Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Netflix Mac Video Streaming Begins Testing

I think Apple should take a little tiny bit of the $20+ billion it has sitting in the bank and just go and "incentivize" Netflix to put this thing on Apple and Apple TV.

This isn't too much competition with iTunes store and, probably, Netflix has a bigger library. Why not latch into the Netflix market penetration and use it to drive Apple TV sales. Some of those are coming back to Apple, plus I'm sure they can come up with a profitable sharing arrangement with Netflix. Then it's one less box you have to hook to your TV...
 
McKs said:
yeah, only problem is that almost all video content creation is done on Macs, and guess what MS isn't bringing to the Mac?
The only way to author Silverlight content is to use MS's Expression Studio or Visual Studio.net, both of which MS is not going to bring to the Mac.
Click to expand...

Excellent point. One of the reasons I like Android, is not only did Google make SDK's for every platform, they also didn't force some proprietary environment on developers. I was pretty impressed that they even wrote a plugin for Eclipse (open source JAVA based IDE, that lots of people, me included, use).
 
i cant wait for this. i tried using parallels for this and it did not work. i tried it with xp and vista, no luck. i'm running an 8-core mac pro which this should not have been a problem for it. i got vmare fusion now and it works great for netflix watch instantly, running xp sp3. works like a charm. it will be nice once it is compatible with Mac's. Wonder if it will be compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch any time soon?
 
iSee said:
Who cares if it uses Silverlight, as long as it works?
Click to expand...

Think back to Windows Media Player under OS X. If you're familiar with this abomination and MS's utter lack of quality control and effort to make it run right, you'll have one example of why Silverlight under OS X is potentially not a good thing.
 
JackAxe said:
Think back to Windows Media Player under OS X. If you're familiar with this abomination and MS's utter lack of quality control and effort to make it run right, you'll have one example of why Silverlight under OS X is potentially not a good thing.
Click to expand...

Yep. Every software product from MS (at least that I've used), that was available for Mac worked differently than it did on PC's. Some, like Excel, still can't even open certain xls files created on PC (i.e no VBA support). Nowadays, if you want to view WMV, on Mac even MS suggests you use a third party app. How's that for support?

It's not that I don't like MS. I do. Competition is good. In fact I'm really pleased that MS seems to finally be aggressive about complying with W3C standards in IE8. It's just that when it comes to most applications, I agree, they have a lousy track record on any platform other than Windows.
 
Having the words 'Microsoft' and 'media' and 'DRM' in the same sentence rarely ends up in happy fun times for everyone. Good luck to anyone who wants to use this, but I don't think it's a good thing.
 
Porco said:
Having the words 'Microsoft' and 'media' and 'DRM' in the same sentence rarely ends up in happy fun times for everyone. Good luck to anyone who wants to use this, but I don't think it's a good thing.
Click to expand...

To all: not sure what's 'bad' about it -- considering that the closed source argument is killed by our use of OS X, if MS Silverlight technology makes Netflix all warm and fuzzy to allow Macs to stream, and it works, what's the problem?
 
darwinian said:
To all: not sure what's 'bad' about it -- considering that the closed source argument is killed by our use of OS X, if MS Silverlight technology makes Netflix all warm and fuzzy to allow Macs to stream, and it works, what's the problem?
Click to expand...

Because I don't trust Microsoft. If Silverlight gets entrenched in the market place, do you think MS will be so forthcoming with Mac updates? No, Mac users will be left behind. MS has done this in the past and they'll do it in the future.
 
hayesk said:
Because I don't trust Microsoft. If Silverlight gets entrenched in the market place, do you think MS will be so forthcoming with Mac updates? No, Mac users will be left behind. MS has done this in the past and they'll do it in the future.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to think of an example of this from MS - can you remind me of one? It did take them awhile to make the right move with WMP, but Flip has worked fine since it came out. For some reason, that didn't take a terrible toll on me then. I think they've actually demonstrated that Mac is important to them, with Office, etc.
 
darwinian said:
I'm trying to think of an example of this from MS - can you remind me of one? It did take them awhile to make the right move with WMP, but Flip has worked fine since it came out. For some reason, that didn't take a terrible toll on me then. I think they've actually demonstrated that Mac is important to them, with Office, etc.
Click to expand...

Yes, but bear in mind Flip4Mac is from Telestream, not MS. MS EOL'd WMP for Mac while continuously rolling out new versions for Windows. They also killed IE for Mac, and just recently dropped VB support for Mac Office.

The fact that MS has developed for Mac, and that they continue to is promising, but they are a bit capricious about it. Will Silverlight for Mac end up like WMP, with MS either dropping it or releasing versions far behind those for Windows?
 
sprice25 said:
i cant wait for this. i tried using parallels for this and it did not work. i tried it with xp and vista, no luck. i'm running an 8-core mac pro which this should not have been a problem for it. i got vmare fusion now and it works great for netflix watch instantly, running xp sp3. works like a charm. it will be nice once it is compatible with Mac's. Wonder if it will be compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch any time soon?
Click to expand...

I wonder what the difficulty you're having is. I've been able to run it under Parallels with no problems on my MBP (2.5GHz C2D). It's actually been nice to have access to the instant view, even if it does mean leaning on Windows a little bit.

