Netflix really can help you learn that language you’ve always wanted to learn
Languages are the gateway to the world. When you learn a language, you unlock a path to the heart of the society and culture that helped create it. This is a two-way street, however, as consuming culture from another society is a great way to learn the language. Need proof?
Poorer countries show movies and TV shows produced in English with their original soundtrack and native language subtitles. Richer countries create a brand-new soundtrack in their native language and then dub it on top of the English language soundtrack. You’ll hear English more often in poorer countries than in wealthier countries where they can afford the re-dub.
One way to learn a language is through passive consumption: watching movies in their native language and reading the subtitles. But you can learn faster with the Learning Languages with Netflix (LLN) Chrome extension. It uses the foreign language soundtrack of Netflix’s movies and shows to expose you to the language you’re trying to learn, and it uses the subtitle track to teach you the meanings of those words.
The LLN extension has a catalog of all the Netflix titles that come with high-quality subtitles in the language you’re learning, and also tells you about a few issues you should consider. For example, Netflix has high-quality subtitles for the original audio track, but whenever the soundtrack has been dubbed the subtitles might not always match.
The extension works by giving you the option to select your translation target language and then select a vocabulary level based around the number of words you know in that language. This will then only highlight the words suitable for your current level of learning. This allows you to tier your learning, no matter how complicated the language in the movie or show you’re watching.
When activated, the LLN extension will show as a small icon in the Netflix control bar whenever a movie or show is playing. Then all you have to do is select the subtitle track for your target language in the normal way and hit the LLN icon. This will open up the subtitle track, which will run almost like a karaoke song with the word being spoken in the soundtrack lighting up as you hear it. This makes it very easy to match the sound of the word to the spelling.
You can use this method with subtitles showing your own language to expand your vocabulary or with subtitles in your target language to reinforce your learning. This reinforcement makes it easier to remember.
As well as highlighting the words being spoken, the extension also offers a dictionary, so you can delve further into the meanings of the words you’re reading and hearing.
Another cool feature of the extension is keyboard shortcuts that make it easier to focus on particular words, phrases, and structures. This makes repeating phrases, skipping subtitles, and pausing on particular phrases as simple as pressing a key.
All in all, the LLN extension is a very interesting tool for anybody learning a new language. It gives you ease of control over the language you’re consuming when you watch shows and movies on Netflix. It also makes it easier to distinguish between different words being spoken in your target language, which is particularly useful for anybody just starting out with their language learning. Finally, it puts at hand in-depth explanations about the new vocabulary you’re consuming.
When it comes to language learning, practice is as important, if not more important, than the lessons themselves. The LLN extension makes it easy to practice your target language while watching Netflix, which should make a big difference for anybody trying to open that gateway to the world.
NASA is giving away some of the most stunning photos of earth ever taken
The earth is such a beautiful and unique place. It can be easy to forget just how special it is. Earth’s natural beauty needs to be seen to be truly understood. But if your situation prevents you from seeing as much as you’d like in person, NASA has something special for you.
To celebrate Earth’s majesty, NASA has released a hardcover book filled with 69 of the best images of earth NASA has ever taken. There aren’t many people who will have seen the world like this. The book retails for $53 and will cost even more if you’re outside the U.S., but the good news is that NASA is giving away an electronic version of the book for free. These images will make some of the best desktop backgrounds we’ve ever seen.
NASA is giving away some of the most stunning photos of earth ever taken
For decades, @NASA has used data from Earth-observing satellites ? to better understand our planet. Satellite imagery in our new book, Earth, shows the story of a 4.5-billion-year-old planet ? where there is always something new to see. https://t.co/uSC7no5BZppic.twitter.com/PzFqwnEGam
The online version of NASA’s book is split into four categories. These categories are atmosphere, water, land, and ice and snow. Each will show you stunning images that tell earth’s 4.5 billion-year-old story and give you an insight into how NASA uses these types of images to learn how the earth has developed over that time.
