Technology, Streaming | featured news

Microsoft has been developing designs for a simple set-top device for streaming video and other entertainment options.

A top executive with the owner of the Fox broadcast network on Monday threatened to convert the network to a pay-TV-only channel if Internet startup Aereo Inc. continues to "steal" Fox's over-the-air signal and sell it to consumers without paying for rights.

If you feel like you haven’t seen Julia Stiles on screen lately, you may just be looking for her in the wrong places—or rather on the wrong screen. Stiles is currently starring in the YouTube series “Blue,” which returned for a second season on March 15.

Nielsen is taking a step towards extending its TV-ratings business to measure online viewing, aiming to gauge how much viewership has drifted away from traditional TV to online outlets.

Netflix’s video subscription service has trumped pay-TV channels and grabbed the rights to show Disney movies shortly after they finish their runs in theaters. The multiyear licensing agreement announced Tuesday represents a breakthrough for Netflix as it tries to add more recent movies to its popular service that streams video over high-speed Internet connections.

If you’ve shopped for a TV in the past couple of years, chances are you’ve heard of Vizio. After all, the company, a decade old this year, has been holding its own in the US TV market against global giants like Samsung and Sony while at the same time expanding into new products like PCs and tablets. Impressive no doubt, even more so considering the company does all this with just 400 employees. At $3 billion in annual revenue, this translates to about $7.5 million per head, a number that’s over ten times that of Sony. That’s an amazing degree of productivity, especially for a company that has in no way taken the easy path of shipping me-too boxes, but instead has been one of the most progressive in adopting new technologies for the TV market such as new interfaces and smart TV.

Netflix is moving to protect itself against hostile takeovers, less than a week after activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed a stake of nearly 10 percent in the online video company. Netflix Inc. said Monday that it has adopted a shareholder rights plan, also known as a poison pill. Such a plan is designed to make it difficult or even impossible for someone to take over the company without an agreement from the board. When the provision is triggered, additional shares flood the market and make it prohibitively expensive for a takeover.

Tonight's debate between Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly infuriated many fans as a server crash left the event's live stream largely inaccessible  The debate took place at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and was available to those outside of the auditorium only via a $4.95 pay-per-view live stream.

One of the networks broadcasting this week's Democratic convention could be called Obama TV. The Democratic National Convention Committee is promoting "unprecedented interactive coverage" of this week's confab, built around the first-ever live-streaming of the entire event featuring interviews with delegates, President Obama campaign officials, and various celebrities.

Netflix shares rose 13% today after a the market took yesterday off due to the July 4 holiday, closing at $81.72 thanks to the company's biggest single-day gain since late January.