Samsung has announced that Netflix customers will now be able to instantly stream Watch Now movies on select Blu-ray disc players. On Thursday, Samsung announced new partnerships with two Internet multimedia companies for the purpose of incorporating audio/video streaming services into the company’s latest Blu-ray disc players. The first Samsung players that will definitely support Netflix are the BD-P2500 and the BD-P2550. Netflix members can have their PC queues automatically displayed on Samsung’s players for instant viewing. Using the remote will let you fast forward, rewind, browse and rate movies from your TV set.
Owners of the aforementioned players can now apply a firmware update that will enable near-instant streaming of over 12,000 Netflix movies; an active Netflix account is required to stream Netflix content. This is similar to the “watch instantly” feature currently available on the Netflix website. Netflix is hoping to soften the blow charging an additional $1 per more month to about 500,000 subscribers who rent Blu-ray DVDs. The surcharge is effective Nov. 5.
