Netflix debuts new set-top player
By Paul Sweeting -- Video Business, 5/19/2008
MAY 20 | FROM CONTENT AGENDA: The first dedicated set-top box capable of displaying movies streamed from Netflix on a TV screen goes on sale Tuesday from the Netflix Web site.
The $99 box is being sold by Roku, a privately held, Saratoga, Calif.-based maker of digital music players and other consumer devices.
The Netflix Player by Roku, about the size of a chunky paperback book, connects to the TV via HDMI, component or composite video, or S-Video, and connects to the Internet via Ethernet port.
The player also is Wi-Fi enabled so it can be connected to the Internet via a wireless home network.
The custom-designed user interface displays the titles stored in a Netflix subscriber’s “Instant” queue on the TV screen, where they can be accessed and played using the player’s remote control.
The player does not support direct access to the Netflix library from the TV screen, however; movies must still be added to the queue from a PC.
“That’s a major improvement versus the clutter of trying to choose from 10,000 films on the TV,” Netflix chairman/CEO Reed Hastings said in a statement. “There are no extra charges and no viewing restrictions. For a one-time purchase of $99, Netflix members can watch as much as they want and as often as they want without paying more or impacting the number of DVDs they receive.”
Read the full story at ContentAgenda.com.
