Netflix has expanded its Watch Instantly streaming catalog today, striking a major content deal with Relativity Media.
The deal will allow Netflix to compete more directly with premium TV channels such as HBO and Starz, as Relativity Media films will be “licensed directly and exclusively to Netflix for streaming to its subscribers during the “pay TV window.”‘
Many of the blockbuster films will hit Netflix months after they become available on DVD, just like they hit premium stations.
Netflix says “it will be the first time that studio quality theatrical feature films will be streamed via subscription by Netflix instead of being broadcast by the traditional pay providers, and it opens up a new revenue stream for such movies.”
Some of the first movies available under the new deal are “The Fighter,” and “Skyline,” both of which are set for a 2010 release date in theaters and set for a Netflix streaming launch in early 2011.
Relativity has completely financed or co-financed over 200 features, including new films such as “Robin Hood,” “Get Him to the Greek” and “Grown Ups.”
Result for: quality
Following in the footsteps of the ridiculous £200,000 Supreme PS3 and the even more ridiculous $3 million iPhone 3GS Supreme, jeweler Stuart Hughes has begun offering a diamond-encrusted Apple iPhone 4 for the reasonable price of $20,000.
Unfortunately, only 50 of the special devices will be made, so you better get your order in quickly.
The smartphones are unlocked, and come with “6.5 carats of VVS quality, F-color diamonds” and a carrying case made of ostrich.
Apple’s logo on the back is now a solid platinum and diamond version of itself.
StuartHughes also sells a $20,000 diamond-encrusted iPad, which has 11.43 carats.
Check the whole collection here: http://stuarthughes.com/
Result for: quality
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has launched a probe into an incident that led to the exposure of personal information of AT&T Inc. customers. Among the affected customers were White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and the mayor or New York City Michael Bloomberg.
A group calling itself Goatse Security was able to get information on over 100,000 AT&T iPad subscribers by exploiting a major bug on a script at an AT&T website. The group simply needed to insert an ICC-ID as part of a HTTP request to the vulnerable script which then returned the e-mail address associated with the specific iPad device.
AT&T has stressed that only e-mail address data was actually retrieved by the group and nothing more sensitive was at risk. Still, a collection of 114,000 active e-mail addresses has value by itself without even including the personal e-mail addresses of celebrities or government officials that were revealed.
“The FBI is aware of these possible computer intrusions and has opened an investigation to address the potential cyber threat,” FBI spokesman Jason Pack said. Apple’s iPad, which launched in April this year, has already sold over 2 million units.
Security experts, for the most part, maintain that the hype surrounding this hack has more to do with the fact that it involves an Apple device and some well-known names than with iPad or even AT&T security. “The hype around Apple products — like the new iPhone and iPad — is amazing. However, the reality is this type of vulnerability isn’t really news and happens all day long,” George Kurtz, chief technology officer for security software company McAfee, said.
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