Time Warner Cable customers still waiting for access to HBO Go, the premium movie channel’s online streaming service, won’t have to wait for the cable company any longer if they happen to own a Roku set top box.  Roku owners who maintain subscriptions to the premium movie channel will be able to access HBO Go via Roku for no additional charge by the end of October.

Roku’s announcement follows Microsoft, who announced Oct. 5 HBO Go would be available to Xbox Live ($60/yr) game service customers.

HBO has been suffering declines in subscriber numbers from customers dropping premium movie channel subscriptions to save money.  HBO Go offers on-demand viewing of many HBO movie titles, and comes at no additional charge to subscribers.  But before HBO Go can be made available, agreements between your video provider and HBO must be signed to handle the authentication process, which verifies a valid subscription to HBO before allowing the service to work.

Time Warner Cable has been dragging its feet on signing an agreement, and that leaves a lot of potential customers without the service.  Time Warner Cable is the nation’s second largest cable operator, behind Comcast.

Roku believes its agreement allows HBO Go to reach more viewers, which in turn may discourage them from dropping the channel.  It also helps drive sales of Roku boxes, which are becoming increasingly affordable.  Roku announced this week it was cutting the price of its least expensive box to $50, a $10 savings.

Roku owners can stream their own video library with third party applications like PlayOn, or choose from a menu of more than 300 channels.  But most Roku owners buy the device to stream Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu content to their television sets over the home Internet connection.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings posted his version of a mea culpa on the company’s blog early this morning pulling the plug on dividing up online video streaming and DVD-by-mail rentals:

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.

While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.

We’re constantly improving our streaming selection. We’ve recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we’ve added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.

We value our members, and we are committed to making Netflix the best place to get movies & TV shows.

Hastings doesn’t come out and directly say his decision to split streaming and DVD rentals was a mistake, but the intended audience for his short blog post is clear — the tens of thousands of customers upset about the company’s recent price and plan changes.  Many have complained Netflix lacks current movie titles available for streaming, and news reports indicate the company is on the verge of losing a key supplier of the current content Netflix does have — Starz.

But Hastings has not pulled back completely from the idea of dividing the streaming and movie rental services Netflix offers.  In a news release read by investors, Hastings said the problem wasn’t that Netflix sought to separate the services, it was that they tried too fast.

“Consumers value the simplicity Netflix has always offered and we respect that,” said Hastings. “There is a difference between moving quickly – which Netflix has done very well for years – and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case.”

Apple is set to announce a new iPhone or two early this afternoon, but some in the tech media notice the frenetic excitement of the newest Apple sensation has been tempered, in part because many of the new software and cloud storage features will run into usage caps for some, speed throttles for everyone else.

The imminent arrival of anticipated models iPhone 4S, expected to sell at AT&T and Verizon and iPhone 5, which is rumored to be sold exclusively by Sprint during a short sales window, remains a big deal for all three carriers.  Verizon is reportedly allowing its call center employees to take unlimited overtime in preparation for the anticipated rush of questions and orders.  Sprint, which has 33 million customers on two-year contracts, has made a commitment to sell at least 30.5 million Apple iPhones over four years, if reports by the Wall Street Journal turn out to be accurate.  That’s a lot of phones.

[flv width=”512″ height=”308″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Sprint Getting iPhone 10-3-11.flv[/flv]

9 to 5 Mac shows off a mock image of what the newest iPhone 5 will probably look like. Pay close attention to the rounded edges and bezel.

Reports from the Wall Street Journal, WDAF-TV in Sprint’s home base of Kansas City, and Bloomberg News discuss the implications of Sprint’s deal with Apple.  (11 minutes)

That’s also an enormous gamble for Sprint, which is guaranteed no real profits from the venture until the year 2014.  If the company does win temporary exclusivity of an iPhone model that includes support for Sprint’s 4G network, WiMax, it will also bring the company an enormous number of new customers.

