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Netflix to Charge "Premium" for Renting Blu-ray Discs

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 22nd 2008 at 11:04AM


Whoa boy, we can't imagine this going over well with the Blu-ray junkies in attendance. On a conference call held earlier today, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings made mention that it planned on instituting a "modest monthly premium" to its normal subscription rate for folks who rented BDs. Of course, the move only makes perfect sense -- after all, the discs do cost more, and according to Mr. Hastings, "consumers are used to paying more for high-definition content."

Unfortunately, we're not sure if the price hike (exactly how much has yet to be disclosed) will apply flatly to every single Blu-ray renter or if the premium will be applied in a tiered fashion based on how heavily you rent HD media versus traditional DVDs. With the change slated to occur "later this year," though, we won't be wondering for long.

[Via CNET, image courtesy of WorkItMom]

Blockbuster Wants to Stream Movies to Your TV

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 1:07PM

Blockbuster Wants to Stream Movies to Your TV
Rumors are swirling that Blockbuster is getting ready to take a major risk by entering the set-top box market with a streaming video player. This a move that others have speculated that Netflix would make, though there has been little public information about the project. The box would be an off-shoot of Blockbuster's Movielink service, which the video rental company has failed to fully integrate into its Blockbuster branding since purchasing the movie download service. Movielink has also been overshadowed by digital rental services from higher profile companies like Netflix and iTunes.

Streaming digital media straight to the TV is the ultimate goal of the rental outlets, but figuring out that last mile has been tough. Apple built a set top box (the Apple TV), but Apple was already in the hardware business and so it wasn't as big a risk for them. Netflix and Blockbuster have no experience designing, building, or selling hardware or software.

Perhaps the more logical solution, at least for now, would be to piggyback off of other entertainment devices. Netflix is offering its streaming services via Xbox 360 and rumored soon to be on the PlayStation 3, and Amazon's Unbox movie-and-TV-show download service is already on TiVo, leaving the field a little spare for Blockbuster.

Even so, it might be wise to experiment with delivery on a pre-built device before throwing piles of cash the company clearly doesn't have at a new Blockbuster branded set top box.

From Reuters

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Netflix Not Stocking Enough Blu-ray Discs?

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Feb 25th 2008 at 2:00PM


Excited to see all the Academy Award winners you missed over the last year? Want to see them on your new Blu-Ray payer? Psyched to check out all the new releases in high-definition? Sure you are, so you hit up Netflix to add them to your queue and wait for them to arrive. The only problem? It seems Netflix isn't stocking enough Blu-Ray discs, and your queue looks something like the one above.

We've been aching to say something about this apparent Netflix Blu-Ray shortage for a while, but before we went off on some wild accusatory tangent, we decided to wait for a couple weeks to see if the death of HD-DVD would get Netflix to stock more Blu-Ray discs. You know, to be fair to Netflix. It seems the problem hasn't let up, however.

The above picture is what our queue has looked like for the past couple weeks. See all those "Short Wait, Long Wait, and "Very Long Wait" messages? Those mean those discs are not in stock at Netflix, they're not sure when they will be, and we'll just have to wait for other customers to return their discs. And in the afterglow of the Academy Awards, we're not confident the problem will let up any time soon.

Isn't it time for Netflix to stock more Blu-Ray discs? With the rising popularity of the format, the end of HD-DVD as we know it, and the oncoming rise in Blu-Ray releases (just take a look at the Blu-Ray association's web site that lists upcoming releases), we think it's time for Netflix to stop treating Blu-Ray like a niche product and let us have the HD goodness we're (apparently) waiting for.

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Netflix Coming to Xbox 360 - Announcement Today?

by Tim Stevens, posted Feb 20th 2008 at 12:07PM

Netflix on Xbox 360 Rumors Getting Warmer, Announcement Today?Just last week, we reported that Netflix movies may be coming to the Xbox 360 when a poll from Netflix asked whether subscribers would be interested in streaming movies directly to their video game consoles. The answer Netflix's question was, predictably, "Yes!" That rumor has evolved and gained steam, and CrunchGear reports that Microsoft could announce the partnership as early as today at the opening of this week's Game Developers Conference (GDC).

The GDC is an annual gathering of video game developers and publishers, during which members of the industry talk about trends in game development. Originally it was a fairly low-key, business-focused affair, but recently the GDC has taken on a more glitzy, media-friendly tone. Could Microsoft take the opportunity to steal the show with an announcement of this Netflix partnership? We think there's a strong chance, especially if Reed Hastings, the Netflix founder who is now a member of the board at Microsoft, has anything to say about it.

The question is, if the rumor proves to be true, will Netflix support the PlayStation 3, too, especially after Microsoft soaks up the limelight on this announcement?

