Audio Video News

Amazon’s 4K Ultra HD Streaming is the first to support HDR (high dynamic range) video technology. Accessible to Prime members, it kicked off with the original series Mozart in the Jungle on Samsung UHD TVs via the Amazon video app...

TiVo Can Stream to Apple TV via AirPlay thanks to an update of its iOS app. This applies to certain Roamio and Premiere models sold at retail plus those leased from pay-TV providers...

Comcast’s Stream is a $15/month service that brings a dozen channels to tablets, phones, and laptops. It’s an add-on to existing broadband contracts, rolling out first in Boston, then maybe Chicago and Seattle...

Sony’s PlayStation Vue will offer streaming of Showtime, Fox Soccer Plus, and local/regional sports channels. The à la carte video platform piggybacks on PlayStation 3 and 4, starting in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago...

Wi-Fi Will Reach 90 Percent of broadband homes by 2019, up from 66 percent in 2014, according to IHS—but that will cause significant congestion with things like cordless phones and microwave ovens competing for bandwidth. This is “forcing ISPs to take ownership of the home network,” says an analyst...

The First Live 8K video demos in North America were FIFA Women’s World Cup matches, courtesy of Fox Sports and Japan’s NHK. They were broadcast in 22.2-channel surround sound...

NetflixRecommended TV certification now adds Panasonic to a list that already includes LG and TCL. Sharp, Sony, and Vizio are expected to join momentarily...

Ads on Netflix? Seventy-nine percent of subscribers would pay extra to avoid it, says an Exstreamist poll. Another 56 percent would cancel if forced to watch ads...

Netflixers Still Like Pay-TV, said a TDG survey cover- ing 2012 to 2015. Netflix customers subscribing to pay-TV services declined a little, from 87 to 84 per- cent, but pay-TV customers subscribing to Netflix rose from 36 percent to 49 percent...

NBC News’ Amazon Fire TV App includes live news feeds, segments from the Nightly News and other shows, and original series. One of the latter is Meet the Candidates, which interviews presidential hopefuls...

YouTube Is Bigger than any single U.S. cable network, executives told investors, with visitors to the homepage tripling over the past year, and actual watch time up 60 percent. Mobile use is a big contributor, with average sessions topping 40 minutes...

Chromecast Is Getting Ethernet through a $15 accessory that plugs into the Google device’s USB port. Just in case the Wi-Fi traffic in your household has gotten too congested...

Streaming and Vinyl were up 92.4 percent and 38.4 percent, respectively, say Nielsen numbers for the first half of this year. Vinyl’s 5.6 million units are now 10 percent as big as the CD market, which continues to tumble...

Showtime Killed the SHO Sync app for mobile devices and TVs, ending its three-year run. It may re-emerge in different form...

Streaming Is 28 Percent of all TV viewing, says GfK MRI. That breaks down to 16 percent on computers or mobile devices, 9 percent on connected TVs, and 3 percent on game consoles and other devices...

The Ideal à la Carte video package consists of 17 channels, well under the number cable subscribers are forced to buy, says Digitalsmiths, the TiVo- owned search specialist. Its survey of 3,140 consumers found 81.6 percent are interested in the concept...

Sprint Killed Its 600 kbps Limit on video streaming for two plans sold through Best Buy following consumer outcry. However, it hedged by saying “we might have to manage the network” at peak times...

Pay-TV Will Be in 50 Percent of the world’s homes by 2017, according to ABI Research. The Asia- Pacific market is growing fastest—but with Netflix launching in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, cord cutting may erode revenues in those places...

Millennials Love Smart Home products, says an NPD study, with 41 percent interested. This is extend- ing popularity of home automation beyond homeowners, since many millennials rent...

Sony Launched High-Resolution Music Stations at 70 Best Buy Magnolia Design Centers. Featured products include Walkman music players, headphone amps, and music servers...