streams

Hulu buyout heats up with four reported bidders

Companies looking to get a piece of the Hulu pie had until this week to put in their first round of bids for the video streaming service. And, it appears that four companies have gone in for a slice.

Former News Corp president Peter Chernin, private equity fund Guggenheim Digital Media (which is headed the former interim Yahoo CEO by Ross Levinsohn), satellite operator DirecTV, and cable operator Time Warner Cable have all put in bids, according to Reuters.

Hulu has supposedly been looking for a buyer over the past couple of years, and recently several companies have allegedly expressed … Read more

Spotify debuts weekly top 50

This week the most streamed song on Spotify in the U.S. is "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and the most shared song on social networks is "Lift Me Up" by Five Finger Death Punch.

How did this information become available?

Spotify launched a new feature Tuesday that provides weekly updates of the 50 most streamed and viral songs within its music-streaming platform.

Dubbed Spotify Charts and available in 28 countries, this top 50 feature also shows how many plays each song has to date. ("Can't Hold Us" is … Read more

Pandora now lets you listen to albums before they're released

Dying to listen to the new Kanye West album before it's for sale? You just might be in luck.

Pandora, the music streaming site and app, on Tuesday launched Pandora Premieres, a station that allows listeners to preview upcoming albums up to a week before their release. The company said it will feature previews from a wide variety of artists, both established and emerging and across multiple genres.

Pandora Premieres will be updated weekly with new releases. Users can choose to hear any track on a featured album, in any order, and as many times as they'd like, … Read more

Tips for navigating the new Google+ stream

The redesigned Google+ has a plethora of new features, including a new look to its stream. Check out the tips below to help you get a head start navigating the new Google+ stream.

Keyboard shortcuts:

j: next post k: previous post o: expand or collapse current post n: next comment of current post p: previous comment of current post l: load new posts /: search ?: show shortcuts list left arrow: show list of pages right arrow: hide list of pages

Display three columns. Most Web browsers will display the new multicolumn stream as two columns. However, you can actually go up … Read more

Social TV app NextGuide goes from mobile to the Web

While most companies are making the jump from Web to mobile, NextGuide, the app that tells you when and where your favorite shows are on, has decided to go the opposite way. The social TV guide for iOS is now available on the Web.

NextGuide Web has the same functions as the iPad app and aims to bring together live TV and streaming videos. Users can pick their favorite shows and keep track of when, and where, the shows are available online or on TV.

"There's a lot of confusion around TV," said Jeremy Toeman, the CEO … Read more

Get 10 free movies from CinemaNow

Remember CinemaNow? The company has been slinging digital movies since 1999. But although it got picked up by Blockbuster in 2009, it has never achieved what I'd call critical mass. Indeed, I kinda thought it had gone the way of so many Blockbuster stores.

Nope! In fact, CinemaNow (currently owned by Best Buy) appears to be working on a comeback, as evidenced by this new promotion: 10 free CinemaNow movies when you link to an UltraViolet account.

Don't have a CinemaNow account? No problem, it's free to sign up for one, though you can also use an … Read more

Apple TV to add more prime-time shows with CW Network app

Apple TV is branching into app partnerships with television networks by striking a deal with the CW Network.

CW, a joint venture between Warner Bros. and CBS, confirmed to CNET that the partnership is indeed in the works. (CBS is the parent company of CNET.)

"We can confirm that we will have an app launching on Apple TV soon," a CW spokesperson told CNET on Thursday. "No launch date at this time. The app will have full episodes of our prime-time shows, and be ad-supported, without requiring authentication from a cable provider."

Apple TV already offers … Read more

TiVo updates iPad app with feeds on 'What to Watch Now'

TiVo's iPad app is already known for being quite in-depth with a remote control, ways to schedule recordings, and program guides, but the company announced Wednesday that it's rolling out yet another significant feature -- content "feeds."

Starting Thursday, with an app update, users will see a revamp of the TiVo app dubbed "What to Watch Now." This feature has six content feeds that are categorized by genre; the feeds are filled with tailored recommendations based on users' preferences and geographic location.

The feeds come in several categories, including popular on TV, sports on … Read more

Streaming radio with flexibility

Watch out, Pandora. Google's new Google Music "all access" subscription service just painted a target on your back.

Launched at Google's annual I/O developer conference in San Francisco, the $9.99-per-month Google Music All Access adds new streaming options in the form of radio algorithms and curated playlists, on top of the existing (free) Google Music app.

This puts Google in direct competition with other popular streaming services such as Pandora, Spotify, Slacker Radio, and -- if the rumors are correct -- Apple, if the company's talks with music labels lead to its own … Read more