All the images come with a short description explaining what they’re showing and also include a link to the full story of the image, which will give a much more in-depth explanation of what is going on and how NASA captured the image. If you’re looking for new desktop or mobile wallpapers, this is also where you’ll find links to the full high-resolution versions of the images. These large files will give you the opportunity to zoom in and look at the earth in much greater detail.
Michael Carlowicz who works at NASA’s Earth Observatory had this to say in the book’s foreword, “NASA has a unique vantage point for observing the beauty and wonder of Earth and for making sense of it. Looking back from space, astronaut Edgar Mitchell once called Earth ‘a sparkling blue and white jewel,’ and it does dazzle the eye. The planet’s palette of colors and textures and shapes — far more than just blues and whites — are spread across the pages of this book.”
NASA’s heartbreaking final words to the Mars rover Opportunity
The book is designed to show just how beautiful the earth is as it is… “no matter what the human mind can imagine, no matter what the artist can conceive, there are few things more fantastic and inspiring than the world as it already is.” Check out the free ebook now and you’ll see that it does just that.
If you like these types of images, you should check out this extension for Google Chrome. It will show you a new satellite image from around the world every time you open a new tab.
IMDB offers free streaming movies. What’s the catch?
Looking for another option for free movies and TV shows? IMDB Freedive is here to scratch that itch, provided you’re willing to watch a few ads.
Guide to IMDB Freedive
How do I watch IMDB Freedive?
You can watch on your computer or any Amazon Fire TV device. Click here to access IMDB Freedive. You can also find the content by browsing the Amazon Prime Video app on an Android-enabled TV. Just keep scrolling down until you see the Freedive section.
What’s up with the ads?
The number and frequency of ads appear to vary, depending on what you’re watching. “The Last Samurai” has 14 commercial breaks. “Battlefield Earth” has five. You can’t skip or fast-forward the ads. You also can’t buy your way out of the ads; Freedive suggests buying movies through Amazon Prime if you want an ad-free experience.
On the plus side, the ad breaks are only 15-65 seconds and there’s a countdown so you know how long you’re stuck. Like many free streaming options, however, the ad breaks appear to be dropped totally at random. That can be jarring.
There are some gems, but not many at the time of publication. Right now, there are just 15 films from the IMDB Top 1000:
Big Fish
True Romance
Drive
Memento
Midnight in Paris
The Last Samurai
The Illusionist
Adaptation
Donnie Brasco
Awakenings
Stranger Than Fiction
Run Lola Run
Tangerines
Drunken Master
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
There are a few other quality films in the mix:
The Natural
The Fisher King
The Mask of Zorro
Legends of the Fall
Pollock
Blue Jasmine
Closer
Foxcatcher
Junebug
Roxanne
Multiplicity
And if you love bad or cheesy movies, they have some holy grails, including “Miami Connection,” “Anaconda,” and the aforementioned “Battlefield Earth.” You could also watch “The Net” and see how badly it holds up. Or watch all three movies in the “Look Who’s Talking” trilogy.
As with most streaming services, we expect the selection will rotate, but it’s a decent start.
Can you watch Freedive anywhere?
Right now, it’s only available in the United States and U.S. territories. That’s nothing a VPN can’t fix, however.
Here’s one area where IMDB Freedive surpasses every other streaming system: its search function.
When you’re on Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Now, or its streaming cousins, you’re often stuck scrolling endlessly, hoping that the algorithm can pull an appealing title from the library.
With Freedive, you can cross-reference your search with IMDB’s data. So you can find free movies that have won Academy Awards (Freedive has nine Oscar-winners at the moment). Or find movies that filmed in Chicago (Freedive offers 13). Or get even more specific by choosing 20th Century Fox movies with Dolby Digital sound (Freedive has three.)
The ability to slice and dice your search according to your specific criteria is a feature no other streaming service can match.
