Netflix plans to offer movies on cellphones

Online movie rental giant Netflix Inc. announced plans to roll out a new feature that will allow subscribers to stream movies and television series to their personal computers. The company eventually plans to expand the service to support any Internet-capable device, including mobile phones.
Netflix counts around 4.2 million subscribers to its Internet-based service, which currently allows subscribers to get DVDs of movies and TV shows through the mail.
The company’s new streaming video feature will be made available to Netflix subscribers in a phased roll out over the next six months. The service will feature about 1,000 films and TV series and will be provided at no additional cost to subscribers.
“We named our company Netflix in 1998 because we believed Internet-based movie rental represented the future, first as a means of improving service and selection, and then as a means of movie delivery,” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said. “Over the coming years we’ll expand our selection of films, and we’ll work to get to every Internet-connected screen, from cellphones to PCs to plasma screens. The PC screen is the best Internet-connected screen today, so we are starting there.”
Netflix didn’t provide any specifics about offering the service for wireless devices, other than pointing to it as the next progressive step it will take as technology improves and the service expands in popularity. And with Netflix seemingly still at least a year away from offering the service on wireless devices, Sprint Nextel Corp. will continue to enjoy its position as the first and only wireless carrier providing pay-per-view movies for the mobile screen in the United States through its partnership with mSpot Movies. ROK Entertainment Group also offers movies and TV shows for mobile phones, but on memory cards.
Netflix said it will expand beyond the initial 1,000 films for the service as more films are licensed for electronic delivery. Netflix will, however, limit the hours available for Internet watching based on subscribers’ monthly plans, ranging from six hours of online viewing at the entry-level plans to 18 hours at the unlimited DVD rental plan.