In what has become a recurring theme, Tivo (Etilities Forum) announced that its customers will soon have full access to the “Watch Instantly” streaming feature from Netflix (Etilities Forum).  The move brings over 12,000 titles from Netflix’s streaming library into the homes of TiVo’s many customers.

The service will be available at no additional charge for those who already subscribe to both TiVo and Netflix services.  While there is no mention of whether HD content will be included now or in the future, Netflix has already announced an HD streaming service, so it’s a safe assumption that TiVo users will soon have this feature as well.  The TiVo hardware that will support Netflix – TiVo Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL – is all HD-capable.

Understandably, the press release focuses solely on the announcement of the partnership, but let’s take a brief look at the total footprint now served by the two companies:

• TiVo owners can access the traditional content recorded from their cable TV or other video provider, and use streaming services from Amazon (Etilities Forum) Video-on-Demand (Unbox), and now Netflix (Watch Instantly).
• Netflix customers can access the full library of over 100,000 DVD titles via the original by-mail model, and can stream a growing subset of that library by streaming to the Xbox 360, Roku set-top box, some Blu-ray players, home PC (and soon Mac), and TiVo units.

This development brings a number of benefits to consumers.  Aside from expanding the menu of choices, increased competition will drive prices down and innovations up.  For example, one factor in the development of this cooperative effort between Netflix and TiVo may be iTunes (Etilities Forum) growing customer base and wide availability of movies and TV content.

This convergence of media and products will only become more prevalent as broadband connections become as universally available as electricity and running water.  Consumers will also appreciate that they don’t need to purchase a different piece of equipment for each entertainment service that they use.

©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Netflix (Etilities Forum) has announced that there will be an extra $1 per month charged for access to its growing library of hi-def Blu-Ray titles.  Subscribers don’t seem to consider this fee outrageous, given the significantly higher purchase price of these discs over their standard DVD counterparts.  However, it does break the mold that Netflix has kept thus far in that it’s the first pricing tier centered on the type of content being rented rather than the number of titles that can be held at a time.  It’s been theorized that this model of price increase could extend to heavy online streaming users, or those that use other “special” services.

Current Netflix subscribers should know that this charge will be automatically applied to their accounts if there are any Blu-Ray DVDs in their queue, so you may be subjected to a charge without being aware of it.

While this will currently affect only the 500 or so Blu-Ray titles in their library, there’s no doubt that those numbers will only increase over time.

©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

You may have seen this summer’s blockbuster hit, Iron Man.  More recently, you may have purchased the brand new Blu-Ray disc for HD enjoyment in your home theater.  This title has been touted as a technological breakthrough, as it’s one of the first to employ “BD-Live” content, or active content that allows internet-connected Blu-Ray players to play your movie alongside active, Internet-based information.  Think of a web site that provides content coordinated with the movie itself.  You can chat with others who are viewing the same disc at the same time, or, in the case of Iron Man, a quiz game that would see how closely you were paying attention to the movie.

Upon launch, Paramount, the distributor of the title, severely underestimated the number of fans who would buy the disc on day one and run home to enjoy it as soon as the popcorn was ready.  Though the number of viewers remains unknown, the onslaught was far too much for Paramount to handle.  Fans were subjected to download times of up to an hour before they could even play the movie.  Making matters worse, most players are pre-configured to automatically download BD-Live content before even playing the movie. Read the rest of this entry »
©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.