A few minutes ago, we downloaded Netflix’ new application for the iPhone and iPod touch.

The download of the free application directly from our iPhone 4 took less than a minute on a WiFi connection. Might take a bit longer on the 3G connection.

The Netflix App is said to support any iPhone or iPod touch device running iOS version 3.13 or later.

After signing up to our Netflix account by entering our e-mail address and password, we got going.

Important
Sure, the download of the Netflix App is free but the application is meant only for Netflix subscribers on at least a $8.99-per month plan.

So, if you’re not a Netflix subscriber on the $8.99 per month or higher plan this app is not for you.

Options
On the home screen, there are four buttons at the bottom: Home, Genre, Search and Instant Queue.

Genre lets you pick a film from different categories like Action, Children, Comedy, Documentary, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller et al.

The Search feature lets you look for a movie only by name but not by actor. For instance, we could search for the old Bollywood movie Yaarana and found it. But when we typed in the name of the movie’s hero Amitabh Bachchan we got the following message on the screen:

Your search turned up no matches.

So it’s safe to say the search feature is currently limited.

When you tap the Instant Queue, you get to see the movies/TV shows you’ve already placed in your queue via the desktop PC for later viewing.

By the way, you can Add and Delete movies from your Instant Queue via the Netflix app on the iPhone. To remove from the Instant Queue a movie you may have added from your PC, go to the Instant Que tab on the iPhone at the bottom of the Netflix app, select a movie, and then tap on the Instant Q tab to get the option to remove a film.

Adding a film to the queue is easier. Pick a movie via the Search feature or by scrolling through the various genres. The Add to Instant tab is right there, to the left of the Play button. Cool, eh.

We added Jean Reno’s Ultimate Heist (French) to our Instant Queue. We had our Netflix account logged on simultaneously on the PC and could see that whatever changes we made via the Netflix app on the iPhone was immediately reflected on our PC as well.

You can pause viewing on the iPhone and continue where you left off at a later time on your TV (if you have a Netflix-compatible box like Roku, X-box or PlayStation). Another nice feature.

Kajol – Her Legs Spread Wide
First, we picked the new Bollywood film Rajneeti. the movie started streaming in just a few seconds.

Tired of ogling at Katrina Kaif, we stopped the movie after a few minutes and went back to the main screen of the Netflix App and did a search for one of the biggest blockbusters in Indian movie history.

Yes, you schmucks guessed right – Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Voila, the movie was available. We quickly hit the play button.

Oh, what do you think we did next? Like any sensible desi, we hit the Fast-Forward button (in this case by sliding the button on top to the right) to the Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main song sequence. Of course, we were keen to see Kajol spread her legs wide in that red mini.

Hell, which sane person wouldn’t like to see Kajol with her legs spread wide, eh? 😉

Ah, there we are. Kajol in the red dress and the knee-high boots ‘dancing’ on the snow, with ahh, her legs invitingly spread wide, wide, wide. If we did not experience the sweet, shuddering release of Nirvana, we’d like to know why we were so wet down there. Any answers?

Our Verdict
The picture quality is of course excellent on the iPhone 4.

We wouldn’t consider the sound quality great, on the iPhone’s headphone or the built-in twin speakers. But certainly adequate.

There’s an option of a 30-second Rewind to the left of the all-in-one Play/Pause/Stop button.

You can also expand the screen by touching the button to the right on top. For the Bollywood movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge the picture didn’t take up the full screen.

But since when have Indians done anything right, eh.

However, for the John Travolta-Denzel Washington film Taking of Pelham 123, we managed to get the full screen.

We almost forgot to tell you this. There’s a volume slider at the bottom just like you see on the iPhone when talking over the phone part of the device.

While most of our testing was done via WiFi, we did test the quality via 3G briefly by picking the movie Twisted. The only difference we could see was that it took a little longer for the movie to get started. Say about 20 seconds, instead of the 10-seconds with WiFi.

Decent App
Overall, we’d say the Netflix app for the iPhone/iPod touch is a simple, elegant application.

SearchIndia.com recommends it for all Netflix subscribers on a $8.99 or higher plan.

One thing we didn’t test is whether we could watch a full movie on a single-charge of the iPhone. We’ll test it one of these days and update this post.