Windows Mobile Louisville

I should have known!  As soon as I posted the news about Microsoft’s release of a Netflix Mobile Manager, I installed it, tested it out, and was quite impressed.  It just seemed to work so well, so - familiar…

And then we received the following press release, and it all made sense!

Spb Software Develops Windows Mobile Netflix Application in Cooperation with Microsoft and Netflix

Spb Software worked closely with Microsoft and Netflix to develop the first official Netflix application for Windows phones. The Mobile Manager for Netflix is an on-device application that seamlessly interfaces with the Netflix web service, allows searching the entire Netflix library, viewing the movie details, managing the DVD queue, and adding movies to Instant Queue directly from Windows phones. The unique exclusive feature of Mobile Manager for Netflix is the ability to play trailers of movies, directly on the handset screen.

The Mobile Manager for Netflix was developed in cooperation between Microsoft, Netflix, and Spb Software. The application interface is built on the Spb Mobile Shell UI engine (also used in such popular applications as Spb Wallet, Spb Online, Spb Weather, Spb Traveler), and allows optimizing the efficiency of the user interface and speed of service navigation. With this fast and finger-friendly UI, the Mobile Manager application streamlines the Netflix mobile user experience, allowing subscribers to preview movie trailers on the go, add selected items to the DVD queue, or the Instant Queue - to instantly watch movies on TV screens using Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

“Windows phones help people access the information they care about most, bringing together the Web, the PC and the phone - all in one device,” said Steve Hegenderfer, group product manager at Microsoft, Corp. “We are very excited to work with Spb Software to bring the popular Netflix service to our customers, giving them easy access to their account and favorite movies while on the go.”

To get more information, or download the Mobile Manager for Netflix, please visit

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/totalaccess/software/software/netflix.mspx

If you like the movies, it’s time to celebrate!

Windows Mobile now offers a mobile application for Netflix. The new Netflix application for Windows Mobile phones makes it simple to manage your Netflix experience from a mobile device. You can search the entire Netflix library for your next film, get complete movie details, and even manage your DVD queue. Easily update your queue by moving films up, moving films down, or removing films from your queue.

A feature exclusive to Windows Mobile is the ability to play previews right on your Windows Mobile device. After watching a preview, you can then add the movie to your Instant Queue so you can instantly watch the movie on your Xbox 360.

Managing a Netflix account while mobile has never been easier, thanks to Mobile Manager for Netflix and a Windows Mobile phone.

This is not the first Netflix app we’ve seen for Windows Mobile - in December, we mentioned that Pyxis Mobile released SmartFlicks - but it’s always nice to have several to choose from!

I don’t know about you, but lately I’ve been getting mighty sick of seeing entertainment-related applications galore for the iPhone, often without a Windows Mobile version.  Pyxis Mobile apparently agrees, so they’ve developed an application called Smart Flicks that allows you to manage your Netflix queue and browse the entire Netflix library from your Windows Mobile phone:

• Browse the entire Netflix library from your Windows Mobile device
• Add to, remove from, and change position in your regular and Instant Queues
• See the availability of DVDs in real time
• See available formats for each title (DVD, Blu-ray, Instant)
• Movie Synopsis: When looking at recommendations and search results, click to view full synopsis.
• Improved “Recommendations” Support with more targeted recommendations and “Star Ratings”
• Access movie and entertainment news and information, and soon, movie times, GPS directions to theaters and more.
• Send-to-a-Friend: Send SmartFlicks to a friend via quick-click interface
• Instant Feedback: Send the App Lab team your comments and suggestions from within the application

Looking at the main Pyxis Mobile web site, they’ve obviously got a lot of experience in wireless financial services applications.  It’s good to see them branching out and applying some of that expertise into a consumer-grade application.  We need more developers to do the same for Windows Mobile!

You can download the beta of Smart Flicks at Pyxis Mobile.   The app is free.

Source: PocketNow

Blockbuster wants to bring its streaming movie service to your phone via Microsoft’s Live Mesh platform.

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Blockbuster (which calls the Big D home) is planning on upping the ante in its battle with Netflix by streaming its online offerings via Microsoft’s broad cloud/data sync service Live Mesh—which means it could have an easier entree onto Windows Mobile, which is one of the Mesh’s supported platforms along with OS X. Blockbuster’s CIO also envisions using Live Mesh to sync your movie watching with multiple web-connected PCs and TVs.

Interestingly, Netflix’s online player uses Microsoft’s Silverlight platform—which also has an API tie-in to Live Mesh. 

Hmmmm - this could get interesting.  Rumor has it the Zune will be incorporated into the next version of WinMo, so taking full advantage of Live Mesh could prove to be quite powerful.  Question is, when will that happen?  When the iPhone IV is out?!

Source: [Dallas Morning News]