Video streaming website service, Crackle have launched a free movie and TV show streaming service for Xbox. The app from Sony Pictures is available for Xbox Live Gold members, and can be voice controlled using Kinect.

Crackle comes to Xbox360

The kinect voice and motion activated controls allows Crackle viewers a vocal way to find the content they want. The Crackle cwebsite content is all available which includes over 200 movies from studios including Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Classics and more, is now available to watch.

Movies include, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The International, Donnie Brasco, European Gigolo,Jackie Chan Adventures,Groundhog Day, Year One, Defendor, The Messengers, The Mothman Prophecies, Bewitched, Samurai X, Blood +, Blue Exorcist, Why It Crackles, Urban Wolf, The Bannen Way

For TV show fans, the app also offers over 1,500 TV show episodes Download the Crackle app from the Xbox Live marketplace for free now in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

News website, The Huffington Post are all set to launch a, “game changing” streaming video service and compete with major 24hour news networks, it has been revealed.

The website which has become a major online news network in it’s own right and currently has UK, Canadian and French editions, wants to enter the live streaming video space, and plan on offering around 12 hours of content and original programming daily.

The HuffPost Streaming Network was announced in a blog post and will mix news with social media and be available, “live on every platform, computer, smartphone, tablet, Over-the-Top TV – with the goal of creating the most social video experience anywhere.”

The Huffington Post launched in 2006 and was brought by AOL in 2011 for a reported $315 million. Huffington have said that during the last year, monthly visitors to the website have grown by 47% to 36.2 million. Plannedf versions for Spanish and Italian versions are also in the works.

Huffington said about the new network, that, “People aren’t interested in being talked at anymore — they want to be part of the conversation.”

The announcement comes shortly after Reuters launched a Youtube news channel.

It is a well-known fact that Simon Cowell is not afraid to use large sums of cash as an incentive on his reality shows, but it seems as though it is even more true when it comes to encouraging people to sit on a judging table with him.

Following the departures from X Factor USA of presenter Steve Jones, and judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul (the latter of which was confirmed on Tuesday), Cowell is on the hunt for a number of replacements on the Fox singing competition, and while many thought that singer Mariah Carey would be his top priority, it is looking likely that former Destiny’s Child member Beyonce will be targeted, with reports claiming that she has been offered a jaw-dropping $100m per series.

A source said of Cowell’s efforts to sign a higher-profile celebrity to the show: “He wants a big name female star on the panel. Mariah is good, but she’s not that hot today. He wants Beyonce because that would immediately give him the bounce needed to beat American Idol.”

The deal being offered is said to be an incredible $500,000,000 5-year contract that would make Beyonce one of the highest-paid personalities in showbusiness. Perhaps Simon Cowell has been spending too much time around the exhaust pipes of Sir Richard Branson’s spacecraft, as it is hard to believe (even with marketing and promotional value) that anyone is really worth that much just to tell some singers if they were any good. Would this be seen as his most baffling piece of spending to-date?

Away from his efforts to attract new ‘employees’, Cowell took a moment to recognise the work of his old ones on X Factor USA, who he claims all left on good terms: “I want to say a massive thank you to Paula, Nicole and Steve for being part of The X Factor last year. We had a lot of fun making the show together and importantly, we found some real talent and stars. You do develop friendships with the people you work with and Paula, in particular, is a very close friend and I expect to be working with her on another project in the near future. I’m sure all three are going to have massive success in what they do next, but now is the time to thank them all for everything they did last year.”

With so much money being thrown at potential replacements, though, might the recently-departed trio’s mood get a little more sour?

Commercial German TV broadcaster, RTL Deutschland have signed a deal with Disney that gives the company the German TV premieres for movies from Disney/Pixar, DreamWorks and ABC TV shows.

RTL deal with Disney

The multi-year and exclusive deal comes as rival German network, ProSiebenSat.1 loses the Disney content as it’s deal ends. Content that will come to RTL includes  John Carter, Brave, The Avengers and ABC fairytale show, Once Upon a Time.

No financial details were disclosed but speaking about the deal, Robert Langer from Disney said RTL were, “a perfect TV partner for our attractive series and film highlights in Germany”.

The news cements RTL’s dominant position and joins existing deals it has with NBCUniversal, Warner Bros and Studiocanal.

The second series of MTV reality series Geordie Shore is said to have started on a sour note for the cast members, as they argued amongst themselves and walked out of a live online spin-off show that followed the season premiere on Tuesday.

The online-only show Under The Car Bonnet saw the culmination of a series of arguments that had been building throughout the night as the cast watched the first episode of series 2, with cast members Vicky Pattison and Ricci Guarnaccio slinging insults at each other and even going as far as walking off the set during filming (and not returning). Friends of the cast were reportedly removed from the building in Newcastle (England) by security guards after they chipped in with disturbances of their own.

Vicky was the first to leave, followed later by new cast member Ricci, after he found out through text message that she was throwing his clothes out a hotel window. Other members of the reality TV show were also said to be in a bust-up following behind-the-scenes arguments, including bar glasses being thrown. While it might be an embarrassing moment for the show’s producers (especially in the first episode of their new online spin-off), it could be considered as actions that would be most likely to come from a series dedicated to a group’s party antics.

A show insider said of the problems: “The premiere screening was just like an episode of Geordie Shore. The cast were all squabbling, getting drunk and falling out. Filming for the online spinoff show was chaotic and Laura Whitmore [Under The Car Bonnet presenter] did amazingly well to hold the programme together. There was a free bar at the event and the cast and their friends made the most of it. Unfortunately that meant most of them were pretty drunk and rowdy by the time it came to filming.”

An MTV spokeswoman yesterday claimed that there were no longer problems, stating: “Things did get heated at the party but I’m pleased to say that all the cast have now kissed and made up and they are all friends again.”

Meanwhile, the show itself got off to a fairly disappointing start ratings-wise, drawing around 260,000 viewers (figures lower than in series 1), despite a series of pre-season promotional campaigns including the launch of a unique show-branded product, in the form of the world’s first ‘kebab-flavoured perfume’. The second series of (the pre-filmed) Geordie Shore is set to continue for the next 7 weeks on Tuesdays at 10pm. By the sounds of things, though, their cameras are missing out the best material if the behind-the-scenes fall-outs are anything to go by…

Retail giant, Marks and Spencer have formed a partnership with Samsung to create a branded App for the Samsung range of Smart TV’s. This new App will give viewers access to the latest in high street trends as well as tips on lifestyle, food, fashion and technology all from the comfort of their living room.

First online shopping, now apps

These kind of branded apps may become much more commonplace now that connected or smart TV’s are becoming standard issue. Companies will use them for advertising and market research as well as expanding the brand.

Talking about the app, Guy Kinnell, marketing director for Samsung UK said,

“The M&S Smart TV App has been an exciting new development that highlights the popularity of Smart TV as the most immersive and interactive format for consumers. The new App brings new lifestyle content from a trusted consumer brand, this gives people a snapshot of how consumers will be able to shop in the future.”

Susan Aubrey-Cound, the director for new channels at Marks & Spencer commented,

“We are continually exploring innovative and new ways to engage or interact with our customers. The Smart TV App enables Marks and Spencer customers to discover more about our products and innovations from the comfort of their living rooms, whilst supporting our broader marketing channels.”

The app is available now and joins more familiar apps such as LoveFilm and iPlayer services. It gives a new meaning to the phrase, “This is not just an app, this is an M&S app”.