Gearfuse

Today is the day, baby. Most of you who reserved a PS3 Instant Stream disc will be receiving yours today. I happened to be one of the lucky ones who got their hands on a disc a littler earlier in the day so I’ve taken the liberty of reviewing the disc for those of you who were still on the fence about going through the trouble of reserving your own copy.

The whole process is pretty seamless. The first time you pop in the disc you’re required to go through a very simple activation process, but after that you’re home free. The cover flow UI is easy to navigate after you get used to the slightly clumsy square-button led navigation. The quality is MUCH better than I expected, almost reaching DVD quality and definitely out pacing both my PC and my Mac.

Enough of my pandering. Check out the video and see for yourself!

Back in October 2006, Netflix began their $1 million challenge, offering a cash reward to the development team whom could improve Cinematch, the company’s recommendation engine, by at least 10%. After nearly three years the winner has finally been compensated.

Netflix considered the million such a good investment that they’ve decided to start all over again. This time, Netflix will “present the contestants with demographic and behavioral data, and they will be asked to model individuals’ “taste profiles.”’ Unlike the past contest, there will be no minimum improvement required. $500k will go to the team leading after 6 months, the other $500k given to the team following 18 months. Netflix has found their new research tool and they’ve hired the public to do the job for them. I’m sure its cheaper than paying a full research team to do the same job.

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Normally, when you think of Vizio, you think of decent plasma and LCD television sets that cost about half the price of a Sony BRAVIA. Now there’s even more incentive to run out and buy a Vizio: web apps. The company announced that it’ll be bringing Facebook, Twitter and plenty of others to its new line of Vizio XVT HDTVs. But that’s not all: Netflix, Amazon VOD, Rhapsody, Vudu, Blockbuster, Revision3, Showtime, Flickr and Pandora will all be available on said HDTV sets. That’s a huge incentive that really blurs the line between computer and TV.

You have to see the remote, though. Hit the jump to view Vizio’s new remote that has a built-in keyboard.
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For a small fee each month, you can get Netflix to not only send DVDs to your house, but you can also stream thousands of movies via its online movie service. The Xbox 360 currently supports this feature, which no doubt pisses off most Playstation 3 owners like myself. But now, there’s a glimmer of hope.

According to the Netflix job listings, there’s a position for “Engineering Leader – Gaming Platforms.” Yeah, I know. Take it with a grain of salt, but some websites believe that this is a sign that Netflix will bring streaming video to PS3 and the Wii. The PS3 already supports Flash, though. Has anyone tried Netflix’s movie service via the web browser on the PS3?

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Did you think that all of your movies were shoved into those little red envelopes using a huge array of machines? Up until today, we thought that much of the Netflix system was ran by software and machinery, but as it turns out, a lot of manual human labor goes into the Netflix shipping cycle.

At the Netflix plant in Northborough, Massachusetts, about 50 employees sort through and repackage DVDs, manually deciding which are fit for recirculation. Employees sift through about 700 discs an hour. Some of the depots have repackaging machines which can stuff around 3,000 envelopes an hour, but many are still done manually. Save the Netflix crew some work and start streaming all the movies you can. More action after the jump. (more…)

Step aside Microsoft, there’s a new Netflix streamer in town. Today, Netflix announced that it has added TiVo to its growing list of streaming partners. Being that TiVo’s subscriber base hasn’t grown much since 2005, we’re thinking TiVo needs this partnership more than Netflix; considering Netflix has already partnered with LG, Microsoft and Samsung.

Netflix will be available to TiVo Series3, TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL owners. The two companies will begin testing the new service today in “several thousand” U.S. households, and it’s expected to be widely available in early December. Whether or not this will keep TiVo in the business of DVR remains to be seen. For TiVo’s sake, this partnership should keep them in the running for a few more years.

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I hope you’ve been preparing for the new Xbox experience because it’s going to change the way you play your 360. No doubt you’ve heard that Microsoft has completely revamped the dashboard, bringing with it a new design and avatars that give core players the casual feel of the Wii. Is this a good thing? It sure is according to Engadget.

Joshua Topolsky of Engadget wrote up a positive preview of the new Xbox experience which will soon be your new dashboard. In the preview, he comments on the likeness between the Xbox 360’s marketplace and iTunes. Additionally, he mentions the Netflix feature which allows you to shuffle through movies in your queue. I’m thrilled about the new Xbox experience, I just hope my 360 doesn’t turn into a Wii. Look for the update to hit your system come November 19th.

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Title says it all. Read the official Netflix blog post below.

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Netflix became a national phenomenon when it launched its service as an online movie rental service. Now the same type of system is being created for wrist gadgets, otherwise known as watches. Watch My Wrist is essentially a designer watch rental service. If you want to get some ooh’s and ahh’s at parties or some fashion props from your friends, Watch My Wrist is an awesome service.

With new watches added everyday, users select a watch which is then shipped to them. They can keep and use this watch for as long as they want with no late fees, or they can choose a new one to be sent. Once Watch My Wrist receives the watch back in working order, your next selection will be shipped out. You can wear up to three watches at once, including one of their special connoisseur collection. You’ve gotta check out the site to believe it, even just to sniff around. — Andrew Dobrow

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