HackDay
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Netflix sent a show about space into space
Netflix is already available in 190 countries, so where's the next logical place of expansion? Space, obviously. As part of Netflix's latest hack day, a team sent an iPhone with downloaded Netflix content into the heavens with a GoPro camera, reaching an altitude of approximately 115,000 feet. The show kept playing, albeit without sound because in space, no-one can hear you scream. Subtitles on, then. Of course the show in question was Star Trek, although it seems illogical that the team opted for Star Trek: Discovery, which isn't actually available to stream on Netflix in the US (it's available on CBS All Access).
Netflix engineers dream up a way to search your queue with Morse code
Netflix's annual Hack Day event saw a host of funky projects this year, including a Redbox-style Netflix vending machine, a spooky new interface that makes eyes and heads of characters in thumbnails follow your cursor, an interface to track your binge watches and an audiobook mode that plays Audio Descriptions from movies so you can listen to your Netflix queue instead of watch it. The most interesting project, though, is called TeleFlix, which uses a Raspberry Pi and an old telegraph key to search Netflix with Morse code.
Netflix project lets you mind-control its interface
Netflix's developers are at it again, using the company's annual Hack Day to come up with clever, if sometimes wild, ideas on how to improve the streaming service. This year's crop of hacks mostly focus on intriguing Stranger Things integrations, but the most interesting result is one named MindFlix, that lets you navigate and control Netflix with your mind.
Netflix comes full circle, creates virtual video store
First Netflix replaced tedious trips to the video store by mailing DVDs directly to your home. Then they replaced tedious trips to the mailbox by streaming movies directly to your laptop. Now, Netflix engineers have completely closed the loop by creating a virtual video store you can step into without ever leaving your living room.
Netflix stuffed its video service into an NES cartridge
Netflix's experimental Hack Days often lead to wonderfully off-the-wall projects, but its latest might have produced the best example yet. Engineers Guy Cirino, Carenina Motion and Alex Wolfe have whipped up DarNES, a hack that turns the original Nintendo Entertainment System into a Netflix playback machine. The '80s-era console is unchanged -- the real trickery is inside a special 256KB cartridge. You probably wouldn't want to go on an Orange is the New Black marathon given the chunky 8-bit graphics, but it's nice to know that you can.
Netflix engineers experiment with bump-based video sharing and sleep tracking
Netflix uses its internal Hack Day competitions to encourage new thinking around its streaming video service, and its latest event has produced a few clever experiments that we wouldn't mind seeing in finished apps. One of them, Netflix Beam, uses Apple's Bluetooth-based iBeacon technology to share Netflix videos between iOS devices just by bumping them together. Another effort uses a Fitbit to check if you fall asleep mid-movie; if you do, you can resume from the point where you nodded off. Other handy Hack Day inventions include gamepad-friendly text entry, custom playlists and PIN-protected profiles. Netflix warns that these projects may never reach its public-facing software, but they're still worth checking out to see what the company's engineers are thinking. We've posted two of the pitch videos (Beam and the sleep tracker) below, and you can see a few more at the source link.
