Netflix has released the first set top box which will allow you to live-stream movies to your television on demand. The first unit is produced by Roku for only $99, and all you need is a netflix subscription to use it. I think I’m more excited about this device than anyone else I know. It’s clearly the future of how we’re going to watch movies. And while the Roku box has a lot of things right: The price, HDMI output, standard video quality, Wifi connectivity, and easy set-up/installation, it is still appears to be an early product.
The problems: Only 10,000 of the 100,000 DVDs are available for instant stream. That’s not to say there aren’t some great selections. Here is a sampling that Roku lists on their website:
- 30 Rock (2007; TV)
- The Good German (2006)
- La Vie en Rose (2007)
- Weeds (2006; TV)
- Absolute Power (1997)
- Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
- Heroes (2007; TV)
- Letters from Iwo Jima (2007)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- The Office (2006; TV)
- 2 Days in Paris (2007)
- Mean Girls (2004)
- The Sum of All Fears (2002)
- Misery (1990)
- The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
For the most part it seems like classic catalog titles and recent independent/mini-major releases. There is probably enough to keep me going for years. Especially their television show selection. And the offered selection is always growing.
The biggest problem I have with the unit is that it doesn’t allow you to choose a movie directly from the set-top box. You need to first go to your netflix account on a computer and add the instant watch titles to your netflix queue. And apparently you can have over 500 titles in your instant watch queue to choose from while sitting on your couch. But having to first add the selections to your account on the website is one extra set which seems unnecessary. I wonder if they have to do this to get around On demand exclusivity deals.
But imagine the possibilities. Imagine having 50,000 movies and tv shows to choose from. Imagine when a big company like Apple or Sony makes a set-top box for the service, how much better the functionality could be. Basically, imagine being able to rent a netflix movie when you want, and watch it instantly from the comfort of your couch, for not one cent more than your standard netflix description. It’s going to happen, but this unit is clearly for the early adopter (a group I usually belong to). And for only $100, it’s not a huge investment.
Find out more on Roku.com.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:27 pm
This will destory more lives per second than World of Warcraft.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Peter,
Apple already tried this, it was called Apple TV. And it bombed.
Netflix has a better chance at making it here due to their brand and namesake film service than Apple. By continually updating the OS and GUI inside of this box they could have a very slick product here that can last.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Dude, AppleTV has been out for awhile now, you can rent movies, watch youtube videos, listen to music, podcasts, look at your photos on Flickr or .mac… I mean, whoa, right from the TV without all that messing around on the net. I’ve had one running for almost three months and it is awesome.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:37 pm
This is much different than apple tv. You don’t pay per rental. You pay the netflix subscription and it’s all you can eat.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:38 pm
If they don’t announce that Xbox 360/Netflix partnership soon, I may have to jump on this.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:41 pm
But if the quality is LOWER than a DVD or BluRay, then why not just hop over to Blockbuster?
And if it’s the SAME quality or higher, then why invest in BluRay at all?
“TV-top Box” vs. “Movies on Disk” seems to be the fight of the near future. And because humans have a tactile desire to own physical objects, the disks win out every time.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:42 pm
granted. course you don’t get any of the other cool stuff, like synching to your iTunes library. but as an entry level sorta thing, it is interesting.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:42 pm
The other big difference is that the Apple box is (I believe) $299. I’m surprised at the low cost of this and I’m ready to take the plunge.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Once they iron out all the bugs and have it where you can
select movies like indemand without using the computer
this will be perfect. No wonder Blockbuster is having a heart attack. They’ve been trying to expand their stores for retail
items and trying to buy Circuit City.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I do this now with my laptop because it has an HDMI output so isn’t that accomplishing the same thing just without purchasing this box?
May 21st, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Yeah, but Apple was marketing theirs with the main power of renting film and tv from the box too. That was until people hacked it the first day it hit the streets. Now people are using it as a multi-box to do just about everything else.