It’s a mixed bag, but you may find something that appeals to you. “Heroes,” “Dallas,” “Quantum Leap,” “Fringe,” “Kitchen Nightmares,” and “Gilligan’s Island” are available. You can also watch “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.” So it’s mostly “comfort food” TV.
Conclusion
Much like other free streaming options, the selection of films you actually want to watch is pretty small. Beyond that, IMDB Freedive is a weird junk drawer full of random content. But if you were to cobble together Freedive with Hoopla, Pluto, and some others, you’d have a respectable mix of free movie options.
Keep your eyes peeled to see if Freedive can set itself apart from the free streaming competition. The incredible search function alone is reason to give it a shot.
Here’s what you need to know about digitizing your movie collection.
Ripping DVDs to your computer or an external hard drive comes with a clear set of benefits.
You’ll have a backup in case the physical discs become scratched, easy, centralized access to your favorite flicks, the list goes on.
Plus, dealing with discs these days is a pain. They take up space, they skip, and we’ll go out on a limb here — they’re not exactly a beautiful object that adds value in the way that records or hard copies of books do.
But, the legalities of digitizing your collection can be a bit murky. Try googling the title of this article, and you’ll see exactly what we mean.
While you’re most likely going to be fine ripping DVDs here and there, there are some key things you should know about the law.
Ripping copy-protected DVDs is illegal… technically
Laws are kind of all over the place when it comes to ripping DVDs for personal use. See, it’s perfectly legal to rip DVDs that are not copies of copyrighted work. Butchances are, most of the movies you’re planning on digitizing have several layers of copyright protections.
In the U.S., it is still illegal to rip DVDs of copyrighted work for personal use, though there are several groups working to change this law.
Title 17 of the U.S. State Code explicitly states that it is illegal to reproduce a copyrighted work. So, just about anything that comes with a label indicating copyright, which includes basically any movie you can think of.
Most DVDs and Blu-Rays come with encryption attached and breaking that encryption is illegal. If you happen to come across an unencrypted DVD, ripping it for personal use is A-OK.
Where it gets confusing is, CDs have laxer rules regarding ripping for personal use. You can, for example, easily upload your old discs to iTunes and digitize your library with minimal effort — and zero legal repercussions.
Title 17 states that making a copy of an original work without the creator’s consent, is considered copyright infringement. The law doesn’t make any exceptions for personal use — or creating digital backups.
But, it also doesn’t say that you can’t copy the content on your own devices. Confusing, right?
The bottom line here is, you’re likely not going to be fined or jailed for ripping your DVDs for personal use.
The thing about ripping DVDs is, you’re probably not going to get caught.
Government agencies have too much on their plate to care that you’ve digitized your director’s cut “Lord of the Rings” DVDs.
The issue really comes into play if you start redistributing content. So long as your goal isn’t setting up a bootleg DVD stand outside or adding your full movie library to a download site like BitTorrent, you should be in the clear.
Ripping DVDs to an Apple device presents a problem. In the case of Apple, which is a U.S. company, they need to maintain relationships with movie studios. Unfortunately, that means you can’t copy DVDs to your iTunes account like you can with your CDs.
Again, while it’s technically illegal to rip DVDs for personal use, people rarely face consequences. We want to remind you to stay on the right side of the law. Watch this radical PSA for a refresher:
To rip DVDs for your personal use, you’ll want to make sure you use a reputable third-party software. You’ll need an intermediary program to successfully digitize your DVDs. There are several DVD ripping programs out there, but many of them come equipped with spyware and tracking that can put you and your devices at risk.
Free software is often unregulated, though there are some decent options available, usually in the form of a free version of a paid software.
Planning on having an Oscars Party? If so, it’s worth having a competition to see which of you can guess the most Oscar winners. According to online betting site Bovada, these are the current odds for the major categories. The lower the number, the more likely it is that nominee will win. We’ve also assembled a master list of where to watch movies online, so be sure to hold your movie marathon before the Academy Awards on February 24!
