Hacking NetFlix

Best Buy's Insignia Netflix-Ready Blu-ray Player $99 - No Coupon Required

In case you missed the $50 coupon last week, you can just order Best Buy's Insignia-branded Netflix-ready Blu-ray player for $99, no coupon required. The wireless version of the Blu-ray player is now $249, so you'll probably have to wait a bit to see it for $149 again.

Netflix New Releases for October 27th, 2009

Click here for the full list of new releases this week (107).

Interesting titles include Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, Whatever Works, The Maiden Heist, The Orphan, Monty Python Conquers America, Into Temptation, Nothing Like the Holidays, Scandal Sheet, Medicine for Melancholy, The Guardian: Season 1, Il Divo and Z.

Streaming releases this week Management, Monty Python Conquers America, Metropolis, Faces of Death, and The Adventures of Food Boy (more at StreamingSoon).

Netflix's Splatter: Episode 1, starts on October 29th.

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Netflix Streaming in November on Sony's PS3: Reserve Your Disc Now

Netflix Streaming will be available in November to 9 million PS3 users (Netflix subscription required). A streaming disc will be required, and is available free to Netflix customers.

“The PlayStation 3 system has always been about more than just gaming, and it will soon be the only platform in the industry to offer consumers such a variety of convenient options for enjoying movies and TV shows,” said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. “Whether you want to watch content on Blu-ray disc and DVD, download it from the PlayStation Network’s video delivery service, or stream videos instantly from Netflix, the PS3 system is the only solution that offers it all.”   

“As instantly watching movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix becomes an increasingly popular way to enjoy the Netflix service, our goal is to rapidly expand the devices that stream to our members,” said Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings.  “As a leading game console and Blu-ray disc player, bringing Netflix to the PS3 system is a real win for both Netflix members and PS3 system owners.”

You can reserve your PS3 disc online http://www.netflix.com/ps3.

 

Thanks to Mason, David & Matt for sending this in.

Get Fuzzy Takes a Shot at Netflix Pop-Up Ads

The daily cartoon Get Fuzzy took a well-deserved shot at the still ubiquitous Netflix pop-up and pop-under ads that plague the Web today:

Hulu to offer Subscription Service; No Details Yet

I use Hulu to watch shows that are not available on Netflix streaming, and it's a great service. B&C reports that Hulu will eventually roll out a subscription offering:

News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey opened the B&C OnScreen summit to discuss where he sees the business going. “It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online,” he said. Carey said that while everyone cites the infamous Jeff Zucker quip that “We’re exchanging analogue dollars for digital dimes,” the industry continues to do exactly that. The strategy needs to be more than just fighting piracy and Google, he says.

“I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value,” Carey said. “Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”

It makes perfect sense for Hulu to offer subscriptions, and I'd love to drop my $100 per month cable bill in favor of $20 per month for Netflix, $10 per month for HBO, and $10 per month for Hulu. 

What do you think?

Review of The Insignia $149 Wireless Netflix-Ready Blu-ray Player

I have a Sony PS3 as a Blu-ray (and Playon) test device in my office, but I decided to buy an Insignia Blu-ray player for testing. I was hesitant to buy a Insignia branded player from Best Buy, but at $99 for an ethernet Blu-ray player, and $149 for a WIFI & Netflix-enabled device, I was curious. I bought the more expensive WIFI-enabled Blu-ray player to test WIFI streaming. 

 

It's worth noting that for $50 more than a Roku Player you get a WIFI-enabled Blu-ray player, so as player prices drop I'm wondering how Roku is going to respond to $99 Blu-ray players (more exclusive channels?). 

The Insignia Blu-ray player doesn't come with Netflix support built in, but after I got the player on the network, it only took a few minutes to download the firmware update (it did a second update today). Some Netflix-ready devices support YouTube, Flickr, and other "channels," but the Insignia is limited to Netflix.

 

The video quality of DVD upscaling and Blu-ray playback was ok, but the PS3 was noticeably sharper (at double the price), so the Insignia might be a good player for a bedroom or first player for people with low-end home theater setups. When loading a Blu-ray the unit was a bit noisy, but a lot quieter than my Xbox 360 during playback.

Netflix Streaming worked well, with no rebuffering and it supported HD titles. The user interface is similar to the Windows Media Center player, with tab options such as "Instant Queue," "Recently Watched," "New Arrivals: Movies," "New Arrivals: TV," genres, and selections "Like" titles you've watched.

Did you take advantage of the $50 coupon that came with your Netflix movies this week?

Netflix Stock Hits New High on Consumer Electronics Partner News

Combine a good quarter with news of a new consumer electronics partner and an increased the forecast for Q4, and you get a new high of $57.50 per share. 

 

Chart from Google Finance. Disclosure: I do not own shares in any of the companies I write about.

Netflix to Add "New Consumer Electronics Device" & More From Earnings Call

During the earnings call Netflix CEO Reed Hastings disclosed some very interesting information:

• Netflix will add a new "consumer electronics device" in Q4 and they've increased projections because of the device. Wii? PS3? iPhone?
• Netflix will spend $40 million on new machines to open, inspect and clean DVDs. A Netflix spokesperson said that "workers will stay" when asked if the machines would eliminate jobs.
• Hastings says that Netflix will be shipping DVDs until 2030, hence the $40 million investment in automation.
• A DVD sales window before the rental window would be good for Netflix, according to Hastings, since costs would be lower for content and Netflix is less focused on new releases. Hasting said that a later rental window would help with new release availability, and with the money they save they could spend more on streaming titles.
• The number of customers using streaming (at least one movie or show per month) has doubled to more than 40% in the past year.
• Hastings believes that the $600 million or more they spend on postage will convert to streaming, making Netflix one of the biggest customers of the studios behind Wal-Mart and Amazon.
• International Expansion: Netflix will offer a streaming-only plan in an unannounced international market in the second half of 2010. 
• Less than 10% of subscribers rent Blu-ray titles from Netflix.

Netflix Q3 2009: 11.1 Million Subs; $423 Million in Revenue

Netflix continues to grow despite the economy, and the key points from the Q3 financial results are:

• 11,109,000 subscribers (10,835,000 paid), an increase of 28% over Q3 last year, and 5% over Q2 2009.
• Revenue grew to $423.1 million, an increase of 24% over last year and 4% over Q2.
• GAAP Net Income was $30.1 million, up 48% over Q3 last year.
• Subscriber acquisition cost was $26.86, up slightly from Q2 and down from $32.21 last year.
• Churn declined slightly to 4.4%, but is still higher than 4.2% in the same period last year.

Netflix increased the forecast for Q4:

• 12 - 12.3 million subscribers at the end of Q4 2009.
• Revenue of $1.66 - $1.67 billion for 2009.
• GAAP net income of $106 - $111 million.

Netflix Application for Windows 7 Now Available

Just in time for the release of Windows 7, the Netflix application is now available for Windows 7 Media Center. It's very similar to the Windows Vista Netflix application, and lets you see your Instant Queue, DVD Queue, Recently Watched, New Arrivals: Movies, TV, Comedy, Drama (and other genres), and shows "Like" you've watched. You can also search Netflix, and can limit it to Streaming or DVD titles.

 

 
Be sure to check out the "internet tv" application, too.

First seen on The Green Button -- thanks to Jeff and Del for sending this in.