14 DAY TRIAL // Netflix is finally available for users of Google's Android operating system. It has been released only on some of the devices powered by the platform for the time being, but more handsets and tablets should receive support for it in the near future.
The new mobile application has been just added to the Android Market, and is available for free for select devices, the company announced.
Apparently, the selection was based on the requisite playback support, but the list of handsets that would support the app should expand fast.
“We are thrilled to announce that we have begun to roll out a Netflix application for the Android platform. We are making the free app available for download from Android Market, Netflix notes in a recent blog post.
“The Market download will initially be available only on select phones that currently have the requisite playback support. We expect to quickly add to the number of phones that can download from Android Market as we work with ecosystem partners to expand playback support.”
The company also explains that the Android platform is growing fast, and is being loaded on a wide range of devices, which makes it difficult to come up with an application that would offer video streaming due to certain challenges.
“One of these challenges is the lack of standard streaming playback features that the Netflix application can use to gain broad penetration across all available Android phones. In the absence of standardization, we have to test each individual handset and launch only on those that can support playback,” the company notes.
However, the team is working on offering the app to as many devices as possible shortly. The app should be optimized to work on the vast majority of Android devices in the coming months.
At the moment, some of the handsets that enjoy the Netflix app would be HTC Incredible, Nexus One, HTC Evo 4G, T-Mobile G2, or the Nexus S by Samsung. Owners of one of these devices should head over to the Android Market to download the app.