Media Streaming Archives - Gizmochina

New Amazon Fire TV Stick appears on FCC website ahead of launch this month

Jeet — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 03:54:11 +0000

Amazon appears to be preparing to launch a new Fire TV Stick in the lineup that already has a few options to choose from. If it is indeed set to launch a new product, then it will be the first one to go official since 2021.

As per the report, two new devices from the brand have passed through the FCC website. While they aren’t labeled as Fire TV Stick, everything points towards the upcoming devices being part of the Fire TV Stick lineup.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K

The listing on the FCC website for these new products does not reveal any specifications but given that it’s already been over a couple of years since the company refreshed the lineup, we are looking forward to upgraded models.

The devices have model numbers M3N6RA and K3R6AT and have been labeled as Amazon-branded digital media receivers. It seems like the M3N6RA model supports Wi-Fi 6, while the K3R6AT supports Wi-Fi 6E.

Currently, none of the Fire TV Stick models come with support for Wi-Fi 6E, and the only media streaming device from Amazon to have Wi-Fi 6E support is the Fire TV Cube launched last year.

Amazon is currently selling four Fire TV Stick models in the market — Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick Lite, and Fire TV Stick 4K Max. The upcoming models could replace one of the existing models, and given the Wi-Fi 6E support, we expect them to be high-end 4K supporting models.

The e-commerce giant is hosting an event on 20th September to reveal its new 2023 devices, and we expect the company to officially announce these new Fire TV Stick models at the event.

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Tidal Music Unveils Hi-Res FLAC Streams, Offering Class-Leading Sound Quality

Anubhav — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 00:02:24 +0000

In an exciting development for music enthusiasts, Tidal, the popular music-streaming app, has commenced the rollout of hi-res FLAC streams across its platform. Jesse Dorogusker, the CEO of Tidal, made the announcement in a Reddit post, sending waves of excitement through the audiophile community. FLAC, short for free lossless audio codec, enables the streaming of high-fidelity audio up to an impressive 24-bit/192Hz, delivering an unrivalled listening experience.

The Hi-Fi Plus plan will be priced at a hefty $20 on the first date

While FLAC streams offer superior sound quality, they do come with a tradeoff in terms of file size. These audio files occupy approximately four times the space of a standard MP3, which explains their scarcity on widely-used streaming platforms. However, Tidal has taken a bold step to cater to discerning ears by embracing this format.

The rollout is currently in the early access phase for iOS users, allowing them to indulge in over six million tracks available in hi-res FLAC. The company has also promised to continuously expand its FLAC library with new additions every day. To access these premium streams, users can simply update their beta app, if they have access, and select the “Max” quality in settings. Tidal is keen on gauging user feedback during this phase before making the feature widely available. Android users and those not affiliated with the early access plan can expect to access the hi-res FLAC streams in August.

Tidal’s decision to embrace FLAC streams marks a departure from their previous use of MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) audio, which was more of an upscaling technique than an actual file type. While the CEO, Jesse Dorogusker, has not explicitly addressed the future of MQA, he did mention that Tidal plans to “support multiple formats” of hi-res audio, promising an even more versatile listening experience for users.

Naturally, access to such high-quality audio comes at a price. Users interested in enjoying the FLAC streams will need to subscribe to the HiFi Plus plan, priced at $20 per month. Tidal recently increased the price of their standard subscriptions from $10 to $11 per month, a move that has sparked speculation about industry giant Spotify‘s plans to introduce its own hi-fi tier (which has been in speculations for quite some time now).

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Netflix could launch ad-supported plan and password sharing fees this year

Jeet — Wed, 11 May 2022 07:23:48 +0000

Netflix, one of the leading media streaming platforms globally, had long said that its service would not include advertisements, but that is about to change as the company recently said that it will roll out a cheaper ad-supported plan.

While the new plan was said to be rolled out over the next year or two, it appears that the company is planning to offer it sooner. In an internal memo, it is said that the ad-supported plan will be released later this year.

