Owners of the $ 249 Samsung Chromebook have lived without Netflix since the device launched in October. That changes today as Google has announced support for Netflix on the device, with content delivered via HTML5. There’s no need to update the Chromebook; users can simply navigate to the Netflix website, login and start watching movies or television shows.
When I had first reviewed this Chromebook model, the lack of Netflix was a disappointment because all prior Chromebook models had Netflix support. One key difference in this particular netbook from Samsung was the chip architecture: It uses a Samsung Exynos chip, which is based on ARM. The other Chromebooks all use x86-based Intel chips.
It’s interesting that Netflix now just works. A Google spokesperson says the solution is the result of collaboration with Netflix and Microsoft. That’s surprising as the initial reason Google provided for the lack of Netflix on the Samsung dealt with a Chrome plug-in and Google’s Native Client efforts; neither of which Microsoft would likely have anything to do with.
Regardless of the solution’s implementation, it’s simply good news that there is a solution. So if you have a Samsung Chromebook, fire up Netflix and enjoy!
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