Business News Holding

Tag: on-demand

  • Motorola to Feature Blockbuster Movie Download Service in Next Generation Handsets

    Blockbuster, a provider of in-home movie and game entertainment, announced plans to feature the BLOCKBUSTER OnDemand movie download service in select Motorola phones. Through the agreement next generation Motorola phones will feature the OnDemand application, providing on-the-go download access to Blockbuster’s digital library of current movies.

    Earlier this year, Motorola announced it is to unveil Android powered handsets in the fourth quarter.

    Blockbuster launched a movie rental service via set-top boxes last year. It offered a STB made by 2Wire that plays downloaded movies. Renting a movie for online playback at Blockbuster generally costs between $1.99 and $3.99.

    In March this year, Blockbuster and TiVo announced that they are working to make Blockbuster’s service available on all TiVo Series2 and Series3 DVRs (including the HD and HD XL models) in the second half of 2009.

    The agreement with Motorola it’s a part of the company’s new digital strategy to provide its library of digital entertainment to mobile devices.

    "Motorola is a recognized global communications leader and extending the BLOCKBUSTER brand and our OnDemand service into their portfolio of innovative new phones is a natural extension of our digital strategy," said Kevin Lewis, Senior Vice President of Digital Entertainment for Blockbuster.

    "Mobile video entertainment is exploding, as consumers are demanding the widest selection of content: the movies they love in their living room and on their PC, now also available on their mobile phone, while on the go," added Christy Wyatt, Vice President of Software Platforms, Applications and Ecosystem of Motorola Mobile Devices.

    According to Blockbuster the agreement will also further the company’s multi-channel vision of eventually Blockbuster enabling customers to use OnDemand application with multiple consumer electronics and portable devices, such as PCs, PMPs, Blu-ray Disc players, PVRs, set-top boxes, mobile phones and Web-connected TVs, to search Blockbuster’s entire catalog of entertainment content and download available titles for rent or purchase, schedule movies for mail delivery through, or reserve titles for in-store pick-up.

  • Vudu Extends Content To 3rd Party Hardware


    Vudu is to make its 14,000-plus movie library available on Entone set-top boxes and DVRs.

    The deal is the first time Vudu’s content, including around 1,500 HD movies, has been made available on third-party hardware.

    Entone supplies set-top hardware to smaller regional US telco video providers, many of whom have limited or non-existent video-on-demand offerings.

    Users of Entone units will only require a software upgrade to add the entire functionality of the Vudu BX100, including on-demand access to HD and HDX movies.

    While Vudu has cut the price of its entry-level box to USD $149, the possibilities offered by extending its pay-per-view content to a much wider audience are huge.

    By moving from being a box manufacturer to a service provider, Vudu could extend itself into network-enabled consumer electronics.

    This would allow it to join the likes of Netflix and Amazon Video-on-Demand as a supported feature in everything from HDTVs and Blu-ray players to home theater systems and game consoles.

    Entone said Vudu-compatible Entone set-top boxes are expected to get the software upgrade sometime this summer.

    It should include all the features available on the existing Vudu hardware, including the Vudu Labs features that include access to YouTube and Flickr.

  • Blockbuster Launches On-Demand Service


    Blockbuster is rising to the challenge posed by cable companies and Netflix by launching a movie rental service via set-top boxes.

    It is offering a STB made by 2Wire that plays movies downloaded over a broadband line.

    Available only in the US, Blockbuster is offering the MediaPoint digital media player for "free" if you pre-pay for 25 movies at the cost of USD $99.

    It claims the movies available will be "hot new releases".

    After the initial 25 rentals, films will be available from USD $1.99 each.

    Able to use either Wi-Fi or Ethernet, Blockbuster says the set-top box delivers DVD quality to your screen.

    Since it’s a download rather than streaming, users will get full quality even if slower internet connections mean downloads will take longer.

    It will be interesting to see how Blockbusters’ decision to avoid a monthly subscription works, especially with regard to the timing of new movie releases.

    Netflix’s service is both streaming and by subscription.

  • VUDU Offers HD Rentals That Rival Blu-ray


    VUDU has launched a new video format that rivals Blu-ray.

    Called HDX, it delivers full 1080p at 24 fps to screens 40 inches and up via web distribution using VUDU’s TruFilm compression technology.

    Just to put the icing on the cake, the company says it won’t be charging extra for HDX titles.

    While VUDU made no reference to Blu-ray in making its announcement, comments from Mark Jung, CEO of VUDU, can be taken as a challenge to the HD disc format.

    He said HDX raised the bar on picture quality for HD movies delivered on-demand, over the air, satellite or Internet and across the entire video landscape.

    “Accelerating consumer adoption of large screen HDTVs has fueled strong demand for the kind of viewing experience and picture quality only HDX can deliver,” he said.

    In August, the BDA reacted swiftly to the DISH Network’s claims that its “full” HDTV 1080p/25Hz image matched Blu-ray quality.

    But David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics, suggested satellite providers are competing primarily with cable and IPTV companies, and not with the Blu-ray Disc format itself.

    Delivery times are the big snag to HDX with most broadband connections taking 3-4 hours per title.

    But as there are currently only 65 movies available in the HDX format, it’s maybe just as well.

    While the HDX films are only for rental it is hoped that a purchase option will be offered in the future.