Picking Sides In the Streaming Wars-Sharp Allies With Netflix

Sharp’s got two new high-end Blu-ray players coming out shortly, namely, the BD-HP70U and the BD-HP24U.

That in and of itself is newsworthy, but this isn’t about tech specs and price guides, no sir.  This is a little noted fact of both units applied to a greater overall picture.  See, both of these units will be compatible with Netflix streaming.

Remember Samsung’s “Blockbuster button“?  Well, seems that Sharp’s going to have a “Netflix node” instead.  They’re not calling it that, of course, but the name makes sense given the circumstances, and more importantly, it’s a very definite sign that the major component manufacturers are beginning to choose up sides in what might well be the next format war: streaming.

Of course, this is all just speculation until something more concrete shows up, but being realistic says that something is afoot here.  Maybe it’s not as grandiose as I’m making it out to be, but there’s still a good likelihood that we’re at least witnessing the beginning of sides being picked.