From CrunchGear

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HD DVD Responds to Bad Press Day

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Feb 13th 2008 at 6:00PM

HD DVD Responds to Bad Press Day Yesterday was a bad day for HD DVD. We've already declared HD DVD dead in the water, but not everyone has come around just yet. Yesterday both Best Buy and Netflix helped bury the Toshiba-backed HD DVD coalition. Netflix announced that it would begin exclusively carrying Blu-Ray discs, and Best Buy will continue to carry HD DVDs and HD DVD players, but will "recommend" BluRay to customers.

The HD DVD Promotional Group released a press statement in response to the two major setbacks:

"We have long held the belief that HD DVD is the best format for consumers based on quality and value, and with more than 1 million HD DVD players on the market, it's unfortunate to see Netflix make the decision to only stock Blu-ray titles going forward. While the Best Buy announcement says they will recommend Blu-ray, at least they will continue to carry HD DVD and offer consumers a choice at retail."

Obviously, some of the spark and fight has left the group when the best they can come up with is Blu-Ray hasn't pushed us off the shelves yet.

From Engadget

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Netflix Movies for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360?

by Tim Stevens, posted Feb 13th 2008 at 1:14PM

First Details on Netflix for PS3 and Xbox 360?Last month when Netflix decided to offer unlimited streaming of its online movies, rumors started swirling of partnerships with Microsoft and Sony video game consoles to keep the service ahead of new competition from iTunes. Now we have some potential details culled from a Netflix survey that shed some light on just how streaming movies to consoles would work.

According to the blogger, the survey asks the following question:
If as part of your Netflix membership you could instantly watch movies and TV episodes on your TV with your PS/3 or XBOX 360, how likely would you/anyone in your household be to do that?
The answer, for many at least, is very, very likely indeed! The survey goes on to detail that, for the PlayStation 3 (PS3), a $3 disc would be required to enable streaming of Netflix. For the Xbox 360, however, no disc is mentioned. Presumably this is because Netflix already works with Microsoft's copy protection, something the 360 can already handle. The PS3, however, needs a little help, but beyond the possible $3 disc there'd be no additional charge for this service.

There's no mention of when this might come to pass, though. So don't get too excited about it yet, since there's only one source talking about this survey. If and when console streaming becomes a reality,however, Netflix, having already dispatched Blockbuster, should have plenty of ammunition to stay ahead of iTunes in the online rental business.

From Seanbajuice

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Netflix to Go Blu-ray Exclusive

by Evan Shamoon, posted Feb 11th 2008 at 6:27PM

blu-ray

In what may be the final nail (among many final nails) in HD-DVD's coffin, rent-by-mail juggernaut Netflix has just announced that it will be going with Blu-ray as its hi-def movie format of choice (Blockbuster recently made the same decision). The announcement comes in the wake of several major studios finally jumping ship to support Sony's format. all of which tells us one essential truth: HD-DVD is dead and buried.

The worst part? Just think about the countless money, man-hours, and environmental pile-up (not to mention time wasted on forums) it'll have chewed by the time the format finally lays to rest.

Damn you, capitalism.

From Engadget

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Blockbuster Stock Tumbles After Apple's Movie Rental Announcement

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 17th 2008 at 11:51AM

Apple's Movie Rentals Push Blockbuster to the Brink
As if Blockbuster wasn't suffering enough at the hands of Netflix, Apple's announcement of movie rentals was like rubbing salt in an open wound. Following the announcement, Blockbuster stock prices fell 54 cents, or 16.7 percent to end the day at $2.69. Netflix prices also dropped, but only 3.2 percent.

Blockbuster has been struggling to compete with Netflix mail order rentals and online content deliver, which was made completely free and unlimited to subscribers ahead of the anticipated debut of iTunes' movie rentals. Over the past several months, Blockbuster's web site traffic has dwindled, stores have closed, and massive layoffs seem unavoidable. The national movie rental chain's stock prices are about half of what they were as recently as November.

Instead of stemming the tide Blockbuster just seems to be slipping faster and faster into a footnote in content delivery history. The iTune's rentals may just be the nail in the coffin.

From Newsvine

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HD-DVD's Long Walk Back to the Locker Room of Shame

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jan 16th 2008 at 11:15AM

Now that everyone has declared BluRay the winner in the high-def war, what with Warner's announcement and Sony finally allowing adult films to be published on the format, I think it's important to take a look at HD-DVD's long walk back to the locker room after a game well-played.

