Netflix-to-Xbox Movie Rentals Coming Soon?

Snail-mail DVD rental company Netflix hasn't officially said it plans to allow downloads of movies via Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console, but all clues point in that direction. Let's add them up, shall we?

1. Microsoft nixed Blu-ray on its game system, but doesn't want to lose out to Sony's PS3 in movies.
2. Netflix Tuesday copped to polling members about their interest in streaming movies to the Xbox 360.
3. Netflix spokesman said the company wants to get movies to TV screens "in as many ways as possible."
4. The Netflix Web site suffered a large outage this week.
5. Netflix is already building a set-top box with LG to stream high-def movies to TVs.
6. Netflix's CEO sits on Microsoft's board.

We give Microsoft and Netflix six months to get the deal worked out. Anything that can shave costs off Netflix's pricey postage would help the company's bottom line. The high-def download business is really fragmented right now, but Netflix probably has a better shot with Xbox 360 than Apple iTunes has with Apple TV - after all, many more people already own the gaming console. -Rachel Rosmarin

Reuters

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