The LG Electronics BD-300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player is now appearing on store shelves. Best Buy and Circuit City are among the many retailers carrying the product.
In addition to playing high definition Blu-ray discs and upscaling the picture quality of standard DVDs, it instantly streams movies & TV episodes from Netflix to your TV. LG's BD-300 is the first Blu-ray player to support instant streaming from Netflix. For details, see LG's product microsite at http://us.lge.com/bluray/
Netflix is excited to see the second Netflix ready device reach consumers, and we look forward to sharing more product releases with you in the future.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
Oh, but you still have to charge more for Blue-Ray rentals because you're loosing money on Blue-Ray.....
....sure.....
right....
Three question (please answer) will we have support for:
1. PlayStation 3
2. Linux
3. Other Open Source OS: BSD/Solaris etc
To the first poster... open a business book, take an economics course, or at least remember the basic mathematical principle that 29.99 > 12.99 (average retail cost of bluray versus DVD).
While the costs to netflix are probably different per title (more than likely greater than retail price due to licensing fees) there is without a doubt a substantial cost for Netflix to carry Bluray titles. At the nominal price of a dollar, we, the subscribers, have access to Hi-Def entertainment at a fraction of the cost it would take for us to actually buy the titles. Thank your lucky stars that Netflix is eating more revenue than you can imagine by only increasing subscriptions by a dollar. It may seem like a slap in the face to you, but nobody is forcing you to rent Bluray titles.
Also, check out a dictionary:
"Bluray"
"losing"
...thanks...
My question is the same as the previous post: When, if ever, can we expect a PS3 update that would allow access to instant watch? It would be a monumental asset to the brand.
netflix sucks!!! I signed up for the "free" 2 week trial--- and 2 days later my account was charged--- I called customer service about it and they were VERY rude--- they treated me like I was trying to cheat them or something. Needless to say I will never recommend netflix to anyone--- not even to try it out.
donny, here's an excerpt from Microsoft's press release:
At the E3 Media and Business Summit, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) and Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), the world’s largest online movie rental service, today unveiled an exclusive partnership to offer consumers the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the television via the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system. Xbox 360 will be the only game system that lets users instantly watch movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix.
You shouldn't expect PS3 support any time soon.
go to themediamall.com and download their playon software. I downloaded this and have been enjoying streaming netflix on my PS3. It is supposed to work on the Xbox 360 and Wii support is coming later this winter according to their website. There is a 20-30 day free trial period, but the software only costs $30 after the trial expires. This is a one time fee. It works great.
I FINALLY upgraded to a next gen console. The 360... WHY? because on Nov.19 I can stream my netflix acct. I already do it via a PC attached to my TV, but now that PC can go in another room. And once I got the XBox 360? I had to get a New HiDef TV.
XBOX 360 w/ $50 discount from Dell - $250
42' Vizio 1080p - $899
Well done Netflix.... well done! Now if you ONLY STARTED CARRYING GAMES TOO!!! (Gamefly is too slow!!)
"Well done Netflix.... well done! Now if you ONLY STARTED CARRYING GAMES TOO!!! (Gamefly is too slow!!)"
Only problem with that is, you REALLY wouldn't get new releases with that model. No one could beat the games in a day, like you could watch a movie in a day, so the turnaround time could be 2-3 weeks for most games, if they're worth finishing.
I'd love it too, if Netflix did it... would save me $60 for a game that isn't as good as it seems.
Donny,
Look in your queue, how many blue ray movies don't have 'long wait'.
Donny,
Look at the Netflix library, how many movies can be found in the 1.99 bin are there compared to the 29.99 blue ray? Also, do you really think Netflix pays for the movies? (at the most, a significant discount) How many cases are the studios PAYING NETFLIX to carry the movie. Double check your higher-priced "licensing fees"
Donny,
Does blockbuster charge more? Why not?
Donny,
Show me the numbers. Show me how Netflix will lose money if they don't up the price of Blue Ray.
*yawn*
I'm still waiting for mac streaming or for you to undo the useless $1 charge.
And donny, you need a history lesson before you try offering folks econ ones.
DVDs used to be the same price as blu-ray when Netflix started yet Netflix went around lowering their prices and have done quite well so they have no way to logically justify the increase.
Now what chris said is nice. That is something I'd be willing to pay an extra fee for: games. Oh well, my PS3 upscales quite well the reg ol' DVDs.
I don't get the whole bluray experience personally, I just like the idea of not having to get an extra disk when I want special features.