While I understand the trepidation of using a Microsoft media tool, for Netflix it was either that or develop their own DRM protocol, and I can guaranty you they weren't interested in the Mac market enough to do that. IMHO, if Apple was serious about providing better service to developers, they could create a version of FairPlay DRM that could be licensed, while still keeping the primary version completely proprietary, thus providing higher security for their own downloads while still providing another option to developers vs. going to Microsoft (or trying to create their own).

In any event, Silverlight seems to be the only game in town for Netflix, so we can hardly complain about using it, unless we're willing to go without Netflix instant view. And, if that's the case, then why complain at all? Why not just ignore this announcement altogether?

Westside guy said:
C'mon - Canada is a myth. Like Valhalla, the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter bunny. :p
Click to expand...

"During the mid-evil times, people put on morality plays about ghosts, goblins, virgins, and other mythical creatures." (Quote from an actual student essay)

So should Canadians be included there, too? :D
 
i'm not sure if anybody has brought this up, but when netflix started showing ads with the instant watch feature...they were using macs. just thought i'd point that out.:)
 
When Will This Feature Indeed Become Available?

I called Netflix today hoping to become a part of their beta testing but they tell me its random to mainly only new netflix subscribers. Does this mean if I cancel my account and reactivate it I can get it too?

If not...

...How Long Must I Wait?

I told my pops and he's stoked about it! We both don't wanna wait.
 
JackAxe said:
Think back to Windows Media Player under OS X. If you're familiar with this abomination and MS's utter lack of quality control and effort to make it run right, you'll have one example of why Silverlight under OS X is potentially not a good thing.
Click to expand...

I agree but Apple needs some competition otherwise Mr Jobs will just line his wallet rather than provide what customers actually want - this is becoming ever more apparent as the Mac's superiority grows. What we need of course is a film library similar to iTunes Plus, DRM free and high quality. Whoever does this first will win over the entire market.
 
Nothing wrong with Silverlight. In fact, I'm all for anyone competing with Adobe these days, even more so if they carry a real market weight like Microsoft. Adobe is the new Microsoft.
 
Related news...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10076949-93.html?tag=mncol

Microsoft, Akamai team up on high-def video streams
Posted by Dawn Kawamoto

Microsoft and Akamai Technologies are teaming up on high-definition video streaming efforts for PCs, the companies said Tuesday.

Akamai plans to release a beta service, AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight, early next year to select media customers. It will run on Windows Server 2008 with Microsoft's Silverlight media player.

The move comes as broadband increasingly becomes a fixture in homes and as consumer expectations grow for smooth-running video on PCs. The clarity of HD images is also ramping up in consumer interest in video on PCs.

Microsoft will bring its new Web server technology, Internet Information Services 7.0 Smooth Streaming (IIS7.0), to the table. It is designed to let people view video streams with instant start-up times and without the play-and-pause jerkiness that can come with buffering. The technology aims to provide smooth streaming video by making real-time adjustments to changes in connectivity speeds.

Akamai plans to market the service to media companies worldwide. It will eventually become a feature of the IIS7 Media Pack.

"We've seen firsthand the growing demand for HD online content among our customer base," Tim Napoleon, Akamai's digital media chief strategist, said in a statement.

He noted that images broadcast over the television offer the same consistent quality for all viewers, but that such is not the case with streaming video on PCs. Each viewer may have a different experience on a computer, depending on connectivity speeds at any given moment.

The announcement comes after Microsoft unveiled plans two weeks ago for its Silverlight 2 media player. The new version carries features such as deep zoom, enhancements to cross-platform support, and support for digital rights management.
Click to expand...
 
synth3tik said:
Well that sucks I wait all this time only to find out I would have to install Silverlight.

That mixed with the fact the the last 6 DVDs I got were scratched makes me no like netflix anymore.

bunch of bastards.

"Sorry your disc was unplayable, we have shipped out a replacement (that is also scratched) for you"

errrr:mad:
Click to expand...

Yeah I got the same disk replaced 4 times 'cause it was broken..every time varying from cracked to in pieces...I gave up on that movie.
 
paduck said:
I think Apple should take a little tiny bit of the $20+ billion it has sitting in the bank and just go and "incentivize" Netflix to put this thing on Apple and Apple TV.

This isn't too much competition with iTunes store and, probably, Netflix has a bigger library. Why not latch into the Netflix market penetration and use it to drive Apple TV sales. Some of those are coming back to Apple, plus I'm sure they can come up with a profitable sharing arrangement with Netflix. Then it's one less box you have to hook to your TV...
Click to expand...

LOVE it! Nice idea. They could just buy them with all of that cash but I like your idea to keep Netflix independent but still get access to their service/subscription model. If Apple isn't going to be smart and give people what they want, give us a conduit to Netflix to do it. The reason that I think it WON'T happen is because now Netflix has their box and will probably want you to buy IT and use IT rather than Apple's box...:mad:
 
Here's what it look like:

Netflix-streaming.png


Hands-on, plus video here.

(note: this is a shameless plug--I wrote it)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back