MyNetflix (beta) Vista Media Center plugin with Watch Now streaming

Anthony Park just released his MyNetflix Media Center plugin. The application lets you add/remove movies from your Netflix queue, browse for movies, and view history and recommendations. The part that will tempt you into installing the beta software however is the ability to stream "Watch Now" movies from the warm comforts of your Media Center. You do have a Netflix account don't you?

[Via Chris Lanier's Blog, thanks Matt]

[Jimmy @ Feb 11th 2008 8:22AM]

lol who needs netflix

[treacherous @ Feb 11th 2008 8:25AM]

Nice. Too bad they're not in HD, though...

[CB17 @ Feb 11th 2008 8:27AM]

Wait, can someone test this on a 360? Cause if this works....

[ScotMac124 @ Feb 11th 2008 8:48AM]

I installed it and his release notes say that he can not get the DRM to work to make the video stream to the 360 or any other media extender device. Not yet anyway.

[Steve Jobs @ Feb 11th 2008 8:48AM]

I do believe thats the first thing I'll be doing when I get home today...And I'm really hoping it works because streaming to the 360 through Media Center would be way better than watching movies on my laptop.

[CaptCaveman @ Feb 11th 2008 9:12AM]

If it won't stream to an extender then I sadly won't have any use for it. My PC is not hooked to my TV so the difference would be either opening my browser to watch or opening Media Center.

Come to think of it, even if my PC was attached to the TV I would still have the same choice.

[Andy D @ Feb 11th 2008 9:15AM]

I'm going to try later tonight but I doubt it. The DRM player may not work on the 360

[mattbrown @ Feb 11th 2008 11:13PM]

It would work on the Xbox if there were some way to press the "Play" dialog button that appears when you use it on the PC for rights acquisition. The thing that is intriguing to me is that the application actually opens a web browser on the Xbox. I'm wondering why someone hasn't created a web browser application for the 360 MCE. Forgive my ignorance if someone has.

[jus10 @ Feb 11th 2008 8:32AM]

No, I don't have a Netflix account. I dropped it when they made it clear they were going with Silverlight for their Watch It Now functionality. Well that and the lack of compelling title to rent at the moment.

I'm hoping Apple will catch up with iTunes rentals. So far, I'm not really impressed there either, sigh.

[Mike @ Feb 11th 2008 8:39AM]

Silverlight didn't cause me as much trouble as just getting their stupid software to work at all.

the silverlight quality was actually quite good....reminded me of putfile's quality.

I just wasn't able to get their stupid download to work on either of my home computers. Their movie rental service is great, but their streaming service has much to be desired of.

[Sean O @ Feb 11th 2008 2:27PM]

You're both extremely confused people. jus10, first of all, you're clearly a troll. What kind of lunatic would cancel their Netflix account because they heard a rumor that it would start using Silverlight? The ultimate irony is that rumore was 8 months ago and it still hasn't happened yet. And of course, why on earth would you have a problem with Silverlight? Most people are DYING for them to do this. Silverlight would add Mac support and would allow chapter navigation.

Mike, Netflix doesn't use Silverlight (not yet at least). So I'm not sure how you can be commenting on the quality.

[Jay @ Feb 11th 2008 8:52AM]

Hey, can someone tell me if this needs to be on Vista's Media Center? I have WinXP MCE and was hopeful that it would run under that as well!

[omoks @ Feb 11th 2008 8:59AM]

Can this work with the 360. It'll be so cool

[Jonathan @ Feb 11th 2008 9:07AM]

MyNetflix is finally supporting Beta!?! Yippee!!

[sxt173 @ Feb 11th 2008 10:01AM]

Netflix WatchNow does not work if your whole 'chain' of devices starting from your PC going to your TV are all HD. This is not Netflix's fault, but rather MS DRM's.

That is why I can hardly wait for Silverlight, which is device and platform independent.

[Ryan Hurst @ Feb 11th 2008 10:23AM]

Its VISTA only because the UI is built using a VISTA only technology cally MCML; the old version is based on HTML and can be found at my website http://www.unmitigatedrisk.com and will run on XP MCE however since Watch It now didnt exist when I wrote it, its absent from the current version if you know a bit of HTML you could add it though.

[Sean O @ Feb 11th 2008 2:34PM]

sxt173,
That's a total crock. Absolute BS. There are no restrictions like that at all. You don't even need HDCP in the chain. The only time it will give you problems is if you are using dual displays.

[Tac Elf @ Feb 11th 2008 8:18PM]

"Netflix WatchNow does not work if your whole 'chain' of devices starting from your PC going to your TV are all HD. This is not Netflix's fault, but rather MS DRM's."

Incorrect. In fact, Netflix' Watch Now works perfectly well on my Vista / Media Center box connected to my HDTV. Resolution is set to 1080p, but then most of the watch now stuff is SD (at least what I sampled). I only tried this last night and only a sampling of available videos. Vista does not *set* the DRM restrictions, that's done by Netflix at the time the media is streamed to you. Vista is just a platform which allows such a thing to happen, but it by no means forces the people who call the API's to use it. That, my friend, is up to the content providers and developers.

