Netflix launches online movie feature
Posted by Toastyone on 16 January 2007 - 21:20 · 4 comments & 2508 views
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#1 Posted by Danrarbc641 on 16 Jan 2007 - 21:35
- I was kinda wondering if and when Neflix would join this market. Here they are. And the best part is it's part of the subscription we already pay
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(1 reply)
#2 Posted by Arcticflare on 17 Jan 2007 - 02:32
- Jesus, I can't believe they wasted that much money.
They broke ground as far as businesses go, but innovate? Not in the least. What a bunch of rubbish. -
#2.1 Posted by illz55 on 17 Jan 2007 - 05:27
- How did they NOT innovate? Explain your reasonin. The award they are receiving is not given just to nobodies who waste millions with no results. Furthermore, innovation can be business-minded and thus does not have to involve the introduction of a brand-new technology, even though the real-time "instant" resolution changing technology in question here is new also. Great stuff from Netflix I say!
Hastings told Reuters in an interview on Friday here that the feature was aimed at under-30 Internet users who made video-sharing sites like YouTube.com popular. "For consumers under 30, they are doing so much with online video this is a natural extension of their usage paradigm on a laptop," Hastings said. "Eventually we want to be on every Internet-connected screen from cell phones to computers to big screen plasma TVs but the starting place is the PC."
Its instant viewing feature, available only on computers that run the Windows XP and Vista operating systems, plays back DVD-quality digital files almost instantly after subscribers install special software from the Netflix site, a process that takes about 20 seconds. It does not download large movie files to consumers' computer hard drives, but "streams" them directly from the Internet, meaning that users must stay connected to the Web, either through a cable or wireless connection, while viewing a movie.
The feature, which cost Netflix about $40 million to develop, is designed to adjust the picture's resolution based on a user's cable bandwidth so that the movie doesn't freeze during play. Online movie viewing time is awarded to Netflix subscribers based on their rental plans, with entry-level subscribers getting six hours per month and those with the most popular plans--three DVDS at a time-- getting 18 hours per month. Netflix has inked deals to stream online content from NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Lionsgate , New Line Cinema and a number of television studios on the new service.