Comments | cmeador: Some neat stuff lately with Netflix / Roku

cmeador

Some neat stuff lately with Netflix / Roku

Jan 18, 2009 20:38

We got some nice features added recently.

1. Netflix streaming now works on Macs
2. Netflix now has limited HD support on streaming
3. Roku added support for Netflix HD
4. Roku to add support for Amazon VOD

I am hoping that Roku will add Hulu support next.

Comments 5

kdknigga January 19 2009, 13:05:38 UTC

I had never heard of Roku, but it looks pretty cool. If only it would stream AVIs and MPEGs off of SMB file shares, I'd be on it like white on rice.

cmeador January 28 2009, 03:12:40 UTC

The sweetest box at the moment (AFAIK) is the Popcorn Hour.

http://www.popcornhour.com/

A little more than the Roku but a nice low-power media extender option if you don't already have an Xbox or whatever.

jumpy_girl January 20 2009, 19:17:02 UTC

I'd like to know your opinion on #4 to settle a disagreement between Chuck and I. We both read up on the availability of support for Amazon VOD. I think that this is just an added benefit, but Chuck fears that Netflix will slow down their movement of movies from "DVD only" to "DVD and Instant". His theory is that there is some sort of financial agreement between Amazon and Netflix and/or Roku to promote Amazon VOD. I haven't noticed any slow down yet, but that may be because the films I watch are not in high demand anyway.

What do you think?

cmeador January 28 2009, 03:24:34 UTC

I'd be very surprised if Netflix had any plans to slow their streaming availability. The reason is simple, I've had my two DVDs since 12/18 and 12/23 respectively -- in part because they are lame and I don't really want to watch them (Nanny McPhee and Solaris) but more importantly because I have so many other options every night online. The cost of delivering streaming is so much less than sending DVDs through the mail that they have to be bonkers over the switchers like me! It seems to me like this is a huge incentive to remain competitive in the online streaming space. I haven't been tracking the rate of available titles though, so no numbers to back up this idea.

cmeador January 28 2009, 03:27:24 UTC

By the way, I have streamed over 80 titles since 12/23 (mostly tv shows so that translates to like 50 discs).