Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) , the world's largest online movie rental service, and LG Electronics, a global consumer electronics leader, today announced they are joining forces to develop a set-top box for consumers to stream movies and other programming from the Internet to HDTVs -- bypassing the need to use a personal computer.

The collaboration is expected to deliver a compelling new online home entertainment service via technology embedded in an LG networked player planned for...

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Anyone know the specifics on wheter or not their will be HD downloads? How about high end audio?

Just curious... will this be essentially the same as Vudu's box and service? How will it vary? I saw a mall kiosk for Vudu at Christmas time. Their standard quality was about the same as DVD quality. They stated they were getting HD content in the following week or two from when I saw the kiosk... essentially the Bourne Collection was going to be in HDTV.

Will Netflix sell the box or just the service? Will the box be a rental? Will it be any cheaper than the mail delivery model?

It will be interesting to see what develops as their release date approaches later this year.

Yes, it is similar in architecture to the VUDU box, except that it is probably just going to be a "consuming" device for the existing Netflix streaming service. The video quality is good, but not HD. No word on whether the LG box will upscale as VUDU does. Also, will you be able to "purchase" movies, or just rent them?

I have a review of the VUDU coming out very soon that will shed some light on this subject.

- Shane

These download services that offer DVD quality do not seem very appealing to me although the broader market may like them. I am hoping that XStreamHD™ takes off. This seems to have a more compelling value proposition with HD Quality and 7.1 lossless audio. Any more news coming out on them.

The VUDU box has HD quality that is actually quite good (again, review upcoming).

XStreamHD has a press conference Tuesday afternoon that I will be attending. I will report on my findings.

- Shane