As Spotify prepares to open itself up to public investment, the streaming service is beginning to crack down on potential piracy and app bypasses. Currently, Spotify has 159 million active users, with 71 million of those being paid subscribers. One of the key features of a premium membership is the …
Read More »Google is reportedly working on a cloud gaming service called ‘Yeti’
Since the rise and fall of Onlive, many other companies have tried to tackle video game cloud streaming. Nvidia's GeForce Now service is probably the best option around at the moment, but Sony has PSNow in its pocket and Microsoft just recently bought PlayFab, a cloud gaming firm. Now, Google …
Read More »Redbox Launches Digital Movie Service
For years, Redbox has been talking about launching a digital movie service to stay competitive with the dozens of streaming services already on the market. Finally, they’ve seen the writing on the wall, and the movie rental company has officially launched the service they’ve been talking about for years, but …
Read More »Rainway can stream games from your PC to Nintendo Switch
While the PC platform is known for being a powerhouse in comparison to its rivals, it is often the biggest pain to move around the house. Developer Andrew Sampson has taken it upon himself to create Rainway, a new application that hopes to stream your PC to various other devices. …
Read More »YouTube Live improves latency and adds native iOS support
YouTube has gone through many changes lately, from updating its logo and redesigning its interface last week to updating its livestreaming service today. YouTube Live is being overhauled, with low-latency streaming that mimics real time and the ability to directly stream from Apple’s mobile products. YouTube Gaming previously had the …
Read More »Netflix in talks to keep Marvel and Lucasfilm after Disney launches its own service
Earlier this week, we learned that Disney would be launching its very own movie streaming service in 2019, leaving its current deal with Netflix behind. This would mean that from 2019, no new Disney movies would appear on Netflix and older titles would eventually be removed for good. At the …
Read More »Disney will break away from Netflix in 2019 to start its own streaming service
For the last couple of years, Netflix and Disney have had a streaming partnership, with Netflix obtaining exclusive rights to stream new movies after they leave the box office. Unfortunately, this deal is going to come to an end in 2019, as Disney wants to cut out the middle man …
Read More »Netflix UK’s Rick and Morty blunder shows why piracy is still relevant
After a long waiting period, Rick and Morty Season 3 officially began airing in the US late last month. At the time, Netflix announced that its UK subscribers would get new episodes of this season every week, the day after it airs in the US. Unfortunately, Netflix didn’t plan for …
Read More »Nvidia’s latest driver unlocks 4K Netflix series for GTX 10-series
Earlier this year, 4K Netflix streaming finally started making its way to PCs, in part due to Kaby Lake and its support for HEVC decoding. Fortunately for those not planning to make the jump to Kaby Lake, 4K Netflix streaming is now expanding to more systems, with UHD streaming support …
Read More »Microsoft’s live streaming service is now called ‘Mixer’, launches new features
Back in August, Microsoft acquired the live streaming service known as Beam, which came with a few distinct benefits over Twitch, with support for higher quality streams being the main selling point. Unfortunately, it looks like Microsoft couldn't get the rights to use the Beam brand globally, so the service …
Read More »Atlus apologises over Persona 5 streaming restrictions, eases up the rules
Update: After much criticism from fans and content creators, Atlus this week announced that it would be loosening up a bit on its streaming and YouTube video rules for Persona 5. Initially, Atlus did not want streamers or video makers showing any boss fights, any story spoilers or any content …
Read More »PlayStation Now will start streaming PS4 games to PC and consoles
It looks like Sony is updating the hardware it uses to run the PlayStation Now service as soon, you will be able to stream PS4 games too. Given that the service launched on PC last year, this also has the add-on effect of allowing PC-only gamers to get their hands …
Read More »Kickstarter officially buys up livestreaming partner
Huzza, the livestreaming company that Kickstarter partnered with to launch its Kickstarter Live platform in November 2016, has now become an official subsidiary of the crowd funding company. This will lead to the creation of a new international Kickstarter office, and Huzza management will now handle Kickstarter Live directly. Kickstarter …
Read More »Data-free music streaming breaches law, rules Dutch regulator
Offering a music streaming service to consumers which doesn't use up their data package, has been ruled as a violation of net-neutrality laws, by a Dutch regulatory body. It claims that the service offered by T-Mobile in The Netherlands, is anti-competitive and must be stopped immediately. The Dutch Consumer and …
Read More »The Xbox One to Oculus Rift streaming app is now available
Last month, Oculus and Microsoft announced that their Xbox One VR streaming app would finally be coming to the Oculus Rift. This streaming app allows console owners to stream their Xbox One games directly to the Oculus Rift to be played in a virtual cinema environment. It has taken quite …
Read More »Live streaming services now tailoring content to their users
As video on demand services like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video continue to expand their user bases, live streaming services like Hulu, DirecTV and Sling are looking to combat the trend by better personalising their services to consumers. Using data on who's watching what and when, the companies are looking to …
Read More »Xbox One Oculus Rift streaming mode coming soon
The Oculus Rift will soon be able to support streaming games from the Xbox One, in a cinema-mode that puts the user in front of a giant virtual screen. That means the games themselves won't be automatically turned into VR experiences, but you can play them in a variety of …
Read More »Can LiquidSky offer true remote game streaming?
