Dan Rayburn of StreamingMedia has updated his report on Netflix streaming costs, and it appears that the company's direct costs fell by 50 percent since the end of 2009.

In all, the company will pay just $50 million in 2011 to CDNs for delivery of the video.

As 2009 came to a close, Netflix was paying around 5 cents for every streamed movie, but that cost has fallen to 2.5 cents. The post explains:

While most video contracts with third party CDNs are typically priced on per GB delivered model, Netflix and other large content distributors usually pay the CDNs on a per Mbps sustained model. They pay not for the total number of bits they transfer each month, but rather the total amount of bandwidth they peak at each month, a pricing model also referred to in the industry as 95/5. This means that a customer can burst above their committed rate of Mbps less than 5% of the time with no penalty, but once they go over that, they pay for overages.

The average Netflix user streams at 2Mbps, in 480p or 720p quality.

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Netflix is on the verge of acquiring its first original series, outbidding HBO and AMC for the drama "House of Cards," starring Kevin Spacey.

The show is directed by David Fincher, the man behind 'Fight Club' and 'The Social Network,' among other hits.

While the numbers are mostly speculation, Deadline says the deal may end up costing Netflix over $100 million for two seasons (26 episodes).

Netflix is the overwhelming streaming video market leader, but the company had shunned original programming until recently.

A two-season commitment is an absolute anomaly in this day and age, with most broadcasters, and even premium channels like HBO and Showtime piloting new shows, or signing on for short 6-13 episode seasons. With a two-season commitment, Netflix is betting largely that the show will be a massive hit, brining in millions of new subscribers.

Netflix has currently committed over $1.5 billion for deals with Paramount, CBS, Lionsgate, MGM, Relativity Media and Starz. A streaming-only plan from Netflix is $8 per month.

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Samsung's Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.0 and 5.0 media players have reached the U.S., dubbed the Galaxy Player 4" and 5" for the American market.

The media players should be the first competition the market leader Apple iPod Touch has had, ever.

Both devices run on Android 2.2, and will be upgradeable to Gingerbread 2.3 or higher in the future. Each device has a 3.2MP rear-side camera and a VGA camera on the front.

Galaxy Players come built-in with Skype and Qik for video conferencing.

Furthermore, the players have Flash 10.1, working GPS that can be used offline with Google Maps 5, and DLNA media sharing.

Each of the devices ships with 8GB storage in an effort to keep down costs, but MicroSDHC slots means you can add up to 32GB more. Because of Android, the devices don't require a syncing app like iTunes, and the devices supports AAC, MP3, MPEG-4, H.264, WMV, DivX, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and XviD.

No word yet on pricing or an exact release date.

(Pic via Electronista)

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Microsoft has announced today that Internet Explorer 9 was downloaded 2.35 million times between its Monday night launch and Tuesday night, or the equivalent of 27 downloads per second.

The company saw 1 million downloads of the first beta and a similar number for the RC, which launched at the end of February.

Microsoft has transformed IE9, adding a URL/Search bar like Chrome, and going or a "minimalist" look, leaving more room for actual browsing.

IE9 users will also be able to pin sites and bookmarks to the Windows taskbar, use a built-in download manager (for the first time ever) and see hardware acceleration for HTML5 video.

ActiveX filtering and other security features have been added, as well.

You can download IE9 here at AfterDawn: Internet Explorer 9 (all versions available)

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Google has updated its logo for the Chrome browser, removing the "shine" and going minimalist on the design.

The remade logo follows Google's decision to remake the Chromium design last week. Chromium is the open-source foundation behind the browser.

Says the search giant:

Chrome has improved significantly since it was first released in 2008. We're working on refreshing the icon to better represent the speed and simplicity of the modern browser and operating system.

The logo will soon be available in all versions of Chrome, and is now available in the developer-channel for Chrome 11.

The updated browser will also add the ability to select multiple tabs, says Cnet.

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It appears that Sony is at least looking into acquiring talent from the hacking scene.

Sony America recruiter Sarah McRae sent an email off to Android OS hacker Koushik Datta (aka Koush) offering an interview for a position on Sony's R&D team.

Koush was grateful but responded:

I appreciate that I have been contacted. The opportunity sounds very interesting! However, given Sony's recent treatment of a fellow hacker George Hotz (@ geohot), I could not in good conscience work at Sony

The hacker/dev also added that Android has been good to him:

To clear up any confusion, I was not offered a job, just an interview, which I declined out of principle. For those saying "I'm going to regret being principled", etc. Probably not. Android App sales have been more than good to me. Good, enterprising, devs should never find themselves short of opportunities.

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According to the latest figures from the NPD Group, Netflix has taken a large 61 percent market share of the movie/TV streaming and downloads market.

Comcast came in second at 8 percent share, followed by DirecTV, Time Warner Cable and Apple each at 4 percent.

The numbers are part of NPD's VideoWatch Digital tracking service, which launched in January.

Furthermore, the firm says digital video now accounts for "one quarter of all video volume in the home."

Says NPD:

Sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs still drive most home-video revenue, but VOD and other digital options are now beginning to make inroads with consumers. Overwhelmingly digital movie buyers do not believe physical discs are out of fashion, but their digital transactions were motivated by the immediate access and ease of acquisition provided by streaming and downloading digital video files.

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