Today Netflix announced a partnership with electronics maker LG to stream movies over the internet directly to your television. The set top box will be available sometime in the second half of 2008. This article gives a great rundown of how a handful of companies are partnering and maneuvering to deliver more On Demand media options directly to your television. CinemaNow also recently announced a similar deal with Macrovision to compete in this space.
Some thing to ponder….
– Can Netflix and LG deliver this box by Holiday season 2008. Generally speaking Vudu has made a lot of progress in a short period of time and have been praised for their products UI and ease of use. If Vudu runs unopposed for 2 straight Holiday seasons, it might be too much of a head start for anyone to catchup. If Netflix can get their product out the door by this time their marketing machine should be able make inroads with their large customer base.
– While their are a handful of other companies making waves in this space, something tells me Apple will dive head first into this space and steal a lot of their thunder. AppleTV has been a disappointment thus far, but you can’t help but think that Apple has all the ingredients to cook up a winning device that can compete with Vudu and Netflix. Apple already has a digital store with more content available then anyone else, experience in making hardware for televisions, and are renowned for their hardware design and user interface.
