The debut season of Netflix’s first original series “Lilyhammer” is now available on demand to all Netflix “Watch Instantly” subscribers. All eight episodes of the series’ first season can be streamed beginning Tuesday, and the show is available in high definition. Lilyhammer is the first in a string of original content Netflix is working on in an effort to create an all-inclusive online-only network that will truly pose a real threat to traditional pay TV networks. The sho...

Sling Media has been the go-to provider for video placeshifting solutions for nearly seven years now. The California-based company launched its first Slingbox in 2005, enabling users to watch live television exactly as it was being broadcast to their homes on any Internet-connected PC. The company rolled out its first SlingPlayer Mobile application the following year and it hasn’t looked back, continuing to expand its mobile offering to support a wide range of popular platforms and devices. Sling Media ...

Netflix on Wednesday announced its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011. The company noted $876 million in revenue, up 47% from the same quarter last year, and earnings per share of $0.73. Analysts had pegged the company to report revenue in the ballpark of $857.4 million and EPS of $0.54, Barron’s relayed. Netflix also said it added 220,000 new subscribers, a far cry from the 800,000 it lost during the third quarter, and now serves 21.67 million streaming customers in the United States. The company...

Netflix on Tuesday announced that its first original series, “Lilyhammer,” will begin streaming to subscribers on February 6th in the United States. Starring Steven Van Zandt of “The Sopranos,” the series follows the life of a New York City mobster who is relocated to Lillehammer, Norway upon entering the federal witness protection program. ”I am very careful with my choices and this project was so exciting to me because of the wonderful writing, the rich characters and the fas...

Apple’s design boss Jonathan Ive is reportedly hard at work on two models of Apple’s upcoming “iTV,” a new report claimed on Wednesday. Earlier rumors suggested that Apple is preparing to launch 32 and 37-inch HDTVs this summer, but USA Today cites an anonymous former Apple employee in stating Apple is prepping a 42-inch model and a 50-inch model. The report also reaffirms a number of previously reported iTV features such as Siri-powered controls, iOS app support, AirPlay, iCloud supp...

Apple iOS users have long been able to take advantage of the company’s wireless streaming feature, AirPlay, that is built into all iPads, iPhones, and iPod touch devices. Airtight is a new app that just arrived in the Android Market, and it gives Android users the same wireless streaming capacity. The app is available for Google TV boxes running at least Android 3.0, and will allow users to stream content from their iOS devices right to their televisions using AirPlay. While Airtight will allow users...

Rhapsody announced on Thursday that it now has more than 1 million paying subscribers in the United States. The company claims it is now the top pay-for music streaming company in the country, although we imagine Spotify is nipping at its heals now that it has more than 2.5 million subscribers globally. In celebration of the milestone, Rhapsody president Jon Irwin shaved his head, a promise he made to the company if it ever reached million subscribers. “We’ve accomplished quite a bit over the past...

Spotify announced on Wednesday that its BlackBerry client is now out of beta and officially available for download. Spotify is a free ad-supported desktop music service that allows its users to listen to any song they want, provided it has been licensed by Spotify. Users who want to take advantage of the service’s mobile features, which include offline caching and access to the full Spotify library, must pay a $10 monthly subscription fee. We’re fans of Spotify here at BGR so we highly recommend B...

Spotify on Friday unveiled Spotify Radio, a new service similar to Pandora that will roll out as an extension to the company’s desktop client. The service allows users to create artist-based stations that will stream an unlimited amount of music similar to the artist selected. Spotify Radio users can also skip an unlimited number of songs and save tracks as they play for on-demand listening later as well. The app and associated service are a welcome addition to Spotify, which has had very limited disc...

On Wednesday we reported on a story that suggested Verizon may be planning to challenge Netflix by launching its own video streaming service. Now, it appears the communications giant is secretly working with RedBox, the popular $1.00 video rental kiosk company, on a streaming service that could launch next year. According to TechCrunch, the plan is currently called “Project Zoetrope” and it will allow users to subscribe, download and stream movies and television shows across a variety of platfor...

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam recently took the stage during a UBS conference in New York where he explained that Verizon once considered purchasing Hulu. McAdam did not comment on another rumor, which suggests that Verizon is working on building its own video streaming service that could compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon. Reuters first reported on the rumor and said the service could be deployed next year in areas where Verizon doesn’t offer its FiOS broadband and TV products. It is unclear wh...

Spotify’s New York City press conference just wrapped up and we spent some time checking out several of the popular music service’s new apps. There’s a new section on the left sidebar that lets you quickly access applications from LastFM, Rolling Stone, The Guardian and more. Rolling Stone and other publications will release playlists, some as frequently as each day, with bands the publications think Spotify users should take note of. The applications are seamless and are so tightly inte...

Spotify on Wednesday announced that it now has 2.5 million subscribers around the world paying for its service. The company has roughly 10 million paid and free listeners combined. Spotify’s recent launch in the U.S. is seen as having been a big boost for the company, and its Facebook integration is said to have bolstered new subscriptions as well. The company offers an on-demand music service that allows users to stream to unlimited ad-supported music to computers for free. Ads can be eliminated for a ...

Amazon has been a leader in the eBook reader space since it first introduced the Kindle eReader in November 2007. At that point in time, the Kindle had a 6-inch E Ink display that supported just four shades of gray, it included 250MB of storage that could accommodate about 200 eBooks, and it retailed for $399. For the first six months or so, Amazon couldn’t keep the device in stock — it was a smash hit. (more…)