This may sound like sacrilege, but it's not: Ubuntu Linux can be useful even if you’re a hardcore Windows user.
That's because there’s no way to boot a full Windows system from a USB
stick to troubleshoot your PC—well, not without an Enterprise version of
Windows and Windows To Go—but anyone can make a free Ubuntu USB drive, CD, or DVD. A Ubuntu live drive can be used as a digital Swiss army knife to troubleshoot all sorts of problems with any
PC, whether you need to recover files from a failing computer, diagnose
hardware problems, perform a deep virus scan from outside Windows, or
even reset a forgotten Windows password.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Friday, April 25, 2014
The Netflix Channel
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Netflix's Internet video service is about to join the programming lineup of three small cable-TV providers in the U.S., a breakthrough that acknowledges the growing popularity of online entertainment.
The agreements with Atlantic Broadband, RCN Telecom Services and Grande Communications gives Netflix's subscription service a channel on the TiVo boxes that the three cable services provide their customers. Netflix will debut on Atlantic and RCN on Monday and then will expand on to Grande's service by end of next month.
Collectively, the three cable-TV services have about 820,000 subscribers scattered through nine states and Washington D.C.
Although that's a small fraction of the cable-TV market, the deals represent another milestone for Netflix Inc. as it tries to make its Internet video service more like premium channels such as HBO and Showtime.
Netflix already had landed spots on the cable-TV boxes of services in England, Denmark and Sweden, but hadn't been able to make similar inroads in the U.S. until now. The company's nearly 36 million U.S. subscribers typically have to buy a separate device, such as video game console or a player from Roku or Apple Inc., if they want to stream video on to their TVs. That method usually requires a separate remote and an additional step to flip over to a different TV input to see the picture.
Now, Netflix will be like any other channel on the cable-TV dial except that it relies on a high-speed Internet connection to deliver its video.
"We think this signals a new generation of cable-TV service of offerings," said David Isenberg, Atlantic's chief marketing and strategy officer. "It's a watershed moment."
He likened what Netflix is doing for Internet video to what HBO did for cable-TV when that service began transmitting through satellites in the early 1970s.
Netflix has been striving to become more HBO-like since it expanded upon its DVD-by-mail service and began offering Internet streaming seven years ago. In the past two years, the Los Gatos, Calif., company has been featuring more original programming, such as the critically acclaimed "House of Cards" and "Orange Is The New Black," to persuade more U.S. subscribers to pay $8 per month for its service.
To help pay for its rising programming costs, Netflix plans to raise its prices by $1 or $2 by July. The higher prices initially will only affect new customers.
HBO, which is owned by Time Warner Inc., views Netflix as such a competitive threat that it has steadfastly refused to licenses its old TV shows, such as "The Sopranos" and "The Wire," to the Internet video service. Those HBO shows instead will be streamed through a rival Internet video service offered through Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime shipping service as part of deal announced earlier this week.
The agreements with Atlantic Broadband, RCN Telecom Services and Grande Communications gives Netflix's subscription service a channel on the TiVo boxes that the three cable services provide their customers. Netflix will debut on Atlantic and RCN on Monday and then will expand on to Grande's service by end of next month.
Collectively, the three cable-TV services have about 820,000 subscribers scattered through nine states and Washington D.C.
Although that's a small fraction of the cable-TV market, the deals represent another milestone for Netflix Inc. as it tries to make its Internet video service more like premium channels such as HBO and Showtime.
Netflix already had landed spots on the cable-TV boxes of services in England, Denmark and Sweden, but hadn't been able to make similar inroads in the U.S. until now. The company's nearly 36 million U.S. subscribers typically have to buy a separate device, such as video game console or a player from Roku or Apple Inc., if they want to stream video on to their TVs. That method usually requires a separate remote and an additional step to flip over to a different TV input to see the picture.
Now, Netflix will be like any other channel on the cable-TV dial except that it relies on a high-speed Internet connection to deliver its video.
"We think this signals a new generation of cable-TV service of offerings," said David Isenberg, Atlantic's chief marketing and strategy officer. "It's a watershed moment."
He likened what Netflix is doing for Internet video to what HBO did for cable-TV when that service began transmitting through satellites in the early 1970s.
Netflix has been striving to become more HBO-like since it expanded upon its DVD-by-mail service and began offering Internet streaming seven years ago. In the past two years, the Los Gatos, Calif., company has been featuring more original programming, such as the critically acclaimed "House of Cards" and "Orange Is The New Black," to persuade more U.S. subscribers to pay $8 per month for its service.
To help pay for its rising programming costs, Netflix plans to raise its prices by $1 or $2 by July. The higher prices initially will only affect new customers.
HBO, which is owned by Time Warner Inc., views Netflix as such a competitive threat that it has steadfastly refused to licenses its old TV shows, such as "The Sopranos" and "The Wire," to the Internet video service. Those HBO shows instead will be streamed through a rival Internet video service offered through Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime shipping service as part of deal announced earlier this week.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Fan TV
Going
beyond the DVR, Oceanic parent company Time Warner Cable is offering Fan
TV to subscribers who want to connect their TVs to online sources
of programming.
Fan TV
offers streaming content from Redbox Instant, Crackle, Target Ticket and
the Rhapsody music streaming service, and the company will add
more over time.
"Today,
discovery is backwards, you're narrowing your options by first picking a
device, then an app, then shuffling through a limited content
library," said Gilles BianRosa, CEO of Fan TV, in a statement. The
small, dome-shaped Fan TV box and palm-sized remote give users the
option of live TV, video on demand and streaming services "in one
simplified discovery experience," he said.
Time
Warner Cable subscribers in Hawaii and 28 other states can pre-order Fan
TV for a one-time fee of $99, and the devices will be shipped in
June, Fan TV spokeswoman Jeannie Hornung told TheBuzz in an email.
"Fan TV
will work with your existing set-top box and on its own," she wrote. "As
long as you are a current Time Warner Cable video and broadband
subscriber, you can install Fan TV yourself in a matter of minutes. Just
connect it to your TV via HDMI cable, plug into the wall for
power with the included AC adapter, and connect to WiFi or Ethernet."
Monday, April 21, 2014
Netflix to raise prices
SAN FRANCISCO >> Netflix is preparing to raise its Internet video subscription prices by as much as $2 per month this summer to help pay for more programming such as its popular political drama "House of Cards."
