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[Alyssa Dipiero]

I recently purchased an Xbox and I must say, considering that have yet to acquired a sports game, that I am very impressed. I got the Xbox 360 pro (with the 60gb hard drive) and this allowed me to take full advantage of the recent updates for the New Xbox Experience (NXE).

There is a metric ton of videos, demos, pictures, community games, themes and online goodness that really extend the entertainment experience of the Xbox. The interface is really intuitive and looks great in 1080p.

Netflix Instant Watch is a really significant addition and adds a really solid value, if you are in fact a Netflix subscriber. The only problem with Netflix Instant Watch is that there is a really limited movie list and it can take quite a while to find a decent movie for your Instant Queue. The HD movies streamed consistently without interruption and the picture quality was pristine.

The other problem is that you cannot add movies to Instant Queue directly from the Xbox, you have to go online via a PC, but the instant queue will update almost immediately. There was an announcement of a Netflix app for Windows Mobile so this should relieve that bottleneck (or maybe I could create a Media Center app).

The only real unresolved disappointment was the poor performance of Windows Media Center. While it only took a few minutes to connect to my home PC, once I got it up and running the controls were really slow (I mean in the order of 10-20 seconds per click). My network is running fine, it handles high def streaming with ease. So right now am I assuming there is some contention between the various apps that can share data from my Vista PC (Zune, Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center).

Thanks to the folks at Microsoft and Netflix, I've gotten the new Xbox 360 console upgrade and have started watching Netflix movies on my Xbox this morning. A couple gaming sites have been doing some reviews as well and have raised a bunch of questions, some of which I have already asked Microsoft and Netflix and will update this post if I get answers.

The new Xbox 360 console update, which will be release to the public on November 19th, includes the highly anticipated ability to stream Netflix content to the Xbox 360 console as long as you are a Microsoft Live Gold customer and a Netflix customer.

After downloading the new console update and then downloading a small Netflix update, you active the streaming functionality by entering a code from your Xbox 360 into your Netflix account via the computer. From there, you can add Netflix videos into your watch now queue and they instantly show up on your Xbox 360. Navigating through your movies is done by going to the Netlfix box in the "Video Marketplace" channel which takes you to an app that allows you to very cleanly and very quickly flip through the movies in your queue. The movies are represented by cover artwork of each movie and even when you have a hundred or so titles in the queue, the app is super fast. I would compare the experience to being almost identical to flipping through albums in iTunes using Cover Flow. The only major downside here is that movies still have be added via the computer first, before they can be played back on the Xbox 360.

Once you select a movie, you get a screen with details about the video and the ability to rate the content as well as the ability to start, resume or remove the video. When you select play, the app checks your connection speed and buffers the video. For me, the videos buffered very fast and I never waited more than about ten seconds for any video to start. That may not be the startup time for the average consumer though as I am on a 20MB FiOS connection. While most movies are in SD, Netflix has to date made about 300 videos available in HD, many of which are TV series and not actual movies. Watching the SD movies on a 50" plasma screen looked amazing and HD is really incredible. The quality of the stream is all based on your connection speed and I am waiting on Netflix to hopefully give me details on the encoding bitrates being used. But the bottom line, the video quality is really, really good and in my eyes, is DVD quality with no frame rate issues.

Netflix and Microsoft have clearly thought about the experience, the ease of use and the quality of the videos being delivered and overall, I expect users will be very happy. That being said, this hands on review leaves me with three main questions that will dictate how successful the offering will be.

For starters, what is the business relationship and model behind the new service? With three parties involved, Microsoft, Netflix and content owners, whom is paying whom to make all this happen and how will money be made? I know this is a new service to start and hence, a clear business model has not yet been established. But over time, one will have to emerge.

Second, does the availability of getting movies on the Xbox 360 now mean that more content owners and in particular, major movie studios, will start giving Netflix the rights to encode and deliver more first-run movies? Hopefully so, but they still control the content and have a big say in the success that the Netflix service will have.

