Is Comcast Already Undermining Net Neutrality?

Comcast has plenty of reasons to not like Netflix's popular streaming service. Not only does it compete with Comcast's own video on demand services, but it does so using Comcast's internet services. But them charging an extra toll for delivering Netflix doesn't seem right.

Unfortunately, that's just what they're doing. Level 3 Communications, which helps deliver Netflix's streaming movies, has been hit with a new toll for delivering streaming video content. Essentially, this goes against the idea of net neutrality, allowing for an ISP like Comcast to favor its own content over that of another website or provider.

It's certainly a lousy precedent to set! Hopefully net neutrality will be come law soon to nip this sort of nastiness in the bud.

Read the whole article here at the NY Times.

[NY Times via Dvice]

Delays For New Releases To Get Longer For Netflix

When Warner Bros. announced the deal with Netflix back in January to delay new release rentals 28 days in exchange for providing more streaming content, I wasn't crazy about the idea. The deal was by delaying the rental by 28 days, it would help increase dvd and Blu-Ray sales. Well I guess it worked because Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes thinks they should make the consumer wait even longer. Check the quote:

"So far the 28-day window has clearly been a success versus no delay. The question of whether we ought to go longer is very much under scrutiny. It may well be a good idea."

Now considering that only 20% of Netflix library is available for streaming, I would hope that Warner Bros. and other movie houses would expand the VOD line in exchange for this. If you're going to make the consumer wait longer for new releases, Netflix and consumers should certainly get something out of the deal. I for one love the streaming feature that Netflix offers and would welcome an increased selection of movies. So long as the movie houses continue to offer more VOD content, I would welcome the delay.

[Gizmodo]

Netflix To Offer Streaming Only Plan This Year?

As Netflix continues its domination of the rental world, CEO Reed Hastings made an interesting statement during his companies Q4 financial results. “Three years ago we were a DVD-by-mail company that offered some streaming. We are now a streaming company, which also offers DVD-by-mail.”. This statement alone is the reason why Blockbuster will go the way of the Dodo bird. Not only did Netflix come up with way to beat Blockbuster at its own game (movies by mail), but by thinking forward with streaming, they're set up to push them out of existence.

With Netflix recently expanding to Canada, there have be talks that U.S. customers may be offered streaming only service sometime later this year. So if you're not interested in getting DVD's or Blu Ray movies by mail and only want the streaming service, you may not have to wait very long.

This week Netflix and Apple served notice that physical media is (almost) dead!!!

[Engadget]

Netflix Without The Embarrassing Disc For PS3

Sony finally figures out what Microsoft did over a year ago, and integrates Netflix into the Playstation 3 platform. Previously PS3 users had to use a physical disc if they wished to stream Netflix movies. While this wasn't a deal breaker by any stretch, the physical wear and tear of a required disc to stream was never a good idea. Especially when PS3's main rival Xbox 360 never needed a disc and had a software only solution that was part of its platform. This also appeals to the lazy in most people, since you no longer have to swap out a disc if you would like to stream a movie.

I personally didn't like the fact that if I scratched up the disc (with a 4 year old in the house, it's always a chance), I couldn't stream a movie until a replacement disc arrived.

The update will roll out on Monday October 18th.

[Crunchgear]

Epic Fail: Rumor Of Blockbuster Filing Bankruptcy In September

Even though Blockbuster was said to be one of the companies to disappear in 2011, I just didn't think that the end would be so close. Well rumor has it that the once Behemoth movie rental company will file for bankruptcy next month. And it seems that these rumors have legs, as a meeting was said to have taken place between six of the major movie houses and Blockbuster to alert them of the filing next month.

Obviously a bankruptcy filing doesn't mean that a company is going bye bye, but it does make it clear that Blockbuster is in trouble. Blockbuster is said to be on track to close 500 more stores adding to the 1000 that were closed last year. Unless Blockbuster does some serious restructuring of their business plan, the mid-September filing will not help them. The problem is that Blockbuster continued to operate with an old antiquated system which made them a lot of money at one time. But the refusal to change how they operated (until it was too late) along with the Netflix tsunami, Blockbuster stayed on a collision course with Bankruptcy.

