Actually to be perfectly honest the box shouldn’t mention Pandora neither.
Looks like Apple TV is already available in Canada when you order from Apple.ca or by phone. In a couple of weeks it will be available through retailers like Best Buy. It sells for $10 less than the WD AND it supports Netflix.
Seems to me like WD had a golden opportunity to jump out of the gate with Netflix but somebody dropped the ball. Now Apple TV is going to do some serious a$$ kicking. Good thing this is just a very minor sideline product for WD or they would be hurting big time.
Anyway I took my WD Live Plus back as suggested by both WD and Netflix. I may look at it again once the Netflix issue is resolved. Unless I’ve already bought something else.
–DB
Trust me, AppleTV is a dog compared to the WD Live (I know, my own ATV sits in the closet now and I now have three Live units).
Folks who think the Live is limited in what it can play would be VERY surprised by how limited the ATV is (no MKV files, for example, no DTS, lots of other crappy restrictions).
True, even the new AppleTV has many limitations, not least of which is lack of support for 1080p.
Jackster wrote:
bill_s wrote:
Moreover, just because we sell a device in the US that’s capable of streaming Netflix for the US, do NOT assume that it will just automatically work for Canada. Even if we are advertising that Netflix is coming to Canada.
It’s not really an assumption if WD is advertising on the box that the unit being sold in Canada supports Netflix. That is just plain false advertising. First year Canadian law teaches that. And there are laws set up in Canada that protect the consumer from this unscrupulous practice (Consumer Protection Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, CHAPTER 30, Schedule A, Part III, Section 14). Moreover, if licensing issues prevent WD from supporting Netflix in Canada, then a good rule of thumb would be to not blame the consumer (WD’s user base) for WD’s mistake. Lawsuits have been fought for for lesser amounts, and spin control makes WD look silly (“support says a firmware will come out in a few weeks to address this problem”, “support says it’s a Netflix problem”).
A good solution to this mess is to pull all the Plus boxes from Canadian circulation until this is cleaned up.
In simple numbers: If Best Buy’s (or other retails outlet’s) ratio of returns exceeds profitability to carry a product, that said product will be banned from such stores. And sales margins are already slim enough for any tech products claiming operatability within the context of advertised specs.
Be that as it may, it will be quite interesting to see what the the coming weeks will present when more Canadians begin plugging in fresh purchases of the Live Plus only to find that the unit does not work with Netflix, even though the boxed advertising proclaims otherwise.
Show me the box sold in Canada that advertises, on the box, that WD TV streams Netflix for Canada. There ain’t no such box.
As per request, box art for the WD TV Live PLUS, advertising Netflix support…
http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2010-06/hands-on-with-the-wd-live-tv-plus-netflix/
…lower left corner. The very same box art available now in Canada.
You can’t see it in that photo, but the fine print below the logo specifically says that Netflix is only available in the US.
Guy_K wrote:
You can’t see it in that photo, but the fine print below the logo specifically says that Netflix is only available in the US.
Caveat emptor.
On canada computers.com site…
Small print:
“Play media from your home network and the Internet on your big screen TV. Plus, enjoy access to your Netflix unlimited membership and other premium content. Don’t confine your movies, music, and photos to your small computer screen. Experience them as big as life on your TV in Full-HD 1080p with WD TV Live Plus HD media player.”
I emailed support and got the following response:
"The Netflix support on the WDTV Live Plus is currently only available in the US. Netflix’s expansion of their service to Canada is a new region that Netflix supports, but is currently not available to all third party media streaming devices such as the WDTV Live Plus. Although we cannot official discuss future releases or product upgrades, we are always working on Improving our service and your comments are greatly appreciated. I will pass this information along to the appropriate channel as a suggestion for a future region of support for the newly added Netflix service.
If you have any further questions, please reply to this email and we will be happy to assist you further. "
Which is fine… and all claims to advertising the service aside (I read the fine print and was being hopeful), I would still like a straight answer as to whether this box is CAPABLE of supporting netflix in Canada. I’m happy to by another WD product (I love the HDs, never had a problem with the several I’ve owned), but in the meantime I would like to know if I need to take this unit back. Yes, just taking it back would be the safe thing to do, but I’ve become quite enamored with the little thing’s other charms beyond netflix, but sadly, netflix is the deal breaker for the box I plug into my tv.
I’m willing to sit on it for weeks if it’s CAPABLE of doing netflix in Canada with the extant hardware, if not, it’s got to go back.
