Samsung gives up on its bid for SanDisk, however the company sees the green with Netflix, incorporating a built-in software into future Blu-ray players.

Surprisingly enough, there’s already a Netflix-infested Blu-ray player floating around out there on the market from LG, selling for around $350 USD. The catch is that viewers can only stream movies in regular SD format, not HD. Still, the service offers over 12,000 videos to download, and costs as little as $8.99 per month. Wanting to dip its toes into the Netflix love, Samsung is not only considering embedding the Netflix software into future Blu-ray players, but HDTVs and other "home entertainment products" as well.

But fear not : owners of the Samsung BD-P2550 and BD-P2500 Blu-ray players, currently retailing for $399.99, can immediately use the Netflix service after installing software downloaded from this link. According to the company, the Blu-ray players stream movies and TV shows via a wired broadband connection and a Netflix Queue-based user interface. Users simply log onto the Netflix website and add the videos to their individual instant Queues. Once the list appears on the TV connected to the Blu-ray player, viewers can choose and watch the desired movie in around 30 seconds. Viewers can rewind and fast forward through the streaming video, and can even rate movies and read brief synopsis from the TV menu.

“Samsung has been at the forefront of innovation in consumer electronics and has established a market leadership position in Blu-ray and digital television,” said Netflix Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings. "We’re excited about the upgraded Blu-ray disc players. Moreover, we look forward to working with Samsung in the years to come to deliver a variety of outstanding products on which consumers can watch movies delivered over the Internet from Netflix."

While Netflix sings praises of Samsung, another company isn’t quite as jolly. Yesterday the company announced that it has withdrawn its proposal to acquire the outstanding shares of storage manufacturer SanDisk (for $26 per share in cash). Samsung said that both parties have not been able to come to an agreement since it began its pursuit of SanDisk six months ago.

"The decision to withdraw the proposal to acquire SanDisk Corporation at $26 per share was made in considerations of the growing uncertainties in SanDisk’s business, its stand alone value, and the current difficult economic environment," the company reports.

In September, SanDisk rejected Samsung’s proposal, saying that it was inadequate and not in the best interest of its shareholders, or in their words, "significantly undervalues SanDisk given the long-term prospects of its business." The company also said that Samsung’s offer was an opportunistic attempt to take advantage of Sandisk’s current stock price as well as calling the offer a "calculated negotiating ploy or an attempt to gain leverage in the ongoing licensing negotiations between the companies." Needless to say, SanDisk wasn’t feeling the love.

Irwin Federman, lead independent director of SanDisk commented, “We have been and remain willing to enter into good-faith discussions with Samsung. However, due to Samsung’s unwillingness to meet fair and reasonable process conditions coupled with their desire to acquire SanDisk at a significant discount to our view of its intrinsic value, the Board believes that this proposal is not in the best interests of stockholders. Going forward, we remain committed to diligently executing against our existing business strategy and maximizing value for our stockholders.”

After Samsung withdrew its proposal, shares of SanDisk Corp. fell a whopping 31.6 percent, its lowest level in five years, closing at $10.09 on Wednesday. However, there’s still a spark in Samsung’s eye, as the company is still open to buying SanDisk at a lower price.

As for the deal with Samsung and Netflix, the online movie service plans to include its software in other media devices as well. Currently Xbox 360 owners can rent and download movies from Netflix through Microsoft’s Xbox Live service. Roku also sells a $99.99 USD Netflix device that streams video straight to the TV. However if streaming video is not possible/available (such as no local internet connection), Samsung Blu-ray owners subscribing to the Netflix service can still rent Blu-ray disks via the standard postal service.