As per the report in The New York Times, the company’s executives have told in an internal note that the cheaper ad-supported plan will be rolled out in the last quarter of this year.

During the same timeframe, the company could also introduce extra fees for the subscribers who are sharing a password to their Netflix account with other people who do not reside at the same address.

It was noted in the memo that every major streaming platform apart from Apple TV+ offers a low-cost plan with advertisements, including Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, and others.

The company recently revealed that there are more than 222 million households who are paid subscribers of Netflix but it also claimed that about 100 million households are using the service with someone else’s account.

Greg Peters, CFO of Netflix, said that the company isn’t trying to shut down password sharing but it is going to ask users to pay a bit more to share accounts. It’s noteworthy that the company is testing extra fees for account sharing in Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica.

These new developments for the streaming giant come after its subscriber numbers fell for the first time. The company reported that last quarter, it lost 200,000 members, mainly due to the shutdown of its business in Russia. It is also expecting to lose another two million users this quarter.

Quibi streaming service is shutting down just months after its launch

Jeet — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 04:21:28 +0000

Quibi, a short form media streaming service that focused on mobile-only consumption, is shutting down just about six months after officially getting launched. This makes it the shortest-lived video streaming service provider to date.

The step taken by the company was inevitable given the botched launch of the service but what’s surprising is that the platform is shutting down just months after its launch. Just a day before, the company had launched its app on Apple TV. So far, the company has not notified its final date to the subscribers.

As per the report from the Wall Street Journal, the company’s founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and Chief Executive Meg Whitman decided to shut down the service to return as much capital to investors as possible instead of trying to prolong the life of the company and risk losing more money.

People aware of the development say that the company will layoff its staff and will pay a severance package. As for the content, Quibi will be exploring options to sell rights to some of the content as well as technology.

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Quibi was launched on 6th April amid the COVID-19 pandemic, although the company had planned its launch months in advance. It offers content to users in 5- to 10-minute chapters to fit on a smartphone screen, designed to be consumed on-the-go.

The company had spent aggressively to develop its content, which includes a star-studded lineup of programming, featuring Chrissy Teigen, Anna Kendrick, Christoph Waltz, Liam Hemsworth, among others.

Earlier in July, Sensor Tower reported that Quibi lost more than 90 percent of its 910,000 subscribers after the three-month free trial period. While the company disputed that claim, it never revealed the actual subscribers count.

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Samsung TV Plus streaming service could soon launch for smartphones

Jeet — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 15:48:11 +0000

With more and more media streaming platforms coming up and more users switching from cable to streaming services, Samsung launched a service named Samsung TV Plus for its smart TVs.

The service is available for free to the users in the United States and Canada and offers more than 100 TV channels over the internet. However, it seems that the company is now planning to expand it and roll it out to smartphone users.

Samsung TV Plus free service available on Samsung Smart TVs

According to the report, the Samsung TV Plus free streaming service could be made available to smartphone users through a mobile application and is likely to be exclusive to Galaxy lineup from the South Korean giant. This makes sense given that the service for the TVs is also limited to the company’s own smart TVs.

The report goes on to add that the Samsung TV Plus for mobile will come with the same functionality as the service offers on Samsung Smart TVs. Users will be able to watch Live TV channels as well as access Video-on-demand (VOD) content.

It offers channels including beIN SPORTS EXTRA, Bon Appétit, CBS News, Crime 360, fubo Sports Network, Fuse, Kitchen Nightmares, Lively Place, Outside TV+, Reelz, Tastemade, The Design Network, VEVO, Yahoo Finance, and many more. You can access the full list of channels from here.

The Samsung TV Plus service is currently free for the users of Samsung smart TVs and is supported through advertisements and the company is expected to do the same with the upcoming mobile service.

However, do note that there’s no official confirmation regarding this from Samsung. But this seems like a good timing for Samsung to launch the service given that people are stuck at home amid lockdown due to COVID-19 and are more likely to adopt the new free streaming service as media consumption is on the rise.

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