It would be a mistake to say that HD-DVD will cease to exist tomorrow. In fact, expect to see just the opposite of that. HD-DVD continue on as an underground favorite format, much like Betamax did in the 70s and laser discs did in the 90s. Remember laser discs, the giant optical discs that came before DVD, the stuff of early home theater buffs who could tell you a thing or two about digital mastering way before half of Hollywood was even Bar Mitzvah'd? No? How about beta, the superior tape format that Sony wanted you to buy instead of VHS?

I originally thought HD-DVD was completely done for before the Consumer Electronics Show. Warner's Blu-Ray-exclusive announcement and the HD-DVD group's decision to back out of their keynote made it sound like they would go away with a whimper. On the final day of the conference, however, I took one last walk by the HD-DVD booth just to see what was up. After all, I'm a sucker for a good heartbreak story.

"So I looked on bestbuy.com this morning," began the booth attendant, speaking to three half-asleep attendees who, by my estimation, were there more for the chair rest than the presentation. "You can now buy an HD-DVD drive for $179. That also comes with ten free discs. Ten free discs! That easily makes HD-DVD the best deal in high definition."

The guy had a point. Think about it -- for $179, you can get a high-end HD-DVD player that will also upscale your regular DVDs to high-definition resolution. It will also play your Super-Audio CDs. You also get ten free HD-DVD discs. Go try to buy ten new regular-definition DVDs for $179 -- I dare you. That evening I was ordering an HD-DVD drive from bestbuy.com. Call me a vulture if you will, but I'll be enjoying this winter in high-def heaven. Heck - I might even cancel my Netflix account for a few months and save another $50 or so.

That closing value on the HD-DVD format really is hard to beat. Even if another HD-DVD title never comes out, the closing cost of the format -- along with its hardware -- is easily worth the cost to anyone with a high-definition television. Is it an investment for the far future? Not so much, but most of us who already have home theaters and high-definition televisions aren't exactly known for our electronics long-term investment acumen -- we'll all have new TVs, receivers, and speakers in a few years anyway.

Anyway, with Apple's new iTunes Movie Rentals and NetFlix opening up the "View It Now" service to unlimited views, disc-based movies' days are numbered.

Enjoy the fire sale. I know I will.

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Netflix Pre-Empts Apple With Unlimited Movie Downloads

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 15th 2008 at 1:35PM

Netflix Pre-Empts Apple With Unlimited Movie DownloadsIn the war between Netflix and Blockbuster for online rental domination, it sure looks like Netflix has come out ahead. As Blockbuster suffers layoffs and other financial woes, Netflix traffic from subscribers is way up, far past competition. That battle isn't quite over yet, but for Netflix it's time to start a second fight on a second front: online downloads. Its latest strike is to make "Instant" downloadable movies unlimited for most subscribers.

Netflix launched the streaming service back in early 2007 as "Watch it Now," but it got a retooling and a renaming when it was hacked in August. The service lets you stream one of hundreds of films and television series collections from the Netflix site through a web browser. Right now it sadly only works through Internet Explorer on Windows, making its applicability somewhat limited. Instead of opening it up to other browsers (and Macs), Netflix chose to remove any limits on hours of viewing per month on subscribers. This move comes ahead of an anticipated announcement from Apple of movie rentals from iTunes. This, combined with competition from Amazon's downloadable service and similar offerings from Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace, means the downloadable rental space is finally heating up.

Can Netflix win both in the disc-based media realm as well as the online direct-download area? Its legion of dedicated subscribers will certainly be pulling from it, but Apple fans certainly don't lack dedication themselves.

From Consumerist

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Netflix and LG to Bring Digital Movies to your TV

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 3rd 2008 at 2:09PM

Netflix Teams Up with LG to Bring Digital Movies to your TVAfter leaving Blockbuster in its dust, Netflix is looking to expand its reach beyond the decidedly low-tech DVD rental business. Sure, Netflix.com has its Watch Instantly feature, but that still requires a PC to stream digital content in questionable quality. Cutting out the computer is an important step in seamlessly integrating your digital content and your home theater. To that end Netflix is teaming up with LG to stream movies and TV shows straight to LG's upcoming line of Internet-connected HDTVs and combination Blu-ray / HD DVD players.

The Netflix deal is looking to one-up Amazon's deal with TiVo to stream films from its Unbox service to TiVo set top boxes. Netflix's likely hope is that it can ultimately ditch those costly red envelopes.

From the New York Times

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Netflix Seeing Four Times As Much Traffic as Blockbuster

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Dec 4th 2007 at 2:47PM

Netflix Stops Blockbuster into Submission
It seems as if 'The War' is finally over. Sadly the 'War' we're referring to is not the one in Iraq, or even the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray war. Valleywag is ready to declare a winner in the Netflix / Blockbuster face off, and we can't say we disagree.