“Roma” is the current frontrunner, but will the Academy give a statue to a Netflix movie? “Green Book” is facing controversy over its blurred retelling of history. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is facing headwinds because of a scandal involving its director, Bryan Singer. While “Roma” may be a lock for Best Foreign Film, we think “A Star Is Born” could slip through for the win. Although its director (Bradley Cooper) wasn’t nominated, this year could mirror the 2013 Oscars when “Argo” won Best Picture, even though its director (Ben Affleck) wasn’t nominated.
Also, remember that actors make up the biggest share of the voters and “A Star Is Born” features nominees in three of the four acting categories. Only “Vice” can match that and it has two actors who already have Oscars, so the Academy will likely overlook them.
Cuarón is the frontrunner here. The possible drag against him is his previous Oscar in 2013 for “Gravity.” The Academy gets stingy with second statuettes. If you’re looking for an upset, put your money on Spike Lee. The Academy sometimes hands out Oscars as “lifetime achievement awards,” and we’d love to hear his acceptance speech.
Speaking of “lifetime achievement awards,” this is Glenn Close’s seventh nomination and she’s the odds-on favorite. Lady Gaga could provide the upset, but voters are likely to want her to “pay her dues.” Gaga will pick up an Oscar elsewhere in the telecast (stay tuned).
Rami Malek’s transformation into Freddie Mercury will likely land him the prize. If you’re looking for an upset, everyone loves Viggo Mortensen. A win for him could give “Green Book” a little love without necessarily honoring the film as a whole.
As we said, the Academy can be stingy with a second statue, so Ali’s 2017 win for “Moonlight” could rain on his parade here. Richard E. Grant plays the kind of broken down character the Academy loves. But if you’re looking for an upset, Sam Elliott could snag a win as tribute for his long career. This category is often set up to reward the kindly old guy that everyone in Hollywood loves, but the actual Oscar rarely goes that way. Elliott could be the exception.
Regina King leads the way here, and we don’t see much of a threat to her. Amy Adams is beloved and Oscarless, but “Vice” didn’t give her much to do. Be aware that this category frequently throws the biggest curveball of the night.
Best Original Screenplay
The Favourite (Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara) -200
First Reformed (Paul Schrader) +1400
Green Book (Nick Vallelonga & Brian Hayes Currie & Peter Farrelly) +200
“Green Book” probably had this on lockdown until its scandal flared up. “Vice” had its moments, but it’s not particularly noteworthy. “Roma” felt like it had 12 lines of dialogue. So maybe “The Favourite” really is the favorite.
Best Adapted Screenplay
A Star Is Born (Eric Roth, Will Fetters & Bradley Cooper) +2000
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen) +5000
BlacKkKlansman (Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee) -250
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) +600
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty) +275
This category feels fairly wide open. Perhaps it’s Spike Lee’s time to shine – he and his co-writers are the favorites for “BlacKkKlansman.”
“Vice” is deservedly the frontrunner here. Christian Bale deserves a ton of credit for the weight gain, but there were moments in that film when we could swear we were looking at news footage from 15 years ago.
This category usually goes to the movie with ye olde wardrobe, so “The Favourite” makes sense here. All of these movies had fantastic costumes, though. Perhaps an opening for “Black Panther” to snag a statue.
“If Beale Street Could Talk” is the favorite here, but there’s a chance voters will go with “Black Panther” and its cacophony of drums.
Best Documentary Feature
Free Solo -200
Hale County This Morning, This Evening +4000
Minding the Gap +1500
Of Fathers and Sons +5000
RBG +130
“Free Solo” will likely win by virtue of the difficulty of filming a man climbing El Capitan without ropes, harnesses, or other safety equipment. “RBG” could sneak in, just as a way for people to let Ruth Bader Ginsburg know they love her.
