Consumer content

Netflix subscribers eagerly awaiting the return of "Arrested Development" can see what's in store courtesy of a new promo trailer.

Posted by Netflix on YouTube Sunday, the 90-second spot briefly catches us up with each member of the Bluths, including Michael, Lindsay, Tobias, Gob, Buster, George Michael, Maeby, Lucille, and George Sr. And from the clip, it seems little has changed since we last saw the family that gives new meaning to the word dysfunctional.

Buster still seems as frightened of the world as ever. Gob is still hitting on women in the most inappropriate way possible. … Read more

Google+ users reading articles on mobile Web sites may now start to see recommendations to related stories.

Unveiled today, the new feature allows Web developers to add code to their sites so that users can discover more stories by that publisher on the same topic or from the same author.

As described in today's Google+ developers blog, a user reading a certain story on a mobile device will see a link toward the bottom of that story. The link suggests a related story that's been heavily shared or received a +1 on Google+. Tapping on that link brings … Read more

That jingling sound you hear is the arrival of Amazon Coins for Kindle Fire users.

Amazon on Monday announced that customers can use its new coins to purchase apps, games, and in-app items in the Amazon Appstore and on the company's Kindle Fire tablet.

The e-commerce giant and tablet contender is marking the launch by disbursing 500 free coins -- the equivalent of a $5 bill -- into the Amazon accounts of existing and new Kindle Fire customers in the U.S. Amazon unveiled its virtual currency in February.

"Today we are giving Kindle Fire owners $5 worth … Read more

Reporters at Bloomberg had the ability to view the log-in history and certain other account details of the company's clients.

In a mea culpa posted today, Bloomberg News editor in chief Matthew Winkler fessed up to the practice, revealing that reporters had access to Bloomberg terminals through which they could see a user's log-in history and find out when the account was created.

The terminals are computer systems used by both Bloomberg and its subscribers to access the latest financial news and stock quotes and to exchange messages over the firm's secure network.

Reporters also could see &… Read more

Aereo on Monday announced a new pricing structure for its upstart TV streaming service.

The "streamlined" structure does away with long-term commitments and with annual and daily offerings. Now, consumers can start with a base membership plan of $8 per month for use of Aereo's cloud-based antenna/DVR technology and 20 hours of DVR storage. For $12 a month, they can upgrade to 60 hours of DVR storage.

The New York-based company is further sweetening things by offering the first month of service at no charge.

"We looked at our data and it was clear, consumers … Read more

Nokia is shining a light on the camera and flash of a new Lumia smartphone.

A video posted on YouTube today takes us on a tour of the phone from the camera to the lens to the flash, promising "more than your eyes can see" and telling us that "the new Nokia Lumia is coming."

So, just which model Lumia is coming?

Nokia will hold an event in London tomorrow in which it will likely pull back the curtains on its latest Lumia phone. The company has been playing up its Lumia 928 in a series … Read more

Google plans to finish defining its VP9 video codec on June 17, providing a date on which the company will be able to start using the next-generation compression technology in Chrome and on YouTube.

"Last week, we hosted over 100 guests at a summit meeting for VP9, the WebM Project's next-generation open video codec. We were particularly happy to welcome our friends from YouTube, who spoke about their plans to support VP9 once support lands in Chrome," Matt Frost, senior business product manager for the WebM Project, said in a blog post Friday.

WebM is Google's … Read more

Performance improvements over the last year mean Web pages measured by the Google Analytics service load significantly faster for people using mobile devices.

The pages load 30 percent faster for mobile browsers now than they did a year ago, Steve Souders, Google's head performance engineer, said in a presentation earlier. And for desktop browser users, the pages load 3.5 percent faster.

Mobile Web performance -- often impaired by big Web pages, slower networks, and limited processors -- can be irritating. The slower a Web page responds, the less people use it, and that's a problem for a … Read more

Amazon's got a new app for iOS that gives users of Apple devices a way to view and sync up with photos they have stored on Amazon's Cloud Drive, including photos they've taken on other devices.

Every time the app (iTunes) is opened up, it can tap into a user's camera roll and automatically sync up photos people have taken. Amazon is the latest company, along with Facebook, to offer such software, and the app works over both Wi-Fi and cellular connections.

Other features include the option to share stored photos on Twitter and Facebook, as … Read more