Apple may have courage, but that doesn’t mean it will tackle original programming on a Netflix-like scale. Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, said the original shows Apple is developing today are going to stay limited. “You’re not seeing a huge number of them,” he said. “The real opportunity for …

Apple went “Blonde.” Tidal served “Lemonade.” And now Amazon has entered “The Chase.” Amazon Music Unlimited, a subscription music service launched last week by the e-commerce giant, is the first of its kind to stream music by Garth Brooks, one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. Exclusives like the one announced Wednesday with Brooks are a core strategy …

Vudu is picking up where Hulu left off, sort of. Vudu, Walmart’s online store for buying and renting digital movies, launched on Tuesday a limited selection that viewers can stream free with advertising, no payment necessary. Called “Vudu Movies on Us,” it has about a thousand titles from Vudu’s total library of 100,000. Vudu will play several 30-second commercials before …

People aren’t freaking out about Netflix’s price hike anymore. The streaming video service on Monday reported skyrocketing profit and membership numbers that brushed away worries its subscriber growth, almost always the main way people take Netflix’s pulse, might go off a cliff. The company’s shares soared 19 percent in after-hours trading. The funny thing is its subscriber growth doesn’t appear …

Shazam is introducing music-video channels to its song-identification app, its latest bolt-on feature aimed at keeping people inside its app longer. The channels stream curated videos, in partnership with a company called Vadio, which powers music-video players for media and tech companies. Early in the app economy almost a decade ago, Shazam emerged as a breakthrough concept that capitalized on …

Now playing: Watch this: Amazon expands into subscription music…and meat? 1:55 Amazon wants to bring music home again. The e-commerce giant on Wednesday launched a new subscription streaming music service, Amazon Music Unlimited, with three levels to pay. Like Spotify, Apple Music and virtually every other option out there, Amazon Music Unlimited charges consumers $10 a month for an ad-free, …

Don’t start sweating yet, cinema chains. Netflix doesn’t need to destroy you, for now. Speaking at the New Yorker Tech Fest, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings saved his harshest words of the day for the theater industry, calling its business model a “tragedy” and saying “movie theaters are strangling the movie business.” Film studios risk revolt by theater chains that would …

Netflix will screen 10 of its original films at physical theaters the same day it releases them online, through a deal with iPic, a 15-screen upscale cinema chain. Netflix on Wednesday confirmed the pact, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Showing its movies in so few theaters is financially meaningless for Netflix. The overwhelming majority of its …

Now playing: Watch this: Google gives the Chromecast an Ultra upgrade 1:48 Google unveiled a $69 updated version of its Chromecast media-streaming device, which will stream video in 4K and HDR picture quality. 4K is a measurement of video resolution. It multiplies the number of pixels compared with traditional “high-definition” images, but often CNET reviewers fail to notice much difference …

It may start getting clearer when a YouTube video was paid for by an advertiser, but only if the creators feels like sharing. On Tuesday, YouTube said it added an optional feature that puts visible text on the first few seconds of a video. The text reads “Includes paid promotion” in the lower left corner. Creators on YouTube who build …