Commenting Rules: Keep the conversation civil and on topic. If your comment does not add to the conversation, it will be removed. Debate intelligently. Insulting the author, /Film, or other commenters will result in comment removal and possible ban. If you want to point out a typo, correction, suggestion or criticism for /Film, please email us instead. Please use your name or nickname and not your business name (ie Discount Car Parts) as we might confuse and mark it as spam. If you would like to have your own Avatar show up with your comment, sign-up for a free Disqus account. Any Links will go into moderation before being approved. Anything we deem as spam will not be approved.

Netflix To Stream Movies on the iPhone?

Posted on Monday, August 3rd, 2009 by Peter Sciretta

netflix iphone

Rumor has it that Netflix might be releasing an official iPhone app. Yeah, yeah, we know… there are already a bunch of iPhone applications which allow you to manage your netflix queue (some of which we wrote about in iPhone Apps For Movie Geeks). But I’m not talking about managing your rental queue (although, I’m sure it will be able to do that). According Multichannel News, an industry executive claims that Netflix will release an iPhone app will allow you to stream movies in your instant queue via Netflix’s Watch Instantly streaming service.


Earlier today it was reported that ABC is making available the first five seasons of Lost (as well as a few other shows) on Netflix Watch Instantly. Just imagine beign able to watch Lost or any of the great movies and tv shows available on Netflix Watch Instantly wherever, whenever. When I’m eating lunch down the street, watching Mad Men from my instant queue, then I’ll know I’m in the future.

Now before you get too excited, realize that the app will probably only work over a wifi connection. AT&T (cue the imperial march from Star Wars) has been very restrictive over streaming video applications in the app store. The company stripped the SlingPlayer app from being able to stream over 3G due to concerns that a streaming app might be too much for the cell network. A rumored Hulu app has not made an appearance, and will likely be restricted to Wifi only streaming. But strangely AT&T and iPhone allow the MLB At Bat and YouTube to stream video over the 3G network.

A Netfix app would be a lot more interesting if I could watch my digital queue movies on the bus, or wherever. Same could be said with the Slingbox app or the possibly upcoming Hulu app. It is a shame that 3G streaming isn’t being allowed at this time. It seems to me that it is only a matter of time before these type of features really take off on other phones (actually, the Blackberry allows Slingbox streaming on 3G already) before AT&T is forced to give in. But will the network be strong enough to support the bandwidth?

Comments 

Related Posts

  • No Related Post

Tags

Rumors, Tech Stuff, iPhone Apps, 

  • This is bat-shit insanity...
  • agirlfan
    As cool as that is... I still want to be able to play instant Netflix movies on my PS3!
  • first they stream on computers, then on xbox, now on iphone... next? our brains

    netflix is awesome!
  • That would be really cool, BUT how would the quality be? To stream over wi-fi it would probably be pretty good, but over the 3G would probably cut the quality by a lot.
  • elliot
    people need to learn. movies are meant to be watched on a big screen. where the hell is the enjoyment in watching a film on the iphone? where's the movie experience?
  • Hahaha - reminds me of the David Lynch iPhone ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKiIroiCvZ0&feat...
  • yep. there is absolutely no way att will allow this. if it does happen, wifi only, guaranteed, and then it almost defeats the point. i just wish netflix would make a dedicated app for managing your queue.
  • David Lynch,

    What is your opinion on this revolutionary development?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKiIroiCvZ0
  • David Lynch.
    that's all i'm saying.
  • I love that dude.
  • captainmccool
    Two words: Well...a number a letter and a word. "3G unrestrictor." Sure it's for jailbroken phones only but it tricks applications into thinking they're on Wi-fi. Because of it I downloaded Worms from the app store on Edge while i was at work. I'm sure it'll work for Netflix.
  • Alex
    So we give douchey iPhone users a Netflix app before the PS3 gets the same stuff that X-Box gets? Makes sense.
  • I personally cant wait to stream 1080p instantly to my 360 in the fall.
  • shiftycog
    It's a very real possibility that Microsoft paid Netflix some arbitrary amount of money to keep them from porting their movie player software to the PS3.
  • Vegetax6
    Yeah, they tend to do that with most things "exclusive".
  • i just jizzed in my pants.
  • NickN328
    Now, if you're playing the movie on a TELEPHONE, you will never, in a b-trillion years experience the film. You'll THINK you have experienced it, but you'll be *mmhmm* cheated. It's a such a sadness, that you think you've seen a film on your FFFUCKING telephone. Get real.
  • Jaysus
    When's the last time a movie was created that deserves a large screen?
  • jj
    Maybe this is great if you want to watch something while sitting in the park or to pass time while serving jury duty or something, but for me (and probably most people in NYC who would want to use this) I'd want to be able to watch stuff while commuting on the subway, which would be impossible since there's no connection underground. Fail.
  • I'm going to say this is wishful thinking to the max. My reasoning:
    1. At&t has issues with bandwidth, I somehow don't see them green-lighting this idea.
    2. Someone at Netflix (is it the CEO?) sits on the XBox board. Which is owned by MS, which is I would say a pretty steep competitor to Apple.
    3. (And here is the big one) Netflix streaming technology is currently built on MS's Silverlight technology. Even if they were to move to another base, say like Flash, the iPhone doesn't support either of them. We'd be looking at a complete code overhaul just to get it working on the iPhone, which might be rejected because of reason number 1.

    Now I'm not saying it's NOT possible, those 3 hurdles just need to be gotten over first.
  • Macgver
    Actually, in the SDK, you can use the built in video player. I think it is more lax on DRM (which is the reason Silverlight is used on the Mac).
  • Macgver
    Actually, AT&T was using a terms a conditions clause that stated your could not re-direct TV signal over there Network. This is not doing this, this is streaming video from the Netflix server just like YouTube.

    I would like to see how this plays out. AT&T will moan and groan of course, but there is nothing, as far as I know, in the terms and conditions that says they cannot do this over the cell network.

    I hope this happens.
  • yungl1nk
    eff iphone. i got an ipod touch and i need THIS APP! PLZZZ! BECOME A REALITY!
  • kally
    i think we all can agree no one is expecting this to deliver a movie experience. Its supposed to give u the convenience of passing time when stuck at work or pretending to listen to a bitching girlfriend

    I work on the water and everyday im out there wish there was movie streaming
    I CANT WAIT

    o yea btw ps3 wont get it at least for a few more years microsoft has exclusive rights so o well
    ps3=blu ray..... xbox netflix and everything else plus made in america
  • D Torrent
    you must feel like a total retard now huh
  • I would love it if they got it to stream on Wii. I tried in the past but the built in browser doesn't work with streaming video.
  • HOLY BALLS THIS IS A GREAT STORY!! I bet the difference of 3G and WIFI is similar to the computer stream compared to the xbox 360 stream. still an amazing feature!! PLEASE JESUS!!!
  • iphoneuser21
    If they just make a web app of a mobile site for the iPhone they don't have to worry about Apple or AT&T restrictions. Look at the mobile NBC.com site, you can watch full episodes on your iPhone there, on 3G or wifi.
  • Guraaf
    Netflix streams video in a video codec that iPhone hardware does not support. Simple as that. Netflix is Microsoft VC-1 (WMV) technology and iPhone supports only H.264.
blog comments powered by Disqus

gorilla nation

/Film

Copyright © 2010 /Film. Web design by Pro Blog Design. Logo Concept by: Illumination Ink

All names, trademarks and images are copyright their respective owners.