The price increase will be imposed on new customers by July. The company says current U.S. subscribers will continue to pay $8 per month for a "generous time period."
Netflix announced the price increase as part of its first-quarter earnings released Monday.
***
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Video streaming service Netflix Inc reported higher profit that beat Wall Street expectations and said it intends to raise the monthly subscription price for new customers, sending its stock up 6.5 percent in after-hours trading.
Net income for the quarter that ended in March reached $53 million, Netflix said on Monday, an increase from $3 million a year earlier. Earnings-per-share came in at 86 cents, topping the average forecast of 83 cents, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Netflix said it added 2.25 million customers to its U.S. streaming business during the quarter, in line with the company's earlier guidance.
The company, in a quarterly letter to shareholders, said it plans to impose "a one or two dollar increase, depending on the country, later this quarter for new members only." It did not name the countries. Existing customers would keep their current price "for a generous time period," it said.
Shares of the company jumped 6.5 percent to $371.26 in after-hours trading, up from their earlier close of $348.49 on Nasdaq.
***
Hmm. A dollar increase would mean 3 cents a day. Two dollars would be 6 cents. Wait, actually more like 7 cents!
***
Meanwhile, Netflix's DVD-by-mail service is slowly dying. Through March, Netflix had 6.7 million DVD customers, a 52 percent drop from 13.9 million just two years ago. Netflix isn't changing its DVD prices, despite rising postal costs.
Netflix's comeback has been propelled by the company's increasing emphasis on exclusive programming such as "House of Cards," an acclaimed series starring Kevin Spacey as a cunning politician with a ruthless plan to become President of the United States. Netflix released all 13 episodes in "House of Cards'" second season on Feb. 14, midway through the first quarter.
Another popular Netflix series, "Orange Is The New Black," is returning with new episodes June 6, toward the final month of the current quarter.
Even with "Orange Is The New Black," Netflix is only expecting to attract 511,000 U.S. subscribers from April through June before prices rise for new customers. That would be down from an increase of 630,000 U.S. subscribers at the same time last year.
Netflix Inc. earned $53 million, or 86 cents per share, during the first three months of the year. That compared to $2.7 million, or 5 cents, last year. The latest quarterly earnings exceeded the average estimate of 81 cents per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Revenue rose 24 percent from last year to $1.3 billion to match analyst projections.
*** 5/9/14
The price increase will be imposed on new customers by July. The company says current U.S. subscribers will continue to pay $8 per month for a "generous time period."
Netflix announced the price increase as part of its first-quarter earnings released Monday.
***
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Video streaming service Netflix Inc reported higher profit that beat Wall Street expectations and said it intends to raise the monthly subscription price for new customers, sending its stock up 6.5 percent in after-hours trading.
Net income for the quarter that ended in March reached $53 million, Netflix said on Monday, an increase from $3 million a year earlier. Earnings-per-share came in at 86 cents, topping the average forecast of 83 cents, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Netflix said it added 2.25 million customers to its U.S. streaming business during the quarter, in line with the company's earlier guidance.
The company, in a quarterly letter to shareholders, said it plans to impose "a one or two dollar increase, depending on the country, later this quarter for new members only." It did not name the countries. Existing customers would keep their current price "for a generous time period," it said.
Shares of the company jumped 6.5 percent to $371.26 in after-hours trading, up from their earlier close of $348.49 on Nasdaq.
***
Hmm. A dollar increase would mean 3 cents a day. Two dollars would be 6 cents. Wait, actually more like 7 cents!
***
Meanwhile, Netflix's DVD-by-mail service is slowly dying. Through March, Netflix had 6.7 million DVD customers, a 52 percent drop from 13.9 million just two years ago. Netflix isn't changing its DVD prices, despite rising postal costs.
Netflix's comeback has been propelled by the company's increasing emphasis on exclusive programming such as "House of Cards," an acclaimed series starring Kevin Spacey as a cunning politician with a ruthless plan to become President of the United States. Netflix released all 13 episodes in "House of Cards'" second season on Feb. 14, midway through the first quarter.
Another popular Netflix series, "Orange Is The New Black," is returning with new episodes June 6, toward the final month of the current quarter.
Even with "Orange Is The New Black," Netflix is only expecting to attract 511,000 U.S. subscribers from April through June before prices rise for new customers. That would be down from an increase of 630,000 U.S. subscribers at the same time last year.
Netflix Inc. earned $53 million, or 86 cents per share, during the first three months of the year. That compared to $2.7 million, or 5 cents, last year. The latest quarterly earnings exceeded the average estimate of 81 cents per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Revenue rose 24 percent from last year to $1.3 billion to match analyst projections.
*** 5/9/14
Netflix is raising its Internet video prices by $1 per month for new
customers and giving its current U.S. subscribers a two-year break from
the higher rates.
The changes mean anyone signing up for Netflix's video subscription
service beginning Friday will pay $9 per month for in the U.S. The old
price of $8 per month will continue until May 2016 for Netflix's
existing 36 million U.S. subscribers.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Al Gore keeps on ticking
The man who was almost president graced Honolulu with his presence Tuesday and walked us through a "seminar of sustainability."
By turns a university professor, a wry observer, a recovering politician, a joke teller and a Southern preacher, Al Gore fired up an audience of thousands at the Stan Sheriff Center to believe that global warming can be stopped. But it's possible only if each of us does our part.
"Ultimately, we are going to win this thing," he said, one of many statements met with hearty applause.
Gore did not disappoint. Grayer and with less hair, and with a slight paunch filling out his aloha shirt, in voice and mind he sounded as passionate as ever about the environment — a far cry from the inanimate robot label that has stuck to him over the years.
Gore's talk was an updated version of the one he's been giving for years and that he first laid out in his 1992 book "Earth In the Balance." The planet is in trouble because humankind burns too much coal and oil, which is trapping greenhouse gases and raising temperatures.
The consequences grow more obvious by the day: famine, drought, floods, refugees, species extinction, to name just a few. The last few years alone have witnessed unprecedented super storms like Typhon Haiyan in the Philippines and Hurricane Sandy along the Eastern Seaboard.
And Gore brought part of his famous slideshow, powered by a Mac laptop. The pictures and graphs were gorgeous — like the Earth taken from the moon in 1968 — and startling — a Bell Curve showing the number of hotter days over the past 80 years grow alarmingly disproportionate to the number of cooler days and days with average temperatures.
