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Back in October, I compared the various online streaming services here and Netflix looked like it had the most offerings. But what if you want to search across multiple providers for your streaming content, and find out which one offers you the best deal? Enter CanIStream.It, a free iPhone app from Urban Pixels that allows users to search for movies. It is a great idea whose time has come.

As Netflix begins the process of spinning out its streaming business from its traditional DVD rentals, I wanted to examine the alternative streaming services that are currently available. I looked at Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, Vudu.com and Justin.tv. Added to this mix is what is available on Comcast's Xfinity service to just show what can be found from a typical cable TV company. (Of course, if you don't live in a Comcast service area, you can't subscribe to their streaming service online.) I choose five random movies and five TV series to see what was available on each service.

Amazon.com added FOX movie and TV titles through its Prime Membership platform today in a deal that will roughly double the number of available titles to 11,000 by this Fall.

The announcement comes two days before Amazon is expected to launch one of two Kindle tablets to compete with the iPad.

Earlier today, Dish Network CEO Joe Clayton made official what most observers already knew to be true: that the company would be launching a movie streaming service built on the remnants of Blockbuster, which Dish acquired in April.

What was less clear before today's press conference was exactly what the details would be. Those are now revealed, and as it turns out, what Dish and Blockbuster have planned is hardly the "Netflix killer" many predicted.

Hulu is close to extending its agreement with its TV networks that will ensure that the video service will remain intact for the foreseeable future, according to AllThingsD.

The agreement will keep programming from NBC, Fox and ABC on the service as the parent companies of NBCUniversal, News Corp. and Disney work out the direction that Hulu will take in years to come. What does the agreement mean? It is likely a stay of execution for the Web video service, keeping the status quo as the television giants fumble for the future of premium content on the Internet.

Streaming video and DVD subscription service Netflix announced its first quarter earnings for 2011 today. In its letter to shareholders (.pdf), the company showed off its continued growth, with 3.6 million new subscribers worldwide and $719 million in revenue, but the real story might be the company's continued march away from its once-bread-and-butter offering - the humble DVD.

The company barely pays lip service to DVD subscriptions, and spends the majority of the letter discussing plans for first-run TV series and movies, expanded network offerings and competition within the streaming video space.

Netflix, the streaming movie and DVD subscription service, has continued on its march to a streaming-only future by removing the option to quickly and easily queue DVDs from yet another device.

The company announced in January that it would begin removing the option from "streaming devices," but we wonder if users - who were outraged at the idea - realized that the move would extend to devices like the iPad.

Amazon Prime membership now includes unlimited, commercial-free streaming of over 5,000 movies and TV shows. The new benefits of Amazon's premium service expand Amazon Prime beyond its focus that, until now, has primarily offered customers cheaper and expedited shipping.

Amazon's new streaming video service has been anticipated for several months, as the retail giant moves to compete with Netflix in the movie-streaming - not simply the DVD rental or purchase - business.

Despite all the talk of the explosion in online video, playing it can be an incredibly frustrating experience due to the incompatibilities between the various video formats and devices.

A new service from Encoding.com launches today that seeks to address this with a simple new service to make a video playable on a variety of mobile devices: Vid.ly.

Remember a couple months back, when we were all waiting breathlessly for Netflix to release an app for the iOS, so we could finally watch streaming movies on the go? Well, iPhone and iPad users finally got their wish, as did Windows Phone 7 users, but Android users are left awaiting their own, device-specific app.

According to Netflix VP of Engineering Christian Kaiser, this is a key area of focus for Netflix in the coming year, and the company hopes to help define a standard that will bring streaming video to a variety of consumer electronics using HTML5.