Stream of Consciousness: Netflix to offer ‘streaming only’ plan by years end?

We’ve talked on here about how we think HD and SD movie streaming is probably the future of TV and movies at home, but isn’t quite there yet. Well, it may be here sooner than we think: the world’s biggest movie at home provider, Netflix, may be on the road to launching a ‘streaming only’ monthly plan by the end of the year.

Read on via blog tvpredictions:

The online movie rental service has offered a ‘streaming only” option in Canada — and experimented with one in the United States.

The Canadian plan costs $1 less per month than Netflix’s minimum payment plan ($8.99) which allows subscribers to rent DVDs as well as watching movies over the Internet, called streaming. (To include Blu-ray discs in your Netflix plan requires an additional fee.)

Netflix has been shifting the company’s focus in recent years to emphasize streaming instead of the hard disc. In fact, company CEO Reed Hastings said yesterday that “we are now primarily a streaming company that also offers DVD-by-mail…DVD-by-mail shipments are still growing, but streaming for us is much larger and growing much faster.

Netflix’s streaming service, which allows viewers to watch a film almost immediately, is available on many devices including PCs, Blu-ray players, Apple TV and the XBox 360.

The company said 66 percent of its subscribers watched at least 15 minutes of Netflix video streaming in the last financial quarter; the number was 61 percent in the previous quarter.

Netflix believes that streaming will mean fewer costs and more subscribers in the coming years.

We do believe overhead will be lower, but will costs really go down via the price on your end? Probably not. We’ll see.

HD Stream: Netflix to offer 1080p HD movie service

It seems even larger companies like Netflix have latched onto the 1080p HD bandwagon: they plan on launching a full HD movie service on the PS3 very soon (as of the 18th or so). More details here:

The company said more devices would get Dolby sound and 1080p movies “over time.” Netflix’s instant streaming service is also available on Blu-ray players, PCs, Apple TV and the XBox 360.

Netflix did not say which movies — or how many — would be available in 1080p, a format that purports to offer a sharper picture. Blu-ray movies are also in 1080p, but many industry analysts believe that a streaming 1080p video does not deliver a picture as good as the high-def disc.

However, Netflix said that PS3 owners would no longer have to insert a disc in the console to view its library of movies and TV shows.

To get Netflix’s streaming service, Netflix subscribers must pay a minimum of $8.99 a month. The fee allows subscribers to rent hard discs via the mail as well watch movies instantly over the Net. But the company is reportedly considering launching a streaming-only subscription plan in the near future.

We like and appreciate the idea, even if a full Netflix subscription is necessary to get ahold of it. More 1080p sources are always a good thing in our book, however.

Freedom: Netflix coming to Canada?

Yes, this is only an indirectly related HD article, but since Netflix carries Blu-Ray, it could help establish BR more as a home video medium around the globe. Netflix is currently a US only service, but now news is leaking that Netflix will be slowly moving into Canada as a rental option. See the Engadget news blurb:

Netflix has just announced it’ll be taking its first tentative step abroad with a rollout of its video streaming service in Canada. Specifics are predictably light at the present moment, but interested Canucks can sign up now to be informed as soon as those details drop. So Canada in the fall… and the UK in winter, perhaps? We can only hope.

No word on prices or anything like that, but NF is something we’re hoping spreads far and wide, so that people across the pond can experience the joy of watching lots of Blu-Ray classic movies for a small monthly fee.

Nintendo Chief: Wii Users Don’t Want HD?

Some corporate bosses are pretty out of touch with what most users really want. Take Nintendo (America division) leader Reggie Fils-Aime, who has stated for record that users don’t want Wii and Netflix streaming for Wii (coming soon) to be in HD. Really? Users don’t require or want it? On what planet did this person come from? We’ve covered Fils-Aime and his unusual viewpoints before, but this episode is even more galling.

While the Xbox 360 and PS3 can do HD content and even HD streaming with Netflix, Reggie says that “there really is no loss for the Wii consumer” due to the fact that “the vast majority” of Netflix content isn’t HD anyway. Never mind the fact that HD is slowly taking over standard def as a favored choice in most markets, but Wii users prefer SD. Strange, weird and not true at all of the users we know, but hey, he’s the boss for a reason we suppose.

BRAVIA HDTV Update: Sony gets Netflix streaming

Own a fancy Sony BRAVIA HDTV, but still don’t have Netflix streaming on it? Well, the wait is over according to a number of sources, as Netflix streaming has now been released for the Sony line of HDTVs.

The net-connected Sony Bravia finally got the much-awaited upgrade via the latest software update. Bear in mind this was promised back in July, so many owners of these models are probably (rightfully) pretty peeved at a 4 month delay, but as the old saying goes, better late than never.

The PS3 still requires a special CD to be sent from Netflix to update those machines to use the streaming feature, which seems a little unfair to some, but again, better to have the ability than not.

Out On A Limb: Akamai predicts more HD video online

Sure, Akamai helped put together a IDC whitepaper finding smooth playback and high res is important to the majority of online audiences — services it provides, of course, but the results are pretty much common knowledge anyway. This article is relevant mainly because the more HD expands to various audiences – both online and offline – the better positioned it’ll be in the future.

Last year a survey they conducted (also rather self-serving) found 75% of broadcasters wanting to do HD online and in the last year, we’ve had a huge revolution in HD content on the net, from the Olympics to the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and cable/satellite providers adding more selection in HD like DirecTV, DISH and Comcast.

The gist of this report: Publishers need to release and continue to advance HD streaming to keep up with the the Joneses, video quality is really key to a user’s experience, and HD means users will be happier. We could’ve told you that, minus all the legwork that went into this paper.

The Cost of Adoption: Netflix to raise Blu-Ray rental rates 20%

In a move destined to stir the rental masses (and they’ll settle down once they realize its still not a bad deal), Netflix is again increasing their rates for those that rent Blu-Ray discs 20% on average. Uh oh. Here come the cries of “I quit Netflix forever!”.

Existing 1 out at a time-unlimited customers will stay at $8.99/mo.

We still remember the furor when Netflix added $1 to rates last October for BR users, and now company says that the increase (to begin April 27th) is due to more people renting on BR, which is a good thing for the HD revolution indeed.

Fact: According to Netflix, nearly 10% of customers now rent mostly on Blu-Ray, which is a huge number for the BR adopters everywhere, and we suppose with the increased costs of stocking more BR discs, the costs had to be supplimented from somewhere.

Here’s a chart of the increases by tier: