Aziz Ansari, the popular stand-up comedian, begin to offer his stand-up special Dangerously Delicious on his website with no DRM. Consumers can stream or download the show from his site with only 5 dollars. Aziz is following the footsteps of Louis C.K., who released his DRM-free stand-up show that cost for 5 dollars and this DRM-free experiment has been proved to be a great success (See more at: http://blog.aimersoft.com/louis-ckdrm-free-experiment-pays-off/)

In the past, content providers always think that without DRM protection, the content can be easily pirated, which will reduce the benefit. However, after Louis C.K.’s great success, more and more people realize that consumers are willing to buy products sold at a reasonable price even if they can be easily copied and transferred. Most consumers are honest, huh?

Why the price is appealing? As we know, when a special is released on video-on-demand or DVD, it generally costs about $20. Of course, most of that money goes to the content distributor instead of the comedian. However, most consumers don’t want to buy a special for more than $15 when they can get it for only $5. That’s a main reason why the DRM-free experiment achieved a great success.

Will more and more comedians continue to find success operating independently? Now it seems they will. And let’s look forward to a cheaper and DRM-free product any day.

Netflix has just launched its “Just for Kids” app for PS3 to make it’s easier for kids and families watch a wide selection of child-friendly movies and TV shows. PS3 is the second game console to have a both a Netflix app and a Netflix for Kids app (the first one is Nintendo Wii) and the Just for Kids app is supposed to hit Xbox 360 later this year. And it’s also available on PC, Mac and Apple TV since last August.

This app shows the power of Netflix and the effort it has been making to attract consumers of all ages. The selected shows and movies are designed for children 12 and under and is subdivided into easy-to-understand character-based genres like superheroes, princesses, dinosaurs, girl power and more. In this way, kids can easily and quickly find the titles they want to watch.

Now titles available in the Netflix section “Just for Kids”  include A Wrinkle In Time, Good Luck Charlie, Calling All Engines, Paddington Bear Film Fair, Curious George, etc. And it’s obvious that this move makes parents free more comfortable letting their children watch TV shows and movies in Netflix’s “Just for Kids” section.

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People always complain about Android device diversity, which is believed to hurt Android. Now the good news is coming: Netflix is accessible on nearly 1000 different Android devices, according to a blog post published on the Netflix Tech Blog.

Yeah, the so-called “Android Fragmentation” is true. According to a report conducted in March, 93.9 percent of the install base was on Android 2.x, among which Gingerbread (v2.3.x) accounts for 62 percent and Froyo (v2.2) for 25.3 percent. The newest V4.X, Ice Cream Sandwich only occupies 1.2 percent. You can imagine how wide the fragmentation is now. Some people argue that the diversity of Android devices gives consumers more choices and also increases the competition among Android OEMs.

Though Netflix claims now it supports about 1000 different Android devices, of course Netflix can’t test for all devices all the time. Amol Kher, engineering manager for Netflix Android, iOS and AppleTV teams, says that Netflix uses a homegrown solution for automating and testing content streaming via its HTML wrapper on various Android devices. And below are his explanations.

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BBC iPlayer offers great TV programmes. However, the iPlayer catch-up service in only available in the UK. That’s why so many people are asking how to watch BBC iPlayer abroad. Here why BBC doesn’t allow people to watch BBC iPlayer abroad and how to watch BBCiPlayer outside UK are introduced.

Part 1. Why BBC iPlayer doesn’t allows people to watch BBC iPlayer abroad

The BBC is paid for by British license payers. Therefore, BBC don’t want those who haven’t paid for a television license, generally, people who live outside UK, to watch BBC iPlayer programmes for free. All the IP addresses outside UK are blocked even if you have a valid British television license. But this also causes a problem: if you are a UK resident and now are travelling in the USA, you won’t be able to watch BBC iPlayer on your journey.

Part 2. How to watch BBC iPlayer abroad for free

In order to watch BBC iPlayer abroad, you need to make the BBC computer detectors believe that your IP address is within the UK. To do this, you need to use a proxy or VPN. There are many companies offering proxy services in the market. You can choose one easily. However, if you don’t want to pay a penny, you can turn to the free proxy service called Expat Shield. There will be a small banner showing at the top of your screen when you using it, which is a little irritating. Anyway, it’s free and it works to make BBC iPlayer accessible outside the UK.

