Just ahead of Valentine’s Day, Verizon and Netflix are hooking up, announcing plans to bring the no-hassle movie rental service to set-top boxes across the US.

Redbox itself has been very successful even in an age of digital media- have you seen the queues outside 7-11 on these things after midnight on the weekends?- but it’s a given the company will have to adapt to an age of click delivery and bring its rental experience to the web, too. In a press release, Coinstar’s Redbox and Verizon indicated “joint venture plans to introduce the product portfolio in the second half of 2012,” but they’re saving specifics on how the service- which will be available across the United States- will be implemented for “coming months.”

Both companies commented on the Verizon Redbox partnership in the statement, with Verizon consumer and business markets head Bob Mudge saying:

“When you consider the core elements the parties bring to this venture – our powerful brands; our national rental kiosk footprint; our anytime, anywhere network presence; and our mutual commitment to customer-focused innovation – it’s clear that Verizon and Redbox are a powerful entertainment team.”

Coinstar’s CEO Paul Davis added:

“Consumers rely on Redbox for the latest new release movies at a great value, and our joint venture with Verizon will enable us to bring them even more value by offering expanded content offerings and greater flexibility for how and when they enjoy entertainment.”

Davis continues:

“This alliance is the result of a deliberate and strategic process to identify a partner who shares our commitment to delivering innovative solutions to consumers.  We look forward to rolling out the shared benefits this venture will bring to consumers, retailers, and shareholders.”

The release confirms that the limited liability venture will be owned in a 65 percent stake by Verizon, and 35 percent by Coinstar/Redbox.

Verizon, Redbox to Launch Streaming Service in Second Half of 2012 is a post from: The Inquisitr

It never fails that with every new technological breakthrough Hollywood howls to the moon about how this new technology is another attack against the industry and will destroy it.

Of course we all know that the exact opposite is the case but that doesn’t stop the movie industry and its trade groups like the MPAA from doing whatever they can to hold back technology and change; but all the while the industry as a whole has been recording increased profits.

To give you an idea of some of the sillier we’re at deaths door proclamations made by the industry here’s a couple from the accompanying infographic.

Studios forced to sell theaters under anti-trust laws

Studios claim free TV can’t compete with paid content

and of course the good ol’ Studios claim online piracy will put them out of business.

Here’s the full history of ridiculous claims of destruction faced by the movie industry in a handy dandy infographic from Steve Blank.

via Techdirt

Hollywood and getting it wrong about technology again and again [Infographic] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Amazon.com has inked a licensing agreement with FOX that will allow Amazon Prime members to instantly stream a broad selection of popular movies and TV shows from the FOX library. This deal will bring the total number of Prime instant videos to more than 11,000 movies and TV shows later this fall.

Prime members also get unlimited instant videos from CBS, FOX, NBCUniversal, Sony and Warner Bros.

Steve Oliver, director of Video at Amazon.com, said:

“We have received very positive feedback from Prime members about Prime instant videos. Customers love the instant access to thousands of movie and TV favorites. Since the launch of Prime instant videos in February, we have more than doubled the library to 11,000 titles and will continue to add more of our customers’ favorite movies and TV shows to Prime instant videos.”

FOX titles available to Prime members will include contemporary movies such as, “Speed,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Doctor Dolittle,” “Last of the Mohicans,” and “Office Space,” as well as classics like “The Longest Day,” “All About Eve,” “9 to 5,” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” FOX also brings to Prime members a selection of popular TV series including “24,” “The X-Files,” “NYPD Blue,” “Arrested Development,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Ally McBeal,” and newly available on digital video, “The Wonder Years.”

A mixture of videos to watch but a good free add-on offering for paying members. At least you can go back to watching Calista Flockhart when she was not yet with Harrison Ford.

Amazon Inks Agreement with Twentieth Century Fox (More Videos for Prime Members) is a post from: The Inquisitr

Realizing how annoyed people have become because of the changes that they made, Reed Hastings, CEO and Co-Founder of Netflix yesterday admitted, through a blog post, that they messed up the handling of its DVD and streaming business.

“I messed up. I owe everyone an explanation. It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming, and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. I’ll try to explain how this happened.”

He went on to explain and justify why Netflix decided to separate its DVD and streaming business, which went on with the prices changes. He stressed that the two are separate businesses with two groups of people– one that appreciates the breadth of their DVD offerings and another one that appreciates their streaming.

To further stress the separation of its DVD and streaming business, Hastings announced that they will be renaming their DVD service to “Qwikster” which should reflect quick delivery of DVDs. The company’s streaming business will take on the name “Netflix.” Andy Rendich will be the CEO of Qwikster.

Not contented with the blog post from Hastings? Here’s the apology and an introduction of Rendich on video.

There is really nothing new here except for the apology and the separate brand for the DVD business. There will be no roll-back of prices. We all know why Hastings is so sorry. Here’s why.

“I Messed Up”– Reed Hastings, CEO and Co-Founder, Netflix is a post from: The Inquisitr

Every day it seems that governments, state or federal, seek out to prove over and over again just how much they do not understand how technology and the Internet work.

