This just in: Netflix appears to be set to launch Watch Instantly for some new devices—namely, the Nintendo Wii console and the little handheld platform from Apple. The source of this rumor is "an industry executive familiar with Netflix's plans" who spoke on (we assume) the condition of anonymity to Multichannel News. That executive says that Netflix plans to launch streaming for the iPhone, iPod touch, and Nintendo Wii very soon.

The closest we can come to corroborating this information is that some of us in Orbiting HQ received surveys from Netflix a couple months ago asking us if we would take advantage of streaming to these devices if it were available, and, if necessary, would we be willing to pay a small fee to install the software. Earlier this year, we heard a similar rumor from a Lionsgate executive that said Wii streaming was coming soon, after the success of streaming to the Xbox 360. And in April, Netflix posted a job listing for "engineering leader" for gaming platforms. It's not hard to imagine Netflix would extend this feature to the most popular mobile application platform on the planet, as well as gaming consoles.

Netflix currently offers streaming of Watch Instantly content to several devices, including some Blu-ray players, HDTV models, and the dedicated Roku set-top box. Netflix has also offered streaming via the Web to a computer, but that method relies on Microsoft's Silverlight—which isn't included on the browsers on either the iPhone OS nor the Wii. Chances are—given the history of SlingPlayer Mobile—that a dedicated iPhone app would enable streaming over WiFi connections only. Streaming to the Wii would be a custom "channel."

We can't say that we're not a least a little bit excited by the prospect of streaming to either type of device. Of course, streaming to the Wii would be trivial—those devices are already hooked up to a TV and usually to a network. Streaming to the iPhone would be fun, even handy in some situations. Still, we'd wager about eight times out of ten that you'd want to stream something—to kill time while waiting in line or commuting via train or bus, for instance—you would be out of range of an open WiFi network. Someday, perhaps, AT&T will have a network robust enough to live up to the promise of truly mobile broadband with "unlimited" data.