Netflix on Xbox 360 is an important component of the new Xbox experience, a new generation of games and entertainment experiences that will be available on Xbox 360 consoles this fall. The new Xbox experience, also announced today at the E3 Media and Business Summit, represents the first time in history that a mass-market consumer electronics device has been re-invented through free software, giving people more fun and intuitive ways to interact, play and enjoy entertainment content.
From the Netflix Web site, members simply add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues. Those choices will be automatically displayed on the TV screen via Xbox 360 and available to watch instantly. Once selected, movies will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds. In addition to instantly streaming movies to the TV, Xbox LIVE Gold members can fast-forward, pause and rewind, all using either their Xbox 360 Controller or Media Remote. In all, the user interface creates a highly personalized experience that puts viewers in control.
The library of movies and TV episodes that will be available for instant streaming from Netflix via Xbox 360 includes scores of Academy Award winners and nominees, episodes from a number of popular, currently running and classic TV shows, and 24 of the movies rated by the American Film Institute as the greatest ever.
Today, Xbox LIVE members can also download movies and purchase TV shows from the industry-leading Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store, currently packed with content from more than 45 networks and studios. The Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store offers more than twice the high-definition content than the nearest cable provider and more than 6,000 hours of TV shows and movies.
Xbox 360 is a superior video game and entertainment system delivering the best games, unique entertainment features and a unified online gaming network that revolve around gamers. Xbox 360 has a portfolio of nearly 400 games in 37 countries. More information can be found online at
Xbox LIVE is the first and most comprehensive unified online entertainment network seamlessly integrated throughout the entire console experience, making it easy for people to find the friends, games and entertainment they want from the moment they power on their Xbox 360 system. Xbox LIVE connects more than 12 million members across 26 countries to enjoy hundreds of multiplayer games, downloadable games via Xbox LIVE Arcade, free and premium playable game demos, music videos, TV shows, and movies in the United States as well as new game levels, characters and vehicles for all their favorite retail games. More information can be found online at -us/live.
From time to time, I have confessed my love for the Vudu set-top box that instantly streams up to 720p quality HD movies (or 1080p quality non-instant) over the Internet to your TV. The Vudu player is not subscription-based, so in addition to ponying up for the hardware, you have to pay an average of 3-5 each time you want to rent SD or HD quality movies. After a while of spending over 50 a month with the Vudu box, I decided check out the instant streaming landscape and take a look at the popular subscription-based Roku player. While the Roku player is often called the Netflix player, that is starting to change as it supports more services, most recently with the addition of Amazon Video on Demand.
Notice: During my review of the Roku player I was using an 80Mbps down Internet connection. Obviously this plays a huge role in the performance of a bandwidth-dependent streaming device. Your mileage may vary.
Ergonomically-speaking the Roku remote gets the job done and is the perfect size for natural placement of your thumb in the middle of the control. While I slightly miss the scroll wheel of the Vudu player's remote, the large Roku remote buttons provide ample tactile feedback with a soft yet noticable clicking feel. Only 9 buttons inhabit the Roku remote and all are self-explanatory.
The next step is linking your Netflix account to the Roku player. I was supplied with a confirmation code to link to my Netflix account. That required logging into Netflix on my computer, but was all of a 15 second affair. A similar procedure is also required for linking the Roku player to Amazon for Video on Demand support. Regardless of these requirements, setup took just a few minutes.
After doing a bit of research, Roku's decision to not allow Netflix browsing on the player was almost intentional. They wanted to keep everything about the Roku simple, and leave the complex bits to the Netflix website, which it's very capable of handling already.
Roku's implementation of Amazon Video on Demand is a bit different. You have some limited browsing ability but not searching. Filtering options include sorting by new releases, genre, popularity and alphabetically, but if you're looking to find something that isn't really popular you will have to do lots of annoying side-scrolling.
