Netflix Streams Past the Mailbox & PC

Netflix has teamed up with Roku to offer a solution that bypasses red mailing envelopes and PC downloads, instead providing a box to stream movies directly from the Internet onto a TV.

The Netflix Player by Roku is priced at $99.99 and gives Netflix members instant access to more than 10,000 movies and TV episodes. A member can choose movies from their queue and have them automatically displayed on the TV screen. There are no extra charges or viewing restrictions, so Netflix members can watch as much as they want--subject to whatever limitations their broadband provider may have--without paying more or having to count the number of DVDs they have viewed during the month.

About the size of a paperback book, the Roku Netflix Player supports both Ethernet and WiFi (802.11 b/g) connectivity and HDMI for the HDTV crowd. It also provides the functionality to rate movies and allows for fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream.

Analysts are interested to see how an all-you-can eat viewing experience may impact Netflix's bottom line. Infrastructure to support real-time streaming isn't free, but Netflix is bundling in the option as a value-add to a subscriber's membership. On the other hand, not having to print and manage tens of thousands of DVDs would definitely lighten operational costs.

For more:
- Netflix announces the Roku Streaming Box

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