Native Netflix, Pandora Hello...?

[bcjenkins]

I wonder what this would cost.. http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/27/r...ense-embedded/

B

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by stanger89

But that makes me wonder how PCH, Dune, or Oppo can get Netflix on their boxen. I would not expect them to sell huge numbers either.

Seeing that Netflix jumped from a 50,000 to 100,000 requirement in a year, I wonder if the bar was even lower than 50k earlier on. Perhaps SageTV missed a chance to get in at ground floor?

Originally Posted by stanger89

Easier said than done in a Java-based cross platform (Mac/Linux) app.

Linux would be a problem for the browser based silverlight player, but OSX and Windows shouldn't be too tough provided the embedded browser is Mozilla or WebKit based.

[QueOnda]

Originally Posted by brainbone

Linux would be a problem for the browser based silverlight player, but OSX and Windows shouldn't be too tough provided the embedded browser is Mozilla or WebKit based.

I heard Moonlight is a siverlight replacement? I just heard the name last week but I don't know anything bout it.

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by QueOnda

I heard Moonlight is a siverlight replacement? I just heard the name last week but I don't know anything bout it.

Unfortunately, Moonlight does not support the Playready DRM necessary.

[gplasky]

The Roku player and others, plus the TVs aren't running Windows or Silverlight so getting it to play on the extenders should not be insurmountable.

Gerry

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

I wonder what this would cost.. http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/27/r...ense-embedded/

B

Originally Posted by gplasky

The Roku player and others, plus the TVs aren't running Windows or Silverlight so getting it to play on the extenders should not be insurmountable.

Gerry

SageTV could build their own Roku

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

I wonder what this would cost.. http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/27/r...ense-embedded/

B

Originally Posted by gplasky

The Roku player and others, plus the TVs aren't running Windows or Silverlight so getting it to play on the extenders should not be insurmountable.

Gerry

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

SageTV could build their own Roku

I saw that. I would be interested in the cost to licesne that technology. I imagine it will be somehow based on units sold + a fee. (Just a wild guess.) What's very interesting is that the hardware and/or the software is available for licensing.

Gerry

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by gplasky

The Roku player and others, plus the TVs aren't running Windows or Silverlight so getting it to play on the extenders should not be insurmountable.

Yes. If SageTV were a Netflix Branded Partner, they would have access to the same Playready DRM that Roku has, but only for use in something like an extender, not a linux PC client (though there doesn't appear to be one for SageTV anyway).

[RyanW]

Thanks for these addresses.

Originally Posted by brainbone

Not sure if all of these are still active or not, but you can try:
Ryan Troy <rtroy@netflix.com>
Michael Hart <mhart@netflix.com>
Thomas Purnell-Fisher <tpf@netflix.com>
Kirsten Jones <kijones@netflix.com>
Netflix API Support <apisupport@netflix.com>

I sent the following email to these addresses and copied support@sagetv.com. Join the campaign!

Sorry for the spam. It was hard to find where to direct this request.

I am a SageTV and Netflix customer. I have the SageTV server as well as the SageTV HD200 extender. I'd like to buy another extender (HD300) with Netflix support, but Sage currently doesn't offer such a device.

There has never been any official word from Sage as to why they do not have Netflix support, but an oft speculated reason on the forums is a supposed Netflix requirement that Sage would need to guarantee to sell 100,000 units in the first year. I can see how that would be a problem for a small company like Sage. Please lift this requirement for Sage. I love Netflix and Sage, and I'd love it if your two companies could find some way to work together.

Regards,

[cncb]

If this is indeed Netflix's stance I completely don't understand it. Why not open up the API to as many hardware makers as possible to potentially gain even more (Netflix) customers? Sage would have to do all the development, right, so it wouldn't cost Netflix anything??

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by cncb

If this is indeed Netflix's stance I completely don't understand it. Why not open up the API to as many hardware makers as possible to potentially gain even more (Netflix) customers? Sage would have to do all the development, right, so it wouldn't cost Netflix anything??

If some fly-by-night hardware maker slaps a Netflix logo on their box for some half-baked implementation that doesn't really work, who has more to lose from that in terms of customer goodwill and support costs? Fly-By-Night Inc? Or Netflix?

[cncb]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

If some fly-by-night hardware maker slaps a Netflix logo on their box for some half-baked implementation that doesn't really work, who has more to lose from that in terms of customer goodwill and support costs? Fly-By-Night Inc? Or Netflix?

