It looks like Netflix is in no real hurry to get into the movie download game with the announcement of their plans to incorporate video streaming to their website. Their new "Watch Now" feature (which is now available to subscribers) allows customers to stream anywhere between six to 48 hours of content per month. As of now, only a limited number of customers will be given access to the service, due to handling capacity concerns. On top of that, anyone interested must install special software on their PC to view the content. Currently, 1,000 TV shows and movies are available, and it seems that they can be viewed in full, but the fact that the video is streaming does not offer a whole lot of incentive to really use this "Watch Now" feature seriously. I think Scott Kirsner of CinemaTech is right when he labels this move a "stop-gap measure". Netflix does not want to lose their control over the DVD market by getting into downloads.Netflix does video streaming
It looks like Netflix is in no real hurry to get into the movie download game with the announcement of their plans to incorporate video streaming to their website. Their new "Watch Now" feature (which is now available to subscribers) allows customers to stream anywhere between six to 48 hours of content per month. As of now, only a limited number of customers will be given access to the service, due to handling capacity concerns. On top of that, anyone interested must install special software on their PC to view the content. Currently, 1,000 TV shows and movies are available, and it seems that they can be viewed in full, but the fact that the video is streaming does not offer a whole lot of incentive to really use this "Watch Now" feature seriously. I think Scott Kirsner of CinemaTech is right when he labels this move a "stop-gap measure". Netflix does not want to lose their control over the DVD market by getting into downloads.Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. Though if you have a Mac you are out of luck - take a look at the post on the TUAW blog.
Posted at 11:08AM on Jan 19th 2007 by Peter
1. I'm curious as to how this looks. I heard the IPTV that will be offered with the xbox360 will be streamed as well, but the quality is great. I haven't seen it myself, but apparently they'll be streaming HD content as well.
Posted at 3:23PM on Jan 18th 2007 by Joshua