So now Blockbuster will try to pick themselves off the floor with a stronger push in the mail-order and digital rentals. Will they have the ability to restructure themselves during the bankruptcy to become a viable business, only time will tell......

But the smart money says no!!!

[Gizmodo]

Netfilx App Comes To iPhone

Netflix has slowly and successfully sunk its teeth into me with a great business plan from day one. Not only have they backed the once king of the rentals Blockbuster into a corner, but has taken how we view content to a whole new level. From the rent as long as you like model, to streaming instantaneously to your TV, to now streaming directly to your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad anywhere you are.

With the release of the new iPhone app today, Netflix has continued to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to content distribution methods. So now if you have a long train commute, you can fire up those 'Dexter' shows that you've wanted to catch up on. The best part of all this is that you're not confined to only Wi-Fi with this app, and can stream directly over 3G (which now that I think about it may not be that great after all).

Oh well, I'm going to tax AT&T's weak network even more with this new toy!!!

[Gizmodo]

Netflix To Delay New Rentals By 28 Days

If you're a Netflix user you are a little disappointed today, as the mega-video renter has come to an agreement with Warner Bros. to delay all new releases by 28 days. This is said to force people to buy the DVD as appose to just renting them.

So what's in it for Netflix?

Well in exchange for this agreement, Warner Bros. will open up more movies for streaming to Netflix. Now that Netflix has opened the door for this, it's only a matter of time for the other movie homes to follow suit and look for the same deal. If you like to get the new releases right away your only option (legally) will be Blockbuster, Redbox, or another Brick & Mortar outlet.

If you like Blu-Ray, your only option will be Blockbuster..... and that sucks!!!!

I understand Netflix's desire to get more streaming content, but I don't think it should have come at such a high price to their other customers who don't stream. I have this feature so I have mixed feelings about it. But I think that Netflix could have worked something else out, perhaps delaying the new releases 7 days and not 28. If someone wants to buy the dvd, they're going to buy it, and I don't think delaying rentals will help movie houses dvd sales.

The price was too high Netflix!!!

[Gizmodo]

Netflix Instant Viewing available in Windows Media Center

Netflix Watch Instantly fans just got another way to view those 12,000 titles, now on Windows Media Center in Vista. Sure, you could watch Instant Viewing flicks in Internet Explorer on a PC before, but now you have all the convenience and the attractive user interface of Media Center, right there under the TV+Movies tab. You can now control your Netflix queue and account from there, too.

So now Netflix instant streaming is available on set-top boxes, through Blu-ray players, on PCs, on TiVo, and now Media Center. We're big Netflix fans, giving you that streaming video goodness (with some HD titles) along with the huge library of by-mail movies for 10 bucks a month at the cheapest. This only makes it better.

[Via Gizmodo]

The New Xbox 360 UI

Come November 19th the new UI redesign for Xbox 360 will officially hit the consoles, and judging by some of the early reactions, it’s going to be an ass kicker. Gone is the blade system which in my opinion was ok, but certainly lacked style or substance. The UI has a smoother scrolling feature and will allow you to build your own avatar. But the biggest feature for me is the Netflix streaming that will let you download and watch standard and high definition movies. Netflix says that they already have 300 HD movies available, which is far from all the movies that they have in their inventory, but it will grow from there. This feature alone should make people run to pick up an Xbox 360 this holiday season. Our friends at Crunchgear got a chance to test drive the new UI, and were kind enough to provide video.

Check it out.

Xbox 360 Dashboard to support Netflix Streaming

This morning we announced support for Netflix service as being built-in in an upcoming software update to 360 service. As C|Net points out, there have been some workarounds for this in the meantime, but this solution will allow you to stream natively and without a dedicated Media Center PC.

Also announced is a shared movie experience that will let you watch a movie at distance with up to 7 friends at once. Major Nelson promises more details on this later today.

[via Channel 10]

I am looking forward to it, hopefully it'll fix the problem with fast forwarding and rewinding.  It can jam up with the current workarounds.

