steve swasey
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Did Netflix just start limiting users to one movie stream at a time? No
Over the last couple of days, some Netflix users have reported getting error messages whenever they tried to view Watch Instantly video streams on two different devices at the same time. While some reports have suggested that along with instituting a price hike September 1st it also decided to start cracking down on multiple streams, it turns out there's a simpler explanation. According to spokesman Steve Swasey, the policy is still the same and no Netflix member is limited to less than two streams at once. The messages people are seeing indicating otherwise? An "error" the company is correcting. Glitches suck, and are becoming a bit too routine on the service for our liking -- Hacking Netflix reports another blip caused S1 of Star Trek: TNG to disappear temporarily over the weekend -- but the rumors of a change in policy just aren't true, so keep that subscription canceling finger holstered for now.
Netflix: lack of HD streaming 'no loss' for Wii owners
Let's see if we can't come up with a small list of things that would be, quite frankly, overkill in a modern game console / video streaming device. Color? You know, some of the best films ever made were in black and white. Audio? Just a distraction, really. HD? Available on damn near every new TV, sure, but don't you think it's a bit... much? Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime does, obviously, as does Netflix -- at least according to an interview recently posted on The Wiire. Indeed, the company's VP of Corporate Communications Steve Swasey goes so far as to say that "the HD experience at Netflix Instant Watching isn't that overwhelming. It's a little bit underwhelming. So the Wii folks aren't going to miss that much." Y'know, it's not every day that we hear a company downplay its own product, but we suppose that the man should throw a bone to the twenty-six million homes in America who already own the console. He goes on to say that "the vast majority of content that is available for streaming through Netflix is not HD content. So, there is really no loss for the Wii consumer." Besides, "PS3 and Xbox users have 1 in 17 titles available in HD, and it's streamed in 720... it's not in 1080, and it's not in 5.1 surround sound or anything." Sure, Swasey -- anything can make sense if you explain it. Well, almost anything.
Interview: Netflix on Xbox Live
Last month we spoke with Last.fm about the service coming to the Xbox 360, and what it would mean for users. Then we turned around to get the Xbox side of things as well. We've decided to talk to all of the social media that's making the leap to the Xbox: Last.fm, Netflix, Facebook, and Twitter. In this interview, we speak with Steve Swasey, vice president of marketing for Netflix. Although Netflix isn't in the business of releasing stats on individual devices, an industry source told us that the Xbox has been the biggest of all, over the Roku Box and other options. Over one million Xbox gold members have used the Netflix service on their consoles. Neither Roku nor the LG Blu-ray players with Netflix built-in have hit that number. With the new Netflix experience increasing the functionality by letting users add movies from the Xbox, and providing a new party mode, it will most likely continue to grow in popularity. We spoke with Swasey recently about the new experience on the Xbox 360, what other devices they're looking into, and the future of Netflix in both physical and streaming media. Read on for the full interview after the break.%Gallery-68686%