According to web analytics firm Compete, by the end of October, Netflix was attracting four times as many unique visitors a month as Blockbuster. Since January of 2005 Netflix web traffic has steadily climbed, while Blockbuster's has dropped off.

Netflix's instant watch feature alone has attracted 450,000 users in the month of November, while Blockbuster struggles to get its direct-download service from Movielink off the ground. Adding to Blockbuster's troubles, Apple is expected to launch a movie rental service via iTunes any day now.

The battle between Netflix and Blockbuster has been a long one. But every time it looked like Blockbuster might be gaining some ground, Netflix countered with a move that buried its competition.

From Valleywag

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Blockbuster Heading for the Dustbins of History?

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 5th 2007 at 3:36PM

Blockbuster Heading for the Dustbins of History?
Is Blockbuster doomed to go the way of the dodo and Betamax? Crave, the gadget blog from the tech-obsessed at CNet seem to think so.

Massive layoffs are in the cards at Blockbuster, as revenue slid almost 6 percent in the 3rd quarter, stock prices are down to an anemic $5.06, and 526 stores have been closed in the last year. It appears that Netflix has not only put a chink in Blockbuster's armor but given it a flesh eating virus.

Blockbuster managed to put pressure on Netflix with lower prices, but all the focus on destroying the pioneer of DVD rentals via mail has taken an even worse toll on Blockbuster.

Consumer familiarity with Netflix and its streaming films have proven too much for Blockbuster to battle. Blockbuster chairman Jim Keyes has even admitted that the focus on Netflix has damaged the company. He has decided to move the focus of the company to just increasing overall membership but it might be too late. Like the traditional print media outlets barely scraping by in this new online economy, Blockbuster may be staring death in the face.

From Crave

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Netflix-Style Rentals Coming from Apple iTunes?

by Tim Stevens, posted Sep 10th 2007 at 11:15AM

iTunes Message Hints at Netflix-Style Rentals?

It seems Apple's iTunes bug-reporting system has spoiled one of Steve Jobs' surprises. On the iTunes error reporting site, you're asked to select from a long list of problems. One of them says "DidNotReceive-RentalMovie," a somewhat clear indicator that iTunes movie rentals are on the way. Whether this confirms you'll be able to get some Netflix-style rental action directly from iTunes in the near future, however, remains to be seen.

If an iTunes movie rental store does prove to be the case, it will add a third player into an already nasty battle between the direct-mail rental shops Netflix and Blockbuster, a war that has resulted in price cuts, new features, and other attempts to woo customers from one to the other. If Apple were to enter the fight, we can't imagine the incentives all three would start throwing about, but we're guessing they'd be quite tasty. This means we, the movie-loving public, will benefit for at least a few months.

At worst, Mac users will finally be able to rent movies online, and this seems like a natural extension of Apple TV.

This rumor was reported last week and confirmed by Engadget over the weekend, by the way.

From fosfor gadgets and Engadget

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Netflix Customer Service Drops E-Mail In Favor of Real People

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 17th 2007 at 5:34PM

Netflix's Secret Weapon in Blockbuster War: Real PeopleThe war between Blockbuster and Netflix continues to roll, and surely this is going to be a bitter, drawn-out affair. But while Blockbuster just keeps trying to undercut the competition with lower prices, Netflix is working to increase the value of its services, first by introducing the (hacked) "View it Now" service, then by expanding its social-networking features. Now, it's doing something completely unlike nearly any other company today: Getting rid of its unresponsive e-mail-based customer service department and replacing it with actual people And, those people actually live in the U.S., rather than another country on the other side of the globe.

The company has opened an office in Portland staffed 24 hours a day by 200 call center employees who handle all customer issues and complaints. Why Oregon? Because apparently that state has the friendliest-sounding voices in the US, according to Netflix. This is quite a change in tactics from the modern trend of large corporations sending their call centers overseas, a process that has raised the ire of many who have trouble understanding the accents of non-native English speakers.

Blockbuster also offers a US-based call center, but it's only open from 8-6pm on week days, and its number is buried inside of the Blockbuster site's FAQs (it's 1-866-692-2789, for the record), rather than being listed on its "Contact Us" page (where it should be!). Netflix's help center isn't exactly on the front page, either, but at least it's open 24/7 and is only one click away from the "Help" page (1-888-638-3549).

Despite its service add-ons, Netflix is still doing some price cutting -- the service has dropped the price of its "Three Out" plan by $1 to $15.99, compared to Blockbuster's $16.99 plan. Of course, the one thing Netflix still can't do is offer you the ability to return a movie in-store and get a new one instantly. This marriage of online and brick-and-mortar rental options is still Blockbuster's biggest weapon, and it remains to be seen whether Netflix's customer-driven features and price cuts are enough to counter it.

From 'The New York Times' and BetaNews

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