Posts Tagged ‘netflix’
By: Jon Christensen on November 5th, 2009 pm30 8:23 pm
Netflix has been sending out emails to people who reserved the free disc, so they can watch the instant streaming feature on the PlayStation 3. According to the email, the disc should arrive tomorrow, Friday, November 6th. Sadly, unlike the Xbox 360, owners who have a subscription to the rental service, must insert the disc first in order to do so. With the 360, viewers just needed to download the NXE feature and Netflix was an option without the need of a DVD. Other than that, that is the only disadvantage PS3 owners have. No word if a program will ever be available for the PS3 where a icon appears on the XMB bar, so gamers can stream a film and not have to insert a dreaded disc every time they want to watch a movie.
If you haven’t reserved your disc, then click here. All you need is a subscription to Netflix and no need to worry about spending money on the DVD, the company sends it out free of charge.
Netflix has been sending out emails to people who reserved the free disc, so they can watch the instant streaming feature on the PlayStation 3. According to the email, the disc should arrive tomorrow, Friday, November 6th. Sadly, unlike the Xbox 360, owners who have a subscription to the rental service, must insert the disc first in order to do so. With the 360, viewers just needed to download the NXE feature and Netflix was an option without the need of a DVD. Other than that, that is the only disadvantage PS3 owners have. No word if a program will ever be available for the PS3 where a icon appears on the XMB bar, so gamers can stream a film and not have to insert a dreaded disc every time they want to watch a movie.
If you haven’t reserved your disc, then click here. All you need is a subscription to Netflix and no need to worry about spending money on the DVD, the company sends it out free of charge.
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By: Jon Christensen on October 26th, 2009 am31 11:09 am
Netflix has finally announced its streaming service is coming to the PlayStation 3. During a press briefing at E3 2008, Microsoft broke the news that the rental subscription based service would come to the Xbox 360’s next big update, which happened in the fall of last year. Many figured Netflix would one day make its way to either the PlayStation 3 and/or the Nintendo Wii, but just not take this long.
Well today is the day, because both Netflix and Sony have revealed that the movie rental service is coming to the PlayStation 3 in November; however, no specific date has been mentioned other than the month. “The PlayStation 3 system has always been about more than just gaming, and it will soon be the only platform in the industry to offer consumers such a variety of convenient options for enjoying movies and TV shows,” said Jack Tretton, president of SCEA.
The technology will compete directly with Sony’s pay-to-watch movie collection service already available on the PlayStation Network. Some wondered if this was the reason why Sony didn’t jump on Netflix bandwagon sooner because they wanted to try their own method first, instead of using a third-party company.
Michael Pachter, who is an analyst for Wedbush Securities, believes PS3 owners would have to own a Blu-ray disc in order for Netflix to work with the system because of a clause Microsoft has with the rental company. “We believe that the exclusive arrangement limits Netflix’s ability to appear on the ‘dashboard’ for the PS3 or the Wii.” Thankfully Netflix confirmed on its website that the the disc is free. It’ll be interesting to see how that will unfold and how Microsoft will downplay Netflix coming to their competitor. It should also be noted that Pachter feels the Nintendo Wii owners will also have the ability to use Netflix within the next 12 months.
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By: Jon Christensen on August 4th, 2009 am31 1:13 am
According to a post over at MultiChannel.com, Netflix’s streaming service could be coming to the Nintendo Wii and the iPhone. The report identified a source as an “industry executive familiar with Netflix’s plans,” told the site that Netflix is already preparing to launch the streaming service to both the videogame system and the iPhone and iPod touch series.
For the past year or so, rumors have suggested that the Wii would be getting access to the 12,000+ instant movie watching service, sometime soon. However, the iPhone getting something similar is news to us, and the idea is already getting our months salivating with excitement. Other than the revelation, no further details were revealed.
Because of the limitations of AT&T’s 3G network and their continued stoppage of anything that requires a lot of upload, Netflix would most likely only work on a WiFi network. But hey, it’s better than nothing.
The Wii getting Netflix is also huge news considering the system has sold 50+ million units which has the potential of giving the rental site millions of extra subscribers. But because of the Xbox 360 receiving the same thing a year ago, it doesn’t get me personally as excited.
If these reports are correct, I guess that would make the PlayStation 3 the odd-man out.
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By: Jon Christensen on June 18th, 2009 pm30 6:33 pm
Last year during E3, Microsoft announced that they would be allowing Netflix subscribers to watch streaming films using their Xbox 360 console. For the last couple of months, there has been speculation that Netflix was going to expand their access for gamers to watch films directly to their console, which go beyond just the Xbox 360. Meaning, PlayStation 3 and Wii owners would have the same ability and would be able to watch films straight to their TV by simply using their gaming system.