To show just how brain dead these officials are we have the news today, via VentureBeat, that Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has signed into law a bill that makes it illegal to not only share your Netflix account but any streaming subscription.

The bill makes it a crime for anyone other than account holders to log into services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Rdio, or Rhapsody. It also empowers streaming media companies that identify illegal sharing to contact law enforcement authorities to press charges.

So, a college student who gives access of his Netflix streaming account to half the residents in a dormitory will now be punishable by law, according to the bill’s sponsor Gerald McCormick.

Needless to say this bill was being heavily endorsed and pushed by the various entertainment lobbying groups.

Tennessee Gov wins moron prize – makes it illegal to share your Netflix account is a post from: The Inquisitr

Netflix, despite the protestations of movie studios, has done wonders for the industry, resulting in millions of Americans that now watch DVDs on a regular basis who would otherwise probably watch whatever made-for-TV movie was on AMC; however, this revolution has been limited almost strictly to DVD delivery, unless you have a penchant for weird (or old) movies.

Hulu, the television networks’ answer to the Internet, has also flourished, but with an entirely different model: rather than paying a monthly fee for unlimited access, Hulu provides unlimited access to both fresh and archive content in exchange for some pretty hilarious, and comparatively short, commercials.  There has admittedly been some network pushback, because Hulu is becoming a victim of its own success – as more people use Hulu, the actual television viewers continue to drop, and networks don’t get the big-ticket revenue they typically could have expected.

But, at the end of the day, both industries have come to realize that they need to adapt, and quickly, in order to survive in any recognizable fashion.  TV networks are toying with the idea of different delivery models via Hulu, such as “all content, always” and “only the most recent episodes”, but they’re trying.

Movie studios, however, are not.

Hulu was a joint-venture by industry giants, and was only a success because it was given true independence and freedom – it’s not a service that can likely be replicated by the movie industry, especially since Hulu appears to have somehow gained the love and support of nerds that is a prerequisite for Internet-based success.  It is for this very reason that the movie industry should embrace a twofold online-delivery approach: Hulu and Netflix.

Out of a $10 (USD) movie ticket, the studios receive a portion of sales, as well as a fee for the theater actually showing the film – this is an unsustainable model in the modern world of other, cheaper options.  If studios could receive $5 per online viewing of new movies, with a larger audience, would they not be happy to comply?  The theory is simple:  allow Hulu to show New Release movies as soon as they appear in theaters, with a pre-roll ad that results in the needed income-per-viewer, which is honestly no different or more annoying than the twenty minutes of previews and ads moviegoers are currently subjected to.

Furthermore, Netflix’s mass-audience should be leveraged to their providers’ streaming benefit, either through a similar pre-roll advertising model or with an extra monthly subscriber fee to allow Netflix members access to the New Release content via streaming, much like paying for a movie channel on a cable TV plan – but is actually useful.

The music industry was forced to adapt, much to their undying hatred, and they have suffered greatly for it – this is why they continue to try to restrict listeners’ rights while also increasing profits.  If the movie studios choose to adapt, much as television networks have been halfheartedly attempting to, they could fare far better in the end than they do even now.  The pay-per-stream movie distribution idea, through iTunes or Amazon, was a valiant attempt but has proven to not be of interest to most consumers, likely because of its expense and DRM-related difficulties.

FOX, Lionsgate, and all the others:  this idea was free.  The next one will cost seven figures – the check can be made out to “Kyle ‘Awesomeguy’ Brady”.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction.  He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

A Free Idea For The Movie Industry is a post from: The Inquisitr

The deal expands Spotify’s potential even more. At first customers in Sweden will benefit from the music streaming, but that will probably hopefully change very soon.

From the official announcement:

Telia will start selling Spotify Premium service to their mobile and broadband customers and we hope to work with them on some amazing new initiatives in the near future. Telia is Sweden’s largest ISP and mobile carrier and great match for us, this is a big step towards being able to offer Swedish homes the very best in digital entertainment services.

Spotify is currently available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France and Spain.

Spotify signs deal with Telia is a post from: The Inquisitr

“Unfortunately, this video is not available on your platform. We apologize for any inconvenience.” Burn.

Sometime this weekend, Playstation 3 owners began reporting inability to access Hulu through the device, and receiving  the above message. Hulu was kind of all huhwha? about the whole thing, but Engadget reports that Hulu terms of service were updated on June 26th. While it was initially speculated the issues could be connected to a recent firmware update, altering a browser’s user-string that way indicates the PS3 was specifically blocked by Hulu.

But why, Hulu? Why you gotta be like that?

Way back in March, Hulu blocked the hell out of Boxee, citing consumer convenience bitching content providers. Since then, it’s been an on/off thing, spawning this Twitter feed:

While Hulu can’t bite the content-providing hand that feeds it, it’s extremely counterintuitive to provide such a service just to add arbitrary blocks making it inconvenient to use. And as Hulu hasn’t given a reason for the new lockdown, we can only speculate as to why the PS3 was selected for this round of “no content for you!”

