Netflix's animation offerings continues to expand. On Monday, the video streaming service announced that characters from popular DreamWorks Animation movies — such as Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda — will inspire original Netflix shows.

The multi-year agreement with DreamWorks comes just months after Netflix inked new licensing deals with Turner Broadcasting and Warner Bros. to stream previous seasons of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim shows. Netflix also struck a deal with Disney at the end of last year to start offering new, first-run Disney films in 2016.

"This [Dreamworks] deal represents a major expansion of what's already a phenomenal relationship, allowing us to bring beloved DreamWorks characters to the 40 countries where Netflix operates and setting the stage for us to innovate together as we expand into new markets," Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, said in a statement.

Dubbed as the "largest deal for original first-run content in Netflix history," the new deal includes more than 300 hours of new programming inspired by DreamWorks characters as well as some of the DreamWorks-acquired Classic Media characters. No specifics were provided, but the shows will include familiar faces from the Classic Media library such as Archie, Dudley Do-Right, Felix the Cat and Mr. Magoo, and titles like Where's Waldo? and Voltron.

The first original series is expected to be available for streaming un 2014. For users in the United States and Latin America, Netflix will begin streaming DreamWorks' feature films in 2014, starting with The Croods.

In February, Netflix and DreamWorks announced their first Netflix original series for kids based the animated movie Turbo (pictured above), which hits theaters July 17. The series, Turbo F.A.S.T., will continue the film's plot in December.

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Hulu has rolled out a new interface for Hulu Plus on Roku, select Samsung TV and Blu-ray players and the Nintendo Wii.

The update mirrors changes made to the PlayStation 3 Hulu Plus interface last fall and this spring's Apple TV redesign.

The update is more living room-centric, with a focus on larger artwork, an easier way to scroll through recommendations and improved search. It also brings the Hulu Kids section into the living room.

Roku users should get the update now, as should 2012 and 2013 Samsung TV and Blu-ray owners. The update will hit the Wii soon.

At least five companies are reportedly bidding on Hulu — including Yahoo. While Hulu's top traffic draw is its free website, the more than 4 million paying Hulu Plus subscribers are the key to the company's future.

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Voting wasn't the only way millions of Americans participated in the 2012 presidential election. Coverage by major networks and cable channels garnered legions of social media mentions throughout election week.

But even though 14 total broadcast stations and cable news networks raked in about 1.5 million social reactions each, music truly ruled the week. The single program with the most activity on social media was the MTV Europe Music Awards on MTV2, which earned more than 5.5 million mentions. By contrast, CNN had the most socially active audience during its election coverage, but at just less than 2 million posts, it didn't come close to touching the star-studded awards show, which featured Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and viral superstar Psy. Read more…

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An update to the YouTube app for Android and Google TV gives you the option to automatically pair these devices, and watch videos from your phone or tablet on the TV.

Once the devices are paired, you can browse videos on your Android YouTube app and click the TV icon to play them on your Google TV.

The Android device can also be used as a remote control, with pause, scroll and skip options at your disposal. While the video is playing on the Google TV, you can use the Android device to find the next video to watch or browse the web without interrupting playback. Finally, you can connect multiple Android devices to the TV, all of which can then add videos to the playlist.

Google has been working on connecting Android devices with Google TVs for several years. In November 2010, Google launched YouTube Remote for Android. In February, Google filed a patent that describes a system of voice commands through which you can operate your Google TV with your Android device.

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Microsoft made slew of Xbox announcements at its much-hyped "A New Generation Revealed" event, which was live streamed online and broadcasted on TV on Tuesday.

Viewers were treated to the new Xbox One console and its features, such as voice-recognition control for all things entertainment, a TV guide, Skype integration and a new Kinect sensor, among other things.

Microsoft also revealed a Halo TV series (produced by Steven Spielberg), EA Sports Ignite, NFL partnership, Forza Motorsport 5, Quantum Break and Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Naturally, you all had a lot to say, and we gathered your knee-jerk reactions to each feature that Microsoft highlighted. Be sure to sound off in our poll, below. Read more…

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Netflix has added its slick post-play feature to its iOS apps.

The feature was originally introduced last August for the web player, PS3 and Xbox 360 and it allows users to watch more content automatically without having to tinker with the remote or user interface.

When watching a TV show, the next episode automatically cues up and will start as soon as the current episode ends. This is awesome when binge watching episodes of your favorite series — or of a newly discovered favorite.

For movies, users get a choice of three movie recommendations that can be selected for easy, fast playback. Movies don't start automatically, so you don't have to worry abut getting sucked into something you don't want to watch.

We can't help but think that the roll out of post-play is tied indirectly with the upcoming fourth season of Arrested Development. That's a show plenty of fans (myself included) are sure to binge-watch in quick succession. Read more…

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