Where is Netflix for iPhone?

The recent speculation surrounding the Apple TV’s streaming capabilities brought another streaming service to mind. Where is Netflix for iPhone? You may remember in early June when John Ciancutti, Netflix’s VP of personalization tech, took the stage to demo the alleged app. Following the stage demo, Ciancutti announced the app would be available this summer, and that was the last anyone ever heard.

The corresponding post on the Netflix blog has not been updated since June 7th, and is littered with almost 900 quizzical comments enquiring to the app’s status. So why the delay? Though some users have been reporting streaming problems on the iPad version, its track record has been otherwise smooth. I can’t help but wonder if AT&T fears the combination of iPad and iPhone streaming over 3G may further hinder their network. If in fact the issue does fall on AT&T, will the app be disappeared in the way MMS and tethering were? Though both of these features were eventually instituted, they came months after their claimed release date. If the hang up is related to AT&T, what’s to stop Netflix from releasing a Wi-Fi only app? Such an app could easily be updated to support 3G once network robustness increases.

With a little under a month left of summer, it will be interesting to see if Ciancutti lives up to his word. Netflix is a company I’ve been quite impressed with, and they’ve typically been accurate with release dates. Though the services they currently provide are already a stellar value, giving iPhone users access to on the go streaming would be a great addition.

The official post from the Netflix Blog can be found here

UPDATE: 8/26 – WOW! That was fast. I guess my voice was heard, because Netflix for iPhone has been released less than 24 hours after my initial post. A seriously uncanny coincidence!

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