Crave

(Credit: Netflix/screenshot by John P. Falcone)

Netflix online streaming is coming to the PlayStation 3.

A Netflix press release spelled out the details of deal. The good news is that the streaming feature--which enables Netflix subscribers to access thousands of movies and TV shows on-demand via the Internet--is available at no extra charge beyond the monthly Netflix DVD-by-mail subscription, which can be as low as $9 a month. (By contrast, Xbox 360 owners also need to subscribe to Xbox Live, which is an extra $50 per year.)

The bad news: PS3 owners will need to put a special Blu-ray disc in the game console, which will enable streaming via the Blu-ray's BD Live functionality. ... Read more

Droid Armies invade Cupertino, launch coup d'iPhone

(Credit: Flickr/cnraether)

If you weren't in The 404 live chat room this morning, you missed an insanely '80s dance party! It turned out to be a blast, so we're going to start doing it every Friday. Don't worry if you missed out this time, just be sure to check us out next Friday for more Starship, Outfield, Buggles, etc...

Last week we reported on a story about Pepsi's "Amp Up B4 You Score" iPhone app that offered "helpful" pickup lines targeted at a very specific type of girl. For example, if you choose the "political girl," the app offers several jokes about stimulus plans, global warming, etc...you can use your imagination to figure out the rest. Unfortunately, if you didn't download the app you're out of luck, because Pepsi removed the app from the iPhone store.

All this talk about iPhones brings us to the first big topic of the day: DROID. The TV commercials for the new Verizon phone running the Google Android OS mock the iPhone and its fans, making claims that Android's open architecture and physical keyboard will draw unsatisfied Apple fanboys to its camp, but we're hesitant to jump onboard after the G1 flopped.

If you're currently in the market for a new smartphone but can't decide between an Android phone, the iPhone, a BlackBerry, or Palm Pre, this is the perfect episode for you! For more Droid info, check out this episode of Dialed In, another awesome CNET podcast with Bonnie Cha, Kent German, Nicole Lee, and Jason Howell!

(Credit: Konami)

In sadder news, Hulu may finally start charging a fee to view its broadcast content online. After that cryptic extraterrestrial commercial that Hulu aired during the Super Bowl last year, we figured that a monthly fee would eventually come, but the site definitely needs to offer more incentives before we bite the bullet. If we decide to support the paid version, Hulu needs to offer the entire back catalog of every show in HD and improve the movie selection...if not, then users might be tempted to simply visit another not-so-legal site. Get it, Hulu? Now get to work.

Today's Beck's Beer Audio Draft is my (Justin's) choice and Jeff is pretty surprised because the band plays a fully orchestrated, instrumental-only version of popular video game music! The band is Konami Kukeiha Club, and it features the composers who worked on original Konami games like Gradius III and Contra.

In addition to releasing several original soundtracks (i.e. Silent Hill), the group also makes original music, and it's great for anything active: gym workouts, bike rides, long distance runs, anything that requires you to get pumped up! The two tracks of the day are "Beginning" and "Bloody Tears" off the album "Konami Battle the Best."

Have a supreme weekend everyone!

mSpot's new Mobile Movies service works in the iPhone's browser--no app required.

Sure, you can now download movies straight from iTunes to your iPhone, but those cost money and consume valuable storage space. Sometimes it's faster, cheaper, and more convenient to stream them, whether from your own PC, online storage, or even an on-demand service.

Here's a look at three such options for streaming the big screen to your small screen:

• Dropbox This just-released iPhone app (CNET's Harrison Hoffman has more) connects you to all the documents in your Dropbox account (including 2GB freebie accounts). So what does that have to do with movies? Simple: The app also lets you view mov, mp4, and m4v videos. Just add some from your PC to one of your Dropbox folders, then fire up the app. Presto: You're watching movies, and you don't have to leave your PC running to do it. Not bad for a solution that doesn't cost a penny.
• mSpot Mobile Movies This new service, which operates out of your browser, lets you rent movies for $4.99 apiece (less if you subscribe to a club membership). That's more than iTunes charges, but here you're getting an on-demand, download-free option--one that works over EDGE, 3G, and Wi-Fi. However, mSpot's selection is very small at the moment (about 350 movies in all), with marquee titles like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Mission: Impossible" among the few you'll recognize. But the company promises "thousands" by year's end, so this service is definitely one to watch.
• OrbLive Unlike Dropbox, which can play movies you've synced to an online account, OrbLive streams directly from your PC--which must be running in order for it to work. You also have to install and configure the Orb client for Windows, point it to the folder(s) containing your videos, and pony up $9.99 for the OrbLive app. On the plus side, it can stream a lot more than just videos: music, photos, and even live TV (if your PC has a tuner).

