Flixster may let you upload your DVD collection to the cloud

By Jeffrey Van Camp May 26, 2011

In a bold attempt to compete with Netflix, Deadline reports that Time Warner may use its newly purchased Flixter brand to start a cloud-based movie service. Chief among its assets will be the ability to let customers to upload their DVD collections to the cloud.

Consumers will be able to “upload your existing physical DVDs, have the ability to access them across multiple devices anywhere you want, have the ability to manage your collections with social aspects as well, go in, have friends see what movie collections they have, (and) see who has been watching those films,” said Time Warner CFO John Martin. He later called it a “very big idea” that will be unveiled in more detail soon.

Warner Bros. is doing very well. At that same investor conference, Martin said the company expects 2011 to be an “all-time record year.” It’s film business is churning along, but the main growth is coming from television, which is seeing high returns and accounting for about half of the company’s profits for the year. TV networks have picked up 27 series from Warner Bros. this fall, which includes 12 new ones, making the company, yet again, the top supplier of television programs.

While we like the idea of being able to upload our DVDs, actually doing it could be one of the most painful and time consuming tasks imaginable. Every DVD contains several gigabytes of movie and special features on it. It could take months to upload a substantial film collection. We imagine that Time Warner will let you simply prove that you own a DVD to unlock its content, but they’ll have to make some substantial deals with the other movie houses to do this. Some may remember MP3.com. About 11 years ago, the site let users prove they had CDs, which would unlock the MP3 versions for them. The RIAA sued the site and won–a ruling that may still be holding the industry back, as many new cloud-based music services like Amazon and Google Music force users to tediously upload physical copies of their music files.

What do you think about Flixter becoming a competitor to the likes of Xfinity onDemand, Netflix, Vudu, and Hulu?

Topics

Jeffrey Van Camp

Former Digital Trends Contributor

As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…

Computing

Power up your tech game this summer with Dell’s top deals: Upgrade for a bargain

Dell Techfest and best tech on sale featured.

One of the best times to upgrade your tech stack, be it your desktop, a new laptop, or some high-resolution monitors, is when great deals are to be had. Well, I'm here to share that thanks to Dell's top deals, you can power up your tech game and have most of the summer to make it happen. Maybe you're happy with your current system or setup. That's excellent, but you're likely considering upgrading somewhere, and that's precisely what these deals are all about. Dell has a smorgasbord of deals on laptops, desktops, gaming desktops, monitors, accessories, and so much more. We'll call out a few of our favorite deals below, but for now, know that you should be shopping this sale if you're interested in anything tech-related.

What summer tech should you buy in Dell's top deals?

Computing

I love the MacBook Pro, but this Windows laptop came surprisingly close

Apple MacBook Pro 16 downward view showing keyboard and speaker.

There are some great machines in the 15-inch laptop category, which has recently been stretched to include the more common 16-inch laptop. The best among them is the Apple MacBook Pro 16, which offers fast performance for tasks like video editing and the longest battery life.

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 is aimed not only at other 16-inch Windows laptops but also at the MacBook Pro 16. It offers many of the same benefits but at a lower price. Can it take a place at the top?
Specs and configurations

Computing

How to set an ‘Out of Office’ message in Microsoft Teams

Person using Windows 11 laptop on their lap by the window.

Many people use Microsoft Teams regularly to communicate with colleagues both inside of the office and remotely. It is considered one of the most efficient ways to ensure you can stay in contact with the people on your team, but what if you need to let people know you’re not readily available? Microsoft Teams has a method for you to set up an "Out of Office" status for your profile to let staff members know when you’ll be gone for the afternoon, for several days on vacation, or for an extended period.
Where do I go to set up my ‘Out of Office’ status for Teams?
It is important to note that your Microsoft Teams and Outlook calendars are synced. This includes your out-of-office status and automatic replies. So, whatever you set up in Microsoft Teams will reflect in Outlook. Similarly, you can set up your out-of-office status in Outlook, and it will be reflected in Teams; however, the former has a more straightforward instruction.

First, you can click on your profile icon in Teams and go directly to Schedule an out of office, as a shortcut. This will take you to the settings area where you can proceed. You can also click the three-dot icon next to your profile icon, then go to Settings > General, then scroll down to the bottom of the page. There, you'll find out-of-office settings and click Schedule.