Netflix on PS3

Another update that I meant to post a while back. Themediamall software Playon that I talked about before now supports Netflix Streaming to Playstation 3. The software can be found here: http://themediamall.com/ It is still in beta, so their is a trial (waiving the $30 fee for 21 days). I have only used it once, and it works pretty well. The Roku box definitely does a nicer (and easier job) but this is a way to save yourself $100 for the roku box, plus you get the added benefit of Hulu, which has been working very very well. They also just released a new beta today.

I am definitely going to buy the Playon software, my only complaint is that I have to have a pc running all the time use my ps3. MediaMall should really consider packaging their software onto a box such as the Roku box, and I would buy one as an x-mas gift for everyone. Right now, it is unreasonable for most average users to have to have a pc running the software and a PS3 or xbox to view.

Hopefully Roku will get their act together and release a hulu update to compete with the MediaMall.

Update on Playon Hulu on PS3

Just a quick update on the "Playon" software that i blogged about earlier.
A quick refresher, Playon, by themediamall.com is a software program that you run on your pc to allow your xbox or ps3 watch netflix, youtube, hulu, and espn content right on your tv. The software is still very much in beta, so I just wanted to share my quick thoughts.
I have been using it for a couple weeks now, I probably have used it 10 times in total. The picture quality is still acceptable (not near as good as dvd quality or hd, but still good to just watch a show). The speed is very good, if you have a decent cable internet connection, you will experience zero problems or lag in watching a show. In fact, you can fast forward through the few commercials at 1.5 speed with no problems at all, so you can cut commercial time down to less than 30 seconds per commercial.
The bugs:
Just about every time I use the playon tool, it is broken for hulu. This means that you have to go re-download the application in its latest build from their site. To their credit though, every time hulu breaks and every time i download the software it is fixed. However, you will find that the "update" feature in the software does not work at all. If you manually update, it will tell you that you have the latest version, when in fact you dont. Just ignore the update button for now, and any time you have a problem, just go redownload and re-install the software. It is okay to install right over top of the existing software, no reason to remove it first.

for now:

• Still no netflix, though they say coming soon "very soon"
• Hulu works great, but like I said you almost have to update the software every time you want to use it.
• They made improvements in the interface, so now when you access the media server from your ps3, you only see one option "playon" you click on that to get to all the sub channels that are supported, way better.

This is still in Beta, so I can't say anything negative. They give you 60 days to try it, I just hope that it is stable by the end of my trial period, so I will buy it. I cant see spending the money yet until it is stable however. Give it a shot, this is a great tool.

Getting Hulu and Netflix to Work on PS3

For my first post, I just wanted to write a quick summary of a product that I learned about yesterday.

I have long been looking for a solution to access Hulu content and Netflix content on my Sony Playstation 3 (PS3 Netflix Hulu). Unfortunately, there presently is not much information out there that does not require a signifigant amount of programming or a seperate unix server.

Although the solution is not perfect, I recently stumbled upon MediaMall's PlayOn product.
Here's how it works.....

Simply download there software (in the link above) onto a Windows XP machine. I used a 1.6 ghz intel Acer laptop with 1.5 gig/ram (nothing overkill). The software installs in just a couple of minutes. After that, fire up your PS3 or XBox. On the PS3 simply navigate to the Video Menu choice and you will now see PlayOn for Hulu and PlayOn for Netflix. At the time of this writing, the netflix option is not functional, but I will write more when it is up and running (with a review).

From the video menu, you simply navigate to the TV show you want to watch on Hulu and click on the show. There is no search functionality presently, so you have to know what you are looking for alphabetically.

Once you click on the show you want to watch, I have experienced up to a one minute delay (with a blank screen) on my tv. But after that, the show runs with no problems (you need a broadband connection). I experienced one or two lag periods, nothing major, and was able to do some light surfing on the laptop while watching the show. Although the picture quality is not fantastic (on a big screen) it is definitely better than watching your favorite tv show on a computer screen.

Basically, the playon sever is reading the stream to your pc/laptop and then sends the re-encoded stream out to your ps3 or xbox. Unfortunately this means that your pc has to remain powered on of course while you are watching shows.

The PlayOn software gives you a 60 day trial, and then has a one time cost of $60. If they do get the Netflix on PS3 then I would definitely spend the money.

My experience is that the Roku Netflix box is easier to use and does not require the pc to be on, but for now I am happy if they get the feature running on the PS3 so I can redeploy my roku box to another tv.