Instant Watching on Mac/Linux/X360/PS3 Status
(Netflix Analyst Day 2008 update May 28, in bold)
The short answer is:
Intel Mac: probably around Sept 2008 (definitely this year)
PowerPC Mac: unknown (probably never)
Linux: probably mid-2009
PS3/Xbox360: unknown (maybe never) but they are working on it
Stand alone set-top box players: On May 20th, the Netflix Player by Roku was released for $100, more expected in Fall 2008. (Remember: "Members with a Netflix plan that includes unlimited instant watching may associate up to 4 unique devices with an account during a twelve month period." If you aren't sure, you may want to call Netflix and see how many computers you have activated in the last year.)
Read on for the long answer.
As far as I know, Netflix has nothing planned that will allow them to support PowerPC Macs.
They will likely have support for Intel Macs some time in the 2nd half of 2008. They will most likely be switching to Silverlight shortly after version 2.0 comes out. 2.0 has the DRM that the studios require. This will allow them to add support for multiple browsers and Mac (and likely Linux in mid 2009).
Microsoft's Silverlight 2 Beta 1 was released on March 5th at MIX08. (At MIX07 Netflix's movie watching demo on Silverlight was a big deal, this year they didn't seem to have any presence at MIX08. Though Bill Scott (Netflix UI Engineering) just took part in judging a Silverlight contest.) The final release is currently rumored to be in August. The latest word from Microsoft is "before the end of the year."
I would currently guess at Intel Mac support coming around September or so. Future release dates are subject to change, and likely will. Thats just reality in the software world.
In the meantime, there is a workaround for Intel Macs by installing Boot Camp, Parallels, and Windows. There is a similar workaround for Linux.
Netflix is also attempting to get Instant Watching on XBox 360 and Playstation 3, but it is unknown if either will ever happen.
On April 15, Sony's Peter Dille said:
Their upcoming download video service may or may not include a deal with Netflix, but I will update this page when they give out more details "very soon".
On April 21st, Reed Hastings (Netflix CEO) said that they have deals with 4 companies to produce hardware for Instant Watching. LG was previously announced to be one of the 4. They should announce the other 3 by the end of the year.
On April 25th, Michael Pachter (of Wedbush Morgan) predicted that Microsoft & Netflix have a deal to get Instant Watching on the XBox 360. Pachter has a very good track record (about 60%) for predicting big things in the video game console world.
On May 20th, the Netflix Player by Roku was released for $100, more expected in Fall 2008.
On May 28th, from 'Netflix Analyst Day 2008': The other 3 Instant Watch hardware partners are on target for 08/09 releases (One is LG, still no hint on who the other 2 are). Netflix has created an SDK that can be added to existing Blu-Ray/dvd players (that have internet connections) to allow them to stream Netflix movies the same way the The Roku Netflix Player does. It is now up to the Blu-Ray player/game console makers to add this feature into their firmware. Whether any or all of them will opt to do so is unknown yet. Their hope is that once their current 4 partners start showing big success, others will jump on board.
Mac support definitely coming this year. I assume Intel Mac only. It was only mentioned in passing and more as a joke (2 sentences out of about 2 hours that were devoted to discussing movie downloads).
The SDK I mentioned above is "Portable Linux code". Whether that means anything for Instant Watching on computers with Linux, I don't know.
The short answer is:
Intel Mac: probably around Sept 2008 (definitely this year)
PowerPC Mac: unknown (probably never)
Linux: probably mid-2009
PS3/Xbox360: unknown (maybe never) but they are working on it
Stand alone set-top box players: On May 20th, the Netflix Player by Roku was released for $100, more expected in Fall 2008. (Remember: "Members with a Netflix plan that includes unlimited instant watching may associate up to 4 unique devices with an account during a twelve month period." If you aren't sure, you may want to call Netflix and see how many computers you have activated in the last year.)
Read on for the long answer.
As far as I know, Netflix has nothing planned that will allow them to support PowerPC Macs.
They will likely have support for Intel Macs some time in the 2nd half of 2008. They will most likely be switching to Silverlight shortly after version 2.0 comes out. 2.0 has the DRM that the studios require. This will allow them to add support for multiple browsers and Mac (and likely Linux in mid 2009).
