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Current Netflix subscribers are limited to streaming movies and television shows on just two devices at the same time, but for large families that might not be enough. That's why Netflix announced they'll be adding a family plan that will allow four simultaneous streams. The new plan will be offered for $11.99, but Netflix isn't expecting many customers to take them up on the offer.

These days, Netflix doesn't garner as many new releases as it once could claim. When the streaming service lost Starz, they also lost the ability to show off a good deal of Disney and Sony content. Now it looks like the service will have even less to differentiate itself from Amazon Prime Instant Video, as Amazon has entered into "a multi-year licensing agreement" with Epix -- the same "premium entertainment network" from which Netflix gets a number of its new releases.

In a recent Facebook post from Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, we get a bit of intimate view into the life of the man who brings great movies and TV into our homes for a reasonable price. For instance, we learn that he has an Xbox, and is (not surprisingly) a big fan of streaming video. We also find out that he's really angry at Comcast for how they count data towards his pre-set limit, accusing the Internet Service Provider of being anti-net neutrality.

Edging closer to a future where all of our digital services are wrapped up into one complete package, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has been in talks with various cable companies working to get Netflix's video streaming offering as part of, and through, their cable services. This would make Netflix an alternative or addition to a cable company's on-demand options, certainly a boon to both customers who prefer to have their bills wrapped up in one tidy location, and cable companies that can't compete with the staggering amount of media Netflix has to offer.

Though analysts had been expecting it, Barnes & Noble booksellers announced a new addition to their eReader line today: The Nook Tablet. However, calling this device an eReader is something of a disservice, as this latest Nook aims to be the hand-held multimedia device that also lets you read books on it. Now where have I heard that before? Here's what you need to know about the new device.

On a post on the Netflix blog this morning, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced that the recently revealed DVD-only service, Qwikster, was to be canceled before it ever launched. Less than one month ago, Netflix made the world wonder when they announced that they would be splitting their service in two, leaving the streaming service to the established Netflix branding, while creating a new brand, Qwikster, to handle the DVD-by-mail service that was once the cash cow for Netflix. The blog post is short and probably sweet for those who weren't looking forward to either dealing with two different services, or for those who were planning on dropping their DVD-by-mail service in order to prevent dealing with two different services. The post begins rather effectively, getting right to the point, eschewing any kind of roundabout excuses:

It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs. This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster.

In a blog post on the Netflix blog, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced that Netflix will be officially splitting its streaming and DVD-by-mail services, not just in price this time, and will be renaming the DVD-by-mail service Qwikster, a name chosen because Netflix felt "it refers to quick delivery." Aside from a name and website change, Netflix assures everyone that Qwikster is the same DVD-by-mail service we're all familiar with, except with the addition of video game rentals (currently mentioned platforms are the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360) through the mail alongside DVDs.

The Netflix brand will focus on being solely a streaming brand, something that isn't much of a surprise, though if Netflix continues to lose oodles of content, one may wonder exactly how the brand will fare. Enthusiasts of both services can sign up for both, though considering the brands will have separate web pages, customers should basically treat the two separate entities as exactly that, and, for example, if a customer wants to change their account information, they'd have to do it once for each website, which will also apply for movie ratings -- if a customer rates a movie on Netflix, they also have to rate it on Qwikster. There won't be a pricing change from the current streaming and DVD-by-mail combination, but there will be two separate statements on a customer's credit card.

Netflix has already rolled out streaming-only service for some U.S. customers, but today, they've made it officially available to all, with a $7.99/month unlimited streaming plan which doesn't cover DVDs-by-mail anymore. As Netflix's CEO Reed Hastings said during the company's quarterly earnings announcement in October, "By every measure, we are now primarily a streaming company that also offers DVD-by-mail." In reflection of this, the company has raised the prices on DVD service.

Full price sheet below:

Eight years ago, Jim Griffin and Gordon Bell made a bet on the long-term betting site Long Bets as to whether any profitable video-on-demand service would emerge by 2010, meeting minimum agreed-upon thresholds as to size and scope. When they made their bet, a little company called Netflix had already been mailing customers videos since 1999, although its streaming video service had yet to exist; this October, when announcing third-quarter profits which had grown 35% since 2009, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings observed that in its current incarnation, Netflix is primarily a streaming video company that happens to offer DVDs-by-mail. Netflix expects more than 19 million subscribers by the end of the year, and offers over 100,000 titles by mail.

When Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced they're primarily a streaming company that happens to offer DVD-by-mail, people speculated that the Canadian streaming-only subscription would be available stateside within the next few months. Surprisingly, the streaming option seems to be available today, only a week after Hastings made the illuminating statement.

However, there seem to be inconsistencies regarding the streaming-only option's availability and pricing. Read on past the jump for the details.

Netflix announced its quarterly earnings yesterday, and revealed that 66% of subscribers have streamed content online, which led to the prediction that more subscribers will stream content online than receive DVDs in the mail by next quarter. According to Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO, “By every measure, we are now primarily a streaming company that also offers DVD-by-mail.”