So, what do you think of these solutions? Obviously they're no good for watching movies on airplanes, but what about on trains? In a car? In a bar? With a cat or on a mat?

Of course, if you know of a better way to stream feature-length video to your iPhone, let's hear it!

(Credit: Roku)

In its bid to put together a roster of compelling content, Roku has just acquired an ace.

Starting Tuesday, the set-top box--known to many as "the Netflix box"--will begin streaming Major League Baseball games. As with the current Netflix arrangement, you have to be a subscriber to the service, in this case MLB.com Premium, to access the content that normally would be available only on a PC or iPhone.

And while this is a boon to baseball fans, it's an even more important development for Roku. MLB.tv Premium is the first live content available on Roku's device, and by bringing that from the PC to the TV, the 50-person Saratoga, Calif., company is beginning to differentiate itself from similar consumer electronics products.

Roku currently has access to the Netflix Watch Instantly queue, as well as Amazon Video on Demand, which allows for rental and purchase of movies. More recently, Roku added content from Blip.TV and MediaFly, two content aggregators, for videos and podcasts.

MLB.tv will work the same way. It will be accessed via a new pane that can be reached via the small remote. Once a customer's account is synced, any live, out-of-market (as in, not your home team) game across the league can be seen, with the choice of both the home and away team's local broadcast feed. Games up to one week old are available in the archive, and previews appear of each team's scheduled games up to a week in advance. ... Read more

Does Playboy have it right?

(Credit: Zatz Not Funny)

When we last heard from Roku, the company was pledging to add 10 more channels to its Roku Digital Video Player before the end of the year. With 2009 almost half over, however, there's still only two: Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand. But according to Playboy Magazine, one of those new channels could well be Hulu. So notes blogger Dave Zatz, who photographed the incriminating sidebar article from the June 2009 issue of the magazine. "Roku promises Hulu support is coming" says the throwaway parenthetical sentence.

But is it true? Responding to the Playboy excerpt highlighted by Zatz, a Roku spokesman contacted by CNET replied, "We're not sure where that came from. We have not made any public statements regarding Hulu."

If you're keeping score at home, that's really neither a confirmation nor a denial that Hulu's on the way to Roku--just an indication that Roku didn't make any on-the-record comments to Playboy on the subject.

So, will we be seeing Hulu on the Roku--or any other non-PC device this year? Your guess is as good as mine. Like the bulk of the early commenters on Zatz's post, I'm skeptical: Hulu's jousting with Boxee and its recent well-received desktop application show that the streaming service is taking pains to remain PC-bound. But I hope I'm wrong.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

Yesterday was the first time that I've ever seen Jeff doing actual work at his cube, so I relent for once and let him and Wilson talk about E3 2009. Video games, video games, video games on today's show, specifically about the new XBox 360 Project Natal, Halo sequels, new Metal Gear Solid, the Beatles: Rock Band, and even Facebook and Twitter! Wake me up when it's over.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

Yesterday's Microsoft press conference at E3 2009 unveiled some pretty exciting video game news, even for an antigamer such as myself. First up is the new Project Natal, the company's new motion-sensing bar for the XBox 360 that allows the gamer to control gameplay with motion, sound, and even 3D movement. As exciting as it sounds, unfortunately Microsoft didn't mention a release date, so we definitely won't see it in stores for Christmas 2009, which Jeff and Wilson think is a bit of a tease.

Aside from a few big game announcements, the big release news comes by way of everyone's favorite British gentlemen, with Beatles: Rock Band. Paul, Ringo, and even a few surprise visitors were there to kick off the game, and although Jeff is decidedly negative about the rise of plastic gaming, the game looks pretty cool. Check out the slideshow for pictures of Christopher "McLovin" Mintz-Plasse and Dhani Harrison taking a crack at the game.

