Netflix leading the way to digital distribution on three products
It seems like Netflix is on a war path rapidly trying to dominate the home digital distribution race. Other competitors such as Apple TV may find Netflix to be a tougher opponent than originally anticipated.
Currently Netflix latched itself onto three mass market products that have the capability to stream movies straight off the Internet. There is the Roku Netflix Player which debuted at $100 and then there is the Xbox 360 which was recently announced to be able to stream Netflix movies as well by years’ end.
Just recently LG also announced a new Blu-ray player that has the capability to stream Netflix movies. The player is perfect for those having difficulty deciding between digital distribution and hi-def players. The new LG BD-300 is said to cost substantially less than $500.
If all you care about is an easy and convenient method of watching movies then the Roku is the best deal, for a mere $100 you can’t go wrong. However if you want an all in one solution the new LG BD300 player would be the best with Blu-ray playback capabilities.
There are also rumors the PS3 might be getting Netflix streaming capabilities as well. I wouldn’t be too surprised if that happens. It only makes sense because of the PS3′s multimedia playback capabilities.
According to Eectronista you will be able to queue up all of your movies from your Netflix subscription on all three products.
At the rate Netflix is going, it may become the defacto digital distribution channel out there. Considering its huge library of over 12,000 movies already ready to go, streaming competitors will have to scramble to get a foot hold pretty soon.
I am surprised that Blockbuster the brick and mortar giant isn’t trying to wedge it’s heavy library into this arena. Actually, according to my psychic calculations we should be seeing Blockbuster partnering up with a major manufacturer soon.
Related Posts:
August 1st, 2008
Blockbuster remains tone deaf. I stopped going there back in 2000 when they made a decision to skip DVD’s until Divx showed which way it was breaking. Hollywood Video had rentals early and a better selection later.
After I got burned by a program BB had where for $40 you got 5 rentals each week for a dollar, limited to only one New release per week, and promptly left everything New Release status for 6 months. I stop in to buy cheap previewed DVD’s.
August 1st, 2008
Being as the CEO of Netflix is on Microsoft’s board of directors, I don’t really see this coming to the ps3.