Netflix will offer films and TV shows on five Android smart phones, including the HTC Incredible with Android 2.2, HTC Nexus One with Android 2.2, 2.3, HTC Evo 4G with Android 2.2, HTC G2 with Android 2.2 and Samsung Nexus S with Android 2.3.
Netflix’s $7.99 monthly streaming-only plan also is available on TVs, game consoles, Blu-ray players and Apple Inc.’s iPad and iPhone.
The new feature will make even easier the location-independent viewing of movies and TV content available from Netflix. It is different from Slingbox services in that Slingbox enables remote viewing of a user’s multichannel video subscription services, while Netflix mostly offers a selection of movies.
To the extent that content is what drives viewing, there still will be more variety, and most importantly access to live streaming TV, when using a “TV Everywhere” service. The downside is that “TV Everywhere” initially only is available “elsewhere in the house.”
Still, the Netflix on Android feature simply puts one more enabler into the online and mobile video foundation, without location restrictions.