Finally, Netflix has come to the Android platform. Or some of it, at least.

The company announced Thursday afternoon that its Netflix application would be available as a free download on the Android Market immediately, complete with "Watch Instantly" streaming support.

But there's a catch: Only a handful of Android phones will be able to run it.

As of today, four HTC model phones (the Incredible, EVO 4G, G2, Nexus One) and the Samsung Nexus S are the only devices capable of running the app.

We tried sideloading the app onto our Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, as well as onto an LG G2X smartphone; No dice. The G2X wouldn't even open the app. We were able to access Netflix's web store through the Galaxy Tab, but we weren't allowed to stream movies on the unsupported device.

Netflix product team member Roma De explains the holdup in a blog post. Essentially, the sheer number of different Android devices available is problematic, because Android lacks "standard streaming-playback features that the Netflix application can use to gain broad penetration across all available Android phones," De wrote.

Of course, the iPhone has had this capability for the better part of a year, and Netflix works as well on the iPod Touch and the iPad. Even Windows Phone 7 support exists. This makes sense, however, because Netflix would only have to deal with a small number of devices on these platforms.

But developing streaming-playback support for the entire Android platform – host to over 300 different Android-powered devices – is a major ordeal. "In the absence of standardization," wrote De, "we have to test each individual handset and launch only on those that can support playback."

A Netflix spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

It makes sense, however, for Netflix to push its application out to the Android platform even in such an incomplete state. At its I/O developer conference in San Francisco this week, Google announced the debut of movie rentals through Android Market, directly from Google. Starting at just two bucks, you can rent from a list of thousands of current and older releases from Google's Market store. After you pay for your rental, you'll be able to watch the movie on any Android device you want, as well as your desktop.

Obviously Google's deal isn't as lucrative as Netflix's flat monthly fee of $8 a month. But with Google pushing its new movie rentals product to a gigantic market of more than 100 million activated devices, Netflix needed to act fast. So – however hurried – a launch like this and the ensuing frustration makes a certain amount of sense.

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