TV and movie viewing habits are changing. Cable and satellite companies have targeting, and catering to, consumers with high-definition big screen TVs. Now, it’s time to deal with smaller screens. 41% of mobile device users say they watch videos on their phone, according to Business Insider. That’s up from 20% in 2012. Tablet users are beginning to mirror their home TV watching on their devices.

Services like Netflix and Hulu have already made their way into the mobile market. Consumers want choices. They want to be able to watch their favorite shows at home on their HD TVs as well as on their smartphone or tablet. Giving them this seamless capability is the goal of streaming digital services. The arena is competitive and it is heating up.

You Can Take It With You – Hulu is seeing a growth in subscriptions (and their competition with cable companies) by producing their own programs, IT World online reports. Previously just portals to existing TV and movie content, services such as Hulu, Netflix and Amazon are creating their own unique content.

This blurs the distinction between TV and streaming Internet content. But that goes both ways, as cable providers are branching into mobile themselves. According to Cable-tv, cable and satellite providers are also offering mobile content via smartphone apps.

Briefly reviewed on The Verge, DirecTV Voice is a mobile app being released shortly in beta. This app lets the smartphone or tablet user search the DirecTV database for content, schedule it to be recorded, or start it playing either on the mobile device or big screen. Here, they hope, is the seamless content viewing consumers want. A person could start watching CNN on their HD TV at home and takes it with them on their smartphone to the office.

Where To Start – If a person can get cable TV content on their mobile devices and streaming Internet content on their HD TVs, where does one start? A Business Insider review of Netflix and Amazon Instant Video rate them very close in features. Their streaming content is available on iPads, iPhones, Kindles, Blu-Ray players and Smart TVs.

As the consumer use of mobile devices to watch TV shows and movies grows, cable companies will be pushed to deliver more features to compete. A big hurdle for these companies will be price. At $7.99 a month for Netflix and $79 a year for Amazon Prime, which includes streaming content, cable services will need to come up with more value for their $100 plus monthly charge.

Everyone Can Watch What They Want – Imagine mom and dad, son and daughter at home in the evening, all wanting to watch something different at the same time. If you had an HD TV in the living room, family room and in each of the two kids’ rooms, how much will it cost to watch different programs on each screen with the cable TV provider? When decoder boxes are factored in, it can be a ton of money.

Mobile Magazine reports that Netflix is ready to release a four-stream subscription option for $11.99 a month. Add a $25 cable from eBay for everyone to connect their tablet or smartphone to their HD TVs, and the problem is solved, cheaply. This is one area where the streaming Internet providers have flexibility over the cable TV companies.

Cable TV To Go, Please – If a person doesn’t have cable TV, they can go directly to the source. HBO offers all of their program content on their website, HBO Go. Subscribers log in with their account information and watch what they want. They can even watch it on their favorite mobile device.

What if someone shares their account information with other family members or friends? That doesn’t seem to be a problem, according to a Business Insider report on HBO Go. HBO realizes that it’s tough knowing who is really logged into the their service. But they do know that people are watching their programs. One possibility is that once they’ve reached a point of market saturation, they change their policy and offer online subscriptions to those people who can’t do without their programming.

A War Where the Consumer Wins – The competition to win over the consumer with their mobile viewing habits will result in more apps, more options and features, and probably better pricing. People are watching the various players to see what innovations come out of the battle. This is not an area where revamped features will excite consumers. It will be the new, never-before-tried concepts that will draw in the mobile consumers.

If you are a fan of the Amazon Kindle and the company in general, we have one very exciting rumor for you to enjoy over the weekend. New rumors have resurfaced, claiming that Amazon is definitely preparing to release a smartphone with 3D capabilities. Even more interesting, the 3D is thought to work similar in a way which the glasses-free Nintendo 3DS functions as well.

While these kinds of rumors involving high profile devices are usually taken with a pinch of salt, you’ll want to know that the claims have surfaced from The Wall Street Journal – who are claiming it as a fact. According to their unnamed sources ‘familiar with the matter’, the device is going to be targeted at the high-end market and will even come with some innovative eye-gesture features.

These eye gestures could offer the user the option of navigating through smartphone menus, solely with the eyes and nothing else – amazing if true. While it is perhaps risky to be delving into the 3D space once again, we’re definitely excited to see a big name company give the tech one last shot.

Amazon themselves have refused to comment on the rumors, but don’t be surprised if we see a private event announcement in the coming weeks, as WSJ wouldn’t treat it as fact if they were not confident. While Samsung are concentrating on offering bigger and bigger displays with their ever-popular Galaxy Note range, would it be a bit of an industry shock if we see Amazon come out of nowhere with a glasses-free 3D phone?

