TiVo Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL support Netflix

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TiVo and Netflix announced that TiVo Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL DVRs will be supporting the Netflix movie streaming service. Netflix on TiVo is currently in limited testing and will fully roll-out in early December.
Currently the Netflix streaming service offers 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes that you can watch directly from Netflix on your TV now also via TiVo. Read more

Posted on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix Announces Second Gen Media Player for PC and Mac

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Netflix has announced an updated media player for instant streaming of movies online to a PC or Mac. The new media player is based on Microsoft Silverlight. This marks the first time that Intel-based Mac owners could instantly stream Netflix content to their PCs.

Netflix says that this is a first step that will only affect a small portion of its users. However, Netflix says that this is a first step to the roll out of a totally new platform by the end of 2008. Among the enhancements is a new timeline navigator that improves fast-forward and rewind, The player uses PlayReady DRM to play protected content. Read more

Posted on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Netflix Movie Streaming comes to Apple Mac enabled by Microsoft Silverlight

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Apple Mac users can now also stream movies from Netflix with the 2nd generation Netflix Media player based on Microsoft Silverlight.
Netflix started the deployment of Microsoft Silverlight to enhance the instant watching component of the Netflix service and to allow subscribers for the first time to watch movies and TV episodes instantly on their Intel-based Apple Macintosh computers. Read more

Posted on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:09:37 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix, Samsung in streaming Partnership

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By Sue Zeidler
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Online DVD rental company Netflix Inc said on Wednesday that some of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Blu-ray DVD devices can now play video streamed over the Web from Netflix.
The Samsung/Netflix alliance is the fourth such partnership between Netflix and a consumer electronics company aimed at delivering movie rentals online rather than through the mail.
Read more

Posted on Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:23:05 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix sees half million Blu-ray Subscribers

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LOS ANGELES, Oct 20 (Reuters) - DVD rental company Netflix Inc said on Monday it expects about 500,000 of its 8.7 million subscribers will be Blu-ray subscribers in the current quarter.
Netflix this month began adding $1 to monthly membership fees to provide unlimited access to high-definition Blu-ray movies. Netflix said the additional charge, to reflect the higher cost of Blu-ray discs, will be added to billing statements on or after Nov. 5 and only to members who have previously enabled Blu-ray shipping on their Netflix accounts.
Read more

Posted on Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:15:39 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix offers Blu-ray Movies and raises Subscription Fees by $1

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Netflix announces to offer Blu-ray movies. For $1 more in your monthly fee you get unlimited access to the Netflix Blu-ray selection.

The fee is actually automatically added. So if you do not have a Blu-ray player you need to adjust your account on the Netflix site.
Read more

Posted on Thu, 9 Oct 2008 11:17:42 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix to make Starz movies available for streaming

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - DVD rental company Netflix Inc said on Tuesday it has reached a deal to provide about 2,500 titles from Starz Entertainment LLC's broadband subscription service to the Netflix's Web streaming service.
Terms were not disclosed.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 1 Oct 2008 10:12:57 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Roku Netflix Player Review

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The TechLounge published a review of the Roku Netflix Player.
Quote from the review: "It's clear that the shortcomings are all Netflix-based, the greatest of all being selection. They don't have a lot of recent content, and they have a lot of content rated three stars and worse. Often with TV shows, they will have some but not all episodes of a season. But they're adding things constantly, and generally expanding as fast as they can afford to. By the time I thought I'd watched everything I thought was worth my time, I checked again and found an equal quantity of media gems. (Like Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter. Read more

Posted on Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix Player from Roku is I4U Top 100 Holiday Gift Guide Tip #9

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The $99.99 Netflix Player connects to the internet and gives direct access to 12,000 movies on Netflix that you otherwise have to wait for until the mailman drops a DVD at your house.
You can hook up your TV via HDMI or RCA jacks, S-video and component video to the Roku Player.
The Netflix Player is a great gift for people who cannot plan ahead and forget to rent movies in time for them to arrive before the weekend. Until now they had to go to Blockbusters on Saturday to rent a movie. With the Netflix Player they can stay home where it is safe and cozy. Read more

Posted on Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix DVD Shipping back to Normal

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Netflix tested its subscribers this week with a collapse of their shipping centers. The movie rental by mail pioneer experienced 3 days of severe issues at their shipping centers.
On Friday the company announced to have resolved the issues and the shipping centers work normal again.
Customers will get a 15% credit to their next billing statement and new customers who are still in their trial period will get another week of free trial. Read more

Posted on Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:44:21 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

New LG BD300 Blu-ray Player streams Netflix

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Netflix gets another hardware device that supports their on demand video service. The Roku Netflix player was launched in May. Now LG announced the LG BD300 Blu-ray player with Netflix movie streaming capability.

