LG Adds Netflix to HD TVs

Netflix and LG Electronics announced that LG will soon introduce TV sets that can stream Netflix movies directly from the Web without an external box. “It’s hugely symbolic,” said Netflix’s chief executive, Reed Hastings. “The holy grail has always been to give the TV an Internet jack in addition to the cable jack. It’s an early glimpse of the long-term future.”

Netflix has been hard at work practically equiping every consumer electronic in the home with the capability of instant movie viewing.  From Tivo and DVD players to Xbox 360, Netflix has been fast to lock up as many devices as it can. This partnership with LG is really significant because it is a big step forward in making the TV become a connected device in the home. Read more

Netflix and Tivo Team Up

Netflix has been on a rampage of sorts doing deals to get distribution of their online service. Engadget broke the story tonight that Netflix and Tivo teamed up to offer Netflix’s on demand service. Now people can access thousands of movies both standard definition and HD movies from their Tivo.

Similar to the Xbox 360 Netflix service that recently came out, the functionalty is at no additional cost, you just need a Netflix account to use it. Engadget also got an early hand on experience. They said it is not as flashy as the Xbox 360 experience but the performance was noticably better. Netflix is certainly making a major bet on online distribution and they are moving fast to lock up key distribution channels from Blockbuster.  The recent deal that Microsoft and Blockbuster made to create a Live Mesh application is going to make this a game of chess and not checkers. 

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Netflix Xbox 360 Service Rocks But Needs Some Work

I finally got a chance to play around with the new Xbox Live experience and specifically the new Netflix app. Ever since Microsoft announced the Netflix partnership I was eager to see it in action. I have to say I was really impressed with this new service. But there were a few parts that seemed disconnected. 

The best part of the product is just watching movies. Netflix (NFLX) has standard definition movies and a limited selection of HD movies. I went on a 30 Rock marathon watching the HD version of season 1 and 2. The video quality was very good on a 1080p Samsung LCD. The speed of using the service was also impressive. Movies loaded fast and the navigation was pretty intuitive. But there were some areas that need improvement.   Read more

Blockbuster Service to Compete with Netflix

Blockbuster launched its own set-top box and on demand service today. The cost is $99, but includes 25 movie downloads and the additional movies cost $3.99. This move seems to be in direct response to Netflix‘s series of announcements from the Roku set-top box to the Netflix XBOX 360 service. This looks like two rivaling business models as much as marketing jujitsu.

The Blockbuster offering does not require any recurring fee or subscription like with Netflix. But Blockbuster seems to be really fragmented on their marketing strategy. First, they have a large investment in brick-n-mortar locations that they need to determine if its an advantage or disadvantage. Second, they need to simplify their distribution options. Right now they have distribution in-store, though mail, set-top box, and PC (through MovieLink) all of which don’t have an intergrated experience.

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