Flicks fix
US movie powerhouse Netflix will stream films to Android handsets starting next year, but not all Android users will be able to get the service.
Netflix is now available on Windows Phone 7 devices and the iPhone but Android is presently absent from the line-up. However, this is set to change from ‘early next year,' according to a blog post by Greg Peters, from the firm's product development team.
He wrote that the firm is eager to launch on Android, but "the hurdle has been the lack of a generic and complete platform security and content protection mechanism available for Android".
Peters said the security issues have led to piracy concerns on the mobile platform, which has made it difficult to secure a common Digital Rights Management (DRM) system for Android.
"Setting aside the debate around the value of content protection and DRM, they are requirements we must fulfil in order to obtain content from major studios for our subscribers to enjoy," he said.
While Netflix doesn't have a common platform security mechanism and DRM, it is working with handset manufacturers to add content protection to their handsets.
Peters said: "Unfortunately, this is a much slower approach and leads to a fragmented experience on Android, in which some handsets will have access to Netflix and others won't. This clearly is not the preferred solution, and we regret the confusion it might create for consumers. However, we believe that providing the service for some Android device owners is better than denying it to everyone."
He added that "the current lack of an Android-generic approach to quickly get to all Android devices is frustrating," but said Netflix will work with the Android community including handset makers, carriers and service providers to develop a standard Android solution.
