online streaming

You may have found a happy routine in your weekly movie night digital rental service, but it's been missing one thing, recommendations from friends. Vdio, by music discovery service, Rdio offers purchase and rental of movies or TV shows, alongside the opportunity to discover new content based on what friends are watching.

Vdio mimics the Rdio discovery setup with Sets, movie and show playlists users create to share favorites with friends, or check out their latest viewing history to start watching their new picks. Though privacy settings are available within Vdio as well for choices you may not want to share.

Film rentals average $5 and purchases are $15, similar to the offerings on iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play. Current Rdio Unlimited subscribers can begin to use Vdio with a complementary $25 credit (along with those who sign up in the next 60 days).

For now, Vdio is accessible on the web and iPad, but if it becomes successful, we can imagine it making its way to streaming services like Xbox and Roku. Are you going to give Vdio a spin this week?

Independent films were once rare, obscure gems reserved for select theaters in big cities — but, alas, it's 2013 and times have changed! Ahead of this Saturday's Film Independent Spirit Awards, which begins at 10:00 p.m. EST on the IFC channel, catch up on the best feature, best director, and best screenplay nominees on iTunes or Amazon Instant Video.

Digital high-definition copies of these artist-driven films can be rented (iTunes users have 30 days and Amazon rentals range from 24 to 72 hours) or bought, and viewed on a computer, tablet, or (if you're really dedicated) smartphone. Take a look at these independent titles that will tug at your heartstrings, make you laugh out loud, and provoke your thoughts, and then tell us your predictions for this year's Spirit Awards.

• Beasts of the Southern Wild — This fantastical bayou tale of a six-year-old girl with a wild imagination will move you. Available on iTunes ($6 to rent, $15 to buy) and Amazon ($4 to rent, $13 to buy).
• Moonrise Kingdom — The summer of 1965 changed the lives of two outcast twelve-year-olds who, off the coast of New England, run away into the wilderness. Available on iTunes ($5 to rent, $20 to buy) and Amazon ($1 to rent, $15 to buy).

Watch more indie films, including a movie from the directors of Little Miss Sunshine and a story starring one very handsome Gael Garcia Bernal.

Today at 9 p.m. EST, the always high-tech White House will be broadcasting an "enhanced live-stream" of President Barack Obama's annual State of the Union address online and on the official White House mobile app for iOS and Android.

Alongside live footage of the president's address, the stream will feature graphics, data, and statistics relevant to the president's talking points. We'll be paying close attention to the numbers — as well as the first lady's box, where Apple will be represented again this year, but this time by CEO Tim Cook. Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of iconic Apple founder Steve Jobs, sat by the first lady during last year's State of the Union address.

After the speech, a panel of policy experts and presidential advisers will answer questions submitted by Facebook, Google+, and Twitter via the hashtag #WHChat.

Tune into the live-stream at whitehouse.gov/sotu, and rewatch the enhanced presentation of the 2012 State of the Union after the break.

If you don't have plans to watch this Sunday's Super Bowl at a bar or gathered around a friend's big screen, don't worry. As long as you're near a computer or have a smartphone or tablet handy, you won't miss a minute of the big game. Here's how.

• NFL.com — Not only is the NFL live-streaming the whole game online to computers and tablets for free, but also, users can opt to watch the game from different camera angles.
• CBSSports.com — Catch the entire broadcast, plus pregame activities, starting at 8 a.m. PST online. The stream also includes all of the big commercials and the halftime show.
• NFL Mobile App (free) — Watch the game anywhere by downloading this app that comes with highlights, access to relevant sports blogs, and more. The only catch? You must be a Verizon customer.

More ways to watch the big game after the break!

Doing the "Which Streaming Service Can I Watch My Favorite Movie On?" routine has gotten tired — we want one place to find entertainment options rather than the app-to-app hopscotch that is Friday movie night. Enter M-GO, a new pay-as-you-go streaming media service that wants to be your homepage for movie and TV content.

Currently accessible on Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox browsers, as well as many streaming players and Blu-ray players, M-GO will also be preloaded on 2013 RCA, LG, Samsung, and Vizio smart TVs, with gaming console integrations and mobile apps coming soon.

How it works: Search the M-GO library for your movie or TV show of choice, then opt to rent (many films are $3, and the company hopes to have many titles on day of digital release) or purchase (around $14) the title. Should the program not be available for viewing through M-GO, it'll direct users to the external services where the movie or TV episode is available including Netflix, iTunes, and Hulu Plus.

Created in a partnership with DreamWorks and Technicolor, M-GO has major Hollywood backing, with licensing agreements with key studios including Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures, NBCUniveral, and Relativity Media. See ya, streaming media maze of 2012, not that we'll miss you.

After you've caught the latest Bond thriller on the big screen, the spy adventures don't have to end. Get crafty with your resources, and add a bit of the MI6 agent to your online life with this guide on watching, reading, and playing Bond well after the lights have come up on your Skyfall screening.

Downloadable Movies
While I'd love to tell you to just log in to one of your streaming media accounts to watch Bond at no additional cost, Netflix's only title is the 1967 spoof Casino Royale, which boasts an impressively low 27% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Though Hulu's library doesn't include any other 007 titles either, you can still get your spy fix online.

