Netflix continues upping the ante on getting content directly to TVs

When Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) started pushing DVDs through the U.S. Mail within a day or two years ago, the corner store DVD rental place started to wilt. Indeed, many of the DVD rental chains have suffered heavily as video-on-demand and Netflix have come galloping on the scene.

Then again, many now also predict that physical media like DVDs may one day be extinct as well. Netflix saw the light in 2007 and started partnering with hardware makers to get its library of content direct to the television set or laptop screen sans any DVD. The experience is not yet perfect (or even high-definition), but it's good enough for most of us.

Let's look further: the online DVD rental pioneer took a step today in trying to remove the last piece of hardware from the equation by joining with South Korean electronics behemoth LG Corp. to build in the functionality to stream over 12,000 (and growing) pieces of content direct from your high-speed internet connection to your television. Imagine this: your WiFi-enabled 50" flat-screen television turns on, finds your wireless home network, connects to the Netflix service and offers you tens of thousands of on demand content pieces. No satellite. No cable. Just Netflix. That's just what the company is after.