I have an ORBI router and satellite. Works great for the most part. However, two issues that creep up are streaming for Netflix and Amazon and some lag issues with my son's xbox. The router is upstairs next to my son's room and the TV is downstairs not too far from the Satellite. Streaming to the TV seems to happen quite a bit. Download & Upload speeds are good. Any suggestions/recommendations?

I have the same issue, and I am directly wired to the router. Every time I play a YouTube video or stream netflix, the video starts for a few seconds, then pauses while it buffers. Every time. This is really annoying and didn't happen with my old router. Help!

Once you insert the Netflix Streaming Disc, it shows up in the XMB in the video section. Select Netflix from the XMB and the experience is largely identical to streaming Netflix on other devices, with a few new features.

The main interface shows you the cover art of the movies in your instant queue, arranged horizontally. If you select a movie, it will show a screen with more detailed information, a summary of the plot, and a star rating. You're also able to scroll horizontally within the more detailed view, without having to return to the main screen. If you stop watching a movie, you're able to resume where you left off or start again from the beginning.

The step-up over standard streaming Netflix devices are the tabs at the top of the interface. With other devices, like the Roku Digital Video Player, you're only able to access movies that you've added to your Instant Queue using a PC. On the PS3, you're given some additional tabs that allow you to browse new arrivals, movies Netflix thinks you'll like, and categories you use often. That's not quite as good as the Xbox 360's Netflix interface, which allows you to add new titles to your instant queue without using a PC, but it's a welcome addition to the basic Netflix streaming available on other devices.

While we've seen some reports that the image quality of streaming Netflix isn't quite as good as it is on the Xbox 360, we didn't notice any significant quality drop-offs in our testing. In our experience, the image quality of streaming Netflix movies is basically identical across devices. We've commented extensively on the image quality in previous hands-on reports, but the main takeaway is that the content labeled "HD" is nearly DVD quality. The other content is watchable, but videophiles will definitely notice plenty of compression artifacts.

The major frustration with Netflix on the PS3 is that you need to insert the special disc to use the service. That's not the case with Netflix streaming on any other device so far and couch potatoes will complain about that extra trip to the PS3 every time they want to stream a movie.

That being said, we're willing to live with the compromise. As we understand it, the use of a disc is simply a workaround for Netflix's prior agreement with Microsoft to be the only game console with Netflix streaming as part of the software. In that case, we definitely prefer having this optional workaround to no streaming at all. (It appears that Microsoft's exclusivity deal ends in late 2010, at which time Sony can properly integrate Netflix into the software, so you won't need the disc.)

Update: As of May 1, Amazon is now in the process of rolling out an HD update for the PlayStation 3 LoveFilm client, which should put an end to the 576p disappointment described in this article.

Did anyone ever see this coming? According to reports, the Xbox 360 is now used more for streaming movies and TV shows than it is for playing games, with Netflix alone accounting for 24.71 per cent of the total internet traffic in the USA. The platform holders' dreams of their consoles being the centre of the living room, deliving a range of entertainment, have finally come to pass. Streaming media has surpassed the traditional disc-based alternatives and it is convenience, not quality, that is now the driving force behind media consumption, with the latest films, TV shows and songs only a few clicks away.

In the UK, there are two high-profile streaming video providers battling it out for subscription supremacy: Lovefilm and Netflix. Both claim to offer unlimited access to thousands of films and TV shows for just a small monthly fee. The question is, which of these two services offers the better audio-visual experience? Has HD streaming quality matured to the point where it can replace Blu-ray as the medium of choice for most movie and TV fans? In addition to that, what is the preferred console platform for those looking to get the best out of these streaming video providers - Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Wii U?

Kicking off with subscriptions, Netflix offers up one simple choice: a monthly fee of fee of 5.99 gives you unlimited access to the service's online library of movies and TV shows. You get a one-month free trial when you first sign up, and after that the subscription continues to roll on automatically.

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