-size antenna. … Read more

Aereo survives networks' bid to block program rebroadcasts

A federal judge has denied a request by the major TV networks to prevent Aereo, the streaming service backed by Barry Diller, from rebroadcasting their programs over the Internet.

Judge Alison Nathan for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected a requested preliminary injunction today, according to a Reuters report. Nathan said that while both sides had demonstrated possible harm in the situation, the "balance of hardships" did not "decidedly" tip to broadcasters' favor.

For $12 a month, the streaming service allows subscribers to receive and record programs on any … Read more

Netflix's lost year: The inside story of the price-hike train wreck

Reed Hastings stopped listening, and that's when the trouble started.

In the spring of 2011, Hastings, Netflix's widely admired chief executive, held a meeting with his management team and outlined his blueprint to jettison Netflix's DVD operations. Netflix managers would tell subscribers on July 12 that they planned to do away with a popular subscription that offered access to DVD rentals as well as unlimited on-demand streaming video for $10 per month. DVDs and streaming would be separated and each would cost subscribers $7.99 a month, or $15.98 for both, about a 60 percent hike. … Read more