The queue option from your computer to this Roku box sounds like an easy fix that can be adjusted in a future patch or something.
May 21st, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Floppy: I can also record television shows with a VCR, but a DVR is more elegant, easier to use, and doesn’t look stupid in your home theater set-up. Besides, I have a MacBook and none of the rental services, including netflix’s instant stream work on a mac.But aside from that, I don’t think most of america wants to hook up their laptop to their big screen. They want to have a set-top box that just works.
Awesome: They were trying to make people pay $300 bucks to have the ability to pay money to rent movies? Thats why the AppleTV didn’t work out. The Roku Box is $100 and all you can eat (as long as your a netflix subscriber). I think that’s a huge difference, not only in price, but also value.
And like AJ said, I’m sure in due time all the features will be ironed out. This is more like a beta unit than a final release in my mind. This is more like a demonstration of what could be possible. But even with the problems I stated in the article above, $99 is not a huge investment, and will probably attract a lot of NetFlix subscribers.
May 21st, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Yawn, let me know when this device or similar is offering full 1080p videos… (I think that can handle it, but not sure Netflix will ever offer).
Also, can’t wait when the broadband companies put a cap on your download limit or charge more becuase you are using too much bandwidth streaming this videos (esp 1080p, but be a huge impact on the networks).
May 21st, 2008 at 3:14 pm
@ Peter
I have a streamlined setup where everything is out of sight so even if I used the most gawky old school computer ever streaming the video to my TV you wouldn’t know it.
May 21st, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Man, that’s cool. I was so disappointed that the Netflix instant movie feature wasn’t available for Macs, and have been anxiously waiting for them to sort that out.
I don’t think there’s really a comparison between the AppleTV and this Roku thing. They serve entirely different purposes. One is for selling you lots of stuff and the other is to give you faster access to the stuff you are already paying for, at no extra charge.
Anyways, I’m getting one :)
May 21st, 2008 at 3:45 pm
The price is definitely perfect for the giant market they plan to hit with this. Looking forward to messing around with one.
May 21st, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Doesnt matter how cheap it is with them capping your broadband… u’ll be paying for extra bandwidth anyways…..
May 21st, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I am rarely an early adopter, but with this I ordered mine yesterday.
May 21st, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Gerball,
I’m pretty sure this was taken into consideration when they came up with this. At the moment Netflix is in talks with Microsoft in testing out a program to bring their catalog to the 360.
They’ll probably have some sort of set-priced packages for different bandwidth needs.
May 21st, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Netflix said the reason more movies were not available was because of long delays of ondemand rights (someone probably knows more about that than me).
Also the box only does 480P and Netflix has openly said that this is the first of many products they will be launching like this and most likely the cheapest since they are working on getting full HD (1080P) into the future boxes.
As far as using a laptop, this solution is much more cost effective for them as well as consumer friendly. Most people are just not capable or care to hook up their computers to their TV’s and with the box Netflix does not have to worry about what OS, AV, firewall, permissions …etc that people have .. just plug in the box and go
May 21st, 2008 at 5:47 pm
some_dude,
That’s pretty much what’s going to help this box, it’s the overall convenience.
May 21st, 2008 at 7:07 pm
i ordered one of these.
in my queue of 120, 18 are avalable for instant viewing. thats not a great selection, but its not bad either. 18 movies for instant playback. while its not the newest releases, it is a pretty decent selection of stuff you normally wouldn’t see, some of it pretty good. for 99 bucks and the box being ready for firmware updates for hd when they come out, plus more movies constantly being added, this has potential to rule.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:11 am
I’ll buy one now, then sell it on eBay as the HD model comes out. I’ve been looking forward to either this or the presumed 360 compatibility.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:37 am
The other reason I like using my laptop to stream Netflix to my TV is the ability to store something to my HDD if I like it for later viewing which comes back to the digital storage versus physical ownership debate.