"The way we have to respond to this is going to require a set of changes that are beyond our routine," he said, his voice growing to a shout. "I know that we are capable of that. Our way of life is at stake, our grandchildren are at stake, the future of civilization is at stake."
Gore cited two "game changers" in recent years that will help. The first is the growing realization from even climate-change deniers that something seems to be strange with the weather. The second is the exponential growth in photovoltaic solar panels, driven largely by consumer demand for lower prices.
The "barriers" to doing something about climate change are business and political interests that profit off of fossil fuels — "dirty energy that causes dirty weather." He compared fake science from polluters stating that humans are not to blame for the climate to tobacco companies that used to hire actors to play doctors who denied cigarettes were dangerous.
By turns a university professor, a wry observer, a recovering politician, a joke teller and a Southern preacher, Al Gore fired up an audience of thousands at the Stan Sheriff Center to believe that global warming can be stopped. But it's possible only if each of us does our part.
"Ultimately, we are going to win this thing," he said, one of many statements met with hearty applause.
Gore did not disappoint. Grayer and with less hair, and with a slight paunch filling out his aloha shirt, in voice and mind he sounded as passionate as ever about the environment — a far cry from the inanimate robot label that has stuck to him over the years.
Gore's talk was an updated version of the one he's been giving for years and that he first laid out in his 1992 book "Earth In the Balance." The planet is in trouble because humankind burns too much coal and oil, which is trapping greenhouse gases and raising temperatures.
The consequences grow more obvious by the day: famine, drought, floods, refugees, species extinction, to name just a few. The last few years alone have witnessed unprecedented super storms like Typhon Haiyan in the Philippines and Hurricane Sandy along the Eastern Seaboard.
And Gore brought part of his famous slideshow, powered by a Mac laptop. The pictures and graphs were gorgeous — like the Earth taken from the moon in 1968 — and startling — a Bell Curve showing the number of hotter days over the past 80 years grow alarmingly disproportionate to the number of cooler days and days with average temperatures.
"The way we have to respond to this is going to require a set of changes that are beyond our routine," he said, his voice growing to a shout. "I know that we are capable of that. Our way of life is at stake, our grandchildren are at stake, the future of civilization is at stake."
Gore cited two "game changers" in recent years that will help. The first is the growing realization from even climate-change deniers that something seems to be strange with the weather. The second is the exponential growth in photovoltaic solar panels, driven largely by consumer demand for lower prices.
The "barriers" to doing something about climate change are business and political interests that profit off of fossil fuels — "dirty energy that causes dirty weather." He compared fake science from polluters stating that humans are not to blame for the climate to tobacco companies that used to hire actors to play doctors who denied cigarettes were dangerous.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
HitBliss
I got an email ad from Hulu featuring DragonHeart as one of the featured movies. [I remember watching part of this movie at Circuit City, but didn't know what movie it was. But I remember a dragon and a red-haired woman. I finally figured out it was Dina Meyer in the movie DragonHeart.] Sadly, it wasn't available. (That might tell you something about Hulu).
Anyway, I checked to see if was available for streaming elsewhere. Only on Infinity at this time.
Then I checked a few more movies to see if they were available. I noticed that the Matrix was available at HitBliss, a service I never heard of. They show movies for free, but in exchange for watching ads.
Maybe I'll try it later, but I don't feel like watching ads at the moment.
In the meantime, here's a review. And another. And another. The Verge. Mashable. BitWhich.
Sounds interesting.
***
Hmm. Apparently you can earn credits on HitBliss then spend them at Amazon Instant Video! (Then watch on your Roku or whatever.) Hey maybe I can buy some Cesar 911 episodes. I'm now tempted to try it.
***
OK, let's try.
Downloaded the app for my ipad, but evidently it requires you to create an account first.
OK, go to my laptop. Create an account (which requires you name, email address, and password, oddly no double-typing of password for verification -- that's one strike). After doing that, you're required to download a program. So can't do it strictly from the browser (strike two).
Downloaded and installing the program. Evidently there are two different programs. One is the store app (HitBliss Store) and the other is the earnings app (HitBliss Earn). There's an option (at the beginning) to download one or the other, but I see no reason to.
I see you can actually earn cash (as in real money sent to you), but with some stipulation. Here's the wording in the agreement that most people don't read.
You may use your earnings to make purchases in the HitBliss Retail Store, using the separate Store App if you elect to install it and in accordance with the Store Terms of Use. Using your earnings at the HitBliss Retail Store does not require us to transmit them to any third party, as we own the HitBliss Store.
If you chose to have your earnings mailed to you, we will mail a check within 90 days of your completing the following steps:
1. You send an e-mail to mailmyearnings@hitbliss.com requesting that your earnings be paid to you by a check.
2. The subject line of the e-mail must state your HitBliss Earn account username.
3. The body of the e-mail must indicate: the e-mail address associated with your HitBliss Earn user account; your first and last name; and your address, including, city, state and zip code.
4. Attached to your e-mail should be a scanned copy of your driver’s license or other document verifying your residence.
5. We will then email you an IRS W-9 Form, which you must complete and return to us before we can finish processing your request and send you a check.
After we have processed your request, we will mail you a check for your earnings, less a service fee (currently 2.5% of the earnings amount) for processing your request, postage fees, and any service or transmittal fees charged for payment processing services (collectively, “Service Fees”). We are not liable for any checks lost in the mail or undeliverable for any reason, including due to errors in your contact information. We will mail only to addresses in the United States. You may also request that we apply your earnings, or part of them ($5 minimum), for the purchase of a charitable donation to Prize4Life or another charity of our choosing in the United States. You agree that we may deduct the applicable Service Fees from your HitBliss Earn account when purchasing a charitable donation.
We will regularly monitor your HitBliss Earn account activity. If your HitBliss Earn account has been inactive and you have accumulated unused earnings, we will remind you of your unused balance by e-mail or through the Earn App. If you do not use your balance within 30 days of our notification, we will notify you by e-mail or through the Earn App and offer to mail your unused earnings to you (less the applicable Service Fees and subject to the steps described above for obtaining a check for the earnings). If you do not request that your earnings be mailed to you by completing the steps listed above, within 365 days of our notice, we may, at our discretion: (i) suspend your HitBliss Earn account and access to the Earn Services; and (ii) apply your earnings balance for the purchase of a charitable donation to Prize4Life or another charity of our choosing in the United States (less the applicable Service Fees). In purchasing a donation to a charity, we are not acting as your agent or making the purchase on your behalf; we are instead being authorized by you to purchase such a donation. We do not guarantee that you will receive a tax receipt for such donation. Proof of the donation is available upon written request to us. Note that this donation will never exceed the Earn Cap.
