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Netflix Available For Android
supersloshy writes "Netflix has just announced the release of a Netflix Android application for streaming movies to Android-powered mobile devices. As streaming movies requires certain features and specifications, only a select number of devices are supported for now."
So out of hundreds of Android devices it runs on five, while Netflix runs on all iPhones and iPads. And who still says Android isn't fragmented?
I was excited by this... my Nexus One is on the list! So I clicked the Market link... and... "This item cannot be installed in your device's country." ... damnit! Netflix is available in Canada, why can't they make the app available? I use the Boxee Netflix app just fine here... sigh...
Android does use the kernel, but unless you install the rest of a normal userland that is pretty much were it ends. You might be able to run this app in the emulator though.
This has nothing to do with android fragmentation. The app runs fine if you lie to it about what phone you have. This is very clearly a business decision.
Enjoy your crippled devices, this android user is watching netflix on an unsupported device.
Yes. They got it to work with a particular library, and decided to drop it before expanding it to use other libraries. Beta-testing and demand evaluation are valuable experiments.
As others have noted, it is possible to get this on any android device, so long as you have 2.3. I'm on a rooted Droid X 2.2.1, and the app crashes back to desktop after I've changed the build.prop. If I revert by build.prop to factory default, I get an error message that my device isn't supported, and it won't stream anything, but I can still look at my queue, suggestions, etc.
I believe that VZW has leaked many beta builds of 2.3. You can find them on a few droid enthusiast websites. If you're looking to get netflix on a droid device and you don't have 2.3, I wouldn't hold your breath. (I of course could be wrong).
Roku has DRM. Now you know.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
geek? really? The Nexus S only came with Gingerbread and it has been speculated that it is the reason why so many were held back from getting Gingerbread. You might want to recheck what phone you really have and what version of the OS you really have.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Apparently they are developing a Netflix plugin for Chrome that may work on Linux. See here.
Er, what if the phone has hdmi out and HD playback capabilities like many phones do?
The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
Once again the fragmentation of Android rears its ugly head.
How does Netflix intentionally not releasing their app for certain devices have anything to do with fragmentation? To spell it out, devices not on the approved list can run this app, Netflix just intentionally disallowed it. It's their choice and has nothing to do with Android. To wit, I have an OG Droid that is not on the supported devices list. Guess what? I installed the Netflix app and it works perfectly. The problem here lies solely at the feet of Netflix. Instead of blaming the victim, why don't you put your indignation to good use and shoot Netflix an email telling them how unhappy you are? Oh, that's right, because you are actually a troll. Now crawl back under your bridge.
The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
edit a text file and reboot.
Android, bringing you all the features you loved from the good old days of DOS.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
this android user is watching netflix
You:
your device isn't crippled ?
Obviously not!
P.S. Looks like Slashdot has hit a new low when people are scorned for using their devices the way they want and not at the whim of the corporate nanny. Truly a sad day.
The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
I miss the times when people though that DRM was bad.
DRM is ideal for rentals. What you're talking about is DRM for movies/software you keep.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Netflix has chosen the first option which is the most sensible right now on Android if you still want to do some quality assurance.
If that is true, then why are there so many applications in the Android market that do much more than stream video that work great on any device you put them on? I develop applications for Android and I haven't had any problems whatsoever with my software not running on someone's device. It's this simple:
<uses-sdk />
android:minSdkVersion="5"
android:targetSdkVersion="11"
and sticking to the official api's when writing your code. Surely Netflix with their bucketloads of cash can hire someone capable of that.
The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
Seriously?? REALLY?? 5 Fucking phones are supported? WTF is the point?
My iPhone "just works", my mac does a good job of just working most of the time especially compared to a Windows box or a Linux that needs tweaking for every little thing. They're not time-sinks which is why I got them in the first place, I've got a kid and the remains of my social life which I'd rather put my time into. Don't get me wrong I love that these things exist for you to tweak and play with and maybe I'll get one of these Android phones one of these days as a hobby thing, but my main computer and phone are utensils: they have to work as well as possible with as little maintenance as possible.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
Not to mention the daylight savings time bugs that seem to come up every 6 months. Have they fixed that one yet? Seriously, people claim that iPhones just work, and then the alarms don't even ring with DST rolls over.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
better example would be when Rovio could not support Angry Birds on all Android devices
A better example of what? That technology marches on? Or should we just have stopped at the G1? If I write an iOS app that requires the iPad2's graphical prowess to run, does that reflect poorly on iOS that it runs like crap on the original iPad? They do still sell it so you can't use that as an excuse. Your arguments don't hold water, sir.
The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
The iPad being replaced by a newer version is completely different from not being able to run an application on all current devices.
Not different at all when they are still selling them anyway so
Rovio
There are over 200,000 applications in the Android Marketplace. Of course, there will be some developers that will push the envelope and not be able to deliver a satisfactory experience on all devices. That is the exception as every single program I have installed on my G1 works on my Droid and my Xoom including some 3D games that require much more from my devices than Angry Birds which is a 2D sprite game consisting of shooting a projectile from one side of the screen to the other. Maybe Rovio is incompetent? They were practically bankrupt until they ripped these guys off so how much should I take from their example anyway?
The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
From here:
Research is showing that the key piece needed (and why some OG Droids with GB builds are able to run it unmodified) is the Stagefright media framework. Stagefright is SUPPOSED to be included in 2.2, but it looks like most OEMs decided not to ship with it for whatever reason.
It looks like most GB builds out there have Stagefright installed (as they should), which would explain why they seem to work with nothing more than a quick tweak to build.prop.
What's interesting is that the only official mention of Stagefright I can find is in the high-level 2.2 changelog for developers, and even there only in passing. No API docs & no reference so far as I can see. Googling only gives me a bunch of posts on the forums asking where to get more info, with no answers. Closed APIs? on my 'droid? WTF.
Wonder why Netflix came up with this wonderful idea of using a media framework that is available on such a minuscule number of devices. Is it because it's the only one that has some hardware or at least OS-level DRM support, perhaps?