Available this fall, the LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player will play high definition Blu-ray discs, up-convert standard DVDs to 1080p and allow Netflix subscribers to instantly stream more than 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the TV for no additional charge. Read more

Posted on Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox 360 and Netflix Deal, how will Sony's PS3 counter that?

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Microsoft announced yesterday at the E3 2008 briefing a partnership with movie rental service Netflix. Xbox 360 Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix subscribers can this holiday season instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix.

This pretty huge, as Netflix is the largest online movie rental service in the world. With the exclusive deal Microsoft gives the Xbox 360 a pretty strong media presence in the living room, despite lacking Blu-ray support.
For those with limited broadband connectivity the Xbox 360 Netflix deal is of course not adding to their experience. A disc based movie playback is still important in my opinion.
Later today Sony has its turn to counter the Xbox 360 Netflix deal in their E3 2008 press-conference. Read more

Posted on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix Player from Roku Uses Linux Tech

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Trolltech announced today that the new Netflix player from Roku utilizes its Qt for Embedded Linux. Qt for Embedded Linux was formerly known as Qtopia Core. The application is designed to allow manufacturers to build devices for one specific purpose.

"As we developed the Netflix Player by Roku we were keenly focused on creating the best possible user experience for Netflix's eight million-plus customers," said Tim Twerdahl, vice president of consumer products, Roku, Inc. "Qt provided us with the tools to implement our elegant and powerful user interface quickly, providing an important time-to-market advantage." Read more

Posted on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:44:53 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Roku Netflix Player versus Apple TV

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AppleInsider compares the new Roku Netflix movie streaming device to the Apple TV.

Quote: "Like Apple TV, the partnership between Netflix and Roku has given way to a compact box for streaming select movies and TV programs directly to your television. The $100 box serves up unlimited content from Netflix's "Watch Instantly" section as part of the standard subscription price of its DVD by mail service. Read more

Posted on Mon, 2 Jun 2008 14:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix, Blockbuster hold dueling Investor Meetings

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By Sue Zeidler

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Like two movies going head to head on opening weekend, Netflix Inc and Blockbuster Inc made rival presentations to investors on Wednesday, as each DVD rental company vies to stay competitive in a converging marketplace.

Both companies are repositioning themselves to address the challenges of a maturing video rental business and an evolving online sector with giants such as Apple Inc , Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp moving into the market.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 28 May 2008 23:23:15 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Weekly Top 10: Netflix Player, Wii Fit, Rolly

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Nintendo launched Wii Fit this week. Sony launches the weird Rolly Music gadget in the United States. Of course 3G iPhone rumors still ran rampant this week. The biggest buzz this week though was generated by a little box built by Roku, the Netflix Player. Read more

Posted on Sun, 25 May 2008 10:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Roku Netflix Player gets praised to the Skies

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Yesterday the Netflix Player by Roku was launched and positively reviewed by several sites. Somehow the hype of the little video streaming box now goes beyond positive reviews and reaches Apple hype levels.

The NY Times calls the Netflix Player the First Shot of the Revolution. Quote: "The future of video is Internet streaming to the television. This is a bold statement, but I think the Netflix Player proves all the essential concepts. If a TV, with a handful of extra chips, can provide an experience as satisfying as the Netflix Player can, why do we need any other form of video distribution?" Read more

Posted on Wed, 21 May 2008 05:31:48 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix Player by Roku Review

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The first Netflix movie streaming player is here and it comes from Roku. We reported that Netflix would also work with LG Electronics and other consumer electronics companies to bring out video streaming boxes.

I did not hear about Roku for a long time. Back in 2004 we reviewed their cool audio streaming device Soundbridge.
It looks like they are back big time with the very promissing Netflix Player. Read more

Posted on Mon, 19 May 2008 23:23:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr