Tag Archives: amzn

Netflix 4K video streams may attract ‘hundreds’ of viewers

Subscription online video leader Netflix (NFLX) plans to support ultra high-definition 4K video in a big way in 2014. But with so few Ultra HD televisions in homes today, few people are going to be able to see it. Netflix (NFLX)  Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt told Stuff that it will stream the second season of its Emmy Award-winning political drama “House of Cards” in 4K video. The acclaimed show stars Kevin Spacey and premieres on Feb. 14. Hunt acknowledged there will be little 4K video available at first, but the company wants to lead the transition. “The trick here is that since it’s going to take awhile until there is a material catalog in 4K, it’s important for us to get out front and begin to push it,” Hunt said. “We’re one of the few folks working all the way through from soup to nuts — we’ve got the original content production on one end, and we’re working closely with the CE manufacturers on the other end, and we’ve got the whole delivery pipeline in between. So I think we can be instrumental in beginning the shift of production toward 4K.” Netflix’s main streaming rival Amazon.com (AMZN) said Monday that it plans to shoot all of its original series, including comedies and dramas, next year in 4K Ultra HD.

IRobot leaps on bullish report, speculation

Robots are hot now thanks to activity in the sector by Internet giants Amazon.com (AMZN) and Google (GOOG). And pure-play robot maker iRobot is benefiting from the increased attention. IRobot stock jumped as much as 23% Tuesday on a bullish report from Raymond James analyst Brian Gesuale. In afternoon trading, iRobot stock was up 17%, near 37, in heavy volume on the stock market today. On Monday, iRobot rose 6.7%. Gesuale upgraded iRobot (IRBT) stock to strong buy from market perform and set a price target of 39. He says the company’s new Roomba 800 series vacuum-cleaner robots and low-cost Braava floor-cleaning robots will drive sales in 2014. “We see floor care as a two-year bridge that supports upper teen EPS growth until new remote presence, health care and home robots hit the market,” he wrote in a research report Tuesday. “As the latter occurs, we see new products catalyzing.”…

Google and Amazon robots look to control the ground and skies

When the history of the robot apocalypse is written, December 2013 could well be remembered as an important month. First, Amazon.com (AMZN) announced plans to deploy a fleet of flying delivery robots. Then, Google purchased Boston Dynamics, maker of several scary robots for the U.S. Department of Defense, including one that bears a strong resemblance to the killer robots from the Terminator movie series. Google (GOOG) told the New York Times on Friday that it bought Boston Dynamics . The Waltham, Mass.-based company is best known for a series of four-legged robots whose videos have been very popular on Google’s YouTube. These robots include Cheetah, the world’s fastest legged robot, which has been clocked at more than 29 mph; and BigDog, a rough-terrain robot that walks, runs, climbs and carries heavy loads. Boston Dynamics also has supplied the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa)with several copies of its bipedal robot Atlas…