HitBliss Earn includes a localized matching engine that, with your express permission, automatically builds your Private Profile for the purposes of personally attracting relevant marketing messages and improving your earning experience. You may also add information to your Private Profile and indicate whether you want to use such information to attract and have marketing messages served to you in your queue. You may modify your Private Profile at any time, through your Earn App.
After installing the Earn App and authorizing use of our localized matching engine, the matching engine will operate continuously on the device to which it was installed. When you enter HitBliss Earn, marketing messages matching your profile will be served to you in your personal message queue.
[and a whole lot of more lawyer-speak] OK, Agree and install. Apparently the app (or the installer) is from Project Concord. Ah, that was its previous name.
OK, I see an icon on the desktop and app started automatically after install.
Sign in.
Looks like a pretty slick interface. There's three main sections/actions to do.
(1) Looking for something specific? Search for it here?
(2) Once you've picked what to watch, earn cash to buy it here.
(3) Browse for your favorite movie or TV show.
Evidently it lets you browse through the Amazon catalog, at least partially, as I see some movies/shows sub-labelled with Amazon.com. Actually almost all of them are.
Let's see if I can find Cesar 911.
Looking at Reality section, I see It's Me or the Dog. But don't see Dog Whisperer or Cesar 911. Let's do a search.
Dog Whisperer doesn't come up. No Dogs in the City. No Cesar 911. Shucks.
Looking the movies, I see most of them are available for $2.99 for a 24-hour rental.
More search, no Monk.
Ah, here's one I might want. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's $1.99 to purchase on Amazon.com.
I see Iron Man and Iron Man 2, but not Iron Man 3. Thor and Thor: The Dark World are both on there. Thor is a $2.99 rental, while Thor: The Dark World is $4.99.
No Man of Steel.
For the Amazon purchases, I see the message "Use your HitBliss earned-cash to buy an Amazon.com GiftCard to rent this title on Amazon Instant Video". So I'm wondering if you can buy a gift card to rent or buy anything at Amazon? I wonder how they check?
Well, let's earn some credits.
Three steps.
1. Go here to earn cash (HitBliss Earn)
2. Personalize and earn faster (Trust Level)
3. Check your account balance here
You start at Trust Level 1. 10 points to next level. Higher trust levels enable faster earning with fewer interruptions. Increase your trust level by paying close attention to ads.
Click HitBliss Earn. First the 60 second tour.
You can pick three personalization options.
Earn Slower
Earn Faster
Earn Fastest.
Let's go fastest!
Asks for your age, gender, income level, education, children's age. Click finish.
And you have to pay attention. (No leaving, switching tasks, etc.)
Let's start earning.
Visit our sponsors to keep HitBliss running!
Browse ads and watch them out of order.
Your earnings accumulate as you pay attention.
First an Aflac ad. When I Alt-tabbed to write this, the ad stopped. Pretty smart.
Watched about four ads and hand to click or press return a couple of times so they could make sure I was there. Now at Trust Level 2!
A few more ads and return presses and I'm at Level 3!
Up to 20 keypresses and Level 4.
Let's see how much I have earned. Hey up to $3.48. Enough to buy something.
OK, let's try buying Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, the pilot episode. It goes to a Link Account window and asks you to log in to Amazon.com. A wheel spins while it tries to link the account.
Link apparently successful as a message comes up that Amazon might charge you a sales tax (though "to the best of our knowledge, you might come from a state that doesn't charge a sales tax on video rentals. However it is possible that Amazon might start charging the tax in the future.). I agree.
Confirm your purchase. Cash balance $3.48. Amazon.com Gift Card purchase. Balance $1.49. Confirm. Wheel turns some more.
Congratulations! You have purchased a $1.99 Amazon.com Gift Card to buy Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (Season 1) - Pilot on Amazon.c... Access the title on Amazon.com Watch Now or Close
Let's go to Firefox and Amazon.com to see what happened. Checking my account, I see it in my Video Library. In face I see several videos in there that I didn't know (or forgot that I had). Lexx Season 1. The Batman Season 1. Learn Along with Sesame Street Season 1. Argo: Declassified [HD]. Good Day to Die Hard, A: Extended Preview [HD], House Season 4.
Now I wonder if I can watch on on my iPad and/or Roku?
OK, I guess that answers the question. I can't just buy anything. Only titles accessible through HitBliss.
Let's earn more. Darn, wasn't paying attention and didn't press enter in time. My trust level dropped to 2. Again. Now back on 1. But at least it doesn't erase the money earned. Now up over $2!
OK, let's see if I can watch the video on my iPad.
Install Amazon Instant Video from the App Store.
Sign in.
Click on the Library icon at the bottom.
There it is!
And I can stream it to the Apple TV. Pretty cool.
Even the subtitles work.
***
go back to watching ads. back to level 4!
You've watched all available ads. We'll now show you ads that you may have skipped in the past. Resume.
You've reached the end of the ad queue. Reload ads.
A few more watches. You've earned the maximum balance! You can earn more after you spend some of your earnings. OK
I now have a balance of $6.00. Cool.
Let's buy something. I'll buy episode 7, season 10 of South Park. That's the one with Cesar Millan.
Exit app on iPad. Then go back in. There it is. Shucks, no captions. I'll live.
***
Trying out the HitBliss app on the iPad. Works about the same as on the PC as far as earnings. But it appears you can't buy movies or TV shows from the app, you have to do it from the computer.
***
Went home and ran Amazon Instant Video on my Roku. Yep, it's there in my Library. Looks good. And the captions look better than on Hulu Plus. Looks like they're using the Roku captions.
***
Install HitBliss on my home computer. Purchased MAOS, episode 1.
What else is there? Hey, NCIS. Which isn't on Netflix or Hulu. I see the Season 10 recap is free. So I can buy that from the website. OK, let's go for season 1, episode 1. Got this message
With this purchase, you will reach your weekly limit of 4 Amazon movies or TV episodes. After this purchase, you'll be able to buy again on April 15 at 1:00 AM. OK, so there is a limit. And I guess you'd better buy your 4 before the week is up..