Best Animated Feature
Incredibles 2 +900
Isle of Dogs +900
Mirai +4000
Ralph Breaks the Internet +2500
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse -1500
We’ve rarely heard praise heaped on an animated film the way it’s been doled out to “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” This seems like the likely winner and the odds agree.
Two musicals lead the pack here, but if you want to take a flyer, consider “First Man” since the space shuttle stuff is Oscar bait and Damien Chazelle’s movies are often an auditory joyride. Check out the unexpected sounds they incorporated to the shuttle launch.
As mentioned above, “First Man” and its space shuttle sequences probably give it the edge here. “A Quiet Place” could play spoiler, since sound is so integral to the plot.
Will voters choose the old-timey look of “The Favourite” or the futuristic visions of “Black Panther”? It’s possible that Wakanda feels too computer-generated to earn the Oscar here.
“Infinity War” had a ton of visual effects and a believable animated villain in Thanos. The question is whether voters will honor a comic book movie over something realistic like “First Man,” which somehow feels more “Oscar-worthy.”
“Vice” may deserve it for the audacity of its mid-movie credits sequence alone. The film covers a sprawling time frame, and the editing helps propel it along. That said, “Bohemian Rhapsody” could slip through since the big concert scenes provide the music video jolt that many voters may respond to.
And in case you’re wondering, Bovada puts “Gotti” as the favorite to win Worst Picture at the annual Razzie Awards. “Holmes and Watson” is a close second.
The Netflix Extended Chrome extension adds keyboard shortcuts and removes intros and recaps
If you ask me, the greatest invention of the new millennium has to be the “Skip Intro” button on Netflix. Don’t get me wrong, it is not like I hate watching the intro to the shows I love, it is just that when I’m binging through a series, I don’t want to have to watch the intro again and again in between episodes. The same goes for recaps. They’re useful if you watched the last episode more than a few days ago but if the last episode just finished, I don’t need a recap. I know I’m not alone in this frustration.
OK, so there are skip buttons for these, but having to press them can be annoying, especially if you don’t have a wireless mouse setup. Thankfully, it is now possible to set Skip Intro and Skip Recap to default so that it happens automatically every time you watch a show. You won’t need to get up and tap a button, you’ll be able to stay right where you are and the next episode will begin, intro and recap free. This is the best Netflix Chrome web browser extension.
The Netflix Extended Chrome extension adds keyboard shortcuts and removes intros and recaps
Netflix Extended is a very easy to use Google Chrome extension that will enhance your Netflix experience. Once you’ve added the Extension to Chrome, you’ll notice a green Netflix style “N” next to the other browser extension logos in the top right of Chrome. Whenever you click this N, Netflix will open.
Once the extension is activated and Netflix is open, you’ll see a green dot in the control bar at the bottom of the screen whenever you’re playing a movie or show. Hovering the cursor over the green dot will tell you whether the extension is working properly.
When you first activate Netflix Extended, it will already be set to automatically skip intros and recaps. If you’re not happy with the default settings, however, and you want to change them up, you need to right-click on the green N icon. From there click on the Options button to open the Netflix Extended settings menu.
As well as the Skip intros and Skip recaps options, you’ll also be able to set Netflix to automatically mute the trailers it shows at the top of the screen on startup. Another key feature is the ability to block the next episode from starting automatically if you think you might be binging a little too much.
Netflix Extended also has a number of keyboard shortcuts, which you can tailor to your needs via the Options menu. Clicking on the Key bindings tab will open up the shortcut defaults and give you the option to change which keys will do things like play the next episode or exit Netflix altogether.
If you’re a big Netflix fan like me, I recommend checking out Netflix Extended now.
Users have been reporting on social media that they’ve spotted a new block artist feature on their Spotify apps.
Music is a truly polarizing force. We love some artists and we hate others. Two true emotional extremes brought on by different arrangements of rhythms and beats. When it comes to loving music, nobody helps more of us find the music we love than Spotify, which has more monthly subscribers than any other music streaming service. For hating music, however, Spotify has always taken the position that it can’t be that bad.
