Netflix

Two years ago, Netflix froze pricing for existing HD users at $7.99 per month. These rates are set to expire in February, ending the grandfathered pricing plan. This means all Netflix users will have to start paying $9.99 per month, or downgrade their plans. Currently, the standard plan for $9.99 includes HD video and allows two different screens to be watched simultaneously. The downgraded basic plan comes at $7.99, however HD video is not available and only one screen can be watched at a time.

Netflix subscribers can enjoy a brand new interface thanks to a refresh of the universal iOS app. iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users running iOS 6.0 or later can install version 6.0 of Netflix free of charge. In addition to bug fixes, the update includes a redesigned icon for iOS 7.

Faster startup for video playback is one of the improvements listed by Netflix under the app description in iTunes. Netflix members can instantly watch thousands of shows and movies from anywhere with connectivity on their iOS devices.

Netflix just got better on the iPhone with an update designed to take advantage of the larger 16:9 aspect ratio screen on the iPhone 5. This means that when watching many films streaming they fill the entire screen edge-to-edge, with no black borders or letterboxing.

Given the small size of the iPhone screen for movie watching, every millimeter counts. Netflix also optimized the searching and browsing screens to take advantage of the additional display real estate. This improved the process of looking for movie titles and getting information on the wide variety of content available to Netflix subscribers.

The wait is finally over for Netflix subscribers interested in streaming video on their iPhones. The highly anticipated Netflix app version 1.1.0 went live in iTunes and can be downloaded for free. Netflix subscribers now have access to their Instant Queue and can watch movies using a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection.

Movies that are interrupted can be continued on the iPhone later or on other devices such as an iPad or a computer. The new iOS app is a universal app, meaning it also works on the Apple iPad. Netflix includes high-speed scrubbing controls and switches between full letterbox format and a zoomed video view which fills more of the iPhone screen.

Could it be that Netflix is moving closer towards developing an application that would allow subscribers to watch instantly on the iPhone? A new survey question has been discovered that suggests Netflix is gauging interest in a Wi-Fi movie streaming app.

In the past, Netflix used a similar strategy prior to the release of their Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 applications. Support for instant watching is also on its way to the Wii console this spring. Netflix is performing market research constantly and often circulates up to 20 surveys at a time.