View Netflix movies on your Xbox 360

OK, we talked about this a little bit ago and I said that I'd let everyone know how well it worked. After a little delay (mostly due to the fact that my stuff was pilfered), I have installed vmcNetflix and I can say whole-heartedly, it works great. Not only can you watch the streaming movie, you can download it to watch later without worrying about lag or bandwidth.

Here's a list of features.
* Stream WatchNow movies directly to the Media Center player.
* Download WatchNow movies to a "Watch Later" gallery.
* Support for Vista Extenders on both x86 and x64 platforms.
* Support for Netflix Instant Queue.
* Support for Episode listings.
* Search for movies by keyword.
* Browse DVD and WatchNow movies by genres.
* Sort Gallery by Title, Year, or Star Rating.
* View your queue, history, and recommendations.
* Add, remove, move movies in your queue.
* Supports DVD/Movie Parental Controls

What You'll Need
1. An Xbox 360
2. Windows Vista with Vista Media Center (it's included by default in Vista Home Premium and Ultimate)
3. A Netflix subscription
4. The freeware vmcNetflix plug-in

[LifeHacker via Joystiq]

Vista Media Center gets Netflix Plugin with view now support

I just saw this and have tried it out. It works. The only thing that sucks so far is that it doesn't work for the Xbox 360 Media Extender. But since this is only the beta, that may be working soon.

This incredible MCML plug-in has a host of features including “Watch Now” streaming ability! That’s right, no more waiting for Netflix to get their head in the game. Other features include…

View Netflix queue
Browse movies
View your history/recommendations
Add/remove/move movies to your queue
Browse “Watch now” movies
Play “Watch now” movies

Grab the free beta download here.

[Chris Lanier's Blog via Download Squad]

Update: Well, its looking like Netflix is looking into adding the Xbox 360 and the PS3 as options for their streaming service. Check out the article at Electronista here.

Netflix Tries To Beat Apple To The Punch

One thing that I like about Netflix is that they don’t wait for the preverbal train to run them over before they react. Such is the case with the decision to give most of their users unlimited movie streaming downloads, in response to Apple’s rumored announcement tomorrow at MacWorld. Apple is said to announce that they will get into the movie rental business and stream movies to users for $3.99 a pop. Netflix will offer unlimited streaming download for a monthly set price for all but their cheap ass users (such as me) that are part of the 2 movie rentals a month for $4.99. So while Apple will offer per movie downloads, Netflix will give you the run of the house. This is a great option for people who rent 5 or more movies a month, as long as you don’t mind watching a movie on your computer.

This should be a lesson for Blockbuster. Don’t sit on your ass, waiting for someone to kick it!

[Yahoo News]

Blockbuster Buys Movielink

Blockbuster is taking major steps to step on Netflix's neck!!!

With the purchase of Movielink, Blockbuster is in position to put Netflix in a bind. Netflix had held a trump card against Blockbusters on-line store simply because they had VOD service that Blockbuster couldn't match. That all may have changed with the purchase of Movielink, which will give Blockbuster more than 3300 titles for VOD. Netflix sill has more VODs, but this may level the playing field a little more.

No word on how much Blockbuster paid for Movielink, but rumor has it at just under $50 million. I think this war should be settled by Mortal Kombat once and for all, with our VOD souls going to the winner.

Check it out here. [NYT via Gizmodo]

Hackers Decrypt And Save Netflix Streamed Movies

It looks like hackers have figured out how to decrypt and save movies that are streamed from the Netflix's online service. According to Gizmodo:

"The tools: Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player 11, FairUse4WM and Notepad.
The method: finding and downloading the URL of the video file, getting the license key and stripping the DRM."

The only catch? You have to be a Netflix subscriber, because you have to download the movie from their service.

Now I want to make this clear!!! This is only for informational purposes only. Contrary to what others say or believe, I'm not telling anyone to pirate or do anything that is illegal; this is only for the sake of sharing the information that has come across our way.

[Rorta via Gizmodo]