A Mutable Log

A blog by Devendra Tewari

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Netflix launches in Brazil

Today Netflix launched in Brazil, an interesting milestone for internet streaming here.

Netflix

Here’s some info based on first hand usage

They stream to the browser. For the technically inclined, they stream using IIS Smooth Streaming to the browser. Their player is built with Silverlight. It works on Google Chrome (the browser I mostly use). They also stream to the Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation, and other Netflix enabled devices (DVD and Bluray players I would think).
They don’t stream to the iOS (iPod, iPhone, iPad…) app yet. Android app will probably also not work. If you travel to the US on vacation or business, this should work. I am also able to stream using a VPN connection to a server based in the US. The movie selection is also vastly better there.
Very few movies and TV shows so far, mostly several years old. Are they afraid to kill DVD sales of new movies and shows? They don’t have subtitles. It is customary in Brazil to watch movies with audio in English and subtitles in Portuguese. That will very much define their success here. Also, no Brazilian movies so far.