Netflix.com rocks! (Photo credit: luxuryluke)

Netflix Carves Out a New $6.99 One-Stream Niche

Target Market Is New Customers Who Get Lower Rate for Standard-Definition-Only

Last Monday, Netflix reps revealed a recent maneuver with real potential for market outreach expansion to budget-minded prospects.  This latest move is launching a low-cost, single-stream pricing plan for new Select subscribers that features content delivery solely in standard-def format.

Apple iPad (Photo credits: Best Buy)

Apple will take orders this Thursday for the new Apple Mac Pro personal computer, which is being produced in Texas with domestically made components as part of CEO Tim Cook's $100-million "made in the USA" initiative. 
 
Cook posted last Wednesday on Twitter that they started manufacturing the Apple Mac Pro in Austin. He added that it's also the most powerful Mac ever.

Apple said that the sleek, cylindrical machine, which runs with Intel's latest Xeon chip, will be available at a starting price of $2,999. While Lenovo and Google are conducting some final assembly in the US of parts made overseas, Cook declared in October that Apple is manufacturing, rather than just putting together, the new Mac Pro's metal parts in the US.

Cook said that the company's difference is that it's taking a bottoms-up approach. They don't just want to assemble the Apple Mac Pro in the US but to make the whole machine there. He also said that Apple's partners are now using production processes and industrial molds that were developed in the US.

Chromecast is active (Photo credit: Steven Combs)

Mobile Chromecast Mirroring On The Way?

One of the best features of Google's Chromecast device is the fact that it allows mirroring from computers. In an increasingly mobile world, though, it has become incredibly frustrating to note that Google has not yet opened up the same type of functionality to most smart phones. This unfortunate choice has led Chromecast to cede most of its potential market share to the better-known and better-placed Apple TV, though changes may be coming soon. In fact, some of the code in the Android 4.4.1 update suggests that Google may soon offer support for Chromecast mirroring in all Android devices - a potentially huge move for the search engine giant.

Microsoft Office 2007 Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ultimate Steal Microsoft Office Versus Office 365

Microsoft offered its "Ultimate Steal" for Office 2007/2010. Back then, customers who purchased the bundle with Office 2007 would receive the 2010 version for free upon release. Thousands of Microsoft Office users took advantage of this deal. For now, no such deal exists for Office 2013, but a similar alternative is available.

@adabot on @snapchat (Photo credit: adafruit)

Snapchat Refuses Multi-billion Offers

Facebook has tried and failed to claim the popular messaging app Snapchat. Last year, Facebook offered the company $1 billion dollars, but the company refused their offer.   Recently, Mark Zuckerberg offered Snapchat $3 billion dollars cash. The CEO of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, has released a statement saying they are not considering selling the company at this time. He also said he would be willing to talk about a sale in 2014.

English: A Netflix envelope picture taken by BlueMint. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Netflix And YouTube Account For 50% Of All Video Streaming

Netflix and YouTube have been revealed to be responsible for about half of all video streaming, solidifying the place of the video sharing site and online streaming service as the major movers of new media. While both platforms have certainly benefited from the explosion of mobile devices and game consoles over the last few years, it seems that the early attitudes of both companies towards online streaming have made the most difference. Both companies embraced the web early on, allowing Netflix and YouTube to profit today.

Netflix.com rocks! (Photo credit: luxuryluke)

Netflix 4k TV Trial Underway

Netflix has begun its 4k TV trial streaming in preparation to offering ultra-high definition content to its expanding customer base in early 2014. Subscribers in the United States who have already purchased a 4k UHDTV can now watch an 8 minute film of test footage scenes in six different resolutions, up to the incredibly high definition provided by 59.94 frames per second. Although optimized for UHDTV, any US subscriber can view the clip at lower resolution.