Among the most important new features of the phone is iOS 5, the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system.  It comes loaded with new ways to burn through the stingy usage caps AT&T and Verizon Wireless are now providing their customers:

1. Over the air upgrades/activations: Apple’s notoriously huge software updates can be delivered to your wireless device without syncing it on a personal computer.  That means downloading software updates that can easily exceed the 200MB “light usage” plans some carriers sell budget-conscious customers;
2. Notification Center: Puts messages from e-mail, texts, and apps in a more convenient place to access and respond, increasing usage;
3. NewsStand: Leverages newspaper and magazine content in a single app, downloading content pushed to your phone, increasing usage;
4. Safari Sync: The Safari web browser will now sync with other instances of the browser on other devices to keep your reading list updated;
5. iMessage: Send texts, photos, and bandwidth-hogging video to friends and family, potentially driving up usage considerably;

But nothing is expected to spike wireless data usage like Apple’s new iCloud and iTunes Match, both of which manage and sync multimedia content and app purchases between devices “over the cloud.”  Unfortunately, repeated journeys of this type will burn through your usage allowance, and those with significant-sized libraries of photos, music, or videos are at serious risk of blasting past their usage cap.  Even customers who use more than 4-5GB on “unlimited data plans” sold by AT&T and Verizon will face the scourge of the speed throttle, which will reduce your zippy new phone to speeds that resemble dial-up.

AT&T and Verizon Apple iPhone customers are at the highest risk of facing the speed throttle, because Apple is not expected to support either company’s 4G data network.  Verizon only exempts 4G customers from the speed throttle when they use the 4G network.

The one company well-positioned to capitalize on these realities happens to be Sprint, which is keeping its truly unlimited data plan.  If Apple comes through with 4G support for Sprint, customers could not only say goodbye to AT&T and Verizon’s slower 3G speeds, they would also be able to rest easy knowing they won’t experience bill shock or a month in the dial-up speed penalty corner if deemed to be using “too much” service.

Customers of the two biggest carriers need to get familiar with switching to Wi-Fi as often as possible, and avoid using data-intensive features on usage-limited plans.  For Verizon and AT&T, it’s the best of all worlds — another two year contract for a usage-limited data plan that guarantees increased revenue and reduced costs.  For you, it’s an improved phone you can never use to its full potential.

[flv width=”512″ height=”308″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Little Buzz Over New iPhone 10-4-11.flv[/flv]

The Wall Street Journal reports there isn’t as much buzz over this year’s newest iPhone.  Bloomberg talks about the software changes in the new phone, and WWLP-TV in Springfield notes Verizon’s unions are calling on Americans to boycott the new phone until Verizon workers get a fair contract.  (8 minutes)

Update 2:00pm ET:  The Wall Street Journal reports the Sprint iPhone will not support their 4G network: According to people familiar with the company’s plans, the hotly anticipated device won’t operate on long-term evolution or WiMAX fourth-generation networks. Those wireless networks promise speedier downloading to mobile devices of episodes of television programs, as well as cute baby photos. The people said the device will work on 3G networks, which are broadly in use today and are the standard for the current iPhone 4. AT&T says its HSPA+ network has 4G-like speeds.

Update 4:00pm ET: The announcement event finally concludes with news the iPhone 5 is vaporware for now.  Sprint will end up with the same Apple 4S phone AT&T and Verizon will sell on their respective networks. The San Jose Mercury News was not thrilled with the event:

At a rollout that lacked some of the thrills and surprises of past product releases — and disappointed some in attendance who expected a completely made-over iPhone 5 — Siri stood out as the sexiest new feature on an iPhone that, contrary to speculation, isn’t any thinner or different looking on the outside than its predecessor, the iPhone 4.

“This phone is better than the iPhone 4 in many ways, even though it looks the same,” said Avi Greengart, an analyst with Current Analysis on hand for the unveiling before several hundred reporters, bloggers, analysts and other guests. “Sales will be wildly successful, but Apple fanboys’ expectations probably were not met today.”

