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Posts Tagged ‘Netflix’

Netflix updates iOS Apps

15 Dec

Netflix has released an update to their iOS apps, as a Universal App this update applies to both the iPhone and iPad apps although it primarily affect the iPad app. Besides making the iOS apps now availalbe in Latin American countries which represents an expansion for Netflix’s streaing service, this update also provides us with a completely re-designed iPad app.

I have heard many complaints in the past regarding the iPad app which closely resembled the iPhone app in a larger form. I too have not been a huge fan of the format they used. Now with this update they have fixed a lot of the usability issues that users have had as well as giving us a nice new design. You can view recently watched shows up top as well as recommended shows by category. Or navigation through the browser or your Instant Queue. They have done a great job with this update providing us with a better user experience.

I have seen a few complaints online that they left out the ability to use AirPlay with this version of the app, while this is true I do not see it as a valid complaint given that AirPlay only works (currently) with an TV which already has a Netflix app on it. I fail therefore to see the need to have an AirPlay option available.

Here are the notes from Netflix regarding this update:

New in Netflix v 2.0

1. Netflix now available in Latin America for iPhone and iPad
2. New iPad UI for all regions – US, Canada, Latin America – requires upgrade to iOS 5
3. Addressed stability issues
4. For support questions please contact us at mobilesupport@netflix.com

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Posted in Apps-iPad, Apps-iPhone, iDevices, iPad, iPhone

 

AppleTV Update includes MLB and NBA Channels

09 Mar

The TV Update necessarily for 4.3 to correctly interface with it is out. To update your TV just go to the Settings menu, Update and let the TV do the rest of the work. The update brings a few notable changes including enhancements for Netflix and AirPlay. Two of the most interesting additions though is the addition of MLB and NBA tv on the TV. These two new channels are significant as they bring the TV in competition with its rivals such as the Roku box. Now since I already have a Roku, this isn’t that big of a change for me, but many of you I am sure will be excited to know that your MLB or NBA subscriptions will now work on the TV.  So go update!! What are you waiting for??

 
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Posted in iDevices, Technology

 

Updated Review: Netflix (iPad)

07 Mar

Netflix (Netflix, Inc. FREE) Universal App


The Netflix app for iPad was recently updated, previously I rated this app with 3 stars, but with this update I am upgrading the rating to 4 stars. I am very pleased with the update and welcome the changes. Quite honestly I think it is well overdue nonetheless I am glad that it is finally here. Since the app is currently run using all web views, that means that they are able to update the app without the need for app store approval. You won’t find the update in the app store, just launch the app to find the change. This update brings the app together with the way the iPhone app works, and although the two are similar, I am specifically referring to the iPad in this updated review.
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Posted in Apps-iPad, iDevices, iPad, Technology

 

A Day in the Life of *MY* iPad

24 Feb

I have seen conflicting reports over the past 11 months relative to how people feel about their iPads. Ever since the release of the iPad April 2010, I have heard from people who LOVE it and people who HATE it. There are also plenty in between who bought their iPad only to realize that they never use it and it essentially became an expensive item to have hanging around the house. I myself bought an iPad from a man who bought it and no longer needed it. It was in perfect condition and even still in the box because he bought it and obviously found no place for it in his life.

This idea has often made me wonder why I can get so much use out of it and others find it so useless. I cannot help but think that many bought their iPads simply because it was the thing to do. But, as an Apple fan boy, I can always find a use for such a device so it baffles me that others cannot as well. Perhaps they regret their decision to buy it, or even resent Apple for the device, or maybe they are just looking for an excuse to hate it. No matter what the excuse, I have seen plenty of articles about why people hate their iPad and they just don’t stack up to those who LOVE their iPads. Of course that is easy to say coming from the guy on this side of the fence, but I also wasn’t one of those who jumped on the bandwagon, I waited to purchase my iPad until I could “justify” the purchase. I had to come up with a reason WHY I needed that iPad. Now, I see that it was truly one of the best purchases I made last year, not a day has gone by since I purchased it that I haven’t used my iPad. Literally, I use it day in and day out. I have many uses for it, one of which is maintaining this blog. I have found it easy to carry around with me, in a good case it stays safe and I can use it in many environments. If I am going to have a sit down meeting with someone, this makes for a great tool to show demos, write up notes or look things up on the internet. I use my iPad for news, videos, documents, communication and when I’m bored, games! I can also see the day when I am on a hunt for a new job, with all of my cover letters and resumes right on my iPad, the ability to print from my iPad, email my resume, and even show examples to potential employers.

