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Netflix: no plan to support BlackBerry, PlayBook

(Reuters) – Online and mail-order video company Netflix has no plans to bring its streaming service to Research In Motion’s PlayBook tablet.

The headquarters of Netflix is shown in Los Gatos, California September 20, 2011. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

“We don’t have any current plans to support BlackBerry devices, including PlayBook,” the company said on Twitter late on Thursday in response to a query.

Netflix has long been available for Apple’s iPhone and iPad and devices running Google’s Android software.

RIM’s library of third-party applications lags those of Apple and Android but the Canadian company has increased its focus on developers in recent months in a bid to close the gap.

RIM upgraded the software of its poor-selling PlayBook on Tuesday, making it possible for app makers to easily move their existing Android apps across to the PlayBook.

The upgrade also enables a BlackBerry smartphone to remotely control the tablet, which connects to a television via a standard cable.

It was not immediately clear if Netflix would port its existing Android app across rather than create a specific app for PlayBook.

Netflix has more than 24 million U.S. subscribers, where it offers both a mail-in service and streaming movies and TV shows. It also has also expanded its streaming-only service to Canada and parts of Latin America.

(Reporting by Alastair Sharp in Toronto; editing by Rob Wilson)

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