Gadget and Techno Updates
Posts tagged users
Netflix slims down bandwidth for capped Canadian users
Mar 29th
Netflix in its first signs of addressing a rapidly constricting audience told Canadian users it was slimming down the bandwidth demands of its video service. By default, streaming in the country will now use a lower 300MB per hour bitrate that consumes two thirds less data but with “minimal impact” on the perceived image quality. The choice would let a viewer watch about 30 hours of Netflix on 9GB of data and still leave room, even under a restrictive cap from Bell, Rogers, or another similar provider.
Watching the same amount of standard definition video could normally take up as More >
Judge orders Time Warner to identify BitTorrent users
Mar 26th
US District Court judge Beryl Howell has ordered Time Warner to hand over identities of 250 subscribers accused of illegally downloading movies. The order appears to reject Time Warner’s argument that the request is excessively time consuming and expensive. The subpoenas involve three cases from movie production companies Maverick, Donkeyball Movie, and Call of the Wild Movie.
Although the judge rejected Time Warner’s request to block the subpoenas from Donkeyball and Call of the Wild, the cable provider does not have to submit information regarding downloads of Maverick movies due to a technicality surrounding the subpoena, according to a post More >
AT&T targets jailbroken iPhone, Android tethering users
Mar 18th
AT&T has begun sending messages to iPhone and possibly Android users it believes are tethering without paying for a matching plan. The notices tell subscribers that their service “may need updating” with the 4GB DataPro tethering plan since it believed they were using tethering but were still on one of the device-only plans. Subscribers were told to either stop tethering or else face being automatically signed up for the $ 45 tethering plan on the next billing period, which at least for OSXDaily was March 27.
The notices appear to have been targeted accurately so far and at least have been More >
Fox briefly blocks Cablevision users from shows on Hulu
Oct 18th
Hulu became the victim of a TV programming dispute between Fox and Cablevision today as it was forced to pull Fox shows from its website. The TV streaming site was told that it had to prevent watching Fox shows for anyone visiting from a Cablevision IP address to “remain neutral” until the two could agree on carriage fees. Videos were restored this afternoon, but a check by AllThingsD showed that Fox.com remained blocked.
Fox’s parent News Corp didn’t explain its reason for expanding the block to include Internet video as well as cable channels, but the move was rare in the More >