If it has a similar price bracket to the Kindle tablet, then consumers will certainly take notice – even those who are yet to buy into the so-called 3D craze. It is early details yet, but give us your initial reaction to this, should it become a reality.

Would you buy a 3D phone from Amazon with eye gestures or not?

When the Kindle Fire HD was first introduced by Amazon there were many skeptics, but sales have proven very positive, and so we expect to see a sequel at some point this year. Now we’re not certain as to what changes there will be, but the new Kindle Fire HD price could be the key factor.

We say this because there is a rumor circulating that the next 7-inch model will be budget friendly, so could be a great alternative to the upcoming iPad mini 2, even though Amazon’s tablet will lack some major features – especially if it is a low-cost version.

If what we are hearing is correct, then the new 7-inch 2013 Kindle Fire HD price could be just $99, but as to the release date we have no idea. As you would expect there is nothing else to go on with this rumor, although it is thought to come with a 1280 x 800 display and use the same TI processor as seen in the current Kindle Fire lineup.

Okay, so we know that the Kindle Fire HD sequel will not be able to compete with the forthcoming iPad mini 2nd-generation, but if you are on a budget then it will be a great alternative for you. Speaking of the new smaller Apple tablet, this will also need to be price conscious because people are not willing to pay more for a newer model, which we discussed a few days ago.

Update: Apple Insider has it on good authority that the rumor of a $99 Kindle Fire HD is inaccurate and that the current pricing is as low as they could possibly go.

It is no secret to Netflix users that there had been some major problems over the Christmas period, and we published details on Netflix going down on Christmas Eve in this article. The outage started on Dec. 24 at 12:24pm PST, which Amazon explained in a recent apology about the problems that affected Netflix’s business.

We received over 200 comments from our readers about the Netflix outage, and these people were using a number of devices to access Netflix. None of these devices worked and each showed different errors that pointed to obvious problems early on, which had been at a time when most people wanted to relax and watch some on-demand entertainment right before Christmas Day.

Amazon has published a detailed account of what went wrong on Dec. 24 here, which delivers a breakdown of different times and what happened at each point. They don’t mention the Netflix problems directly, but do acknowledge other businesses that rely on their Elastic Load Balancing Service for cheap and reliable hosting.

It seems that the real problems started after some data got deleted during a maintenance process, which then resulted in a lot of errors for the technology that’s needed for load balancers to perform optimally. Have a read via the above link, and let us know what you make of this technical account of what went wrong?

Netflix users angry over outage – if you were not happy with the problems on Christmas Eve, then we’d love to know how you feel now after seeing everything explained by Amazon. Do you blame Amazon, Netflix, or neither? It is worth noting we use Netflix a number of hours every week, and have done so for over a year. Our experience with Netflix overall is a happy one, how about you?

As you know Amazon had the Kindle Fire and HD but needed something a little larger in order to compete with the big boys, which is why the online retailer brought out the Kindle Fire HD 8.9. While it will never be able to compete with the likes of the iPad and some of the top spec larger Android tablets, it’s certainly good to have even more choice.

Below we have for you a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 in-depth visual review, which looks over all aspects of the device, but we love how they confuse each other at first until they come to an agreement on what segment this tablet fills. The first thing that people will discuss is to do with the screen resolution, and it’s pointed out that most people will say that it’s not as good as the iPad 4, but most of us won’t even be able to tell the difference.

It seems that every time one of the guy’s talks about a certain Kindle Fire HD 8.9 feature the other guy is there to offer an in-depth analysis, but manages to make it sound so simple that most people will be able to understand. It’s clear that the main reason to have this larger Kindle Fire HD is to view videos and after a long discussion about Amazon Prime they get down to the new size format and how it compares to rival tablets.

The new 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD is a little lighter than the iPad 4 and it’s most defiantly a two-handed tablet. It’s clear to see that it could do with a kickstand of some sort to make it more comfortable when watching movies. Now while some people will not like the larger bezel, the reviewers feel it is a good addition because it’s easier to pick it up and not fear about selecting something you shouldn’t on the touchscreen, like you do with other tablets on the market. For more in-depth details just watch the video review below.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 price has to be one of the biggest reasons why you should consider this tablet because the $299 starting price is considered to be an amazing offer, especially when the iPad mini starts at $329 and the Nook HD at $199 and the HD+ at $269.00, which we recently discussed. However, the biggest rival is the Nexus 7 and that price starts at $199 and is considered to be the better device.

