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Netflix for Windows Media Center ... Finally!
Netflix is now available through the main Start menu on Windows Media Center. Microsoft follows Tivo, Roku, Digeo, DVD players, TVs and other Netflix streaming devices.
Netflix is now available for easy viewing on TV through Windows Media Center.
It's a great addition to the Media Center environment, but I have to wonder: What took them so long?
Apparently the Netflix app is seamless – just select Netflix under the TV+Movies tab in Media Center's main menu. (I say apparently because I don't see it yet through my S1Digital P500 machine.)
There you have it: access to 12,000-plus movies and TV episodes for watching instantly on a TV connected to a Media Center.
You can do pretty much anything you can do through Netflix's own PC interface – browse "watch instantly" content, manage your online and DVD movie queues, search by genre ….
The service is powered by Silverlight, Microsoft's platform for content delivery.
I have been using the very capable vmcNetflix Media Center plug-in, painstakingly developed by a third party. It is fantastic, but it hangs up occasionally and you can only get there through the program library under the "online media" tab – a few extra clicks, no biggie.
With Microsoft's own version, the Netflix button is right on the main start screen.
Netflix has been available through Xbox for quite some time for members of Xbox Live Gold.
“We’re continuing to work with the top content providers today to make watching TV on the PC a mainstream experience for the future,” says Craig Eisler corporate vice president of entertainment client software for the TV, Video and Music Business Group at Microsoft.
Microsoft says the Netflix service will appear on Media Center start screens today.
The company follows these vendors in providing Netflix to the TV:
UPDATE 12:00 from the PR company: It’s been pushed out on the servers, but could take 24-48 hours to automatically appear for everyone. You can manually push an update, which should bring it down.
It's a great addition to the Media Center environment, but I have to wonder: What took them so long?
Apparently the Netflix app is seamless – just select Netflix under the TV+Movies tab in Media Center's main menu. (I say apparently because I don't see it yet through my S1Digital P500 machine.)
There you have it: access to 12,000-plus movies and TV episodes for watching instantly on a TV connected to a Media Center.
You can do pretty much anything you can do through Netflix's own PC interface – browse "watch instantly" content, manage your online and DVD movie queues, search by genre ….
The service is powered by Silverlight, Microsoft's platform for content delivery.
I have been using the very capable vmcNetflix Media Center plug-in, painstakingly developed by a third party. It is fantastic, but it hangs up occasionally and you can only get there through the program library under the "online media" tab – a few extra clicks, no biggie.
With Microsoft's own version, the Netflix button is right on the main start screen.
Netflix has been available through Xbox for quite some time for members of Xbox Live Gold.
“We’re continuing to work with the top content providers today to make watching TV on the PC a mainstream experience for the future,” says Craig Eisler corporate vice president of entertainment client software for the TV, Video and Music Business Group at Microsoft.
Microsoft says the Netflix service will appear on Media Center start screens today.
The company follows these vendors in providing Netflix to the TV:
UPDATE 12:00 from the PR company: It’s been pushed out on the servers, but could take 24-48 hours to automatically appear for everyone. You can manually push an update, which should bring it down.
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About the Author
Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
Julie Jacobson is co-founder of EH Publishing and currently spends most of her time writing for CE Pro, mostly in the areas of home automation, networked A/V and the business of home systems integration. She majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has never taken a journalism class in her life. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player with the scars to prove it. Follow her on Twitter @juliejacobson.
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