Part 3. Watch downloaded BBC iPlayer anywhere you like

As we know, downloaded BBC iPlayer programmes are protected by DRM and can’t play on popular portable devices like iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc. To play BBC iPlayer programmes anywhere you like, you need to remove DRM from BBC iPlayer downloaded WMV videos and convert them to your preferred video formats. For more details, you can go to remove DRM from BBC iPlayer.

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BBC iPlayer allows you to watch BBC television shows and listen to BBC Radio online for free. And if you are a UK resident, you can also download the save BBC iPlayer programmes so that you can watch them on your computer later. Here you will learn how to download and save BBC iPlayer content to your computer.

Part 1. Download and save BBC iPlayer content

To download BBC iPlayer programmes, first you need to install BBC iPlayer Desktop. Go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/install, click “Install BBC iPlayer Desktop” and follow the wizard to install it. Note that Adobe Air software is needed for running BBC iPlayer Desktop. So if the Adobe Air Installer box pops up, just click “Yes”.

After the installation, you can go to the BBC iPlayer website and select the programme you’d like to download and click the “Download” button to start saving the programme to your computer. When the downloading completes, you can watch them on your computer.

However, once the programme has been saved to your computer, you have only 30 days to watch it and 7 days to finish watching once it played because it’s protected by the DRM license. And the content will be automatically deleted on the expiry date. That’s why many people want to remove DRM from BBC iPlayer and burn BBC iPlayer to DVD for long time preservation.

Part 2. Remove BBC iPlayer DRM and burn BBC iPlayer to DVD

Aimersoft provides its DRM Media Converter for you to strip DRM protection from BBC iPlayer downloaded programmes and Aimersoft Video Converter Ultimate will help you burn downloaded protected BBC iPlayer programmed to DVD disc for playing on your home DVD player or TV.

For more detailed information, please visit:

How to Remove DRM from BBC iPlayer

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Netflix has separated its online streaming video services and DVD rental services and hike up the monthly cost by up to 60 percent last year. Unhappy with Netflix and want to find out some alternatives to Netflix, where you can get streaming videos and DVD rentals? Look no further! Below are the best Netflix alternatives to watch streaming videos.

For alternatives Netflix DVD service, please turn to Netflix alternatives to rent DVDs >>

1. Hulu Plus

You can get access to various current and classic shows by paying $7.99 a month with Hulu Plus. Besides watching videos on computer, you can also stream videos on your phones, tablets and game consoles, including iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android phones, Xbox 360, PS 3, TiVo, etc. This feature makes it very convenient to watch your favorite shows anywhere. However, to enjoy  the TV shows, you need to watch ads and commercials because this will help to keep the monthly fees down, says the company. If you love watching broadcast network TV shows, Hulu Plus is the best alternative to Netflix streaming.

Tips: You can download and burn Hulu videos to DVD for watching on your home DVD player and TV. Learn how to burn Hulu movie to DVD >>

 2. Amazon Prime Instant Videos

You can get access to over 5,000 instant movie and TV titles at no additional cost with the $79/year Amazon Prime membership. All paid members can enjoy a free two-day shipping and discounted one-day shipping on their purchases. Amazon Prime Instant Videos can be viewed on computer, TV, or intermediary device like Roku, TiVo, Google TV, etc. For the prices, Amazon Prime Instant Video is $17 less a year than Netflix’s instant-streaming service. However, Netflix offers about 20,000 titles while Amazon Prime has only about 6,000 titles. It’s said Amazon Prime Instant Videos will offer more than 12,000 titles by the end of this year. If you are a heavy online shopper, Amazon Prime can be your Netflix streaming alternative for its bonus features.

Tips: If you are an Amazon user and have purchased some protected videos from Amazon, you can have a look at Remove DRM from Amazon Video.

3. CinemaNow

CinemaNow is Best Buy’s online streaming video service. It offers a large selection of movies and TV shows to rent/purchase. And the video files can be watched on computers and some Blu-ray players, HDTVs, home theater systems, etc. It seems this streaming service doesn’t have any obvious advantages over others. However, the price is competitive: rentals start at $2.99 and up to $3.99 per title. No monthly service charge is provided. You can get access to CinemaNow from PC, Mac and some devices.

