Roku Is The Streaming King
With more and more Americans cutting the cord and saying goodbye to cable and satellite, streaming boxes and sticks have been growing in popularity. These boxes allow you to use various apps to watch programming via an Internet connection. Some content is free, while some requires a subscription to a service like Netflix or Hulu Plus.
According to a study from Parks Associates, Roku sits on top of the streaming heap, accounting for 34% of sales in the U.S. Google’s Chromecast was second with around 20% of the market, while Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV were just about tied around 14%.
Nearly 20% of homes with broadband own a streaming box of some kind and 8% own a streaming stick.
Target Reaches Hack Settlement
Target has cut a deal with Visa to reimburse the company for $67 million dollars in losses related to its 2013 holiday shopping season security breach.
40 million credit and debit cards were put at risk because of the hack. Since the millions in dollars of charges that scammers accumulated were fraudulent, banks reimbursed card holders – leaving them holding the bag.
Comcast Gets Into Streaming
Giving notoriously bad customer service to cable and Internet users may not be enough for Comcast. The media giant, and parent company of NBC, wants to give cord cutters a hard time as well with their Stream service.
Stream will cost Xfinity Internet subscribers an additional $15 per month and offer live broadcasts of network stations and HBO.