Back in 2017, Spotify publicly stated “after serious consideration” that it wasn’t going to start allowing us to block the artists we don’t want to hear. If we’re is listening to Discover or a public playlist and a song from that artist we just can’t stand is coming up, we just have to hit skip once it comes on. Spotify decided against offering a way of automatically filtering out those artists we hate. This has now changed.
Users have been reporting on social media that they’ve spotted a new block artist feature on their Spotify apps. According to a report by Thurrott, this roll-out has only reached members of the Spotify beta program on iOS, which means the streaming giant is still testing the feature. The same report goes on to say that, although Spotify’s official position is still that you can’t block artists, it has been testing this exact feature for months with a select group of users. The reason more people are reporting the feature now is that the test has recently been extended to a larger group.
To block an artist on Spotify you need to click the … icon on their profile page. This will take you to the settings menu for the artist. From here you’ll see the new option Don’t play this artist. Tapping this option will stop Spotify from playing music by that artist in the future. The feature will even prevent you from manually selecting music by blocked artists.
Seek out the artists you don’t like and look for the three dots.
If you want to play music by an artist you’ve previously blocked, you’ll first have to unblock them. The only way you’ll be able to hear music by a blocked artist is if they feature on a track by another artist. Spotify’s new block artist feature won’t block tracks the artist has featured on if they’re not the primary artist.
This is the feature all you haters out there have been waiting for. I’ve been waiting for it, too. For me, it is inane pop music and generic EDM that’ll be going straight into my Don’t playlist. On top of the music I can’t stand I’ll also likely use the new feature to block artists like R. Kelly and Chris Brown. There is still no official word about when the feature will roll-out to all of us, but it looks like iOS users, at least, will get it soon. When the block artist feature comes to your phone, PC, or Mac who will you be blocking first?
How to add what you’re watching on Netflix to your Instagram Stories.
If you’re a big Instagram user, you might have noticed over the last couple of days that some of your friends’ Instagram Stories have included something new. In the last couple of days Netflix has added a new feature for iOS users, which makes it easy to share what you’re watching via Instagram Stories.
As well as adding the new Share feature, Netflix has even started rolling out dedicated artwork for some of its best shows and movies. Furthermore, the Netflix update also allows for plenty of customizations to add on top of the Netflix artwork including standard Instagram Stories features like stickers and polls.
How to add what you’re watching on Netflix to your Instagram Stories
To share what you’re watching on Netflix via Instagram click on what you’re going to watch. Then, before you hit the play or resume button you want to hit the share button next to the like icon. This will open up the sharing options Netflix offers, which includes Messages, Messenger, Copy Link, and now Instagram Stories.
Hitting Instagram Stories will take you over to the Instagram app and line you up with a new story, complete with artwork for the Netflix show or movie you want to share. You can then add all the extras you like, just like you would with a regular Instagram Story. The other cool thing is that all of your Netflix themed Instagram Stories will link back to the show’s page on Netflix, making it easier than ever for your friends to get caught up on what you’re watching. This will, of course, also give Netflix a bit of a traffic boost, which is likely one of the main reasons for the change.
This latest tweak to Instagram’s sharing feature comes on the back of the largest price hike in Netflix’s history. Most subscribers will see their monthly Netflix bill jump $2, although those subscribers on Netflix’s bottom tier will only have to pay an extra $1 a month. The Instagram Stories sharing feature should take the focus off the price and square it solely on the content.
This is, of course, the conversation Netflix wants us to be having as it moves forward into 2019. The recent price hike, which will come into effect for current subscribers over the next three months, will go some way to pay for the supposed $19 billion Netflix has set aside for new content this year. As that new content starts to bolster Netflix’s roster, it makes sense for the company to be giving us as many opportunities as possible to talk about it in as engaging a manner as possible. That is, as long as it new content is good content.
