The Geekcast

News:

Netflix signs unprecedented movie deal with Disney

The deal will let Netflix subscribers stream films from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Marvel and Disney nature. Starting in 2016, that is. You knew there was a catch.

First the good news: Disney is giving Netflix access to some of its top movies at the same time it releases them to pay TV services.
Now, the bad news: The deal doesn’t kick in until 2016.
The companies announced today that Netflix will become the exclusive U.S. subscription television service for first-run, live-action and animated feature films from the Walt Disney Studios.

Sure, the delay is a drag. But this is still a groundbreaking deal for Netflix and the entertainment industry. In the past, Netflix has typically obtained content from the six major Hollywood studios through intermediaries such as pay TV services. Netflix once had access to movies from Disney through a licensing agreement with Starz, but that deal expired earlier this year.
Since at least early 2011, Netflix has struggled to obtain movies from most of the largest Hollywood studios, and customers were irked. This agreement now promises to make Netflix’s subscribers happier —  in 2016, at least — while also putting it on the same footing with some of its competitors in cable, such as HBO, Verizon and Time Warner Cable. What we don’t know is how much Netflix had to shell out for this, but it seems safe to say it was a lot of money.
Some more good news for Netflix: Managers cut a separate multi-year deal with Disney to bring some older catalog titles to Netflix streaming immediately. Some of the titles include movie classics such as “Dumbo,” “Pocahontas” and “Alice in Wonderland.”
The news had to trigger a collective gasp from Netflix shorts. In afternoon trading, the company’s shares were up 15 percent to $87.60.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57557110-93/netflix-signs-unprecedented-movie-deal-with-disney/

Texting Turns 20: The History of SMS

The first SMS was sent in 1992 by Neil Papworth. He sent the message “Merry Christmas” from his personal computer to his friend Richard Jarvis’ Orbitel 901 handset over the Vodafone GSM network.

The text message was first commercially deployed a year later, in 1993, and after a relatively slow start is now one of the most popular ways for people to communicate with one another.

Text messages are used for companies to send news to subscribers, as a way to enter contests, and were even used as a way to campaign during this year’s political election.

Check out this infographic created by Twilio for a look at how the text message got where it is today, then let us know about your first texting experience in the comments.

http://mashable.com/2012/12/03/texting-turns-20/

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Geek This Week:

Aaron: Finished season 5 of Doctor Who. It’s the December of stuff! Hover boards, new Smashing Pumpkins, music, The Brydge! Woot!

Gozer:  Chrono Virus. Wanting Far Cry 3. Black Ops 2. Comic recommendations? Boardwalk Empire Season Finale. Toy Hunter TMNT collection

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The Geek’s Choice:  Nintendo Sales History

http://www.1up.com/news/charticle-compare-nintendo-console-launch

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Featured Segment:  iTunes 11

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/12/itunes-11-review-simple-is-as-simple-does/

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Feedback & Items of Note:

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