Let's earn back that $1.99. Watched one ad. Balance up to $4.27. So it's like 26 cents per ad. Let's round it off to 25 cents. So you need 4 ads for $1.00. The max $6.00 would be 24 ads. At 30 seconds per ad, that comes out to 12 minutes.
Yep, three more commercials, up to $5.01. And am now on trust level 5.
***
I notice the HitBliss Profile Builder runs on startup as I can see the icon in the system tray. I don't see an option to prevent it from starting. If you're uncomfortable with it running, you can go to msconfig or use ccleaner to prevent it from starting up.
But even if it doesn't run on startup, it'll run when then application is started and will stay in the background even when the application is exited. So you have to exit both separately. (Right-click on the "b" icon in the system tray and choose exit.
***
When I went to rent a movie, it asked me for credit card information. It asks this even though you have a HitBliss balance enough to pay for the rental. This is because some vendors want the item to use a credit card (for nonsensical reason). So your credit card won't get charged. But HitBliss offers you the choice of using their own credit card if you don't want to use yours.
*** [4/14/14 palindrome week]
Now I see that the weekly limit of 4 movies and/or TV shows applies to Amazon.com shows. You can buy more than that for HitBliss shows. They don't have that many TV shows, but there's quite a number of movies available. Currently there are 414 HitBliss movies and 53 HitBliss TV shows. Of course, each TV show has another of episodes, so there's probably more HitBliss TV episodes than HitBliss movies.
***
Browsing. I see there's all the Harry Potter movies. The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Matrix Trilogy. The four Indiana Jones movies. The three Jurassic Park movies. Only the first Back to the Future movie. No Star Wars. Only the Star Trek movie from 2009.
*** [4/15/14]
The latest version of HitBliss automatically downloaded upon running it this afternoon. There's some new TV shows that I hadn't seen in there before. There are now 549 TV series and 2492 movies. Wow, imagine if you had to buy all the DVDs!
*** [5/9/14]
In the past few months, we at HitBliss have been working behind the scenes to collaborate with large entertainment services to make our service bigger and better. We have now reached the point where we need to put our beta on hold in order to complete the work on joining forces with these partners. We anticipate that this hiatus will take a few months.
In the meantime, you can request that your earned-cash balance be disbursed as an Amazon.com Gift Card. The instructions will be sent to the e-mail address associated with your account.
That’s about all we can say publicly for now. But when all our work is done, we think you’ll be very happy with the result. We really appreciate your patience and look forward to coming back to you soon – bigger and better!
[we'll see how long it takes to get my Amazon gift card, if ever. Can't complain. Got 8 episodes of Marvel's Agents of Shield, 3 episodes of Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle, 2 episodes of NCIS, 2 episodes of The Mentalist, and 1 episode of South Park (though I can now get it now on Hulu Plus anyway). So that's 16 episodes for "free")]
[our long facebook thread on hitbliss and other items]
*** [3/31/15 - via searching for HitBliss on twitter] Everything We Know About The Future of HitBliss
Anyway, I checked to see if was available for streaming elsewhere. Only on Infinity at this time.
Then I checked a few more movies to see if they were available. I noticed that the Matrix was available at HitBliss, a service I never heard of. They show movies for free, but in exchange for watching ads.
Maybe I'll try it later, but I don't feel like watching ads at the moment.
In the meantime, here's a review. And another. And another. The Verge. Mashable. BitWhich.
Sounds interesting.
***
Hmm. Apparently you can earn credits on HitBliss then spend them at Amazon Instant Video! (Then watch on your Roku or whatever.) Hey maybe I can buy some Cesar 911 episodes. I'm now tempted to try it.
***
OK, let's try.
Downloaded the app for my ipad, but evidently it requires you to create an account first.
OK, go to my laptop. Create an account (which requires you name, email address, and password, oddly no double-typing of password for verification -- that's one strike). After doing that, you're required to download a program. So can't do it strictly from the browser (strike two).
Downloaded and installing the program. Evidently there are two different programs. One is the store app (HitBliss Store) and the other is the earnings app (HitBliss Earn). There's an option (at the beginning) to download one or the other, but I see no reason to.
I see you can actually earn cash (as in real money sent to you), but with some stipulation. Here's the wording in the agreement that most people don't read.
You may use your earnings to make purchases in the HitBliss Retail Store, using the separate Store App if you elect to install it and in accordance with the Store Terms of Use. Using your earnings at the HitBliss Retail Store does not require us to transmit them to any third party, as we own the HitBliss Store.
If you chose to have your earnings mailed to you, we will mail a check within 90 days of your completing the following steps:
1. You send an e-mail to mailmyearnings@hitbliss.com requesting that your earnings be paid to you by a check.
2. The subject line of the e-mail must state your HitBliss Earn account username.
3. The body of the e-mail must indicate: the e-mail address associated with your HitBliss Earn user account; your first and last name; and your address, including, city, state and zip code.
4. Attached to your e-mail should be a scanned copy of your driver’s license or other document verifying your residence.
5. We will then email you an IRS W-9 Form, which you must complete and return to us before we can finish processing your request and send you a check.
After we have processed your request, we will mail you a check for your earnings, less a service fee (currently 2.5% of the earnings amount) for processing your request, postage fees, and any service or transmittal fees charged for payment processing services (collectively, “Service Fees”). We are not liable for any checks lost in the mail or undeliverable for any reason, including due to errors in your contact information. We will mail only to addresses in the United States. You may also request that we apply your earnings, or part of them ($5 minimum), for the purchase of a charitable donation to Prize4Life or another charity of our choosing in the United States. You agree that we may deduct the applicable Service Fees from your HitBliss Earn account when purchasing a charitable donation.
We will regularly monitor your HitBliss Earn account activity. If your HitBliss Earn account has been inactive and you have accumulated unused earnings, we will remind you of your unused balance by e-mail or through the Earn App. If you do not use your balance within 30 days of our notification, we will notify you by e-mail or through the Earn App and offer to mail your unused earnings to you (less the applicable Service Fees and subject to the steps described above for obtaining a check for the earnings). If you do not request that your earnings be mailed to you by completing the steps listed above, within 365 days of our notice, we may, at our discretion: (i) suspend your HitBliss Earn account and access to the Earn Services; and (ii) apply your earnings balance for the purchase of a charitable donation to Prize4Life or another charity of our choosing in the United States (less the applicable Service Fees). In purchasing a donation to a charity, we are not acting as your agent or making the purchase on your behalf; we are instead being authorized by you to purchase such a donation. We do not guarantee that you will receive a tax receipt for such donation. Proof of the donation is available upon written request to us. Note that this donation will never exceed the Earn Cap.
