Netflix

After serving on Microsoft's board of directors for five years, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has decided to give up his post . Earlier in the week, Hastings said that he will not seek re-election to the position of lead independent director, as he wants to cut down on the number of boards that he serves on. Instead, he will focus more on his primary job as CEO of Netflix, as well as his work in the field of Education.

"I'm thrilled to have served on the board at such a pivotal time for Microsoft," Hastings said in a statement, citing the development of Windows 8, Windows RT, and the Microsoft Surface tablet, which he said "will bring exciting new opportunities for customers and the industry as a whole."

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said in a statement that Hastings' "insights and experiences have really helped guide us through a critical period of transformation for both Microsoft and the industry." Hastings will stay on until Microsoft's annual shareholders meeting in November, at which time the board will determine his replacement. There has been no indication that Hastings will step down from any of the other boards he currently serves on, which include Netflix, Microsoft, Dreambox Learning, the Knowledge Is Power Program, the California Charter Schools Association, and Facebook.

Two popular apps have just been updated: Xbox Live Extras (version 7.3) and Netflix (version 2.1). Both updates appear to be under the hood, i.e. no new features or noticeable changes. Netflix just received a more significant update two weeks ago, and the release notes for that update still appear, unmodified, on the app’s Marketplace page. It’s likely that after rolling out version 2.0, the development team discovered one or more bugs that needed fixing.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft about the Xbox Live Extras update and will report back if they provide any details. If you guys discover any changes in these two apps in the meantime, please let us know in the comments below.

Both Xbox Live Extras and Netflix are free apps, though Netflix obviously requires a subscription to use. Xbox Live Extras is a fairly important tool for gamers, so make sure to get it here if you haven’t already. Netflix subscribers can get the app here on the Marketplace.

Thanks to everyone who tipped us on both app updates!

We've had quite a few updates to some major apps today, so lets recap on what we got, shall we?

First up is Netflix, gets bumped to version 1.5. Is this the big Mango update with tons of cool new features that we've been hoping for? Nope. Just a plain Jane "bug fixes" update with nothing new, as far as we can tell. Find something we missed? Let us know in comments. Pick up v1.5 here in the Marketplace.

Next is MSN Movies. A nice freebie app from Microsoft that for some reason has ads (how tacky for a MS app, sorry), this baby though got a nice Mango update today. Hooray! So you get some fast-app switching and the ability to pin movies (but not theaters?) to your start menu. This is actually a pretty nice, minimalist movie show times app with trailers and movie news on board too, so it's worth checking out. Give v1.3 a spin here in the Marketplace.

USA Today goes Mango! Yes, one of the most popular apps on Windows Phone, USA Today finally gets fast app switching, double live tile (with weather on the backside now, just like they promised) and the ability to pin the sub-sections Pictures, Sports and Celebrities to your start menu. An already beautiful app gets even better, though we now have too many weather apps on our Start screen! Get your US and World news right here with v1.5 in the Marketplace.

And finally, Xbox LIVE Extras goes to v7.2. No new features are on board as far as we can tell, though we imagine this goes a long way in fixing a bug some of you reported to us, namely it erasing your avatar if you modified it. Ouch. Hopefully that's fixed now. Pick it up here in the Marketplace.

Thanks, Luis R., Vic and ej lee, for the tips!

When people talk about smart-phone platforms, the two that stand out to people (for better or worse) are iPhone and Android. There are a lot of reasons for this; usability, ecosystem (apps, services), and just sheer popularity are all factors. It makes you wonder why a brand-spanking-new platform like Windows Phone 7 would get a popular app like NetFlix before one of the two 300 lb gorillas in the room (Android); and if you really think about it, the Windows Phone 7 app was demoed at the Mix conference (March 15-17) before it was available for the iPhone (August 26). So what is it about Windows Phone 7 that makes a company like NetFlix choose a fledgling OS as their starting point for mobile over the more established platforms?

It turns out that the answer comes down to security (ironic, considering this is Microsoft). According to Wired (via @joebelfiore), Android doesn’t offer a secure enough DRM system to make Hollywood happy. With all of the concerns about piracy digital rights, Microsoft has been able to get a leg up on the competition by building Windows Phone as a secure platform.

Now before I start getting hate mail from the Android faithful, I recognize that NetFlix is coming to Android; but the current plans are for limited device support (can you say fragmentation?); not a full-fledged roll out.

So what does this mean to Joe Consumer? Microsoft is making every effort to make app developers happy and successful with Windows Phone 7 as a platform. This will serve to help the Windows Phone ecosystem (apps and services) grow and mature; which is great news for you and me.

Windows Phone 7 day is ON!

We're waking up to a ton of new apps flooding the store as we speak (we checked yesterday and there were over 160 games available, including 15 LIVE titles). Some of the big ones to make an appearance are:

• Adobe Reader
• WeatherChannel
• Netflix
• Earthworm Jim, Sims3
• YouTube

...and more. Plus all of the indy apps and games, a lot of which are free. So far even for the "big" titles prices are in the $4.99 or lower category with a few feteching $6.99 for the high LIVE games. But most of the above is $0.00.  Ahh...now if we could only have our phones here in the U.S.?!

Source: Zune/Windows Phone Marketplace

LAS VEGAS -- Carriers everywhere must be shaking in their boots at this one, as Microsoft just showed off live Netflix streaming on Windows Phone 7 at MIX10.

Live. Movies. Streamed. On Netflix. On your phone.

You can also browse the Netflix catalog and manage your queue, but being able to actually choose and watch movies on your Windows Phone is a serious game-changer. Seriously.