Anonymous, to answer your questionss:
-out of 38 blurays on my queue, ZERO have a wait. Each is available now.
-Irrelevant. Fact of the matter is, a bluray costs more than a DVD. Period. Bottom Line. End of Story. I ask you to offer proof that Studios are paying netflix to carry their movies. That doesn't make sense. That's just... asinine. Movies are a business - an industry. Why would I pay someone to rent my product to other people at no gain to me?
-I have no idea about Blockbuster. I couldn't care less. It's ultimately inconsequential to the argument at hand.
-Being that I do not have access to financial records, I cannot "show you the numbers." I can, however, say that netflix will lose money through two factors: technological and market reasons. As I've maintained all along: Bluray is a new technology that is more expensive, thus acquiring titles in that format is a more expensive process. The second is a little more theoretical, in that Netflix CAN charge a dollar and many, like myself, will pay for access to hi-def with no reservations. In this manner, NOT charging the dollar would cost the company money in what amounts to a squandered revenue opportunity, hence, a loss (although, as I said, only theoretically, but if the market is willing to accept the dollar increase, and the company does not pull the trigger, they lose.)
Now, Flameflash...
Thanks for the history lesson. Let me remind you that as customer base grew exponentially, and Netflix lowered their prices, operating costs increased as they acquired additional copies of titles.
Meanwhile, the market for DVD's became saturated and the price of the product (and corresponding technology costs) lowered immensely. This market saturation and lowered production costs was across the bored, and showed most noticeably in the lauded Wal-mart "5 Dollar Bin." Nobody was as pissed off as I was when I saw Clerks for 7.88 after I had paid 19.99 for it a year or so earlier. This drop in DVD costs unquestionably enabled Netflix to lower their costs to their customers.
Now, Bluray has not yet reached a point of market saturation that would enable titles to be offered at 5 bucks a piece as many DVD's are now. Nor has the technology reached a point in advancement that would allow the market to dictate a decrease of cost. So there's your logical reason: it's all about what the market dictates.
Finally, Netflix is a publicly traded company that owes just as much to its shareholders as it does its customers, thus a nominal raise in price which barely effects the individual consumer (and which that individual consumer has a right to back out of) is a win-win situation for the company and its investors.
But I gotta say, video games would be sweet.
I apologize for the length of this piece but I felt I had to explain myself fully.
PlayOn is not a good solution for PS3...you need another Intel based computer to run it (I have a Mac), and it is wasteful energywise.
I applaud the PlayOn developers for their innovative approach, but really folks the issue of DRM is best addressed through software, not through bizarre hardware workarounds (running hardware that support the DRM software and then streams it to a non-supported box. Clever hack, but oY!)
Just a quick review for folks. I just got the LG Blu-Ray with Netflix streaming. The Blu-Ray works fine, but the streaming has a Lag time that I did not experience with the Roku player. Also, it does not keep the thumbnails of the movies. Everytime I go to it, it has to download all of it again. Somewhat irritating. I think I would have been better to just gat a Blu-Ray player and keep the Roku.!
Fred
Any comment on when Netflix will start streaming HD? This new announcement intrigues me, as I've been considering Apple TV. If this were in HD, I would jump all over it...
There was an announcement that I read somewhere that Netflix was going to debut HD on the Xbox 360 in the next few months. More great news for PS3 owners like me...
this is all new to me. I have a Sony Bravia new tv but it isn't HD, I don't think. Couldn't be at the price I paid? Will the new LG Blu-ray player improve the picture, is that the big plus, or do you have to have an HD TV to begin with? I say BluRay demo at Sears and it is awesome. Just didn't have time to ask questions. Thanks.
I don't know what Netflix has put together with the distributors they deal with, but when I was working in a video store in college (VHS days in the 90's woohoo), the unit price that was paid was drastically higher per unit then what you would see retail when the movie did come out for purchase versus rental (retail purchase availability happens much later than rental availability).
This being more than a decade later, I recall the company paying well over $100 per unit for several movies, the cost being recouped during the rental phase, and then a bit more revenue accrued at the previously viewed for sale phase.
The rental business is not cheap upfront to the company for the movies that are made available by said company.
LG BD300 Blue Ray is nothing less than junk!!! BD300 was purchased for streaming Netflix however NO ONE at LG is able to get it up and going. LG has every excuse imaginable except the unit does not function as stated. WILL NEVER MAKE THE MISTAKE AND PURCHASE ANOTHER LG PRODUCT AGAIN!!! DON'T BE FOOLED!!!
Post a Comment