When it comes to choosing an e-reader the only real choice you have is the Barnes & Noble Nook and the Amazon Kindle because they are both similar in what they bring to the table. However, in the build-up to the Holiday Season there could be a shift that might force you to reconsider your choice.

We have recently learned that Barnes & Noble have lowered the Nook price, which means that the Nook vs. Kindle tablet e-reader device contest will now have a different result. However, it’s not always about the price, but it certainly helps, especially when you don’t have as much disposable income as you once had.

The new Nook price is now $79, which saves you $20 from the previous $99 price tag. The current Kindle price is $89 with no signs that Amazon is to retaliate and lower their price. There was a cheaper Kindle model, but that’s currently no longer available. As we mentioned above both e-readers are evenly matched with their 6-inch black and white displays and Wi-Fi connectivity, although most of you should already know this by now. To take advantage of the new Nook price then you can get the e-reader from the Barnes & Noble store, or even Best Buy, Target and Walmart.

If we were looking for an entry-level device to read our e-books on then the Nook from Barnes & Noble would have to be it, but when it comes to moving up the ladder, then some of Kindle’s other models will be more worth it. We already took a look at the Kindle Fire HD earlier today, and while it is no match for the Nexus 7, it can certainly hold its own against the Nook HD and HD+ model. So it seems that Barnes & Noble wins the e-reader round, while Amazon wins out in the budget tablet market – well between the two companies anyway.

There’s certainly mixed feelings between tablet buyers when it comes to the Kindle Fire HD vs. Nexus 7, which some people believe the first device to be a loss leader for Amazon thanks to earlier reports claiming the tablet costs just under the retail price to produce. It is also worth noting that previous teardowns that worked out the cost of the Kindle Fire HD didn’t take into account marketing, and other costs that will only reduce the chances of profit for Amazon.

The Nexus 7 on the other hand is built by ASUS with the help of Google, and it seems that the balance of profit and specs has been met in a better way for both companies. It’s also worth noting that Amazon recently published a loss in Q3, and has been comparing their 7-inch and 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD to the iPad offerings, which Amazon state are better value for money.

Kindle Fire HD the loss leader – both the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD sell for just under $200, but it seems more of a loss for Amazon although they have a plan and it doesn’t seem to include making money from the hardware sales. Amazon want people to have their tablet so they can promote services offered by the brand, and some people understand this and point out they’re “selling these things at a lost“, so money needs to be made from somewhere.

This isn’t the feeling of every potential tablet owner and Kindle Fire HD review, which will see some people talking about the Kindle “experience” and state that while the hardware has improved massively in the latest offering, the experience still feels like a “portal for Amazon“. These people feel the aim of Kindle Fire HD is to sell you games, apps, movies, books, and more. As one user put it, once you part with your $200 “be ready to spend more money“. It is worth pointing out that we’ve heard about this plan being disliked before, but these tablets are still selling so some people certainly like it.

Kindle Fire HD vs. Nexus 7 in visual review – if you want to know how these two tablets compare then one of the best ways to do so would be in a visual review, which we’ve included two of the best video comparisons below this article that deliver two different perspectives. The first video runs for just over 16 minutes and the other review for more than 7 minutes, so take a look to see the Kindle Fire HD vs. Nexus 7 up close and personal.

Do you prefer the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD vs. Nexus 7? We’d love to know the tablet you prefer between these two, and also why you feel the way you do? If you want to see a review of the iPad Mini vs. Nexus 7, then see our article from today that gives you a visual look.

Bottom-line: In our opinion this race is pretty one sided and we’d prefer the Nexus 7 thanks to an unadulterated Android Jelly Bean, although it is fair to say that there will be certain people that want the entertainment focused Kindle Fire HD with more of a closed system. If you want the option to use any store not just Amazon, like the idea of a quad core processor rather than dual core, want quicker updates thanks to pure Android, then it has to be the Google Nexus 7. It is worth stating that you get 16GB of storage on the Kindle Fire HD rather than 8GB on the Nexus 7 for the $200 price.

Samsung hasn’t stopped the marketing push when it comes to their latest televisions, and if you own a Samsung Smart TV then new apps might be something you like to read about, especially if you do much more than watch TV on the big screen. The new Amazon Instant Video app has finally arrived on Samsung Smart TVs and allows users to watch TV shows and movies as long as you are connected to the Internet.

Growing list of video streaming apps on Samsung Smart TV – the Amazon Instant Video app wouldn’t be the first option for users, and you might be using Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, or Blockbuster already. Samsung claims the difference with Amazon Instant Video on their Smart TVs is the redesign, which creates a UI much better for watching from a longer distance.