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Posted in Apps-iPad, Apps-iPhone, iDevices, iPad, iPhone, iTunes, Technology

 

Review: DVPRemote (iPhone)

18 Jan

DVPRemote (Phil Irey $2.99)

A must have app if you use a Roku box, at just $2.99 you really can’t go wrong. This app is perfect for using with your Roku (or many Roku) box(es). It can essentially replace your roku remote giving you a second one, spare one or even just an additional one. Remote on the other side of the room?? Too lazy to get up and get it? No worries, just use your iPhone. The app comes with some benefits that you can’t get from the original remote. This is not a universal app but it can be used on your iPad if you don’t mind pixelated images. The real value of this app is in being able to easily administer your Roku box, so I don’t mind it too much on my iPad but I mostly just use this on my iPhone. The biggest problem with this app (from no fault of their own) is that without some sort of physical feedback to my fingers, it is hard to determine that I’ve hit the correct button. A physical remote control has buttons of different sizes and shapes in certain positions. This makes it easy to tell which button you are pushing without looking. Putting this aside, this is a great app.

There are many additional features this app brings that I will outline below besides just being a standard Roku remote. These features allow you to do things that you cannot do with a standard remote which makes this even better for usage with our Roku box. That and of course besides the fact that I don’t ever loose my iPhone (and almost always have it on me) but I don’t necessarily always know where my Roku remote is. They recenlty, updated the app with a new icon which I don’t particularly care for, but it is what it is. For just $2.99 they’ve done a great job of replicating the remote which I am sure costs at least $15+ to replace should it break or become lost. Now in general there isn’t a lot more for me to say about this app other than the fact that I use it more than I use the actual Roku remote itself. This app has a lot more features today than when it was first released. Back then this app was worth purchasing, now with the additional features it is definitely worth it. So I’ll move right on to the features this app provides:

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Posted in Apps-iPhone, iDevices, iPhone, Technology

 

The Christmas App Store

26 Dec

The iTunes store, App store and now iBookstore are of course the perfect place to give or receive a gift. For the past couple of years, I have seen it every Christmas day, a high number of tweets and Facebook posts that go something along the lines of: “my first post from my new _______ “.  Although some of those new devices are undoubtedly some other substandard phone or PDA of some sort, a lot of them are posted from iDevices that were received as gifts Christmas morning. I have seen a lot of blog posts the past few days telling people about the best iPhone or iPad apps to install on your ‘new’ iDevice. Although I have a lot of suggestions, you really can find them plain and clear on my top ten lists. So this post won’t be about suggestions of what you can buy, but rather some of the things that make the best gifts for iDevice users all around.

Now, in general the apps, music or books one would buy for their iDevice is more of a personal decision. The books and music I like in particular will vary widely from that of another. Likewise my choice of apps ans games is based on my picky choices. So for me, purchasing something for my iDevice that I did not implicitly request, as a gift for me, may be a risky path to take. So one thing that works every time without fail is gift cards. Normally I am not a big fan of gift cards, but with iTunes it is certainly a good option. Apple has provided a great way of sending gift cards of any denomination, in addition to allowing you to buy iTunes gift cards from all your major stores (usually located close to checkout). These cards are great and I of course use them often to give out to people as gifts when I know they are into iDevices. The card can be used in any of the Apple stores for iDevices. The system automatically tracks a credit on your account for the amount you have remaining.

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Posted in Apps-iPad, Apps-iPhone, iDevices, iPad, iPhone, iTunes, Technology

 

Review: Netflix (iPad)

09 Dec

Netflix (Netflix, Inc. FREE) Universal App

*UPDATE* I have updated this review and upgraded it from 3 stars to 4 stars. Please visit my updated review to read more about changes to this app

This is a universal app although since the two versions are very different, this review specifically refers to the iPad version. I will review the iPhone version separately so that I can explain the differences between the two. The iPad version was first released and has been out a bit longer, but I think during the time before they released the iPhone version, they spent a lot of time working on the app making it just right for the iPhone. The iPad version feels like they put barely any effort at all behind it. I use the iPad version by far a lot more than the iPhone version, simply because of the difference in screen size. That is not to discount the iPhone version because as it is the iPhone version is done a lot better. The iPad version is just a simple port of the website onto the iPad and unfortunately there are some issues that make it difficult to use. The navigation is slow and hard to get around to what I am looking for. That being said, it is still very usable and definitely one of my favorite apps.

If you are a Netflix user then you probably already use this app. If you are not use a Netflix user then maybe this review will help you make a decision as to whether or not you should join. The app itself is free but requires a monthly subscription with prices as low as $7.99 a month for the streaming only plan. They also offer a two week free trial if you want to see whether or not the service is for you. The streaming aspect of Netflix is definitely a lot more restricted than the disc rentals, but this is mostly due to the studios limiting availability and Netflix is working hard to bring more and more titles on a regular basis.

