netflix

Note to Netflix: Roku box needs latest movies

news analysis Netflix, don't take half steps with your digital-delivery service. Give your users what they want, and what they want is the latest hit movies.

CEO Reed Hastings and his management team have hit a home run--or at least a solid run-scoring triple--by partnering with Roku, the company behind the Netflix Player. The $100 device enables customers to stream movies from the Web to their TVs. Most reviewers have applauded the device for its low cost, easy setup, and viewing quality (a good Internet connection means no stalling or long download delays).

But a month after the Netflix … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 749: Tom no longer exists on Netflix

Netflix inspires nothing but rage in Tom, Molly, Jason, and Natali with its announcement that it will not only get rid of profiles, but also erase all the data of the profile-holders. Tom? Quitting. Netflix? Claiming hardly anyone will be affected. We also suggest that Netflix consider the approach of Microsoft, which heard the furious cries of the 46 people who bought DRM'd tunes from MSN Music, and is extending its support for that DRM through 2011. Hint hint, Netflix, hint hint. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 749

Netflix To Eliminate Profiles Feature http://www.netflix.com/Help?p_faqid=3962&nlid=20427.1001179.0.1.0.0&eid=T1dbO9MEwQ0c … Read more

Netflix to eliminate profiles, instigate roommate feuds

For the past two years, my roommate and I have split a Netflix user account, mostly so that I don't have to deal with his trashy action-movie picks mucking up my queue of navel-gazing Wes Anderson knockoffs, and so that we can ensure a clean split in our four-at-a-time subscription. He'd totally hog it otherwise.

But starting on September 1, we're going to have to suck it up. The rental-by-mail service announced on its blog on Thursday that it would be doing away with separate user profiles on the same account.

The reason, the post explained, is … Read more

Vudu goes wireless

Like TiVo, Xbox 360, and Sonos, the Vudu on-demand movie player was one of those home entertainment products with a frustrating lack of built-in wireless networking. If an Ethernet connection wasn't nearby, you were forced to invest in a pair of power line networking adapters or a hard-to-configure wireless bridge to interface with the product's Ethernet-only connection. But that's no longer the case: as of today, a wireless option is finally available. The Vudu Wireless Kit is a dedicated pair of transceivers that creates a plug-and-play 802.11g wireless connection between the Vudu and your home's broadband router. Existing Vudu owners can pick up the kit for $79, while new customers can buy the Vudu/Wireless Kit bundle for $349, for a net saving of about $25. … Read more

Wedbush analyst is no Netflix hater

Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities, said Tuesday that he likes Netflix and has no wish to see the company kill its nascent streaming movie service.

I wrote Monday that Pachter was being too short sighted by questioning the size of Netflix's investment in a streaming-movie service. After reading the research report Pachter issued last week, I believe his arguments deserve closer examination.

Quotes from Pachter appeared in a story last week in Portfolio.com (via Wired.com) about how the costs of establishing a digital rental service are making some Netflix investors nervous. Pachter speculated in … Read more

News.com Daily Podcast: Better living through green chemistry

The new iPhone and an editor's dilemma; the new Netflix Player flies off the shelves; and MIT predicts which technologies will jump-start the economy. Listen now: Download today's podcast

A growing number of chemists are working to keep toxins out of our landfills. At the CSI Clean Technology conference taking place this week in Boston, a representative from the Environmental Protection Agency says small changes in the chemicals used in products have prevented at least 200 million pounds per year of hazardous substances from entering the market. CNET News.com intern Holly Jackson speaks with reporter Martin LaMonica … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 737: Tom gets lucky with Jason

Oh, come now, we mean in a search on Goosh, the command-line search interface for Google. What were you thinking? Meantime, the Internet has docked in New York and Natali Del Conte is on the show to share the details of what all those Internet sailors are doing on the streets of Manhattan. Apparently they're at the mayor's house. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 737

Internet Week in New York http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-9956754-36.html

Wikia Search launches the hackable search engine http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9958036-2.html

Time Warner Cable ready to test metered … Read more

Netflix's social experiment. It's time to come clean.

I know that some people are worried that mad scientists can now clone sheep.

Soon, they say, they will do the same with human beings.

Think of it. Tasteless nerds creating hundreds of Thomas Kinkades and David Archuletas to alter the cultural balance of America.(Or, perhaps, confirm it.)

I am here to tell you that those very probably nice, sane scientists at Netflix are surely ahead of the game.

Here's how it works. I declare that "Climates", a very sensitive and refined Turkish movie, deserves five of my stars. The Netflixsters tell me that they have … Read more

Roku's Netflix Player sells out

There's more proof that the Netflix Player is a hit.

Start-up Roku, the company behind the device that enables Netflix subscribers to watch movies streamed from the Internet to their TVs, has run out of inventory two weeks after launching.

"Due to the tremendous coverage and initial success of this product we're now in a two-week backorder situation," said Tim Twerdahl, Roku's vice president of consumer products. "We have boats coming in weekly from China with additional products, and we're doing everything we can to get them out."

The shortage comes after … Read more