Fast-forwarding and rewinding through both Amazon and Netflix movies and TV shows can be burdensome due to the streaming nature of the Roku player. Whereas the Vudu player would buffer the entire movie on its hard drive, making rewinding and fast-forwarding quick and seamless, the same cannot be said about the Roku player. To get around this issue, Roku engineers implemented a visual timeline of sorts. After selecting the frame you want to jump to, there is a 5-10 second loading delay, obviously dependent upon your connection. It's an innovative solution, I'll give them that.
As you would expect with a digital video player, the Nexperia media processor has support for hardware H.264 video decoding as well as WM9 among others. You can blame Netflix's sub-par streaming quality to the Windows Media 9 codec they're using, presumably to take advantage of its DRM features [sic].
On top of that set-top box platform, it appears that Roku expanded to a daughtercard via a USB header to introduce 802.11b/g Wi-Fi support with the Atheros chip. Interestingly enough, there are connections for external antennas. If you are getting bad wireless range with your Roku, you could try hooking up two antennas to those (you'd likely need two U.FL-RSMA pigtail cables).
I give the Roku video player 8.5 out of 10 Stammys. It has its fair share of drawbacks but damned if it isn't cheap! The Roku hardware itself supports 1080i streaming, so hopefully a future software update will bring this to fruition.
So that you don't have to spend hours searching through thousands of movies, some good, some bad and everything in-between, we've compiled a list of the best science-fiction movies and television shows currently on Netflix.
Synopsis: 13-year-old Adam Reed, still grieving the sudden death of his father a year earlier, walks into his garage one night to find a wounded pilot hiding there. This mysterious pilot turns out to be the older version of himself from the future, where time travel is in its infancy. He has risked everything to come back in time on a secret mission. Together they must embark on an adventure into the past to find their father, set things right, and save the world. Adding to the challenge of the mission, the two Adams discover they really don't like each other very much, and if they're going to save the world, they're first going to have to figure out how to get along.
Why you should watch: Ryan Reynolds leads an all-star cast in this family action drama that incorporates much of Reynold's dry wit. While not paying too much attention to the so-called "rules" of time travel, it brings drama and the complexities of human relationships into a spirited science fiction movie aimed at older kids and young adults. Joining Reynolds is an impressive line up, including Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Zoe Saldana and Catherine Keener. Plus it's directed by Shawn Levy, who also gave us "Free Guy" and "Real Steel."
Synopsis: The story of the first moon landing in the summer of 1969 from two interwoven perspectives. It both captures the astronaut and mission control view of the triumphant moment, and the lesser-seen bottom up perspective of what it was like from an excited kid's perspective, living near NASA but mostly watching it on TV like hundreds of millions of others. It's ultimately both an exacting re-creation of this special moment in history and a kid's fantasy about being plucked from his average life in suburbia to secretly train for a covert mission to the moon.
Synopsis: An international fleet of naval warships encounters an alien armada while on a Naval war games exercise and faces the biggest threat mankind has ever faced. An intense battle is fought on sea, land and air. If they lose, the world could face a major extinction event and an alien invasion. Will humans win this alien war, what are the aliens doing here, and what do they want?
Why you should watch: The premise of this movie is mostly nonsense, but it's a well-made popcorn flick and as such, surprisingly enjoyable. The plot doesn't stretch the imagination and it's kept relatively simple, but the connection to the board game, on which this is very loosely based, is cleverly incorporated. The action is exciting, the accompanying rock ballads are well placed and thankfully it's not overloaded with cheese. A solid cast including Alexander Skarsgrd, Adam Godley and Rihanna, all deliver solid performances in fun, entertaining, military-themed sci-fi movie.
Why you should watch: This and "Maniac" are two of the best, little-known sci-fi thrillers on Netflix at the moment. An impressive cast, including Graham and also Kyle Soller you might know from "Andor," Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Amaka Okafor and Shira Haas. The penultimate conclusion, is such an incredibly thrilling almost-finale, that when the actual finale comes, it throws you in a totally different direction. This is a masterclass in time travel thrillers and hopefully there will be a second season, but even if there isn't, this is still very much a must-see.
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