If I were to choose between the Netflix app/service and the (price comparable) Hulu+ app/service, I would definitely go with Netflix as it is the superior option. I will say this however, the Hulu+ app for iPad is a lot better done than the Netflix app for iPad. You can tell they put more thought into it and it just plain works better. That being said, the overall experience with Netflix (to me), leaves going with them instead. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which being the fact that anything that is available via Instant Watch (Netflix) can be watched on the iPad, as opposed to Hulu+ which restricts mobile availability. Here are the features that I find most attractive about the Netflix app/service:

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Posted in Apps-iPad, iDevices, iPad, Technology

 

Review: iPhlix (iPhone)

29 Nov

iPhlix – Netflix Queue Manager (Brent Jensen $2.99)


iPhlix is also available as an iPad app but not as a Universal App for $4.99. This review is specifically about the iPhone version as I personally have never tried the iPad version and I really so no need to. One of the biggest reasons for this app is the mobility which I dont really get with my iPad (not as much as my iPhone.) This app may not be as relevant as it once was, but I still find myself using it on a very regular basis. At one point in time if you used the Netflix instant watch service with something like a Roku box, there was not the ability to add movies (or browse) to your queue. This app was a lot more important then as it was virtually the only means of doing it without going back to your main computer. Roku now, along with all the other means of using Netflix like he Wii and the PS3, have the ability to not only search for movies, but also add them to your queue on the fly or even watch movies that are not in your queue.

This app though does still provide a lot of value. Enough at least, that I use it consistently as a means of managing my Netflix queue. With this app I can control both my instant watch and disc queues. Easily search for more movies to watch, whether through a general search or in one of Netflix lists. Never again forget to add a movie to your queue when your friends tell you it is a must see, you can add it instantly, on the go, from anywhere. Along with many other features that this app provides, it really makes this the best app for managing your queue. Definitely better than Netflix’s own app.

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Posted in Apps-iPhone, iDevices, iPhone, Technology

 

Review: Air Video (iPad)

27 Nov

Air Video – Watch your videos anywhere! (InMethod s.r.o. $2.99) Universal App


Air Video is a Universal App but for the purposes of this review, I’ll be specifically referring to the iPad version. Although the apps are similar especially in features, the apps are different enough in how they look that they each merit there own review. Regardless of that fact, when you purchase this app for your iPad, you’ll also be able to install it on your iPhone and it is definitely worth using there as well. There is also a free version available called Air Video Free which limits the number of videos available in each folder, but gives you a very good opportunity to see if this app will work for you.

I use Air Video as much, if not more than the Netflix app. It is a very useful app especially if you have a lot of videos stored somewhere on your network. Of course the beautiful thing about Air Video is that the videos don’t even have to be on your local network, you can easily play videos from any location as long as both the server location and your iPad have a fast enough connection. Air Video can stream over the internet to your WiFi or 3G connected device, but I do recommend you have a decent upload speed for your home network if you are going to watch outside of that network.

Air Video will work with just about any video type, converting instantly into a resolution and format that your iPad is compatible with. No more having to make files just for your iPad. If you are like me, then you probably have a lot of videos sitting around on your hard drive waiting to be watched. I like to encode them so they can play beautifully on my big screen TV. With Air Video, they’ll also play perfectly on my iPad.

The price point of this app is perfect as well at just $2.99, you are definitely not going to break the bank buying this app. The companion server (required) is free and download-able from their website. This server is easy to install and configure and will run on either windoze or Mac. Once setup, you point the server to the location of any video files. You can have multiple locations listed and the files do not need to be located on the same machine as the server, they just need to be accessible from that machine. I think the features pretty much speak for themselves so without further ado, here they are:

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Posted in Apps-iPad, iDevices, iPad, Technology

 

Review: Hulu Plus (Universal App)

19 Nov

Hulu Plus (Hulu, LLC FREE) Universal App

The Hulu+ app has been available for a few months now, it requires a paid subscription which was first only available as a special preview. Recently though, Hulu released an update to their app, (bringing some good new features) as well as officilly taking it out of preview mode (beta) in addition to decreasing the monthly price from $9.99 a month to $7.99.

I first tried the app during the preview period, and then stopped using it because the cost just didn’t seem to be worth the value. When they released the update and decreased the price i signed up again, giving it another shot. Now that it is available to anyone, they are offering a 1 week free trial, additionally giving you 2 weeks free for referring a friend (your friend also gets an additional 2 weeks)

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Posted in Apps-iPad, Apps-iPhone, iDevices, iPad, iPhone, Technology

 
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