
Netflix management said:
We’re excited to announce that iPhone 6 Plus users will now see Netflix movies and television shows in 1080p resolution, including Netflix originals like Orange is the New Black and House of Cards. All you need is a good WiFi connection.
When Apple announced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in September, we were excited about the opportunity to extend the Netflix application to different screen sizes. We immediately began work on optimizing our user interface for the larger and higher resolution screens, and we’re happy to announce these changes are included in today’s update to our app. You’ll see more titles on screen to choose from, bigger imagery, and improved performance throughout.
We look forward to feedback on the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus experience.
The “video everywhere” movement is already well underway. That includes video on the iPhone. Even premium producers such as CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) and Time Warner Inc.’s (NYSE: TWX) HBO have said they will release new services. The companies that deliver these products already include Apple and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), to name two of the largest ones.
Amazon describes its Prime Video service this way:
Watch instantly on Fire HD, Amazon Fire TV, game consoles, smart TVs, mobile phones and other streaming devices
The huge e-commerce company would be irresponsible not to target the iPhone. Prime gives its members access to 15,517 movies and 2,321 television shows.
As an aside, smartphone screens are too small for many people to know whether HD content is any different than any other.
Netflix’s challenge as it releases its iPhone 6 service is whether anyone cares.