Although nothing was concrete, it seemed like this was eventually going to happen because of customers surveys. Many of these questionnaires were asking consumers how they would like to see both the PS3 and Wii having access to the online rental company. In fact, many people were already figuring that we would see some kind of announcement during this year’s E3. Of course the conference came and went and we heard nothing.
Today, a job listing over at Craigslist has just appeared, and it looks like this could be the best evidence we have seen yet, to see Netflix crossing over to the other videogame consoles.
The listing is titled “Netflix- Senior Software Engineer – Gaming Platforms“, and the ad is for “The Gaming Platforms team“, which appears to be a subdivision of Netflix. “The Gaming Platforms team is a newly forming group responsible for prototyping, testing and building the Netflix experience for gaming consoles,” reads the classified. “Over the last ten years, Netflix has developed the world’s best personalization and movie finding technology – this team’s challenge is to bring it to gaming consoles and create a fantastic experience used every day by our growing subscriber base of over 10 million customers.”
“In this role we need an engineer with experience developing media rich applications on current generation gaming consoles. Candidates will be very technical, strong C++ programmers, and execution focused,” it reads.
Notice how the Craigslist listing uses “consoles” in a plural sense and not just “Xbox” or “console?” This would suggest that Netflix is looking for developers who are familiar with other systems than just the Xbox 360. The ad also mentions “consoles” a two other times; “You have years of experience building software on the current generation gaming consoles. You are familiar with one or more of those consoles, the technical hurdles associated with them, and the means of navigating those hurdles.”
The only reason why we would never see Netflix make its way onto another or both consoles is a simple one. Microsoft would have had contract with the online company which would bar them from using other systems, which I highly doubt. And even if they did, I’m sure we would have heard of such a legal document. If anything, it would only be a timed-exclusive, and even then I have my doubts.
I think its pretty evident that Netflix is looking into other avenues to grow their online streaming business. They understand that this is the future of viewing movies and they need to adapt fast. For the most part, videogame consoles are the perfect fit. Many of them are already in the living room and hooked up to the Internet. Netflix wouldn’t need to sell any external piece for it to work and millions would already have accesses to it. I think it’s more up to the videogame hardware companies to allow Netflix to work on their system, than Netflix wanting themselves to be available to PS3 and/or Wii owners.
After the jump, read the full job listing. (more…)
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By: Jon Christensen on April 13th, 2009 pm30 1:40 pm
Many rumors have started up about the possibility of seeing Netflix stream movies on other consoles besides the Xbox 360. To be fair, the gossip didn’t start up from thin air, it came from surveys that the online movie rental company polled themselves. However, up until now, the Netflix has been pretty mum, about the idea.
Today, an interesting job listing has appeared on Netflix’s own site. The company is looking for “Engineering Leader—Gaming Platforms” who must “seek deep experience developing and testing media rich applications on current generation gaming consoles.”
Now, this could be nothing more than Netflix looking for someone to improve their Xbox Live experience. Although, I think that’s unlikely, mainly because of the surveys that have leaked online. On top of that, Netflix has already seen success with their customers using an Xbox 360 to stream movies. It would only make sense for the company to look into other avenues and use different medias like the PS3 and/or Wii, and potentially sign up more subscribers.
(via: gamasutra)
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By: Derek Matias on March 20th, 2009 pm31 6:29 pm
Today, Joystiq.com published a screenshot from a survey for Netflix.com, the movie rental service. One of the questions on the survey proposes a possible “added benefit” to the already DVD’s by mail, by internet streaming, by streaming to a Roku box, or by streaming to an Xbox 360. This added benefit would be the ability to stream movies to your Nintendo Wii. It would work the same way the Xbox 360 does, however, you would be required to have a “Netflix Instant Streaming” disc in your Wii whenever you want to watch a movie.
This disc would cost anywhere between $2.99 and $9.99 (the two screenshots on Joystiq have different prices) most likely the cost of the disc itself. The reason that it would not be included in a firmware update is probably due to limited space on the internal memory reserved for the firmware. Now this is only a survey, so generally what happens is if they get a good response they will start to work on the project to find the best solution and make sure it could work. Then they would need to meet with Nintendo (which they must have already been in talks with), and then you would hear an anouncement (GDC is too soon, but E3 would be a good time to announce it), and then their would either be a small roll out to select Wii owners or there could be a full rollout. The screenshot is below:
“Click to enlarge.“
Source: Joystiq
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By: Jon Christensen on November 6th, 2008 am30 3:22 am
Do you know those ‘Free 48 Hour Xbox Live‘ cards you get on occasion when you purchase a game for the 360? According to the site streamingmedia, those little cards are going to include not only Xbox Live, but a free trial for Netflix. Meaning, if you’re unsure about the whole streaming movies, simply find these cards and you’ll have the ability to check it out yourself without committing to a service.
