Category: Computers

Verizon FiOS and Netflix are playing nice together!

I upgraded my HTPC from Windows 7 to Windows 8.1 to try and get access to the Netflix app that is part of Windows 8 to get some 1080p streaming and 5.1 surround sound. I also decided to try out Storage Spaces for some parity/redundancy of my media collection but that’s for a different post. The good news for this post is that Netflix and Windows 8 are now playing nicely together, within 30 seconds HD streams are coming through to my home without a VPN required. Works across my PS3, Windows 8 App, and Firefox on a Windows 7 box. Hopefully they’ll continue to play nice together.

It looks like the deal Netflix made with Verizon has been implemented, but hopefully the FCC will enforce some rules so that peering agreements for last-mile ISPs don’t get bogged down so ISPs like Verizon can extract money from web companies to deliver content (i.e. internet fast lanes).

Windows 8 and Netflix

2013-01-24 Update: I’ve been informed from a commenter that it may do DD5.1 and 1080p streaming if your ISP has signed up for Super HD. The best way it seems to get 5.1 and 1080p streaming will always be the PS3 or some set top box. But it looks like Netflix can always surprise and keeps looking forward, so I have to commend them on their efforts.

I was excited to hear that Netflix had an app for Windows 8 that did some native decoding. What this made me think was that we might have 1080p video and 5.1 surround from Windows 8, similar to what the PS3 does. I did some searching to try to find the answer to this question but couldn’t find anything. I’m not sure on the 1080p streaming but I know from trying a couple of movies on both the PS3 and my Windows 8 PC that the new Netflix app on Windows 8 does not do 5.1 surround sound. Hopefully this will answer some others’ questions on this topic.

Goo-Inside.Me is a horrible name

It sounds bad but for those in the android modding/hacking community it is a great way to distribute roms to users. I’ve been using it lately to download and try out Cyanogenmod 9 for my Galaxy Nexus from Verizon and to keep my Nook Color tablet up to date and functioning well. I was trying to update my phone and tablet today and noticed that the downloads were not working and tried goo.im on my PC and it would not come up! So I had some lunch and tried again and it was all back up. I decided that since I use this service a bit I’d donate to them.  They have two donations spots so I went to two of them. $10 to become a “sponser” and $15 to donate to the new server costs. Hopefully they’ll leave those links up so I can donate from time to time to this great service. I know its not much but I hope it helps! Thanks Guys!

Verizon Fios

I signed up a little while ago to add TV to my internet package with Verizon to try it out again. I signed up for Ultimate HD which is their highest bracket and 35/35 internet. I bought a cablecard tuner from Ceton and got it all setup. Well I decided I wanted to cancel the TV to avoid the additional distraction and to focus more on my side projects with the house and programming. I did some digging and there is no longer a 35/35 connection  but there is a 50/25 connection on their site for 84.99. I can’t get that price on the phone for some reason. I can’t order that package online either. And now it looks like you have to bundle with Verizon and then drop the internet to move it around at all. To keep 35/35 it would be 89.99, to eventually move to 94.99 after bundling the new 50/25 and dropping the TV the next day I’m now at a loss of what to do. From the looks of it I’ll have to cancel my service and reorder to get 50/25 internet only for 84.99 online.

I wish there were more competition in this space. Verizon keeps switching their services and prices around while slowly moving the bar up and making it more difficult to make changes to your plan. I also dislike the fact that you can’t seem to get internet only or make changes to it over the phone without bundling for at least a day. I think they’re trying to keep people stuck with a bundle instead of trying to cut the cord. Any they have a near monopoly on fiber to the home service in this area because other providers don’t want to build out a network and have to compete on price and service. Another reason we need municipal fiber and the ability to have choice and competition in this space. Its like 50 Euro in Sweden for a 100/100 connection from what I’ve read.

I wish we had more choices in this arena!

The internet, is it still a series of tubes?

It looks like congress had a hearing about net neutrality and they still don’t understand the issue: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/05/a-rube-goldberg-theory-of-regulation-net-neutrality-hearing-gets-testy.ars. What options do you have with limited options or in some cases a monopoly? How can you say one doesn’t exist when your DSL provider is limited to 256k upload download and the only cable company in town caps your monthly internet usage at 50GB? I’m fortunate to live in an area with Fios, with a pretty damn speedy 15mbps/5mbps connection for a reasonable price. But my parents are limited to Time Warner Cable and DSL clocked at 1.5mbps/256k for the same price I pay for my internet. I keep reading stories about the caps in Canada, as low as 50GB and in New Zealand, as low as 50GB. How can we have another Apple of internet services that starts in the garage if our home broadband is so expensive? And we’re still behind some other countries like South Korea where you can get a 100mbit/100mbit connection for US $30/month. But there is still hope! If only each city would invest like it does for water and sewer systems and bring in Fiber to the Home where an ISP can hook you up for no or minimal cost? And finally treat the internet like it is, a utility and not a service. Its the future for heaven’s sake! Just look at companies like Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Netflix, and Amazon. If we allow the ISPs to do what they want with the monopolies they have where we don’t have any options of anything comparably different we’re screwed. I like what some cities in Utah have banded together to do, which is what I said before, that the internet should be a utility and open to competition. The city invests in the infrastructure and leases it out to ISPs when someone signs up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Telecommunication_Open_Infrastructure_Agency. Or is that too close to socialism or some other stupid argument?

Of course when you propose competition, the current monopoly steps up: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/want-50mbps-internet-in-your-town-threaten-to-roll-out-your-own.ars

Android tablets

So many new android based tablets are hitting thematket. A lot of them are overpriced, like the Motorola Xoom, others will be dirt cheap, like the Asus Transformer.  But there are also hidden tablets, waiting to be unleashed. I recently bought a Barnes & Noble Nook Color for $200 on sale. With a little effort I now have vanilla android running on it. I can still read my books, my daughter and I can play angry birds on it, and I can type a blog post. This is by far the coolest thing and it makes me love and appreciate technology and innovation so much. There is a community of hard working volunteers that has put this together, which is just awesome. Props to everyone in the android hacking space.