If it's like the Roku, you will still need to add the movies to your 'watch it now' queue via the internet site. How you do that I guess doesn't matter.

Okay. I just remember the rumored method had you install some software on the PC or something to that nature.

I wonder if it will display correctly in the 360 or will I have to change my output settings every time so that content isn't pillar boxed?

Related to this:

I've rented several movies from Xbox Live that say they have DD 5.1. However, it's coming through as stereo to my receiver. When I am playing games I am getting DD 5.1 no problem, so it's not the output setting for audio in the dashboard (I've checked).

I am using HDMI for both video and audio. Is this a limitation of the software? I've read people can get the 5.1 OK for rentals if they are using optical, but I'm not hooking up an extra cable just to get multichannel from XBL rentals.

If this continues to be the case the Netflix HD rentals will be mostly worthless for me without multichannel audio.

I use vmcnetflix through media center to access the netflix watchnow service and it is great, granted there aren't 5.1 movies yet (though they are working on some HD material), but whatever if you are bored you can spin something up quick and their library is pretty damn good despite what has been said, you just aren't even bothering to look if you can't find anything.

Some stuff i've watched lately
The Orphange, King of Kong, Master of Horror series, Day Watch, Weeds, Dexter, Hereos, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Pan's Labryinth

Very cool. I may open up a cheap Netflix account when this becomes a reality. Then again, with Hulu readily available, I may not.

Hulu streaming to Xbox = Happy Groucho

MS did just announce a partnership with NBC Universal, so who knows?

They've been saying by the end of the year for the roku box. Shouldn't be a problem with this also.

Awesome! I never thought it would show up on XBL to compete with Microsoft's outrageously priced rentals.

Means I don't have to network my 360 as I have no intention of paying for yet another membership. What I was really hoping was that they would work out some sort of deal w/ Tivo, but that's probably unlikely. Guess I'll stick to watching them on the PC.

Agreed, the TV shows alone can keep you occupied for awhile. I haven't checked recently but they used to have some exclusives as well. For example, they already have the second season of Heroes. Also, the second season of Jeremiah (not Jericho) as well as several of the following seasons of the newer Outer Limits series, all of which was never released on DVD.

Whew.....glad I didn't spend those $99 dollars on the Roku box.

This is very cool news. I can stream documentaries and TV shows to the 360 and save my NetFlix queue for Blu-rays.

Hulu is pretty damn nice. It's a shame that the flash player on the PS3 is unable to view the site in full glory.

That would at least be somewhat competitive to the 360 if it was able to.

Sweet. Now I can stream movies from Netflix...for some inexplicable reason, the instant watch feature isn't available on Macs.

= J

The FCC does not have jurisdiction over the internet, and I'd like it to stay that way. I understand your concern, but that's up to NetFlix to address.

I'm surprised by this announcement. I didn't think they would open up their hardware to what is essentially a competing service (or "format," if you will). The way it was going, it looked like there would be all these different devices (Apple, NetFlix, Xbox 360, Amazon Unbox, soon the PS3) that are incompatible with each other.

Maybe this is a step towards getting multiple services on one device. We'll see.

I think this has far more to do with foiling Sony's digital media distribution plan than it does with providing consumers with a unified download solution.

I wonder if there will be a lower-teired 360-stream-only price for membership. If the selection is decent, I'd be up for that.

Of course, I need a bigger HDD first. No wonder they're in a big hurry to eliminate the 20GB model.

No it doesn't. I love mine so much I was going to get 2 more, one for the living room and one for the other bedroom. Now I only need to get one more

I have over 200 items in my WIN queue, with a ton of those being TV series.

This is awesome. A lot of the movies are crap that are offered, but the Documentary section is really cool. I can't wait until the day when I can get everything this way. To hell with physical media!

Don't worry GatorDeb, you're not alone. I have the Roku box and don't have an XBox so I'll just keep streaming this way. Convenient to have this stuff ready on demand, and even though the selection is not the greatest right now, I am catching up on a lot of TV shows and think they'll ramp things up in the future.

What TV shows are you guys streaming? I have a dozen or so shows in my queue and none are available for streaming.

I mentioned 3 above; Heroes, Jeremiah and Outer Limits. I also have Mindfreak but haven't seen any of it yet. Previously I was watching the Hurcules/Xena series. Looking it up it seems they have added a ton of stuff...

Law and Order
Dexter
Rockford Files
Dragnet
Miami Vice
Kojak
Sliders
Dead Like Me
Quantum Leap
Amazing Stories
Doctor Who (old ones)
Penn & Teller
a TON of documentaries
etc etc etc

Try looking at the "Watch Now" tab and I'm sure you'll find something you want.

Thanks. Not interested in any of it though, maybe Mindfreak.

I have a gut feeling that Microsoft is going to make sure that Netflix gets a lot more material streaming before the launch.