Amazon May Target Netflix With Streaming Tilt

Good morning, cable gang. Buzz about Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) eying an unlimited streaming video service leads today’s roundup.

Amazon is apparently looking to launch an unlimited streaming service to compete with Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), according to this post and some screen grabs from Engadget. However, it looks like Amazon has since removed the evidence. (See 20 Million for Netflix.)

Charter Communications Inc. makes a smart move to increase the downstream speeds of its cable modem tiers soon after getting all that press about being the best U.S. ISP for Netflix streaming. Among the boosts, Charter's residential 16Mbit/s tier hops to 18 Mbit/s, and its 75Mbit/s "Pro" tier jumps from 75 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s. (See Netflix Shames ISPs.)

Bidding for German MSO Kabel BW GmbH & Co. is heating up, with private equity firms kicking the tires alongside other interested parties that include John Malone's Liberty Global Inc. (Nasdaq: LBTY) and Kabel Deutschland GmbH . (See Kabel BW Does 100M With Moto.)

Despite the pretty ice skating rink outside NBCUniversal LLC 's New York headquarters, Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) says its corporate HQ will remain in Philadelphia. (See Comcast, NBCU Seal the Deal .)

While pay-TV providers are focused on building apps for the Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad, tablets based on Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)'s Android platform are gaining market share. (See Everyone's Mad About the iPad .)

That initial public offering from Wi-Fi hot-spot firm Boingo Wireless Inc. could bomb if Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) and other service providers continue to expand free Wi-Fi hot spots for their subs. (See Cablevision Ads Attack Slow 3G Networks.)

— Steve Donohue, Special to Light Reading Cable