Now that Netflix has revealed exactly how many subscribers it has lost over the last few months, we’re wondering what’s next for the video service and its competitors like Amazon. In other pay-TV news, we have an upgraded UI on the way from DirecTV and new social media hooks from AT&T that could signal a change in the way we watch TV. Before closing things out with our picks of what to watch this week, we even had some time for new ultra HDTV standards, mobile app consolidation for FiOS and Sony’s PlayStation 3D Display.

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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)

Producer: Trent Wolbe

16:18 – Netflix US subscriber count drops by 800k in Q3, 21.45 million still streaming
18:24 – Netflix to expand to UK, Ireland in ‘early 2012,’ looks to challenge Lovefilm
24:19 – Amazon Prime Instant Video expands its library with even more video from PBS
27:23 – BBC’s global iPlayer app adds AirPlay streaming, should just be on Apple TV
30:00 – DirecTV shows off its new HD UI with a website and trailer, still no release date
33:55 – U-verse TV gets social with help from Miso, TV Foundry, Wayvin and BuddyTV Guide
40:00 – Verizon’s My FiOS app puts your entire living room under one Android roof
42:39 – Playstation 3D Display hits shelves November 13, Sony answers your burning questions
44:50 – Ultra HDTV technical standards agreed on, more pixels is a good thing
52:30 – Must See HDTV (October 24th – 30th)

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Engadget HD Podcast 271 – 10.25.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Amazon net sales up, net income down for Q3 2011

Amazon net sales up, net income down for Q3 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today’s Amazon earnings were decidedly split — the company revealed both a 44-percent increase in net sales and a 73-percent decrease in net income. So, why the discrepancy? It may at least partially be due to the much discussed suggestion that the company actually loses money for each Kindle sold — a trend which, if true, has likely only been compounded by the release of the uber-cheap ad-supported version of the device. The company addressed the matter in part, suggesting that it is focused on “the lifetime value [of the Kindle], not just the economics of the devices and accessories.” The total economic picture of the Kindle includes the device itself, accessories, downloaded content and ad-revenue.

Things are apparently looking up for the company, as well, with Amazon anticipating “a record quarter in terms of device sales” for Q4. The positivity is a reflection, in part, of greater than anticipated Kindle pre-orders. Says CEO Jeff Bezos, “In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch. And based on what we’re seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we’re increasing capacity and building millions more than we’d already planned.”

Amazon focusing on ‘lifetime’ Kindle revenue, anticipating record device sales for Q4 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hope you weren’t planning on falling asleep tonight. We’ve got a very spooky episode of The Engadget Show coming at you this week. We get a behind the scenes tour of the technology that goes into running Manhattan’s Nightmare haunted house. And we swing by New York Comic Con, to discuss the state of digital comics and shoot the breeze with geek legends Mark Hamill and Stan Lee.

We also announce the winners of our Frankengadget contest and give away the clothes from Tim’s back to the winner of our in-studio costume contest, courtesy of Halloweencostumes.com — oh, did we mention that Tim and Brian and dressed as Darth Vader and a storm trooper this whole episode? Because they are.

Intel’s staff futurist Brian David Johnson stops by to talk about the near future of the chipmaker and the role science fiction plays in his daily work. We pay tribute to Steve Jobs with the help of some eager Apple fans. And we take a look at the iPhone 4S, Amazon Kindle and the ASUS Zenbook UX31.

Gallery: Engadget Show — October 2011

Hosts: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater
Special guests: Brian David Johnson
Producer: Guy Streit
Director: Alexander Vietmeier
Executive Producers: Joshua Fruhlinger, Brian Heater and Michael Rubens

Download the Show: The Engadget Show – 026 (HD) / The Engadget Show – 026 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show – 026 (Small)

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The Engadget Show – 026: A visit from Intel, a trip to New York Comic Con, haunted houses and costume contests originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week baseball’s World Series continues, after splitting the first four games evenly it all comes down to a best of three between the Rangers and Cardinals. Of course, that’s not all coming to our TVs this week, as several new series premiere, along with some Halloween-themed programming. The biggest surprise however is the 90s-throwback feel of this week’s roundup, find out why in the highlights below, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames

Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy
When the first flick debuted in 1993, it brought Michael Crichton’s book to life with an unprecedented new level of special effects. Of course, that meant the Jurassic Park trilogy’s strength was never its story, which regressed further in subsequent films. Still, you can celebrate some of the best in ’90s cinema this week with the new triple pack that includes the movies and all new behind the scenes information. You can also get your dinosaur fix every week with Terra Nova, but we wouldn’t recommend it.
(October 26th, $48.99 on Amazon)

Beavis & Butt-head
Mike Judge’s animated duo make their return to the small screen after a 14 year layoff Thursday night, and for better or worse, it doesn’t appear that much has changed. Of course, the internet has opened up a whole new source of bad music videos for the pair to display and dissect, but since they’re on the internet, its much more likely that you’ve already seen them. We’d rather have Daria or Aeon Flux back instead, but we’ll check this out for nostalgia’s sake.
(October 27th, MTV, 10PM)

Grimm
The other new fairytale based TV show makes its debut on NBC this week, with a very Supernatural / Fringe type of take on the old stories. This time around the Grimm brothers are homicide detectives that chase down all those supposedly mythical creatures in the very real world of Portland, Oregon. We’ll see if it’s worth watching as it takes on Fringe in the same time slot Friday night — check after the break for a preview.
(October 28th, NBC, 9PM)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (October 24th – 30th)

Must See HDTV (October 24th – 30th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After a tumultuous third quarter the numbers are finally in for Netflix, and as expected its price hike and Qwikster madness have cost it a few customers in the US. Currently the company is reporting a total of 23.79 million customers in the US, down from 24.59 million last quarter — fewer than even it projected a few weeks ago. According to the report, it lost more “long term” customers than expected, which it attributes, again, to its poor explanation of the reasoning behind the change. To address those decisions and its inability to reach a new deal with Starz it has a few more numbers to show, as apparently only 7 percent of new customers are opting for the $15.98 hybrid package, while Starz Play content currently accounts for about six percent of streaming hours. Other competitors get it too — Amazon Prime Instant Video’s content library is referred to as “duplicative” and just a “small fraction” of what Netflix offers, as it counts on newly-signed exclusive deals to widen the gap.

We’ll dig through the report more and tune in to their earnings call in a bit, hit the source link to check out the PDF for yourself.

…developing

Netflix US subscriber count drops by 800k in Q3, 21.45 million still streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon’s new e-book format brings HTML5 support to your Kindle library originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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British expats and international fans of BBC television alike can now stream some Gavin & Stacey to their televisions (past season 1 anyway, which is on Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video), as long as they’re properly equipped. The global iPlayer app for iPad has been updated with AirPlay streaming (those in the UK however, have no such luck so far) so once users update to iOS 5 and buy an Apple TV box, they’re in business. Of course, this would all be much simpler if iPlayer were just available on the Apple TV itself (without XBMC or other hacks), but no one asked us, did they?

BBC’s global iPlayer app adds AirPlay streaming, should just be on Apple TV originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Oct 2011 02:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PBS has been down with Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service since it launched, and now it’s providing even more all-you-can-eat video for streaming under an expanded agreement. Naturally that means lots of episodes of NOVA and Antiques Roadshow, and “for the first time on digital video”, 200 episodes of The French Chef with Julia Child. According to Amazon, that puts its total number of selections over 12,000, more than double the amount of content it launched with. It still has a ways to go to match Netflix, but with a lower yearly price, sweet shipping deal and now the ability to teach you how to make an omelet, Amazon has developed a very compelling alternative.

Continue reading Amazon Prime Instant Video expands its library with even more video from PBS

Amazon Prime Instant Video expands its library with even more video from PBS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus WiFi hitting the US November 13th for $400, available in 16GB for now

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus WiFi hitting the US November 13th for $400, available in 16GB for now originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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