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Netflix to Offer Instant Streaming on TiVo
The companies say the service, which will be offered to TiVo Series 3, TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL subscribers, will be "broadly available in early December."
The service comes at no additional charge, according to the companies, to those who subscribe to both Netflix and TiVo.
"For Netflix and TiVo subscribers, this collaboration offers a fabulously easy way to enhance the enjoyment of watching movies in the comfort of their living rooms," says Reed Hastings, co-founder and CEO of Netflix.
"Subscribers to Netflix and TiVo are avid movie watchers and this combination gives them immediate access to all of the great content available through TiVo and the thousands of additional choices available to be streamed instantly from Netflix."
This announcement is the latest in a series that has improved the content availability of Netflix. Yesterday, Netflix announced streaming of HD titles will soon be available on Xbox 360 for Xbox Live Gold members. Engadget, which got ahold of the new Xbox dashboard, says there are about 300 HD titles currently available.
Netflix also signed on with Samsung to stream to the BD-P2500 and BD-P2550 Blu-ray players. The companies say Netflix streaming will be available on "a range of [Samsung] home entertainment products" in the future.
And Netflix recently partnered with LG, offering content streaming on LG's BD300 Blu-ray Player.
We imagine (and hope) Netflix will soon increase the availability of HD titles across the gamut of its content relationships. But what does all this mean for other digital download services such as Vudu?
Grayson Evans got his hands on Vudu and called it a great product. Vudu also recently introduced its HDX format, which and delivers 1080p/24 resolution "virtually artifact free" at more than twice the bit rates. The downside is you have to wait three hours to watch HDX titles.
We also know Vudu has joined the adult video community. Vudu CTO Prasana Ganesan even says the company intends to offer adult videos in HDX.
How does the expansion of Netflix bode for Vudu and other download services?
Leave us a comment below.
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3 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
Vudu looks nice but i think it would be much better with a set monthly access fee for unlimited downloads like netflix offers. and as for new releases 3 Blu-Ray in the mail covers that all for 17.99 a month vs vudu at 4.99 a piece for some newer movies.
There are several things about Netflix that are not being mentioned. For one all of the movies that are available for download either through the Roku, Xbox, or the TiVo are all movies that are at least a year old. No recent movies are available for Netflix over download. This is where Vudu has the one up, for now. Netflix has a list of 300 hd movies. That is good but is it truly HD? What are the specs on this video quality? Sound Quality? All downloads I have seen with Netflix are VCR quality at best. Vudu has the capabilities to do 1080P/24 at 10 bit, using the same video processor/scalar as Blu-Ray, with Dolby Surround. Add in that Netflix has done nothing for a custom installer or ever provided a custom installer with one cent of revenue. Vudu has direct only sales for the XL box, with dedicated profit for our industry. Vudu has the best video and sound quality that cannot be matched by any download, and I mean any download. Vudu has only been in our market for less than a year and has been improving every day. I am sure there will be unlimited rentals of some kind, but Vudu will do it the right way with studio permission. Vudu belongs in our industry, giving installers revenue, and end users the best, computer free user interface, picture and sound quality.
I hope that LG will update its BH200 Blu-ray player to offer the NETFLIX service as well as make this player BD-Live. I know LG promised to make the BH200 a BD-Live player and that was one of my primary considerations when I purchased the player. The NETFLIX service would be a nice extra that would definitely foster brand loyalty among its customers. I heard that Samsung will be offering FW upgrades to make its other players with ethernet connections able to use the NETFLIX service.