Netflix Rolls Out First Set Top Box
On the morning of the StreamingMedia East show here in NYC, Netflix made the largest consumer facing announcement early. They have debuted their first set top box, the first in a series of hardware products set for release this year.
Manufactured by Roku, specialists in network audio devices to date, 5″ x 5″ the box features composite, component, s-video, HDMI and a digital audio connection, pretty much covering the bases for today’s and tomorrow’s delivery of streamed movie content.
Speaking with reps from Netflix earlier this month, it was clear to me that Netflix is committed to offering the widest variety of movies anywhere, period. And, building on the “if you build it RIGHT, they will come,” theme, their first entry into the set-top box market is cheap - $99 - compared to the competition, and more importantly, backed by the content to enjoy it.
Oddly enough, I had spent this past weekend catching up on some episodes of the Showtime series “Weeds” using Netflix’s current “Browse Instant” capabilities. For programming that isn’t high impact, fast moving car chases or a uniformly monochromatic color, like a baseball or football field, their current streaming platform works quite nicely. I had no stuttering of the stream, a clear picture at full screen (42″ plasma) and digital sound. There was some slight pixelation in very dark scenes, but that was the only major complaint that I had. I’d like to continue to test it with some high action summer blockbuster fare, but I think I’ll wait until I can compare it head to head with the net set top box.
Ok, see you at the Streaming Media show!
June 4th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
This is definately the way things are going. Many things will be done online due to increasing transfer speeds. Just look at the iPlayer. The number of users who are watching programmes and movies via iPlayer are growing every month. Also look at the amount of people who are subscribing to online fottball macthes that are streamed over the net.
Andy