No Netflix for WD TV Live

I wrote WD to see if Netflix would be streamed with the WD TV Live and this is the response I received:

 

_Thank you for contacting Western Digital Customer Service and Support. My name is Pablo R.

I apologize for the inconvenience, unfortunately there is not any plans to add Netflix streaming for the WD TV.

I hope that we have met your expectations today and that you are satisfied with our service. If you have any further questions, please reply to this email and we will be happy to assist you further.

Sincerely,
Pablo R.
Western Digital Service and Support_

The CS rep may be confused with the WDTV and the WDTV Live.  It’s not possible to add the the WDTV but it is in review to maybe add to the WDTV Live.

Netflix support is in the ideas section

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Ideas/NETFLIX-streaming-support/idi-p/143

Status: In Review
Thanks for everyone’s feedback. We are looking into this. We’ll let you know once we have the good news.


I would take the stock support answer you received with a pinch of  salt. I would expect they would be the last people to know and their job is just to give an answer, right or wrong.

Raster99,

RichUK is correct.  Adding support for Netflix is under review, and unfortunately, not everyone in Tech Support is aware of what’s going on with the WD TV Live Ideas forum.

Bill_S

1 Like

Just wanted to point out that what a lot of people have been waiting for is happening with competitive devices. Seagate’s equivalent device, the Freeagent Theater+ HD Media Player, just got Netflix support.

http://www.hackingnetflix.com/2010/04/seagate-freeagent-theater-hd-media-player-is-latest-netflix-streaming-device.html

You are correct on both counts, but your answer does not provide an adequate picture.

There are 2 versions of Seagate’s HD device.

One has a built-in hard drive (for twice the price of the Live!) and the other version is cheaper than the Live! (with no hard drive included).

Also, the Seagate may have different internals, but many devices that offer Netflix have the same chipset or another version of the chipset or a comparable chipset by a different vendor. It is not a question of a particular hardware being capable; but rather if it gets added at all.

This will be out in a couple months as well:  http://www.amazon.com/popbox-Wireless-Media-Center-Black/dp/B003BYRQO0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1271881983&sr=8-2

Netflix and wireless adaptor built in.

Raster99 wrote:

The CS rep may be confused with the WDTV and the WDTV Live.  It’s not possible to add the the WDTV but it is in review to maybe add to the WDTV Live.

It would be just as possible to do add it to the WDTV as it was for Seagate to add it to their device. If I understand correctly, their device requires a wireless dongle that plugs into the usb port. You have to buy this seperately. WD could do this too. The problem with WD is that they don’t want to put in the effort, while their competetors are willing to. In the end, this will put WD on the bottom of the pile. What I don’t understand is why WD doesn’t just add the wireless module code to the WDTV. They really do have a screwy product map in my opinion.

There is so much discussion on this but frankly when we bought our devices there already were devices that had Netflix—we paid for one that didnt have it so I wasn’t expecting it.  My Sony Bravia aready had it so I selected a device without it.  Now there are many Blu-Ray players with Netflix as well. I’m very happy with my player as it is and just wish they’d fix some of the minor bug irritations it came with.  

For the price of around $150 there were no other media players that had the features of the WDTV Live and included Netflix at the time the WDTV Live came out. Now there are media players showing up in the same price range that do include Netflix and more.

I was content to play Netflix through the PS3 and stream the other stuff with the WDTV Live.  I now use PlayOn because I want to use just one device to stream everything but that ties up one of my computers.  I would like to have one media player to do it all.

So the thing is do I wait and see if Netflix gets added so I can enjoy my WDTV Live even more or will I have to buy one of the other competing products and dump the Live.

If WD came up with a target date for the implementation of Netflix that was reasonable I would wait. So far we have not gotten any input on this or any of the other ideas.

You will not get any target dates or even any promises that such and such feature will be implemented – WD doesn’t do that.  It will be up to you whether you buy another device or stay with the Live.

Raster99 wrote:

This will be out in a couple months as well:  http://www.amazon.com/popbox-Wireless-Media-Center-Black/dp/B003BYRQO0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1271881983&sr=8-2

 

Netflix and wireless adaptor built in.

A new product that’s been in development longer from a company that’s entirely focused on creating NMTs.  It would be strange if it didn’t have more / better features.  :wink:

Doesn’t have YouTube but does have 3rd part ads… what exactly do they pay for?

Well, some people pay for cable and it has ads too. I’m not trying to justify it…I won’t even consider a popbox until someone comes up with a hack to remove the ads (which syabas has already provided some information on how to do this). It really is just another way for companies to get more nickels and dimes…whether they’ve done anything to deserve those nickels and dimes or not.

I look at my time with the WDTVLive as experimentation and education for both parties. A beta phase, if you will.  I barely use it now, but had a lot of fun re-formatting files, seeing what it could do, trying every approach possible.  I learned a lot, hopefully they have learned from us and are working toward something great. 

For now, I’m cool with my iPad and Roku and what they offer.  Accessing hard drive materials for my TV is no longer as important to me as it once seemed…  so much more is online now.  I’ll keep playing with it every now and then, but I’m losing sight of what makes it unique. 

mkelley wrote:

You will not get any target dates or even any promises that such and such feature will be implemented – WD doesn’t do that.  It will be up to you whether you buy another device or stay with the Live.

Oh, I did not realize that you were a spokes person for WD.  Seriously, did you come up with this notion yourself that “WD doesn’t do that” or do you have something to back it up?

Sorry, Raster99, WD doesn’t do that.  We don’t give target dates for things like firmware and such.  Mkelley has just heard it from us too many times.

Well that’s a shame unlike their competitors who let people know when they can expect something from them.

Actually, it’s standard industry practice nowadays by almost any responsible organization (Apple is about as close mouthed as any company in the world, not even announcing things that leaks have made apparent to everyone else).

Vaporware is NOT a good thing for any of us.

We are not talking about the announcement of a new product and besides unlike Apple, Microsoft will let the public know about a new product and it’s expected release.

Vaporware has nothing to do with the WDTV Live or for that matter neither does Apple or Microsoft.


Sybas had kept the public informed on the expected release date of The Popbox unlike WD.  In a lot of cases it is standard practice to let the public know what you have in the works and when to expect it’s release date.  You can’t say it is standard industry practice to keep secret what your company is doing.