Sony and Netflix's announcement that the movie rental company's streaming service would be coming to the PlayStation 3 later this year left us with a few questions of our own. Fortunately, Netflix was nice enough to answer those questions.
Netflix reps say the company will begin shipping out the Blu-ray discs that make streaming via BD Live technology possible some time in November. Which is good, considering the service was said to start in November.
That Blu-ray disc will be need to be inserted in the PlayStation 3 each and every time you watch a piece of streaming Netflix content. There's no option to install a dedicated Netflix app to the PS3's XMB, unfortunately, meaning you're going to have to get off the couch at some point.
Netflix reps say an "embedded solution" will be available "late next year," presumably after Microsoft's exclusive arrangement with Netflix expires.
What Netflix representatives wouldn't discuss is which party is handling the streaming of that video content. My concerns about the PlayStation Network, which is slower to download content than every other internet connected device in my house, forced me to ask. But Netflix isn't discussing it.
Nor are they discussing whether the same service is coming to the Wii.
"Certainly the Wii represents a great opportunity given the size of its installed base," reps noted "but we have nothing specific to say about it at this point." They had nothing to say about the availability of a similar streaming service for the PSPgo or iPhone.
We'll let you know the second we get our Netflix Blu-ray discs, then test the PlayStation 3 solution to see how it compares.