netflix streaming

Realizing that the consumer is usually right, Netflix is abandoning plans to separate its streaming business from its mail-order roots. Here's why Qwikster -- the site that would have served as the new home for customers receiving discs by mail -- was mercifully killed by the former tech darling this morning, sending shares higher.

Buyouts, bum guidance, and a broadening decline for a one-time tech titan top the week in review. Go inside the stories that prompted this week's big buys and sells in the nexus between Wall Street and Silicon Valley.

Dueling streaming deals, a cheaper iPad facing off against Amazon's bookish rival, a check-in from a chipmaker, and Zynga's CityVille relocating: Here's what to watch in high tech news as the week unfolds.

The boneheaded move of the week was committed by financial journalists, who collectively decided to blame Netflix's recent price hike for its reduction in subscriber targets -- a bad call indeed. Other head-scratchers included the end of boastful Fidelity Magellan chief Harry Lange's tenure, Cracker Barrel's attempts to evade Biglari Holdings, and Restoration Hardware's IPO.

The retail giant will allow customers to snap up a flick while loading their electronic shopping carts with everything from clothes to tires. The move completes Walmart.com's integration of VUDU, and brings the world's largest public corporation by revenue into direct conflict with Netflix.

Google's video-sharing site, YouTube, is giving Netflix investors a little scare with its recent announcement that it has doubled the number of movie titles in its rental library to 6,000. But could YouTube's strategy be successful enough that it could directly compete with Netflix?

Netflix is enjoying a period of rapid expansion, riding on the popularity of DVD-by-mail and online video streaming. The question for investors is: What's next? Netflix has signaled that it plans to expand abroad, and the U.K. is a likely target. But is Britain ready for Netflix?

Netflix angered customers this week by removing the option to order DVDs via videostreaming consoles and mobile devices. The news that it was eliminating the "Add to DVD Queue" button in order to focus more on streaming videos has drawn thousands of comments, many critical of the company.

In its transition from mail-order DVDs to streaming video, Netflix's latest move -- a new plan that offers unlimited downloads and no DVDs for $7.99 per month -- highlights why the company has been so successful.

My household recently got a free disc from Netflix to instantly watch movies on our Nintendo Wii console, allowing us to stream movies onto our TV instead of waiting for a DVD to arrive in the mail. My wife and I haven't yet been acting like kids in a candy store with the additional movies, but...