Sounds like you need to take it up with the folks at CanadaComputers (no company can be responsible for all the silly B/M store stuff that goes on – ever heard the things the employees at Best Buy tell customers?)
"
- Concerning any flyers found in the WD TV Live Plus box, we were simply advertising, on behalf of Netflix, that Netflix was coming to Canada. "
wow, thats a pretty slimy thing to do. clearly it was insinuating that it would work with Netflix Canada. Turns out it doesn’t now they need an excuse. Why even sell it in Canada. Doesn’t give me much faith in WD 
unimpressed to say the least.
I’m starting to feel the same way, and I just spent all afternoon trying to get it set up…
Actually, I don’t know that there were even flyers in the boxes. I was going based on what some of you said. I’ve since edited that part out.
jbw33 wrote:
I’m willing to sit on it for weeks if it’s CAPABLE of doing netflix in Canada with the extant hardware, if not, it’s got to go back.
If you are going to switch it, I’d act fast.
I could have sworn that last week BestBuy.ca had all 3 WDTV units listed (WDTV HD, WDTV Live, WDTV Live Plus).
Now they only list the WDTV HD and the Live Plus.
On first appearances, BestBuy won’t be selling Lives anymore, only Live Pluses.
(No, I’m not trying to rumour-monger, but even though the WDTV HD is currently listed as “out of stock”, there has to be some reason that the Live isn’t showing up at all anymore.)
… which does make for an interesting observation… you click on “Where to Buy” on WD’s website, and it tells you that BestBuy sells them, and you go to the BestBuy website and they apparently say “No we don’t”. Can we perhaps infer that the Live has been discontinued?
… for that matter, I can only see the Live Plus, and not the Live, at BestBuy.com.
I just spoke to a support tech at WD. He was already aware of the problem, so it seems word is getting to the company about the issue. He said they’re working on the problem, but have no estimated timeframe for a solution. When asked whether it would be a question of hardware or firmware upgrading, he replied it would most likely be firmware, as that is generally the case for this type of issue.
My prediction is that WD will move pretty quickly on this one, seeing as it’s a pretty big market to tap into, and also probably a pretty minor fix. My machine is ordered and in the mail, and I’m thinking its other strengths will be enough for me to hang onto it until the firmware upgrade is available.
Still, not too impressed with the way this turned out. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Welcome to the forums.
When Bill, the WD forum admin, posted the information that no one at WD knows IF let alone when this will be resolved you can take that to the bank. Some level 1 WD tech probably has no idea what he is talking about. At the very least I would assume that “working on the problem” means trying to figure out if they ARE going to support Netflix in Canada, not that they are actively trying to fix software, etc. (because there is nothing to fix – software wise the Plus works with Netflix. It would only be a matter of allowing Canadians to activate Netflix with the Plus).
So, again, if Netflix is important to you the answer is to return the unit and THEN if it’s ever supported buy it again. To “wait and see” only means you may be waiting out your window to get a refund.
I posted in the ‘idea’ forum about getting Canadian support for the netflix …I’m hoping if we get enough votes someone in the tech area will take pity
http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Ideas/Enable-Netflix-for-Canada-WDTV-Live-Plus/idi-p/60084
I’m sorry to beat this poor dead horse, but “I dunno” is not an acceptable answer from the manufacturer of a device when asked about a specific technical question about it’s product.
I’ve been reading that the AppleTV Netflix functionality is working just fine in Canada, and those things will have been in boxes for weeks, well before last week’s announcement. This tells me it’s not a Netflix, or Canadian Rights issue, or the studios needing to authorize tv connected devices (the idiocy of that distinction aside, one cable and my computer becomes just that) but an issue with this particular product not authorizing a service for Canadian users, which is fine, service was restricted here when the device was released, product working as intended. The problem is that this also implies that there’s some process by which the box knows that it’s in Canada, also implying there’s the potential to modify said process. It is a very simple question then: is this process tied to hardware, or to software?
Even a brief explanation that results in “it’s supposed to work but we’re not sure why it isn’t” would be better than the string of ‘dunno’,‘we never said it would work’, ‘didn’t advertise that feature’,‘we’re looking into it’ we’re getting. I *want* to use this box for it’s feature set, it has additional functionality not previously available to me and I would like an answer as to whether said functionality can be made available as previous restrictions no longer apply.
It’s a yes or no question: is this specific device capable of providing Netflix service in Canada? (and “not right now” isn’t the same as “no”)
Not right now.
