Video streaming

DirecTV NOW launches on iPhone, iPad & Apple TV

Two days ago, U.S. wireless carrier unveiled DirecTV NOW, its brand new Internet television streaming service that comes with a free fourth-generation Apple TV for those who would commit to at least three months of paid service.

Today, DirectTV apps for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV have gone live in the App Store.

Netflix launches offline viewing in mobile app

Following reports back in the summer that offline viewing would be coming to Netflix “by the end of the year,” the company said that it's starting to roll the feature to users around the world beginning today. A new Download button appears in the mobile Netflix app on select shows that can be watched without an Internet connection, including popular shows like “Narcos,” “Orange is the New Black,” “Stranger Things” and “The Crown”. Offline support for more shows will be added over time, said the firm.

How Apple can get users to connect with Apple Music’s Connect

Apple’s Connect service, the company's own aspiring social component to Apple Music, has visibly taken a back seat in iOS 10. In its original conception, Connect was resourceful and prominently placed in Music. Fast forward one year and you would be forgiven for thinking that Apple’s network for musicians and their followers had been as good as abandoned over night.

While we know that such is not the case just yet, Connect has undergone cosmetic changes with iOS 10 that have arguably ousted the service to a place now pretty much neighbouring on irrelevance. It's the consequence of a succession of ill-advised calls. Name-giving aside, Apple should have also known better when it comes to launching a barren product offer centre stage inside an app as meaningful as Music. Connect was not engaging or relevant in 2015, and as a result it went unsung in 2016. Is it too late or could an Apple still turn the ship around?

Broadcast live interactive video to the world with Hype for iPhone from Vine creators

Just a few short days ago, Twitter announced plans to phase out Vine, a shortform video-sharing service it acquired nearly three years ago.

Vine's discontinuation's prompted its creators Colin Kroll and Rus Yusupov to pursue new projects and yesterday they unveiled a live interactive video app, Hype for iPhone.

Does the world really need another video-streaming service?

Only time will tell. For the time being, Kroll and Yusupov are hoping that Hype's rich feature set will help set the app apart from Twitter-owned Periscope, Facebook Live and similar video broadcasting services.

Apple will live-stream October 27 Mac keynote

Invites for a new media event went out yesterday and Apple just confirmed that the keynote will be live-streamed through its website. As you've come to expect from iDownloadBlog, we will be providing remote coverage of the keynote along with details of the announcements. This could be the last event at Infinite Loop’s Town Hall campus.

That's because the massive Campus 2 building AKA “iSpaceship” should open come January 2017, barring any unforeseen delays. The site includes a massive underground auditorium where future corporate and press events will be taking place.

Netflix offline viewing coming before year-end?

It looks like Netflix offline viewing might finally be coming even though CEO Reed Hastings first said that the feature was “never going to happen”.

As Streaming Observers learned a few days ago, the company has changed its mind and will be reportedly adding offline mode to its mobile application before the end of this year.

Netflix's share prices shot up 20 percent this morning after the company reported better than expected third-quarter earnings.

Periscope update brings camera and sharing improvements & more

Periscope, Twitter's live video-streaming app, has been refreshed in the App Store this morning with a few new features related to in-app camera, sharing and more. For starters, you'll notice improved tap-to-focus while broadcasting live video, plus you can now follow a broadcaster from the viewers list with one tap. There are also improvements to Persicope's VIP Program and more.

In time for NFL Thursday Night Football, Twitter launches live-streaming Apple TV app

Twitter's bird logo set against a transparent background

Twitter's new live-streaming Apple TV app arrives just in time for NFL Thursday Night Football. Available at no charge in the tvOS App Store, it lets owners of the fourth-generation Apple TV stream both top Twitter/Vine videos and the 10 NFL games that the micro-blogging services recently acquired the rights to broadcast, plus content from Bloomberg News, Campus Insiders, Cheddar, MLB Advanced Media, NBA, Pac 12 Networks and other premium sources.

Facebook Messenger picks up live-streaming feature, called Instant Video

Facebook today announced a new live-streaming feature on the mobile Messenger app, dubbed “Instant Video”. Similar to the live-streaming feature built into the mobile Facebook app, Instant Video allows you to start streaming live video with a friend on Messenger by tapping a new button found in chat windows. The video streams in a small window so that you can continue chatting while streaming.