• iTunes — Apple's iTunes store has dozens of Bond titles ready for paid download. Require a little action that one movie at a time? ITunes conveniently bundled films together by actor; after all, everyone has their favorite Bond. Get a dose of Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery, or Roger Moore.
• Amazon Instant Video — For $2, rent nearly every James Bond movie made on any device with Amazon Instant Video streaming capabilities, including Xbox, PS3, iPad, and Kindle Fire.
• Google Play — Download a handful of vintage Bond films like Moonraker and Dr. No on an Android device for $3 each.

Books
With the big-screen excitement of Bond, it can be easy to forget it all started with the book series by Ian Fleming. His experience as a naval intelligence officer during World War II provided much of the fodder for his stories, which started in 1952 with Casino Royale. Find the books online:

• Kindle — Download the entire Bond collection to your Kindle or Kindle app. Each title is $7 and includes cool graphic covers.

Read on for where to deliver Bond to your phone.

The heat is on for the title of best team in the MLB as the San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers face off in the 2012 World Series. If you aren't able to follow the game at a sports bar or in real time on the radio, there are three online solutions to keep you updated on every play.

• MLB.tv ($25) — Due to broadcasting licensing rights, it's downright impossible to watch the games online. US and Canada customers that pay $25 for a MLB.tv postseason subscription can listen to live audio of the game or wait 90 minutes after the game's end to watch the full archive. Lucky international subscribers actually get to stream the game live with audio and the option to stream on multiple mobile devices.
• MLB.com's At Bat ($4) — This app is available for nearly every mobile platform, including iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, and even HP's webOS tablet. Though it doesn't include a live video, At Bat does offer real-time pitch-by-pitch updates on the game, video highlights, and text sports news.
• ESPN Radio ($3) — Android, iOS, and BlackBerry users can purchase ESPN's mobile radio app to listen live to commentary and play-by-plays on the series.

Tonight vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan will face off in Kentucky for a live debate on hot-button national topics leading up to the November election. As the online world gets more ingrained with politics, it's never been easier to watch and follow along with the debates from your computer, mobile device, or even video game console. Below, find the must-watch streaming options, plus the Twitter accounts and hashtags to bookmark for extra perspective and facts on the topics the candidates will cover.

The debate kicks off at 9 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. PDT, but many of these resources will have early coverage leading up to the big event.

Online

• YouTube — Preshow streaming coverage starts at 4 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. PDT on YouTube's election channel from its news partners Wall Street Journal, ABC News, and The New York Times, among others. The debate will broadcast live worldwide.
• Xbox Live — Sign into Xbox Live for streams of all four presidential debates. Look for real-time polling and submit questions to fellow Xbox viewers on Twitter with #XboxPoll.
• Tumblr Live GIFs — GIFs rule the Internet, and what better way to follow the political game than with three-second repeating animations? Tumblr staff will be making real-time GIFs of the candidates while their news partner The Guardian provides the stories behind the GIFs.

Keep reading for the Twitter users and hashtags to follow.

It's day three of the baseball World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers duking it out for the championship title. If you can't get to a TV, sports bar, or radio to follow the game live, there are three online solutions to keep you updated on every play.

• MLB.tv — Due to broadcasting licensing rights, it can be difficult (or near impossible) to watch a high-quality livestream of the games online. US and Canada customers that pay $20 for a MLB.tv Postseason subscription can listen to live audio of the game, or wait 90 minutes after the game's end to watch the full archive. Lucky international subscribers actually get to stream the game live with audio and the option to stream on multiple mobile devices.
• MLB.com At Bat ($1) — This app is available for nearly every mobile platform including iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, even HP's webOS tablet. Though it doesn't include a live video, At Bat does offer real-time pitch-by-pitch updates on the game, video highlights, and text sports news.
• ESPN Radio ($3) — Android, iOS, and BlackBerry users can purchase ESPN's mobile radio app to listen live to commentary and play-by-plays on the series.

Netflix cofounder and CEO Reed Hastings issued an apology for customer confusion over its new pricing structure and announced a major change to the company's DVD service. In a few weeks, DVD users will welcome to their lives Qwikster, Netflix's rebranded mail service.

The CEO wrote: "We feel we need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolve, without having to maintain compatibility with our DVD by mail service . . . streaming and DVD by mail are becoming two quite different businesses, with very different cost structures, different benefits that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently."

Netflix and Qwikster will not be integrated; each website will be completely separate from the other. As a subscriber to both services, any changes to an account will need to be made to each website. If you want to remove a movie from your DVD Qwikster queue because it was just added to Netflix's streaming service, sign in to Qwikster and make the change.

Qwikster will also have an option to upgrade to a video games option, letting customers rent games for Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3. The Qwikster website is set to go live in a few weeks. Current DVD subscribers do not have to sign up again for the Qwikster service; it will soon just show up on a billing statement as a charge from Qwikster instead of Netflix. Does Netflix's split affect your account? Do you plan to stay with either Qwikster or Netflix streaming?