Netflix Partnership

This exclusive partnership offers you the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the television via Xbox 360. Xbox 360 will be the only game console to offer this movie-watching experience, available to Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix unlimited plan subscribers**, at no additional cost.

From the Netflix Web site, simply add movies and TV episodes to your instant Queue, which will appear automatically on the TV screen via Xbox 360. Once selected, movies will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds. In addition to instantly streaming Netflix movies to the TV, Xbox LIVE Gold members can browse and rate movies, fast-forward, pause and rewind, all using either their Xbox 360 Controller or Universal remote.

Oh Sony, Sony. That has to hurt. A little. In the inside. [Xbox via Endgadget]

Epix is actually more than an online VOD project: it's a cable movie channel, destined, at least the studios hope, for bundling in cable packages. It's a non-premium channel, meant to be pitched to cable providers, not consumers. In other words, you can't just tack it onto your monthly bill—it'll either be part of your provider's plans or not.

The online component is secondary, but really much more exciting: people who have a subscription to the channel will be able to access the catalog online though a Flash interface. It'll stream in 720p, with bitrate tiers for different connection speeds. Epix hopes to install CDN hardware in partnered providers' networks to make sure download speeds are consistently high.

*It's that whole subscription part, though, that's worrisome: you don't just need to have the channel on your cable plan to access the online streaming service, you've also got to be on your cable provider's internet plan. That's fine, I guess, in places with homogeneous cable and internet markets, but bad news for anyone who lives at all outside grasp of the likes of Time Warner and Comcast, Epix's likely (or hopeful) partners.

Since the service is ad-free and packed full of premium content, free, wide availability would be a bit much to ask for. And honestly, the service sounds pretty great—it's just a shame this exciting new way of watching movies is so inextricably tied to the method it—or something like it—will one day replace. [Ars]

TIVO AND NETFLIX ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP

TO INSTANTLY STREAM MOVIES AND TV EPISODES

FROM NETFLIX DIRECTLY TO THE TV THROUGH TIVO DVRs

Deal Provides Netflix with New Content Distribution Channel, Solidifies TiVo’s Leading Position as One-Box Solution for Simple Navigation and Delivery

Of the Best Entertainment Content to the TV

ALVISO, Calif. and LOS GATOS, Calif., October 30, 2008 — TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs) and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, today announced that they are teaming up to provide Netflix and TiVo® Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL subscribers with the ability to have thousands of movies and TV episodes instantly streamed from Netflix directly to their TVs.

The two companies said they are initiating a test of the new capability today in several thousand U.S. households and expect it to be broadly available in early December, in time for the holidays. The ability to instantly watch content from Netflix on the TV via TiVo DVRs will be offered at no additional charge to customers who subscribe to both services.

The agreement provides Netflix with an important new technology partner to instantly stream a growing library of more than 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes directly from Netflix to the TV. It also solidifies TiVo’s leading position for simple navigation and delivery of the best entertainment content to the TV.

“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,” said 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.”

“Joining forces with Netflix creates the ultimate video on demand service and solidifies TiVo’s leading position as the one-box solution for aggregating, searching, and delivering the best content available anywhere right to the TV,” said Tom Rogers, president and CEO of TiVo Inc. “Adding Netflix to our already vast library of content differentiates TiVo even further from any other offering in the market today.”

Integrating the Netflix streaming functionality into the TiVo experience will result in quick and easy access to a growing list of movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly at Netflix. Movies streamed from Netflix via specified TiVo DVRs is done through a wired or wireless broadband connection and a Netflix Queue-based user interface. Members visit the Netflix Web site to add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues. Those choices will automatically be displayed on subscribers’ TVs and available to watch instantly through the TiVo service. With the TiVo remote control, users will be able to browse their instant Queue, make selections right on the TV screen, and also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies. In addition, they will have the option of pausing, fast-forwarding, rewinding and re-starting whenever they wish.

For more information on how to have movies instantly streamed from Netflix via your TiVo DVR visit www.tivo.com/netflix.

Releasing a statement about a survey? Sounds like someone's trying to jockey a better negotiating position while talks are still underway. On a similar note, Netflix's online site seems to have been down for most of Monday, which makes the case for streaming media even stronger. [Reuters - Thanks David!]

• Log into Netflix.
• Click on "Your Account"
• Look for a small graphic on the right column that says "How can I watch movies on my PC?"
• Click the "Start Now" link, and voila, you have a new tab next to Queue.

We just clicked this link, and the Watch Now tab appeared on the Netflix site. Suddenly, we were able to watch streaming movies on demand, included free with our Netflix membership. You get an hour of streaming movie watching per month for each dollar your membership costs.

A couple of quick realizations: the service doesn't work with Firefox, so you have to use Internet Exploder. After downloading Netflix's proprietary playback software, we clicked on the movie Amadeus, and unfortunately it was in a 4x3 aspect ratio with mediocre video quality. So far, eh. – Charlie White

Skip The Wait For Netflix Movie Streaming [uneasysilence]