You’ll find well over 140,000 TV episodes and movies on Amazon Instant Video, which are available to buy or rent depending on how you like to watch from the comfort of a sofa. Samsung note in their press statement that streaming video has become the most popular type of app on Samsung connected TVs, and while there had been a number of options already it is Samsung’s goal of providing the best service on televisions.

You can access the new Amazon app on your 2012 Samsung TV by downloading in the normal way, although we’ve heard a few reactions from technology fans that claim that Samsung “drop support for older Smart TVs“, which in their opinion is a way to make you upgrade to the latest model. Feel free to have your say on the Amazon Instant Video app and Samsung Smart TVs in the comments.

You can see a video demo of Amazon Instant Video on a Roku box below. Another popular app is called Curzon on Demand, and offers cinema releases at home with the same release date as seen in cinemas. You’ll need a 2011/2012 Samsung Smart TV to use this app.

Amazon has revealed its new Kindle Fire HD during a TV commercial and special event within the last week, which showcased the specs that include an impressive 254ppi display that comes with a full high definition resolution, 1920×1200, on a larger 8.9-inch screen. Other Kindle Fire HD features include a variety of Android 4.0, Bluetooth, HDMI, a front HD camera, and the processer is a Texas Instruments OMAP 4470.

The Kindle Fire improvements continue with dual band 4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi, storage up to 64GB, and even a LTE model for those that want to access content when a Wi-Fi network is not available. While this all sounds good and the new Kindle Fire HD is certainly an improvement, there are some features that are not welcomed and a few users find it distasteful to have to pay for their removal.

Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD disliked already – there are a couple of areas that a growing number of consumers are voicing opinions on in a negative way, which includes the special offers Amazon will show unless you pay a fee for them to be removed, yes that’s even after paying for the device in the first place, and also others feel that the Kindle app delivers enough in a virtual way on multiple devices. The problem with the app is that other devices don’t always read as well in the sun, which the Kindle Fire HD shouldn’t have any problems with.

We have toned down some of the reactions to Amazon wanting to charge for the removal of ads on the new Kindle Fire, but in a nutshell a growing number of users feel it’s “ludicrous” when you’re already paying hundreds of dollars. This line of thought event comes from people that don’t like the iPad; although it is worth noting that Amazon aim to keep the price of the Kindle Fire HD lower thanks to placing ads on these devices.

Would you pay a fee to remove ads from the Kindle Fire HD, and how do you feel about paying money for a device that includes ads as well? The comment below is an official response from Amazon in regard to the paying of $15 to opt-out, which is thanks to this source. We’d love to hear your comments in relation to paying to remove ads with Amazon devices.

Once the fee is paid you’ll find that the ads on the home page and lock screen are removed, although a number of our readers have already pointed out that the two best ways to remove ads are to not buy the device in the first place or root the tablet. We’d never recommended rooting, unless you are happy to go down this path, but there are plenty of alternatives to the Kindle Fire HD that don’t include ads after paying good money.

You can see two videos of the new Kindle Fire HD below, which includes a quick hands-on review and also the official Amazon TV commercial. One thing is for sure and that is the new hardware is a massive improvement.

Now some additional details have arrived and they come from the Wall Street Journal, who back up Bloomberg’s initial report with some even more juicy gossip. It looks like the Amazon phone is indeed a reality, but now we’re hearing that the target for Amazon may not be to compete with the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3, but perhaps Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 2 phablet instead.

The WSJ and their infamous unnamed sources have said that Amazon is already testing their smartphone with suppliers over in Asia but more exciting, the device is meant to be 4-5 inches in size. That would automatically put it in the realms of a phablet device along side the Galaxy Note which currently measures in at 5.3-inches.

Considering how well their 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet has performed, perhaps Amazon sees a smaller version of that but with call making abilties an ideal way to eat into the smartphone market share. There’s no doubt that a bit of phablet competition with the Note and soon to be Note 2 would be of great interest to consumers, but the key aspect will be price and just how much Amazon are prepared to charge, knowing that their Kindle Fire is already great value at $199.

Then again, maybe we’re reading too much into this. Amazon may just opt for a standard 4-inch size alongside the crop of Android devices, but we would definitely prefer an alternative to the Galaxy Note 2. Samsung seems to have create something of a niche product with the Note and at the moment there doesn’t appear to be any top competition.

Imagine an Amazon phablet with similar functionality to the Note 2, but maintaining that $199 price. Surely that is going to be an attraction for you if it becomes a head to head battle with the Note 2. Let us know your thoughts on this and whether you would prefer a 4-inch standard smartphone from Amazon, or a 5.xx inch phablet to compete with the Note.