LG and Netflix announced on Monday that, soon, LG TV sets will be available that can stream Netflix movies directly, without a set-top box. Models will be demoed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Meanwhile, at Macworld San Francisco, Apple had nothing new to announce regarding its "hobby," the Apple TV.

Netflix boasts a library of more than 100,000 titles -- with about 12,000 of those available for instant viewing, either to Macs, PCs, Roku, Xbox or selected Blu-ray players. However, only a few hundred of those are currently available in high definition. While that's why people buy an HDTV, it's likely that Netflix will continue to expand its offerings in HD.

There are people who "do not like to be encumbered with a rack of boxes around the TV," Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said. He also added, according to Reuters, that his company is working on partnerships with other TV makers but declined to mention names.

This move is similar to the kind of technological development that Apple undertakes, namely, put pieces into place that are key, but don't reveal the whole puzzle. Finally, when the last piece of the puzzle drops into place, the competition is left gasping.

At Macworld on Tuesday, Apple made no announcements about the Apple TV, perhaps preserving announcements for a future Steve Jobs special event. Even if Apple is working behind he scenes to secure an agreement with Netflix, time is passing them by quickly. Soon, it would seem, the preferred method to watch movies quickly and easily will be something that doesn't involve an Apple TV. Phillip Swann at TVPredictions.com said, last week, that Vudu and Apple TV would die in 2009.

In situations like this, Apple is trying to hold on and lock its customers in while Netflix is the one taking the creative and technical lead. Apple's approach might work in the Macintosh universe, but on the TV/movie/entertainment side, people think different. They don't like boxes cluttering the living room, they aren't tied to Apple as a company, and they like choice, especially when it comes to mixing and matching to economize. Clutching onto the whole widget may mean that it, eventually, slips through Apple's fingers completely.