Check out the FINALISTS in our 404 logo competition

Later on in the show, we announce the FINALISTS for our 404 logo competition. We received over 150 submissions and while they were all fantastic, we can only choose one for the official logo, so be sure to check out the final slideshow above and vote for your favorite in the comments section! Also, don't forget that even if your entry doesn't win the grand prize, we'll still use it for our mosaic/quilt/poster/sticker/shirt/etc...Thanks one million times over and again to everyone that submitted--you guys rule!

EPISODE 354

If you don't mind the occasional commercial, you can watch shows like "The Office" for free.

Need a "30 Rock" fix? How about some "Friday Night Lights?" Forget paying Apple two bucks for every iTunes download: Just stream the shows to your iPhone or iPod Touch instead.

No, the rumored Hulu app hasn't arrived yet. But if you point your mobile browser to m.nbc.com, you'll find you can watch full episodes of more than a dozen NBC shows. Free!

NBC's mobile site has full episodes of over a dozen shows.

(Interestingly, the mobile CBS site (iphone.cbs.com) can stream video in the iPhone-friendly QuickTime format as well, but for the moment, you'll find only clips and recaps, not full episodes.) Note: CNET is published by CBS Interactive, a unit of CBS.

As you might expect, the shows are broken up into chunks that conveniently coincide with commercial breaks. An episode of "The Office," for instance, kicks off with a 15-second commercial, followed by the first eight minutes or so of the episode. Then it's on to chunk No. 2, which also starts with a commercial. It's all very Hulu-like, except that you have to start each segment manually.

In addition to the aforementioned gems, NBC has episodes of "Heroes," "Life," "Parks and Recreation," and (shudder) "The Celebrity Apprentice." The number of available episodes varies (rather inexplicably) from one show to another. You might find a generous 15 episodes of "Knight Rider," but only one "Medium."

Hey, beggars can't be choosers. The shows I streamed looked silky-smooth (even full-screen) and sounded great--at least over Wi-Fi and 3G. (EDGE streaming was predictably jerky.) So while we're waiting for that fabled Hulu app, we can park our browsers at NBC and get taste of what the streaming-TV life will be like. So far, it tastes gooooood.

(Credit: Monster.com)

Is a job listing for an "experienced engineer to lead the gaming platforms team" final proof that Netflix's Watch Now streaming video service is coming to the PS3 and Wii? That's the question Crunchgear is asking after it recently got a tip from a reader who saw that Netflix had posted the job to Monster.com.

In case you're having trouble reading the job description above, here's the important part:

We are looking for a hands-on leader and innovator.​ We seek deep experience developing and testing media rich applications on current generation gaming consoles.​ Candidates will be technical, strong leaders, and execution focused.​ Expect to help build a small technology team to rapidly prototype and iterate on a variety of platforms.​

The key phrase is "a variety of platforms," which one would assume means both home and mobile gaming consoles. You could also throw the iPhone into the mix, though you'd have to stream via Wi-Fi, not a cellular connection, because AT&T has bandwidth restrictions on streaming video.

As far as rumor mongering goes, the job listing, which went up on April 6, dovetails nicely with a recent Netflix survey asking subscribers whether they'd be willing to shell out a one-time fee of $10 to stream video to their PS3s.

Of course, if Netflix is just advertising the position now, it's unclear how far along it is with development for other gaming platforms beyond the XBox 360.

Thoughts?

Streaming video and other media to your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 is a lot easier than you might think. You'll want to start weighing your options with the help of a very detailed feature from CNET sister-site Gamespot, which lays out all of your video streaming choices. Things may get a bit dicey during the configuration of these programs, so don't forget Google is your friend.

When you stream content to a console, you'll need to use a network-connected computer to serve the media. For best results, we really recommend a wired connection as you'll need as much bandwidth as you can get your hands on. In terms of software, there are a few applications you can choose from--some free, some not so free. We've had a lot of success using TVersity with both consoles, but we'd recommend XBMC if you're more of an advanced user for its customization capabilities. There's even ways to get YouTube and other online content directly on your console.

Whichever setup you choose, serving video to your console just might get you a step closer to throwing away that satellite or cable box. For now, check out our slide show for an idea of how these media-serving programs operate and how your console will look once you've set everything up correctly.

Photos: Stream video to your game console