Hey! At least this plug in *will* allow me to manage the netflix account/queue from my extender. That much is nice. Well done!

[Christian Martin @ Feb 11th 2008 9:43AM]

"The Watch Now feature does not work on the extender. This is because I am using the Netflix player (which is not streamed to the extender). Only video which is played in Media Center gets streamed to the extender. I am working on another solution to the watch now that will allow it to be played over the extender, but it is very tricky due to the DRM/copyright protections that Netflix has on their content. I honestly can't say that this will ever be possible unless Netflix makes some changes to their player restrictions."

No it won't play on the 360. Please try researching on your own before asking the same question multiple times, people.

[CB17 @ Feb 11th 2008 6:09PM]

Sorry I looked around a bit and couldn't find it (mainly in the FAQ). Got my question answered faster on here anyways :-P

[Tac Elf @ Feb 11th 2008 8:21PM]

Thanks for the great start on this plug-in. Hopefully Netflix will work out a system such that plug-ins like that can legally and easily stream to extenders. Hey! At least I can manage my queue from the couch now :)

[Max @ Feb 11th 2008 9:44AM]

Vista only?! Why?

[OneLove @ Feb 11th 2008 12:27PM]

microsoft changed things around in vista media center so you essentially have to choose one test platform. (unless you have time to code for both) I guess vista is newer (and friendlier api) so it was the logical choice?

[Sean O @ Feb 11th 2008 2:31PM]

Yeah, we all know how inferior Vista supposedly is to XP. Engadget reminds us everyday. Say what you want about the OS itself - but there is no question the Vista Media Center is light years better than Media Center Edition 2005.

In order to support MCE 2005, the author would not be able to use the Vista Presentation Layer. This is what makes Vista-only MC plugins look and work so well.

[Ryan Hurst @ Feb 11th 2008 10:25AM]

Netflix controls the license restrictions enforced by the DRM platform not MSFT.

[mlzemina @ Feb 11th 2008 3:53PM]

A similar plugin is available for MediaPortal - check out the plugin here: http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/plugins-47/netflix-manager-v2-0-w-play-now-support-34588/

[whatishalo? @ Feb 11th 2008 12:22PM]

Come on BeyondTV. You're falling behind!! I was just telling someone the other day that the PVR software should support Netflix streaming and what do you know...MCE has it. Maybe time to switch to MCE!

[MasterCKO @ Feb 11th 2008 4:34PM]

Actually, I've recently been thinking that I have less and less reason to keep using BeyondTV. Hrm, we'll see if they do anything awesome soon.

[Brent @ Feb 11th 2008 2:00PM]

No, I don't have a netflix account. I do have uTorrent, and while it may not be 'streaming' the half hour wait gives me time to make popcorn and such. Not to mention selection, availability of new titles.

[Sean O @ Feb 11th 2008 2:36PM]

Classy.

[Obeythefist @ Feb 12th 2008 2:01AM]

Netflix needs to offer a discount for all of the users whose platform is not supported by Watch Now.

[David @ Feb 11th 2008 3:11PM]

This man should get the kick ass software tool award for the month.

[andrea @ Feb 11th 2008 5:08PM]

1. is not possible to understand if NetFlix is available only in US or even worldwide
2. on the website there is not an actual "contact us" page: it just refers to other pages
3. the only way to contact them is using a tool-free number (free only in US!)
4. perhaps creating an account I could get an answer to my question, but why I should be forced to create an account to obtain a so simple answer?

A service so close and unclear don't deserve much attention and trustship.

[Bradford @ Feb 11th 2008 7:23PM]

Trustship?

[andrea @ Feb 12th 2008 1:55AM]

Sorry: confidence. I'm not a native speaker and sometime what I think is an actual word is just my own word ;)

[Obeythefist @ Feb 12th 2008 2:06AM]

Believe me, having a membership gets you no closer to an answer than not having a membership. I found the same problem you did in trying to contact them. When I finally found a form where I could send a complaint, they responded 24 hours later saying that this form is not watched for service questions. If I want to contact them, I have to call an 800 number or send my question by US Mail. If there were a viable alternative to Netflix, I'd change in an instant.

[UFGrayMatter @ Feb 11th 2008 8:05PM]

I have a similar plugin for good 'ole Meedio ;-)
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/3243/meeflixqueueuy2.jpg

[YoyoSoelow @ Feb 29th 2008 5:14PM]

There is a Windows media center Netflix plug-in that supports both versions of media center. Its called NetflixMC. Read all about it here. - http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/1/238353/ShowThread.aspx

[Datagg @ Mar 2nd 2008 3:00AM]

Hmm this is interseting post here. i currently use the Vista64 media center and Vongo service to stream movies to my 65" tv.

Will this netflix service work the same way? I haven't been to happy with the Vongo movie line up as of late, its quite hit and miss when they have good titles out.

Looking forward to replies....