Yeah, the title’s pretty bad but I’m coming off of a vacation so give me a break. Microsoft which has already announced numerous content deals for XBox Live this year announced today at E3 that they will will soon offer access to the 10,000 + titles in the Netflix streaming library to existing subscribers.
The blogosphere has been quick to declare this a blow to AppleTV, but the deal is more a case of two companies that were already already in bed together getting a little closer. Netflix has reportedly spent more than $40 million on development to create its streaming service using Silverlight, Microsoft likely fronted a substantial portion of that. Netflix CEO Doug Hastings is on the Microsoft board.
Content will be delivered by Limelight, another company with close Microsoft ties. Microsoft plans to roll out the service when their upgraded XBox live interface is released this Fall.
The service will also have a unique interactive component allowing multiple users to watch simultaneously, useful for when all those guys in their parents basements get tired of Halo and decide to watch Star Wars together.