If you were to say that there is one video sharing site that dominates the web, you would have to say it was YouTube. There are other options out there. Instagram recently jumped in the mix with its roll-out of IGTV and the early results show it can be a serious contender in the battle against YouTube’s dominance. So it’s no big surprise to see YouTube adopting features first seen on Instagram.
Instagram and Snapchat have made swiping the popular feature it is today. It allows users to simply swipe their fingers across a video that is playing to move onto the next one. It appears that YouTube is testing its own version of the feature, which should appear on iOS soon.
According to a report by Android Police, the test was first flagged by a Pixel owner who noticed the new swiping function. Rather than being overly complicated, the test simply added the swiping function to the regular YouTube interface. Each swipe forward takes you to a new recommended video and then swiping backwards takes you back to where you left off on the video you were watching first. You can check out a demonstration of the new feature in the video below:
Swiping between videos makes it much easier to choose a new video than having to select one from a list below the video player. It means that there is always a full-screen video playing and resembles the TV-like experience of switching between channels. The advantage to swiping between videos online, however, is that the videos will always start at the beginning.
Swipes make it much easier to binge watch all of the videos YouTube thinks you will want to watch the most. With a massive 70% of all videos watched on YouTube being viewed on mobile devices, this update could see a lot of us watching a lot more videos on YouTube using our phones. If it does, maybe it could be seen as justice if Facebook sees fewer people using Instagram due to YouTube copying one of its best features.
If this sounds like the kind of feature you could be interested in, you’ll be happy to know that it won’t be long until the feature hits your phone. The test was first spotted back in August and The Next Web writes that the feature is ready for a wider release. It will be coming to iOS as nearly as next week. Unfortunately, there is no news at the moment about when it will come to Android.
It isn’t overstating things to say that Netflix has completely revolutionized how we consume TV shows and movies. The online subscription model, which gives access to a vast repository of great shows and movies has enjoyed so much success, it has sparked its own cultural phenomena (“Netflix and Chill,” anyone?) and sparked a wide variety of competitors to also offer their media via the internet. You could even say that the influence has spread to other industries with Amazon looking to start a Netflix for video games sometime next year.
As with all other companies, however, the good times can’t last forever and yes, this time, the bad news is true. Netflix has increased prices for its subscriptions, which means it will now cost more to access all of the streaming giant’s TV shows and movies. The news came out of Netflix HQ on Tuesday that all streaming plans will be going up in price. New customers will be faced with the new prices immediately and existing customers will see their bills go up over the next three months.
The new Netflix prices explained
If you are a Netflix subscriber in the U.S., you might want to know how much this is going to cost you. Well, that all depends on what type of Netflix subscription you have. The bad news is that Netflix’s most popular plan has seen the biggest increase. The plan which offers users high-definition streaming on up to two different devices at the same time has seen its price jump from $11 a month to $13. The cheapest Netflix plan has gone up from $8 a month to $9 and the Netflix ultra-high-definition plan now costs $16 a month, up from $14.
There is good news, however, for global Netflix subscribers. Speaking to Digital Spy, Netflix confirmed that “price increases are specific to each country.” This means the U.S. price hikes will not be repeated all around the world. It isn’t all good news, however, as the price increases will affect you if you normally pay in dollars, unless you are a part of key markets like Mexico and Brazil.
Netflix has been investing heavily in new content recently. The streaming giant spent an estimated $3 billion on original content last year and it is believed the company will spend the same amount next year. This is all to be expected though, as the online streaming market becomes increasingly competitive. Alongside the established big players like Amazon Prime and HBO, Disney has recently entered the fray with its new streaming service. This knocked a double blow to Netflix, which saw a number of its most popular titles stripped from its roster just as a powerful competitor began to take it on.
The increased prices may cause a few to turn off, but if the added revenue is put into new content then hopefully, the extra couple of dollars a month will be worth it.