Microsoft's Silverlight 2 Beta 1 was released on March 5th at MIX08. (At MIX07 Netflix's movie watching demo on Silverlight was a big deal, this year they didn't seem to have any presence at MIX08. Though Bill Scott (Netflix UI Engineering) just took part in judging a Silverlight contest.) The final release is currently rumored to be in August. The latest word from Microsoft is "before the end of the year."
I would currently guess at Intel Mac support coming around September or so. Future release dates are subject to change, and likely will. Thats just reality in the software world.
In the meantime, there is a workaround for Intel Macs by installing Boot Camp, Parallels, and Windows. There is a similar workaround for Linux.
Netflix is also attempting to get Instant Watching on XBox 360 and Playstation 3, but it is unknown if either will ever happen.
On April 15, Sony's Peter Dille said:
Many of you have been hearing rumblings about a video service that will allow you to download full-length TV shows and movies via PLAYSTATION Network for North America. While I don’t have any new announcements here for the PlayStation Nation, it’s already been confirmed that we’ll be offering a video service for PS3 in a way that separates the service from others you’ve seen or used. Ultimately the goal of the PLAYSTATION Network service will be to break through the overwhelming clutter of digital media to give you the TV, movies and gaming content you want. More on this very soon …
Their upcoming download video service may or may not include a deal with Netflix, but I will update this page when they give out more details "very soon".
On April 21st, Reed Hastings (Netflix CEO) said that they have deals with 4 companies to produce hardware for Instant Watching. LG was previously announced to be one of the 4. They should announce the other 3 by the end of the year.
On April 25th, Michael Pachter (of Wedbush Morgan) predicted that Microsoft & Netflix have a deal to get Instant Watching on the XBox 360. Pachter has a very good track record (about 60%) for predicting big things in the video game console world.
On May 20th, the Netflix Player by Roku was released for $100, more expected in Fall 2008.
On May 28th, from 'Netflix Analyst Day 2008': The other 3 Instant Watch hardware partners are on target for 08/09 releases (One is LG, still no hint on who the other 2 are). Netflix has created an SDK that can be added to existing Blu-Ray/dvd players (that have internet connections) to allow them to stream Netflix movies the same way the The Roku Netflix Player does. It is now up to the Blu-Ray player/game console makers to add this feature into their firmware. Whether any or all of them will opt to do so is unknown yet. Their hope is that once their current 4 partners start showing big success, others will jump on board.
Mac support definitely coming this year. I assume Intel Mac only. It was only mentioned in passing and more as a joke (2 sentences out of about 2 hours that were devoted to discussing movie downloads).
The SDK I mentioned above is "Portable Linux code". Whether that means anything for Instant Watching on computers with Linux, I don't know.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by pterosaur on -
As far as I know, Netflix has nothing planned that will allow them to support PowerPC Macs.
Boooo. I plan to buy a shiny, new Intel MacBook Pro in the next few weeks. What is the best way to set up instant watch on that?
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Permalink Reply by durandal on -
best way is to put windows on your mac one way or the other. I did it with Boot Camp and it worked really well.
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Permalink Reply by T-Rave on -
I use virtualbox with xp installed. Virtualbox is the free solution to vmware and parallels, that in my opinion is way better then both paid programs. I have used them both and vbox offers more features, minus image mounting if you have a bootcamp drive. Hopefully that will be fixed soon. That's the solution for my macbook pro.
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Permalink Reply by ColdOne on -
They reiterated this intention in the Q4 2007 earnings call:
We hope in 2008 to be able to support web-based viewing on the Macintosh also. The hold-back has been a lack of a DRM solution on the Mac.
Transcript of Q4 2007 Earnings Call
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Permalink Reply by droidmaker on -
I have a shiny MacBook Pro (2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo...) and all i needed for instant watching was Parallels and Boot Camp.
The Windows window opens, i have IE in there, and i watch tons.
Remember: it's not the Mac. It's the OS. If you'd like more info on the particular set up, let me know.
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Permalink Reply by Spindaddydad on -
Droidmaker, do you watch it on your Mac's monitor or do you run it out to your TV?
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Permalink Reply by droidmaker on
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i just watch on the laptop... usually in bed...
our work to get instant watching to the TV will be more and more available in 2008 (aside from cabling up laptops to TVs... which of course can be done, but isn't for everyone)
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Permalink Reply by Spindaddydad on
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yep!
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Permalink Reply by pterosaur on
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Damn. I'll hit you guys up for specifics once I actually buy my new 'puter. Beginning of next month I figure.
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