HitBliss Earn includes a localized matching engine that, with your express permission, automatically builds your Private Profile for the purposes of personally attracting relevant marketing messages and improving your earning experience. You may also add information to your Private Profile and indicate whether you want to use such information to attract and have marketing messages served to you in your queue. You may modify your Private Profile at any time, through your Earn App.
After installing the Earn App and authorizing use of our localized matching engine, the matching engine will operate continuously on the device to which it was installed. When you enter HitBliss Earn, marketing messages matching your profile will be served to you in your personal message queue.
[and a whole lot of more lawyer-speak] OK, Agree and install. Apparently the app (or the installer) is from Project Concord. Ah, that was its previous name.
OK, I see an icon on the desktop and app started automatically after install.
Sign in.
Looks like a pretty slick interface. There's three main sections/actions to do.
(1) Looking for something specific? Search for it here?
(2) Once you've picked what to watch, earn cash to buy it here.
(3) Browse for your favorite movie or TV show.
Evidently it lets you browse through the Amazon catalog, at least partially, as I see some movies/shows sub-labelled with Amazon.com. Actually almost all of them are.
Let's see if I can find Cesar 911.
Looking at Reality section, I see It's Me or the Dog. But don't see Dog Whisperer or Cesar 911. Let's do a search.
Dog Whisperer doesn't come up. No Dogs in the City. No Cesar 911. Shucks.
Looking the movies, I see most of them are available for $2.99 for a 24-hour rental.
More search, no Monk.
Ah, here's one I might want. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's $1.99 to purchase on Amazon.com.
I see Iron Man and Iron Man 2, but not Iron Man 3. Thor and Thor: The Dark World are both on there. Thor is a $2.99 rental, while Thor: The Dark World is $4.99.
No Man of Steel.
For the Amazon purchases, I see the message "Use your HitBliss earned-cash to buy an Amazon.com GiftCard to rent this title on Amazon Instant Video". So I'm wondering if you can buy a gift card to rent or buy anything at Amazon? I wonder how they check?
Well, let's earn some credits.
Three steps.
1. Go here to earn cash (HitBliss Earn)
2. Personalize and earn faster (Trust Level)
3. Check your account balance here
You start at Trust Level 1. 10 points to next level. Higher trust levels enable faster earning with fewer interruptions. Increase your trust level by paying close attention to ads.
Click HitBliss Earn. First the 60 second tour.
You can pick three personalization options.
Earn Slower
Earn Faster
Earn Fastest.
Let's go fastest!
Asks for your age, gender, income level, education, children's age. Click finish.
And you have to pay attention. (No leaving, switching tasks, etc.)
Let's start earning.
Visit our sponsors to keep HitBliss running!
Browse ads and watch them out of order.
Your earnings accumulate as you pay attention.
First an Aflac ad. When I Alt-tabbed to write this, the ad stopped. Pretty smart.
Watched about four ads and hand to click or press return a couple of times so they could make sure I was there. Now at Trust Level 2!
A few more ads and return presses and I'm at Level 3!
Up to 20 keypresses and Level 4.
Let's see how much I have earned. Hey up to $3.48. Enough to buy something.
OK, let's try buying Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, the pilot episode. It goes to a Link Account window and asks you to log in to Amazon.com. A wheel spins while it tries to link the account.
Link apparently successful as a message comes up that Amazon might charge you a sales tax (though "to the best of our knowledge, you might come from a state that doesn't charge a sales tax on video rentals. However it is possible that Amazon might start charging the tax in the future.). I agree.
Confirm your purchase. Cash balance $3.48. Amazon.com Gift Card purchase. Balance $1.49. Confirm. Wheel turns some more.
Congratulations! You have purchased a $1.99 Amazon.com Gift Card to buy Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (Season 1) - Pilot on Amazon.c... Access the title on Amazon.com Watch Now or Close
Let's go to Firefox and Amazon.com to see what happened. Checking my account, I see it in my Video Library. In face I see several videos in there that I didn't know (or forgot that I had). Lexx Season 1. The Batman Season 1. Learn Along with Sesame Street Season 1. Argo: Declassified [HD]. Good Day to Die Hard, A: Extended Preview [HD], House Season 4.
Now I wonder if I can watch on on my iPad and/or Roku?
OK, I guess that answers the question. I can't just buy anything. Only titles accessible through HitBliss.
Let's earn more. Darn, wasn't paying attention and didn't press enter in time. My trust level dropped to 2. Again. Now back on 1. But at least it doesn't erase the money earned. Now up over $2!
OK, let's see if I can watch the video on my iPad.
Install Amazon Instant Video from the App Store.
Sign in.
Click on the Library icon at the bottom.
There it is!
And I can stream it to the Apple TV. Pretty cool.
Even the subtitles work.
***
go back to watching ads. back to level 4!
You've watched all available ads. We'll now show you ads that you may have skipped in the past. Resume.
You've reached the end of the ad queue. Reload ads.
A few more watches. You've earned the maximum balance! You can earn more after you spend some of your earnings. OK
I now have a balance of $6.00. Cool.
Let's buy something. I'll buy episode 7, season 10 of South Park. That's the one with Cesar Millan.
Exit app on iPad. Then go back in. There it is. Shucks, no captions. I'll live.
***
Trying out the HitBliss app on the iPad. Works about the same as on the PC as far as earnings. But it appears you can't buy movies or TV shows from the app, you have to do it from the computer.
***
Went home and ran Amazon Instant Video on my Roku. Yep, it's there in my Library. Looks good. And the captions look better than on Hulu Plus. Looks like they're using the Roku captions.
***
Install HitBliss on my home computer. Purchased MAOS, episode 1.
What else is there? Hey, NCIS. Which isn't on Netflix or Hulu. I see the Season 10 recap is free. So I can buy that from the website. OK, let's go for season 1, episode 1. Got this message
With this purchase, you will reach your weekly limit of 4 Amazon movies or TV episodes. After this purchase, you'll be able to buy again on April 15 at 1:00 AM. OK, so there is a limit. And I guess you'd better buy your 4 before the week is up..