This is a smart promotion for both Netflix and Microsoft. Having these two services and combining them together will make any person who owns a Xbox want to at least it. And why wouldn’t they, not only can they play games online but also, download demos, DLC, and now watch movies — even a select few in HD.
The first game to take advantage of the promotion is the new Bond game. However we expect to see more games include the new card when the ‘New Xbox Experience‘ date gets closer.
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By: Jon Christensen on October 29th, 2008 am31 12:24 am
Here is some awesome news for Xbox 360. We all know Netflix support will begin for the Xbox in a few weeks on November 19th. But what we didn’t know was there is a added twist for Xbox Live members and it’s a good one. If you have a Netflix account — not only can you watch thousands of movies right on your gaming console, but the movie rental company will give us a option to view ’some’ films in HD. This will be the first time for Netflix to offer HD quality movies being streamed online and we get it first!
However, there is a minor flaw with the introduction. While having the ability of watching HD movies is certainly exciting — there will only be approximately 300 movies available on the first day. And at this point, we don’t know which movies we’ll be able to choose from.
Either way, expect the HD library to grow and hopefully fast because this is a great way for Microsoft to compete with Sony’s Blu-ray player. It’s also a way for Netflix to battle it out against Apple’s set-top box — Apple TV.
Source: engadgethd
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By: Jon Christensen on October 9th, 2008 am31 1:04 am
The highly anticipated update for the Xbox 360’s dashboard is about to finally launch globally on November 19 — Microsoft announced at their Tokyo Game Show press briefing. The update will include the Avatars that seem oddly similar to the Mii’s offered on the Wii System. The concept is the same as the Nintendo’s idea when it debuted back in 2006 — create a virtual person in the Xbox menu, than at one point you’ll be able to transport them into certain games that take advantage of the new Avatars. The first game to adapt to the new update will be the movie trivia game, ‘Scene it?: Box Office Smash.‘
The biggest feature included in the update has to be the ability to watch Netflix movies through Xbox Live. Not only can you just watch a movie in your queue, but you can view the movie with a friend on another Xbox using their online service. You can even put on the headset and talk to him/her while the movie is playing. And the best part of the Netflix support, it’s free! All you need is a Xbox Live subscription and a Netflix account and you can watch what ever movies are available through Netflix’s streaming service, which is about 12,000 right now. But it could grow by November 19.
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By: Jon Christensen on September 23rd, 2008 am30 5:50 am
*Update*: After checking out Netflix.com, we discovered the website has in fact confirmed streaming will be made available through Xbox Live starting this fall. Below you’ll see a screenshot from their site showcasing a Samsung Blu-ray player and Xbox 360. And reporting both will feature online viewing with a TV.
The Wall Street Journal had interesting article regarding Netflix and how they bet the future of movies is the internet. During the story, they mentioned a small tidbit about Xbox Live streaming movies using the subscription based company. Although they didn’t go in ‘detail,’ they did mention Netflix is planning on using Xbox Live ‘this fall.’
In July, Netflix and Microsoft Corp. said they would stream movies and TV shows to subscribers of Xbox Live, a Web-based service for users of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 videogame system, starting this fall. More than 12,000 movies and TV episodes will be available when Netflix launches on Xbox Live. The service will be free to Xbox Live Gold members who are also Netflix subscribers, the companies said.
We already figured not every movie would be included to stream in the Netflix library. Considering the California company only allows a small percentage of their films available online for the PC, it shouldn’t surprise anyone not to see every movie on Microsoft’s online gaming subscription.
Either way, I can’t WAIT to have this service and gives me another reason to believe that Xbox Live is a far superior online service than its competitors.
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By: Jon Christensen on July 21st, 2008 pm31 2:45 pm
One of my favorite announcements that Micosoft made at this year’s E3 was the ability to access Netflix with your Xbox Live subscription. A few months ago, I debated on buying the new hardware from Netflix called “Roku.” It was a device that you hooked up to your TV and streamed movies from your Netflix que.
Thankfully, I can save $100 and just use my Xbox to do the same thing. Watch the video above and see how easy it’s going to be to use.
My only complaint: just like the Roku, we’ll have to log on to your Netflix account, through a computer, then select the movies you want on your que. You won’t be able to select anything on the Xbox itself.
Just a minor issue, but something I can certainly live with. Again, check out the video tutorial above.
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