Netflix Comes to the iPhone
I’ve got Netflix. I’ve got iPhone. You probably do too. Well today is a day of happiness as the free app now allows you to watch streaming videos in the palm of your hand. On a really tiny screen that drains your battery.
A cool concept, but how does it play out? Download it for yourself, or check out Gizmodo’s stellar review of the new app. So exit question – even if it’s great…is watching movies all the time really yet another good thing to add to our deteriorating attention spans and lack of being wherever we physically are at any given moment?
- Here’s how Netflix streaming works on my 3GS: silky smooth over Wi-Fi, gimped over 3G. And I’m way more relieved about the former than I am concerned about the latter. Streaming video over 3G has always been untenable; I’m just glad they even offer up the option. But the interface is easy, the video is clear and crisp enough to make dream of retina displays, and it played back the first five twenty minutes of Futurama: Bender’s Game.
Can I fawn some more? I’d like to if you’ve got a minute. But not just about Netflix on the iPhone. That’s just one slice of the pie. It’s been on the iPad for months. It looks like it’ll be gorgeous on Windows Phone 7. Android can’t be far behind (right?). Then throw in WiMax and LTE speeds. Maybe a future in which studios embrace broad distribution instead of fight it—or Netflix pays up for earlier distribution rights, given how much money they save streaming rather than shipping. That’s when we can watch whatever we want, whenever we want, wherever we want. That’s the dream. And we’re so close.
Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale on Netflix
I thought I’d do some quick reviews of movies that are available on demand for Netflix. The pickins are a little slim, but if you’re like me you forget to mail back the movies you just watched for about 3 weeks. I think I just mailed back a movie that I had gotten when it was a new release – Ghostbusters II.
This week, I watched stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan’s Beyond the Pale on Netflix instant watch. If you’re looking for some decent comedy, it’s solid the whole way through. You’ll recognize Gaffigan but you won’t be able to put your finger on where. He plays side roles in a lot of comedies, TV shows, and late night shows. He was also the guy in Super Troopers that was the recipient of the “meow” game.
Gaffigan’s style of humor is fairly dry, and is astonishingly “clean.” He mostly jokes about food and himself. In fact, about 80% of the routine is about food. Some great stuff, though, including his famous “Hot Pockets” sketch. You’ll be laughing out loud..especially if you’ve lived off Hot Pockets at some time in your life.
He also does this odd thing where he says what the audience is thinking in the middle of his bit and its pretty funny as well.
His routine is filmed in Chicago’s historic Vic Theater and runs a brisk 72 minutes. Though there are only a few true gut busters, there aren’t really any dull moments. There’s something in there for everyone, especially if you find it disturbing what, and how much, we eat as Americans.
If you’re looking for a good laugh any day of the week, you could definitely do worse.
* * * out of 4 stars
Check out a scene from the act below…one of the few not about food.
Netflix Streams A Punch in Face
Netflix, of which I’m a big fan, took another hit from the movie studios today. While it looked to be the reasonable answer to the digital age in movies as iTunes was to music, apparently they won’t be going about this without a fight.
You may recall recently, new releases are beginning to be removed from Netflix. Now, one of the cornerstones of their streaming business…Starz Play on Netflix (which allows you to see relatively new releases anytime via the internet for no extra charge) may be about to lose Disney and Dreamworks films.
Not that either of these is a death knell, but once studios realize they control the deal, the rest will follow suit and it’ll be no more new releases in the mail and no more decent streaming movies either. And we know what that means. Lonely Wednesday nights watching She’s All That for the eighth time.
Check out all the details at Gizmodo.com
Disney’s currently in negotiations with Starz for the rights to its movies over the next few years, and it wants a lot more money from people who watch Starz online—like through Netflix—and if things go badly, it could mean no more Disney or Dreamworks movies on Netflix streaming (full article link).
Netflix to Stop Renting New Releases?
Is Netflix really going to stop renting out new releases? Well…actually yes and no.
I’m a huge fan of Netflix..they’ve gotten their delivery system down to a science, and with their on-demand movies it really is a bargain at 14.99 (16.99 with BluRay) a month.
So why the heck would they stop renting new release movies? What does that even mean?
Apparently that ability to get a new release the day it comes out in your mailbox isn’t sitting too well with the studios who want you to buy their new DVDs. Warner Bros. is the first to officially put a 28 day delay on their new releases. Unfortunately, the gates are open and it is expected that the rest of the studios will be finalizing a similar agreement shortly.
Is there any bright side? Well, there’s this…
In return for the concession, Netflix will get a discount on Warner Bros. discs. And it’ll be able to offer more of the studio’s movies and TV shows for subscribers to watch over the Internet.
With Redbox and those other sketchy DVD rental kiosks dealing with the same problem..is this the beginning of the end of cheap movie rentals?
Or will people just go back to downloading them for free?