IT World presents two theories on the matter. Theory #1- quit bringing the content to your TVs, damnit! If you’re gonna watch Hulu, it’s gonna be on your smudgy little laptop screen or not at all! (Because no one can hook computers up to TVs, that’s just crazytalk?) Theory #2- Hulu’s coming to the XBox 360, and Microsoft paid Hulu to cut off competition.

Whatever the reason is behind this latest round of early-adopter jerking-around, it’s just another example of short-sightedness regarding a changing marketplace. The same consumers that use services like Hulu are likely the ones who are already aware of how to implement a work around, like PlayOn. So they’re not really stopping anything, just pissing everyone off.

Hulu for PS3: Denied is a post from: The Inquisitr

Hotspot Shield, the most popular free way to access Hulu outside of the United States has finally been blocked.

Hotspot Shield is a free VPN (virtual private network) service that allows users to visit sites as if they were in the United States. It has been, since shortly after Hulu was launched, the most popular solution to bypassing Hulu’s georetardation of content.

The strange part is why has the ban come now? Many wrote about this as a solution as far back as 2007. Hotspot Shield’s popularity as a solution to accessing Hulu has actually decreased in recent times, as streaming sites that host pirated content have become widely available, offering easier and quicker access to the content Hulu offers.

NewTeeVee has a list of Hotspot Shield alternatives in their post on the ban here.

I’m surprised it took so long: Hulu blocks Hotspot Shield users is a post from: The Inquisitr

The deal will make thousands of UMG artist videos available for free on Kiwibox.com. The media will be ad-supported, with artists getting a share of the revenue. (The specific percentages are not being released.) Current UMG artists include Jay-Z, The Killers, Snow Patrol, and Kanye West.

Kiwibox, purchased by Magnitude Information Systems in 2007, combines interactive social features with both professionally written and user-generated content, all in a magazine-style layout. The site saw a major makeover in August, which included the debut of an expanded internal video section. The new service — fittingly set to be titled “Kiwibox Music Videos” — will launch before the end of the year and will be integrated with the existing content.

Will the offering draw users over from existing streaming services such as Imeem and the recently launched MySpace Music? Probably not. But for its own devoted base of teen and pre-teen users, the option is sure to add a nice layer of functionality to an already robust site — not to mention the additional avenue of exposure it’ll provide for the artists always vying to reach that very demographic.

Teen Social Network To Get Label-Supported Streaming is a post from: The Inquisitr

Imeem’s home page will be getting an update, according to CNet News, and will gain new featured content sections. Users will also soon be able to browse through the site’s most played tracks to find songs they might like. Other additions include a “discover” feature, which recommends songs based on past preferences, and specific artist-oriented pages that bring all of a performer’s material into one place.

While it does offer mainstream music, Imeem appears to be working to set itself apart from MySpace Music by focusing also on the lesser-known, indie-style acts — plus on the fact that its playlists can be embedded anywhere, not just within a single social network’s profiles.

Aside from the slightly annoying account that’s required to do much, I’ve generally found Imeem to be quite easy to use and have been happy with my experiences in the past. I’m not sure the upcoming changes — at least, as they’re being described now — will make a significant impact on the site’s appeal or success. The service’s real challenge will simply be drawing people in, particularly when the big name brands are offering integrated streaming solutions within social networking and even within searching.

Imeem Ready for Revamp is a post from: The Inquisitr

The service isn’t limitless, though: You’ll be able to listen to 25 full-length tracks a month. After that, you’ll be prompted to pay for a Rhapsody streaming subscription. If you turn it down, you’ll only be able to listen to 30-second samples until the start of the next month.

On the whole, the service works surprisingly well. Searching for an available artist brings up a box at the top of the results with play buttons for four popular songs and the option to see more songs. Once you click play, a second player box opens at the bottom of the search results. You can still navigate around the page with the box open and the song playing — it’ll stay at the bottom of the window — but once you click to any other page, the box and the song both go away.

I’m reluctant to say it, but this actually isn’t a horrible idea. It may be one of Yahoo’s first moves that does something to add value into its search product — a novel concept. Will it get people to switch over from Google? Likely not. But it might get them to use Yahoo a handful of times a month for music-specific searching, and that’s at least something.

In any event, it reeks far less of desperation than Microsoft’s “we’ll pay you to use our search engine” idea.

Yahoo Offers Streaming Music Within Search is a post from: The Inquisitr

The service will be offered only to users who pay for an Xbox LIVE Gold membership and also have a Netflix membership. If you fall into both those categories, you’ll be able to watch the content “for free,” says Microsoft (heavy emphasis on the quotation marks there).

Netflix plans to offer 10,000 titles on the service — which, one might argue, could actually compete in a way with its own Roku Netflix Player launched in May. The Roku streams Netflix content from the Internet to your TV over a Wi-Fi or cable connection.

Microsoft & Netflix Team Up For New Xbox Streaming Service is a post from: The Inquisitr