[WWDC] Official Netflix Release for iPhone Coming This Summer

For those of you who have been using the previously announced Netflix iPad app on their iPhone, its time to rejoice. Reed Hastings from Netflix announced at WWDC that an official iPhone Netflix app is coming this summer. With features such as the ability to pick up your viewing place from iPad to iPhone (and probably vice versa as well), search, and instant que. Hastings mentioned Netflix taking advantage of Apple's bitrate technology which allows seamless switching between networks.

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Netflix Becomes More Interested In HTML5

 

One of the popular names in online video provision expressed interest in migrating at least part of its service to HTML5, Netflix. Netflix currently uses Microsoft's own Flash alternative, Silverlight, but it is becoming more interested in HTML5, according to a post by Netflix' Adrian Cockcroft. The obstacle in the way of a wholesale embrace of the new multimedia standard is the lack of a digital rights management system within the HTML5 spec.

Cockcroft stressed his focus on HTML5 for the creation of the user interface but stressed the need for a DRM solution within HTML5:

"I was thinking of HTML5 features that let us build very cool user interfaces with drag-and-drop, canvas transforms etc. for the web site, and for embedded TV devices specifically. The Silverlight player is used for PC/Mac playback only, and the basic HTML5 Video doesn't have a viable DRM solution at this point”

He continued to explain that:

“HTML5, which is raising the bar for cross browser support for advanced user interface features, and is now supported by a large and rapidly growing percentage of the visitors to netflix.com...In addition many TV based devices now embed webkit, which is the HTML5 compatible technology that underpins the Safari and Chrome browsers."

The company is also recruiting a Senior User Interface Engineer to help put out Netflix in HTML5. The job posting states the following:

“Come to Netflix where we are using HTML5 based web technologies to move ecommerce directly onto to televisions in our customers’ living rooms,”

The company has already embraced the iPad, bringing its videos (h264 encoded) to the device through its own app. Stay tuned for more information by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

Netflix Begins to Release Subtitles

The Netflix instant viewing has had for a while now, a few annoying issues left to be resolved and addressed; no 5.1 sound system support, no 1080p video quality and more importantly no subtitles for the movies and shows you’re watching. The good news though is that Netflix has been working on these issues, and particularly the issue with no subtitles. An official announcement on the Netflix blog had been made recently regarding this topic. They have been working on including subtitles for their streaming products and it’s finally ready to be shown to the public. The only bad news to this is that for now, only one hundred titles have this feature but Netflix stated that they are working towards making this feature available for all streaming titles. Another issue that is going on right now is that it is only PC and Mac compatible, so you are still out of luck if you are watching Netflix streams on another platform, at least until this fall. Mentioned by Netflix, seasons 1-4 of Lost have this feature enabled and with more to come.

Netflix, ABC, And More iPad Apps Revealed

Appadvice has been pumping out supposed iPad app leaks with screenshots and videos, all of which seems legit. Out of the many that were leaked, Netflix and ABC player are the two most noticeable. The free Netflix app can be seen by anyone who has downloaded iTunes 9.1 and is already released for those who want to download it and have it ready to go for the Saturday morning release. It allows Netflix subscribers to browse and manage their queues and more importantly also allows them to stream Netflix’s online collection of videos.

There is also a free ABC app tipped for April 3^rd giving iPad owners WiFi access to full episodes of shows like Lost and Grey’s Anatomy although the ABC player can’t be seen in the new iPad app store as of right now. With CBS seemingly getting into the HTML5 game, we suspect that the demand for Hulu in the US will dampen if all this comes to fruition, especially if Hulu adopts a subscription model.

If you still aren’t satisfied or don’t believe it, then check out 700 of the 1,350 approved iPad apps in the video below. You’ll also catch more Netflix and ABC screenshots. We’ll have to wait until Saturday to see how many of these actually appear in the iTunes App Store but it looks like these are coming straight from Apple’s app database and is therefore all legit.

TiVo Looking To Enhance Consumer Experience

TiVo has let out some information revealing that it will be making a big announcement on March 2. An anonymous tipster claiming to have knowledge about the recent developments in TiVo's beta program reveals information about the company's up and coming changes. Amongst the changes are bug fixes for the Series 3. The company is focusing on perfecting the DVR with a few software changes to make the user interface speedy and provide a new high resolution and crisp widescreen elements designed to look appealing on your TV screen. TiVo is also working on trying to add a capacity meter for add-on drives and TiVo desktop enhancements including "Sling" like features. That being said, all these upgrades won't help the company compete with other competitors such as Netflix, Amazon, and even the declining Blockbuster. There aren't any real details on the hardware side but a QWERTY remote seems to be in the works which may prove to be very appealing to the public. Either way, we'll know on March 2nd for sure. TiVo really isn't where I expected it to be, when it was first released it was a huge hit and TiVo the word almost became a verb with people saying things such as "I'll TiVo it." Hopefully the once strong company can bounce back up and start doing well again as well as provide us consumers more convenience and comfort.

5.1 Surround Sound & Closed Captioning Coming To Netflix

Rumor has it that Watch Instantly fans might be seeing an upgrade, as CNET has heard news that the company will be rolling out 1080p sometime soon and 5.1 surround sound and closed captioning later this year. No information was given a Netflix's bout timing or any other details but this could mean that the company is moving o Microsoft Silverlight Version 3 which comes with additional tweaks for adaptive streaming and hardware graphics acceleration. No information is known on how much bandwidth is needed either but considering Microsoft already uses similar technology for the 1080p Instant On videos in the Zune Marketplace while only requiring 3 Mbps and VDU HDX 1080p videos only state a minimum of 4500 Kbps. This means that a massive bandwidth jump might not necessarily be necessary.