Tips: Purchased movies from CinemaNow are protected by DRM and can only play on specified players. To watch CinemaNow videos anywhere you like, you can get a DRM Media Converter to remove DRM protection from CinemaNow and convert the video to any popular video format.

4. Vudu

Vudu, a streaming media company, is owned by Wal-Mart. It offers tons of movies and TV shows, including various HD movies. You can stream the videos to your device instantly. Movies can be rent for only $2 for two nights. Most HD movie rentals cost $4.99 and HDX rentals cost $5.99. Note that there is not monthly subscription. One distinct advantage of this service is that the titles are available the same day when the movies are released on DVD. So if you don’t want to wait for some days to watch the newly released movies, Vudu can be the best Netflix streaming alternative. You can stream videos with Vudu on PS3, iPad, Blu-ray players, computer and HDTV.

5. Apple TV

With Apple TV, you can rent TV shows and movies from iTunes store and stream them to your TV set, mobile devices, tablet, phone, etc. straightly. There is a much larger selection of movies and TV shows than its competitors. However, most HD rentals cost $3.99 and $0.99 for a single episode TV show rental. The big advantage is that you can watch it on your TV with a much better experience in a much more comfortable way. The disadvantages are that you need to buy the Apple TV for $99 and need a relatively new television with a nice flatscreen that can hook up to the Apple black box.

Tips: If you own an Apple TV, you can have a look at Rip DVD to Apple TV and Convert Video to Apple TV.

It’s reported that Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox are working together to form the Secure Content Storage Association, an organization that aims to make it easier and faster for consumers to organize, share and store their high-definition digital video content, including movies and TV shows. This endeavor is now called “Project Phenix” and supported by storage vendors SanDisk and Western Digital. Of course, they will use the DRM technologies to protect the HD content from being pirated.

As we know, now many consumers can stream videos from the Internet services like Netflix and Hulu. However, the video quality is much lower than that of a disc. The studios now want to encourage consumers to own their own HD digital copies of movies and television shows on local devices like DVRs, computers, media players, home theater systems, game consoles, tablets, etc. with the so-called “Project Phenix”.

Mike Dunn, President of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, said that the “Project Phenix” is to help users store, play and back up HD content in the cloud for easy management. Meanwhile, it’s much faster for device renders to get the HD content than over-the-top Internet.

It seems it’s quite perfect and will be enjoyed by consumers. However, the question then comes: Do consumers really want it? Well, now DVD and Blu-ray are decreasing and millions of consumers turn to online streaming video services like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc. While some studios introduced UltraViolet, there was no much excitement among consumers. And true movie fans usually want their own content library instead of streaming videos. In addition, many consumers have trouble syncing their phones, for instance, Apple’s iPhone, let alone managing media files. And it’s not clear how many users need to manage the movie content to a couple of different portable devices.

But one thing is very clear: movie studios are looking for new ways to sell their content to consumers and they will try every way that is possible.

Apple’s iBooks have always been protected by Apple’s FairPlay DRM system and can’t run on unauthorized devices. However, now according to a forum post on MobileRead, hacker “Brahms” has cracked iBooks DRM with his Requiem 3.3 software.

According to MobileRead user “pdurrant”, “Brahms” can remove DRM protection from epub books bought from Apple iBooks Store, as he posted:

Requiem is a popular app designed to remove DRM protection from iTunes purchased music and movies. The new version 3.3 adds the ability to remove DRM from iBooks as well (confirmed). This means consumers can ditch iPad for other tablets by converting the digital books into any ebook format instead of being locked to Apple’s ePub platform.

Apple now is already investigating the crack and will surely come up with some ways to prevent the exploit. In fact, Requiem has been targeted by Apple for a long time, including sending a cease-and-desist letter to forums posting information on how to crack music and movies bought from iTunes store with the software.

In 2007, Steve Jobs said that the DRM protection hurt users who downloaded and bought music legally and should been abandoned. There should be a world where any player can play music purchased from any store and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. And in 2009, Apple dropped DRM from music files. However, for some reason, Apple still applies DRM protection on videos, movies, TV shows, books, etc.

Now the FairPlay DRM will continue. But now many existing apps similar to Requiem can crack Apple’s DRM and more will be added. Should Apple push harder for content providers to go DRM-free or update the DRM system more regularly to prevent being cracked? Let me know your thoughts!