Philippe Matthews Show Guru Advice, Author Reviews, Tech Reviews, Entertainment News

Usually rumors are... just rumors.

Getty Images has just signed up the snapshots of photographer Nick Laham into its photo archive, ready to license them out for use online, in newspapers, or even on TV. That's not a shocker seeing as this is what Getty does.

For the hard-wired and digitally wired baseball fan, the season doesn't start when pitchers and catchers report to spring training. It starts when At Bat reports to the iTunes store. The wildly popular app, made by MLB Advanced Media (BAM for short), puts live game video, live stats, and the latest news and scores at your fingertips on a smart phone or tablet

Yesterday Coinstar, the parent company of Redbox, the 35,400-kiosk-strong movie-rental service, announced a joint venture with Verizon to provide a subscription-based streaming video service, thus positioning the companies in direct competition with Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. Coinstar also announced that it would acquire NCR's entertainment business , which includes its former rival Blockbuster Express, adding more than 9,000 kiosks to Redbox's roster around the country. Now new details about the combined companies' plans have emerged.

Streaming the Super Bowl was smart.

As the Netflix CEO launched in the UK and Ireland, he said last year's pricing backlash put the focus back on consumers. How does it feel to go from Wall Street darling to the object of scorn? "It felt bad, that's what you would expect," Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told paidContent as he launched the company in the UK and Ireland

In the beginning, music industry watchers hailed subscription streaming services such as Spotify , MOG, Rdio, and Rhapsody as saviors of the industry, an alternative for listeners and labels to the tyranny of the 99-cent iTunes download. But artists weren't singing the same happy song.

Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day. Google marks Halloween with a pumpkin carving Google Doodle.

I’ve written about Netflix before and how much I like the service. I love the instant gratification of streaming movies and apparently I am one of the few people who doesn’t use the DVD option.

Communication problems aside, Netflix's decision to break apart the business is part two of its plan for the future, a company spokesperson tells Fast Company. Netflix's announcement that it is splitting its DVD service off into an entirely new business may have some wondering if that decision was a reaction to all the negative response to the announcement earlier this summer that it was raising rates on its hybrid DVD-streaming business

If there's one movie that should top the queue for Netflix CEO Reed Hastings today, it's

A few short months ago, Netflix made the bold decision to increase the price for its DVD-by-mail and streaming subscription plan by 60% . The announcement inevitably inspired universal vitriol among customers, but Netflix stuck to its guns, saying in a recent earnings call that the negative reaction hadn't been as bad as the company anticipated. Now, however, only a short while since the price plans went into effect, Netflix is singing a much different tune: Mea culpa! Last week the company adjusted its guidance because of worse-than-expected subscriber declines (estimating a loss of 800,000 DVD-by-mail customers and 200,000 streaming customers); its stock price took a huge tumble of 19% (down 44% overall since the price plans were announced); and on Sunday night, CEO Reed Hastings took to Netflix's blog to apologize and offer a slew of (dramatic) solutions.

This and more important news from your Fast Company editors, with updates all day. Google Launches Disaster Response Website .

This and more important news from your Fast Company editors, with updates all day. UK Goverment Summons Social Networks For Riot Talks . Next Thursday the Home Office will hold a meeting with the top social networks to discuss the recent nationwide riots.

This and more news from your Fast Company editors, with updates all day.