Although streaming games from a console to a PC, or phone to a TV and any other combination of local connections, have become far more common place over the past couple of years, streaming games remotely – as promised by OnLive and Gaikai – still isn't that prevalent. But the idea …
Read More »You will need an account to stream iPlayer shows from 2017
Earlier this month,the UK TV License rules changed, making it so that if you want to stream BBC iPlayer shows, then you need to have a valid TV license, even if you don't use a TV at all. We weren't sure how the BBC was going to enforce this at …
Read More »Periscoping Olympics fans hit with takedown notices from IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is forgoing its usual peer to peer attacks this time around and instead is focusing on live streams. It's having particular difficulty with halting those who are rebroadcasting footage from the games via Periscope, but it's sending out hundreds of takedown notices anyway. As much …
Read More »Twitch is swallowing up the entire Curse brand
Amazon owned Twitch is looking to expand its reach in the gaming world, with the acquisition of Curse, a brand of websites, multimedia channels and applications. This gives Twitch control of a number of popular websites, which together bring in over 30 million visitors a month – giving it excellent …
Read More »UFC champion interrupted for drug test during Twitch stream… again
UFC Flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse,” Johnson is a pretty big gamer and he's been drawing a lot of fans in recent months by streaming his play. His streams have the potential to be interrupted by more than just SWAT teams though, as Mighty Mouse has once again been interrupted during …
Read More »Netflix is stalling overseas: pricing and content blamed
Netflix might be a global powerhouse in the online streaming game, but its major success still lies in the U.S., where its content is richest and its pricing is competitive. Elsewhere in the world though, where that isn't always the case, it's growth is stuttering. Last week it was reported …
Read More »Twitch clarifies ‘cheer’ value: one bit equals a cent
When Twitch announced earlier this week that it would soon allow stream viewers to tip their favourite presenters with “cheer,” essentially pre-paid emotes, there were a lot of questions people still had about the idea. How much streamers would actually receive was one of the biggest, so we're glad to …
Read More »Twitch donation ‘troll’ denied Paypal refund
A ‘troll' who's grand master plan to annoy Twitch streamers was to donate vast sums of money to them, only to have that money refunded a month later, has had his plan derailed because Paypal refused the charge back. He sure showed those streamers. Over the past month or so, …
Read More »Now you can stream HTC Vive content to friends through Steam
As with many of the more niche games released in recent years, one of the ways that many people have experienced VR since the consumer release of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, has been through streaming. Now it's easier than ever, as Steam has been updated to allow VR …
Read More »Facebook to take on Snapchat with in-development camera app
Ever since Snapchat turned down Facebook's $3 billion acquisition offer in mid-2013, the social network has been hankering for its own share of the Snapchat pie. Evidently it's now decided that: if you can't join them, beat them, as Facebook is said to be working on a photo sharing app …
Read More »Netflix insists its VPN blockade isn’t hurting business
It has been a few months since Netflix officially announced that it would be taking a harder stance against VPN users and those trying to circumvent geographical content restrictions. This has been a fairly controversial move but apparently, it isn't having an effect at all on the company's pocket. During …
Read More »What caused the latest Netflix stock slump?
Netflix might be the world's most popular streaming service, but that doesn't mean that everything is rosy at the company. Indeed after announcing its first quarter earnings, investors have shown their usual level of (in)stability and have sent shares crashing down more than 10 per cent in extended trading. These …
Read More »Live surgery to be performed in VR this afternoon
If you've ever wondered what it's like to perform surgery to remove cancerous tissue from a patient's bowel, today is the day to find out. All you need is a decent internet connection, a willing mind and a virtual reality headset. This is the first operation ever streamed in 360 …
Read More »