The new phone, which will be available Oct. 15 after pre-orders begin Oct. 7, will cost $199 for a 16-gigabyte version, $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64 GB. It had been center-stage in the tech blogosphere for months, as pundits weighed in with what they saw as the most obvious bells and whistles Apple would unleash on their growing fan base. Tuesday, some were surprised by how wrong that had been.

The phone that everyone thought would be thinner than the iPhone 4, pretty much resembled its older sibling. But as analysts had suspected, the new phone is much faster, thanks for the new A5 chip inside it, and it has plenty of consumer-pleasing attributes, most of them inside the case.

Courtesy 9 to 5 Mac

AT&T has begun sending out warnings to wireless customers deemed to be using too much of their “unlimited data plans” and are now subject to speed throttling that will reduce their wireless Internet experience to one more familiar for dial-up users.

Life in the slow lane is the price AT&T customers pay for being a member of the Top 5% Data User Club.  Running the numbers, that means using more than around 4GB of wireless usage per month.  One customer who managed to rack up 11GB in September, even before the new speed throttle plan took effect Oct. 1, has already found himself in the speed reduction doghouse with a warning message he received Sept. 29.

Although the customer did not reveal what he was doing to achieve 11GB of usage in one month, the two most common ways to run up usage are watching a lot of streamed video or using your phone to tether to other wireless devices, especially laptops.  Some wireless customers are attempting to use their unlimited data plans as a home broadband replacement, especially in rural areas where cable or DSL service is not available.  That’s an option AT&T doesn’t seem to want customers to consider.

In addition to eliminating unlimited use plans for new customers more than a year ago, the company has increasingly cracked down on existing customers grandfathered into unlimited use plans.  In addition to banning third party tethering apps, AT&T is now simply reducing speeds for heavy users to make high bandwidth applications like video and even some forms of streaming audio impossible when residing in the penalty box.

But don’t worry: you can still use your data plan to read e-mail or browse simple web pages.  The company also advises customers can use unlimited amounts of Wi-Fi, whether they provide it or not.

As we originally reported a few weeks ago, Time Warner Cable has launched a planned fall promotion offering new Wideband and SignatureHome customers a $300 rebate on a Slingbox PRO-HD purchased at a participating local Best Buy store or through the retailer’s website until November 30, 2011.

The high-end Slingbox allows customers to stream live cable programming and other video across their home broadband connection to computers, smartphones, or tablets (the latter two require a separate purchase of a $30 iPhone/iPad or Android app).

The offer is good only for Time Warner Cable customers serviced by the company’s New York City division who install new Wideband (50/5Mbps) standalone broadband service for $99 a month or who sign up for the company’s SignatureHome tier ($199/month), which includes Wideband service.  Existing Wideband or SignatureHome customers are not eligible, but current Time Warner customers who upgrade to either service are.

Time Warner Cable has configured the rebate offer to make sure customers pay on time and stay put for at least six months after signing up.  The rebate will appear as a $50 service credit for six months after being successfully processed.  If you pay your bill late or cancel service within six months, subsequent rebate service credits will be cancelled.

If you take advantage of this promotion, we strongly suggest you sign up for automatic payments to avoid a missed payment, which could cost you up to $300 — the value of the rebate — plus any associated late fees.  Remember, you also have to receive service from Time Warner’s NYC operation and the Slingbox must be purchased from Best Buy to qualify for the rebate.

Time Warner’s rebate website accepts online rebate submissions, so you can scan and keep your original receipts.  Since the cable operator will accept rebate submissions until February 15, 2012, there is plenty of time to refile if your original rebate request is lost.

[flv width=”640″ height=”331″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/SignatureHome Ad 9-2011.flv[/flv]

Time Warner Cable unveiled new advertising for its super-premium SignatureHome service last month.  The “concierge” service will bring your monthly cable bill to $199.  The concept of the $200 cable bill was unheard-0f just ten years ago.  (1 minute)