Let's earn back that $1.99. Watched one ad. Balance up to $4.27. So it's like 26 cents per ad. Let's round it off to 25 cents. So you need 4 ads for $1.00. The max $6.00 would be 24 ads. At 30 seconds per ad, that comes out to 12 minutes.
Yep, three more commercials, up to $5.01. And am now on trust level 5.
***
I notice the HitBliss Profile Builder runs on startup as I can see the icon in the system tray. I don't see an option to prevent it from starting. If you're uncomfortable with it running, you can go to msconfig or use ccleaner to prevent it from starting up.
But even if it doesn't run on startup, it'll run when then application is started and will stay in the background even when the application is exited. So you have to exit both separately. (Right-click on the "b" icon in the system tray and choose exit.
***
When I went to rent a movie, it asked me for credit card information. It asks this even though you have a HitBliss balance enough to pay for the rental. This is because some vendors want the item to use a credit card (for nonsensical reason). So your credit card won't get charged. But HitBliss offers you the choice of using their own credit card if you don't want to use yours.
*** [4/14/14 palindrome week]
Now I see that the weekly limit of 4 movies and/or TV shows applies to Amazon.com shows. You can buy more than that for HitBliss shows. They don't have that many TV shows, but there's quite a number of movies available. Currently there are 414 HitBliss movies and 53 HitBliss TV shows. Of course, each TV show has another of episodes, so there's probably more HitBliss TV episodes than HitBliss movies.
***
Browsing. I see there's all the Harry Potter movies. The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Matrix Trilogy. The four Indiana Jones movies. The three Jurassic Park movies. Only the first Back to the Future movie. No Star Wars. Only the Star Trek movie from 2009.
*** [4/15/14]
The latest version of HitBliss automatically downloaded upon running it this afternoon. There's some new TV shows that I hadn't seen in there before. There are now 549 TV series and 2492 movies. Wow, imagine if you had to buy all the DVDs!
*** [5/9/14]
In the past few months, we at HitBliss have been working behind the scenes to collaborate with large entertainment services to make our service bigger and better. We have now reached the point where we need to put our beta on hold in order to complete the work on joining forces with these partners. We anticipate that this hiatus will take a few months.
In the meantime, you can request that your earned-cash balance be disbursed as an Amazon.com Gift Card. The instructions will be sent to the e-mail address associated with your account.
That’s about all we can say publicly for now. But when all our work is done, we think you’ll be very happy with the result. We really appreciate your patience and look forward to coming back to you soon – bigger and better!
[we'll see how long it takes to get my Amazon gift card, if ever. Can't complain. Got 8 episodes of Marvel's Agents of Shield, 3 episodes of Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle, 2 episodes of NCIS, 2 episodes of The Mentalist, and 1 episode of South Park (though I can now get it now on Hulu Plus anyway). So that's 16 episodes for "free")]
[our long facebook thread on hitbliss and other items]
*** [3/31/15 - via searching for HitBliss on twitter] Everything We Know About The Future of HitBliss
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Hulu Plus
Signed up for Hulu Plus. The one-week free trial anyway. But I'm going to continue because I bought a gift card (at a discount) on eBay. Plus I'll get monthly subscriptions from Bing Rewards (I signed up for that too).
First thing. Hulu Plus doesn't have all the shows the Hulu does (oddly). That's because they don't have the rights to show some shows on your TV or mobile devices. Just on your comptuer. So no Three Stooges. Well, they have the three public domain episodes if you look hard enough. And there's always Crackle for some more (so why can Crackle show The Three Stooges on TV, but Hulu Plus?). Also no HGTV episodes either. Or CNBC Titans, to name just a few.
Some of the newer shows have captions. Mostly the current ones. But not that many of the older shows. None on Dog Whisperer. None on Bob Newhart Show. And those are two of the main shows I want to watch on Hulu.
What's especially disappointing is that I know that captions are available for many/most of these shows. For example, The Dick Van Dyke Show has captions on Netflix, but not on Hulu Plus. Dog Whisperer too, though they have only a limited number of episodes on Netflix. Netflix does a much better job supporting captions.
Captions are a little strange. On my Roku HD, they apparently originate from Hulu. Are so are yellow. But on the Apple TV, they use the Apple TV captions. (Same thing with Netflix. I think the Roku 3 might be like the Apple TV and use the system captions.)
And on those shows that are captioned, when no captions are displayed, there's a small empty box showing where the caption normally is. Somewhat annoying. I think this is just on the Roku HD. [Maybe I can change the background. Nope makes no difference on the Roku since they're using their own caption system.]
And I notice it runs somewhat sluggishly on my Roku HD. And is prone to errors. Every once in a while it seems to lose connection and I have to restart the app. [Or it stops being responsive to the remote control and just keeps playing on without the subtitles.] Seems more responsive and less prone to crashes on the Apple TV.
Auto-play is not supported on the Apple TV, but oddly is supported on the Roku HD.
Thinking about getting a Roku 3, so stay tuned.
*** [5/3/14]
Free hulu coming to your mobile device this summer. Kind of diminishes the attraction of Hulu Plus. I wonder if that includes Roku and Apple TV. Probably not.
*** [5/5/14] check out my Roku 3 post for more comments. Summary: Hulu Plus plays much better on the Roku 3, but uses their own captions. Youtube much more responsive on the Roku 3, but captions for some videos are cut off.
*** [5/13/14] see my resetting my Roku post for more comments. Summary: removed a bunch of apps on my Roku HD to see if it would help. Didn't seem to. Hulu Plus still locked up with captions on. But then turned captions off and it seems OK.
*** [4/8/15] from my other post in the Amazon Fire TV entry. With Amazon Fire TV, you can now customize the captions for Hulu Plus and turn off/on auto-play. So I would now rank the Fire TV as my favorite streaming box for Hulu Plus. And I also see that you can turn off/on auto-play on the Roku as well. As far as I know, there's no way yet to turn on auto-play on the Apple TV.
First thing. Hulu Plus doesn't have all the shows the Hulu does (oddly). That's because they don't have the rights to show some shows on your TV or mobile devices. Just on your comptuer. So no Three Stooges. Well, they have the three public domain episodes if you look hard enough. And there's always Crackle for some more (so why can Crackle show The Three Stooges on TV, but Hulu Plus?). Also no HGTV episodes either. Or CNBC Titans, to name just a few.
