Last week, Netflix presented us with the greatest holiday gift of all: The ability to download movies and TV shows from the streaming service in order to watch without an Internet connection. And today, we've learned that the company is still doing its best to improve our lives. Say goodbye to endless browsing for a new show (because come on, we've all been there)! Netflix announced Tuesday that they've introduced video previews for their content in order to help you decide what to watch.
The previews, which launch globally today and will be rolled out to devices that are Netflix-enabled over the next few weeks, aren't just your average trailer. According to a blog post on Netflix's site, they're specially formulated, 90-second synopses that are designed to give users a sense of the story, characters, and tone of a movie or show. These previews can be viewed from the browsing screen for optimal convenience.
Netflix tweeted out this helpful video that explains what the previews are about and further affirms that they just get us:
X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Stephen Garcia, director of product innovation for TV, and Chris Jaffe, VP of product innovation, said in a statement that these previews have been in the works for a while now, but until recently, the technology to offer the type of video they hoped for didn't exist.
"This is our latest effort to continually evolve the Internet TV experience to one that provides greater choice, richer imagery, better context, and a more consumer-friendly experience," Garcia and Jaffe said. "When we launched streaming back in 2007, we were mostly trying to figure out what this new medium could be and how best to present it. Over the last decade, investments in how content is delivered globally, optimizing our streams for bandwidth-constrained environments, and the evolution of consumer tastes allows us to experiment with new ways to improve your experience."
The announcement also mentions that over the next year, Netflix will roll out more than 1,000 hours of original content next year, so it sounds like these previews are going to come in handy. Now BRB, we're going to go pick out tonight's Netflix feature real quick.
Related: 20 New Shows Coming to Netflix Everyone Won't Shut Up About