Even Fly-By-Night Inc could sell enough "half-baked" units to meet the current "standard" if their hardware is cheap enough. The standard should be an established company with a track record of making good hardware and software with many loyal customers which Sage should be able to meet/prove...

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by cncb

The standard should be an established company with a track record of making good hardware and software with many loyal customers which Sage should be able to meet/prove...

Netflix's response to this, when I was trying to make a similar point, is basically that Netflix needs to invest time in every banded partner's product to ensure it is a good fit for the Netflix brand. But Netflix does not want to invest time in helping a "Branded Partner" get their product out the door, if the product will not generate a reasonable amount of new exposure for Netflix.

(This, however, leaves the hack that is Boxee -- a Netflix Branded Partner -- as a contradiction to Netflix's position on quality control.)

[panteragstk]

Since SageTV has a Play Ready licence I would take that as a step in the right direction to native netflix support. Maybe they are waiting to get v7 official before working on netflix support. With hulu and netflix being so important to so many people in the htpc, or even home theater world I see sage getting support for both one way or another. Playon is a "hack" in a sense, but it works. Not at the quality that I'd like, but that is playon, not sage. Who knows what sage has around the corner? We didn't know about v7 until it was released in beta, and we didn't know about the hd300 until it was for sale. Look at this from sagetv's point of view: you can only add so many features at a time.

We need to give them time to get things done. Just like with phoenix. We all want them to release it, but I'd rather get phoenix when it is finished and working than get it when it "mostly" works.

[PeteCress]

Originally Posted by que3jxp

With that said, it should be a joke for them to find a way to add it to the PC clients and Placeshifters as it should just reach out and use the Silverlight API as does the web browser on every PC and MAC that can currently access Netflix. The complex part is building a good interface for the user and not to knock Sage, but user interfaces were not their strong suit until v7 came out...

This is from somebody who knows next to nothing.

Having said that....

What's between SageTV and building a web browser into the HD400 or an "HD300 Pro".

These things run a flavor of Linux, right?

If that's true, it would seem like having a web browser would take care of any NetFlix UI issues just by using the native NetFlix web browser capability....

It would also add huge functionality...

Or doesn't NetFlix do Linux-based browsers?

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by PeteCress

Or doesn't NetFlix do Linux-based browsers?

There is nothing for linux that will play content protected with Playready DRM on the netflix silverlight player. Moonlight will play some silverlight content on linux, but does not have Playready DRM support.

You need to be a Netflix Branded Partner to gain access to a Playready DRM solution for linux from Netflix.

Originally Posted by panteragstk

Since SageTV has a Play Ready licence I would take that as a step in the right direction to native netflix support.

I must have missed something. Since when did SageTV have a Playready DRM license?

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by brainbone

I must have missed something. Since when did SageTV have a Playready DRM license?

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50311

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by paulbeers

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50311

Well, that's good news. Could be for Cablecard, Netflix, or both.

[gplasky]

Found this interesting this morning on why Netflix Streaming won't be found on all Android devices.

Late last Friday, one of Netflix's product managers confirmed what many have suspected for a long time: Android isn't secure enough for the movie studios. Instead, Netflix will work directly with individual hardware makers to build Netflix apps for certain devices, a move that would rupture the already shaky notion that Android is a single platform.

In his blog post, Peters really spells it out:

The hurdle has been the lack of a generic and complete platform security and content protection mechanism available for Android. The same security issues that have led to piracy concerns on the Android platform have made it difficult for us to secure a common Digital Rights Management (DRM) system on these devices. Setting aside the debate around the value of content protection and DRM, they are requirements we must fulfill in order to obtain content from major studios for our subscribers to enjoy.

In other words, Netflix — and others who secure the right to distribute movies digitally, such as Vudu, Hulu, Amazon and Roxio's CinemaNow — can't just decide to jump into a platform. They've promised to deliver movies and TV shows safely to known entities who can't record or redistribute that stuff on their own. If they can't ensure that this promise will be kept, they can't make the move.

Peters' conclusion is bittersweet:

We live to get Netflix on new devices, so the current lack of an Android-generic approach to quickly get to all Android devices is frustrating. But I’m happy to announce we’ll launch select Android devices that will instantly stream from Netflix early next year. We will also continue to work with the Android community, handset manufacturers, carriers, and other service providers to develop a standard, platform-wide solution that allows content providers to deliver their services to all Android-based devices.

I can see this also being a problem on SageTV. Not so much the Windows platform but Linux and the extenders.

Gerry

[alton987]

For the 'You should have search first" crowd here is the reults when you do search for "Netflix"



Yeah that is easy for a new user to comb through...