LG Unveils Netflix Compatible Blue-ray Player
LG Electronics has introduced the first networked Blu-ray Disc player with the integrated ability to access and play back Netflix instant-streaming video content.
The LG model BD300 will be only the second set-top device compatible with the Netflix instant-streaming offering. The first was a dedicated $99 Roku player introduced earlier in the year. Microsoft's Xbox 360 will also add the capability this fall.
The LG Blu-ray player will ship in the fall at a suggested retail price range "well under $500 (USD). the company says that it will be competitively priced with other new Blu-ray Disc players coming to market" at that time.
The Netflix instant-streaming video service offers more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes in standard-definition format online for virtually instant playback.
It's cool they are adding this to some electronics now - getting us all closer to on demand, streaming viewing. I can already just stream from my Netflix account to my PC. But I find I don't use the feature much. Most of the stuff I want to see I just get via Netflix normally. Plus the on demand stuff still has a pretty limited selection.
I'll be interested to see how the netflix integration with the XBox 360 works since that's something a lot of people already own and it's connected to the TV.