Some of the newer shows have captions. Mostly the current ones. But not that many of the older shows. None on Dog Whisperer. None on Bob Newhart Show. And those are two of the main shows I want to watch on Hulu.
What's especially disappointing is that I know that captions are available for many/most of these shows. For example, The Dick Van Dyke Show has captions on Netflix, but not on Hulu Plus. Dog Whisperer too, though they have only a limited number of episodes on Netflix. Netflix does a much better job supporting captions.
Captions are a little strange. On my Roku HD, they apparently originate from Hulu. Are so are yellow. But on the Apple TV, they use the Apple TV captions. (Same thing with Netflix. I think the Roku 3 might be like the Apple TV and use the system captions.)
And on those shows that are captioned, when no captions are displayed, there's a small empty box showing where the caption normally is. Somewhat annoying. I think this is just on the Roku HD. [Maybe I can change the background. Nope makes no difference on the Roku since they're using their own caption system.]
And I notice it runs somewhat sluggishly on my Roku HD. And is prone to errors. Every once in a while it seems to lose connection and I have to restart the app. [Or it stops being responsive to the remote control and just keeps playing on without the subtitles.] Seems more responsive and less prone to crashes on the Apple TV.
Auto-play is not supported on the Apple TV, but oddly is supported on the Roku HD.
Thinking about getting a Roku 3, so stay tuned.
*** [5/3/14]
Free hulu coming to your mobile device this summer. Kind of diminishes the attraction of Hulu Plus. I wonder if that includes Roku and Apple TV. Probably not.
*** [5/5/14] check out my Roku 3 post for more comments. Summary: Hulu Plus plays much better on the Roku 3, but uses their own captions. Youtube much more responsive on the Roku 3, but captions for some videos are cut off.
*** [5/13/14] see my resetting my Roku post for more comments. Summary: removed a bunch of apps on my Roku HD to see if it would help. Didn't seem to. Hulu Plus still locked up with captions on. But then turned captions off and it seems OK.
*** [4/8/15] from my other post in the Amazon Fire TV entry. With Amazon Fire TV, you can now customize the captions for Hulu Plus and turn off/on auto-play. So I would now rank the Fire TV as my favorite streaming box for Hulu Plus. And I also see that you can turn off/on auto-play on the Roku as well. As far as I know, there's no way yet to turn on auto-play on the Apple TV.
after XP
Windows XP is dying. On April 8,
Microsoft will stop supporting the ancient operating system that was
released in 2001 — and at one point was used by 400 million people.
You might think that an
operating system that was actually engineered in the late 90s would be
fully obsolete and unused by now. After all, since XP came out,
Microsoft has released several major replacement versions: Windows
Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 (recently upgraded to Windows 8.1).
But there’s something about
Windows XP. It’s basic, stable, fast enough, and good enough for a lot
of people. It’s still running on more than 10 percent of the world’s
computers, and it’s huge in China.
Still, it’s time. It’s hard to
keep an operating system this old up to snuff in today’s online
environment. XP works, but it’s not built to the same security level as
modern operating systems. Microsoft doesn’t want to keep writing new
security upgrades for it, so on April 8, it’s stopping. No more security
updates. No more support. Your XP computer will still work, but
Microsoft won’t help you anymore. Microsoft is pretty harsh about it:
“XP cannot be considered safe to use after support ends.”
But how do you move from an old computer that’s running XP into the
modern era? I’ve heard a lot of advice on how to make the transition.
Not all of it good. Here are your options.
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Fire TV
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -
Amazon.com Inc unveiled a $99 video streaming device called Fire TV
that the e-commerce company promised would be more powerful and easier
to use than rival services by Apple Inc, Google Inc and Roku.
Amazon is a latecomer to the set-top
TV market that is dominated by the Apple TV. Amazon customers have a
large appetite for film and TV, but many already own similar devices,
analysts said.
Fire TV, which is available on Amazon.com, can access Netflix, Hulu and other providers of streaming video content. It also provides a more prominent showcase for Amazon Prime Video as well as its growing slate of original television shows and video games from Amazon Studios.
"It's the easiest place to watch Netflix," Amazon executive Peter Larsen said at an event in New York on Wednesday to launch the product. "You can watch 'Alpha House' and you can watch 'House of Cards'."
Amazon said it decided to develop the device after getting feedback on its website from customers who bought set-top boxes like Roku, Apple TV and Google Chromecast. Common complaints include lagging performance, cumbersome search and closed "ecosystems" on those devices, it said.
"When we look at the living room, how do we make the complexity disappear?" Larsen said.
Fire TV can predict what the user will watch and cue it up instantly, Larsen said. A microphone in the remote enables voice-activated search. A video game controller can be purchased for $39.99.
Seattle-based Amazon said it tried for "lowest price point possible" on Fire TV, which costs about the same as an Apple TV, but substantially more than Chromecast or Roku.
***
Fire TV doubles as a gaming device as well. By next month, Fire TV will have plenty of games from EA, Disney, and other gaming studios. You can play games with your remote or with the app. Or you can also play with a dedicated remote that Amazon is selling for $40, and you get 1,000 Amazon coins along with it. It looks much like a regular old console controller.
Fire TV, which is available on Amazon.com, can access Netflix, Hulu and other providers of streaming video content. It also provides a more prominent showcase for Amazon Prime Video as well as its growing slate of original television shows and video games from Amazon Studios.
"It's the easiest place to watch Netflix," Amazon executive Peter Larsen said at an event in New York on Wednesday to launch the product. "You can watch 'Alpha House' and you can watch 'House of Cards'."
Amazon said it decided to develop the device after getting feedback on its website from customers who bought set-top boxes like Roku, Apple TV and Google Chromecast. Common complaints include lagging performance, cumbersome search and closed "ecosystems" on those devices, it said.
"When we look at the living room, how do we make the complexity disappear?" Larsen said.
Fire TV can predict what the user will watch and cue it up instantly, Larsen said. A microphone in the remote enables voice-activated search. A video game controller can be purchased for $39.99.
Seattle-based Amazon said it tried for "lowest price point possible" on Fire TV, which costs about the same as an Apple TV, but substantially more than Chromecast or Roku.
***
Fire TV doubles as a gaming device as well. By next month, Fire TV will have plenty of games from EA, Disney, and other gaming studios. You can play games with your remote or with the app. Or you can also play with a dedicated remote that Amazon is selling for $40, and you get 1,000 Amazon coins along with it. It looks much like a regular old console controller.
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