Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Vudu seems to be doing a fairly decent job of keeping their name out in the news lately, it was not that long ago that they announced their ”99 for 99” and we cannot forget the recent move into additional Best Buy retail locations. Now they have come back promising a total of 1,000 HD quality movies to choose from, as well as a lifetime content warranty.

Of course they were not able to give a specific availability date for these new titles, stating that “in a very short time we’ll have 1,000 HD titles.” They also seemingly proudly pointed out that they will have “more than Blu-ray” and that they also “have some huge deals.” I guess it pays to be proud of what you are offering, however it almost seems like the proud parent bragging about how good their son or daughter is.

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Vudu seems to have picked a strange time to launch a “summer blockbuster special” however there seems to be no mention of an end-date either so we can only hope it remains available.

Their latest offering seems to be a step in the right direction and includes 99-cent movie renewals on standard definition movies, and $1.99 extensions for high definition movies. Users will be able to re-rent the movies for the discounted price within 7 days of beginning the movie, which should help those who sat down and started to watch only to have something come up and pull them away.

In addition Vudu will also begin their “99 for 99” channel which will include 99 movies that users can rent for just 99-cents. These titles will be featured on a rotating basis and are chosen from their editorial team.

The movie rental pricing for the regular catalog remains the same at $4 for a standard definition title and $6 for a high definition title.

Keep reading to check out the full press release:

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Amazon is set to launch a new service called Amazon Video on Demand which will enable users to watch any of the 40,000 movies and television programs right after they order them through their PC or Macs’ web browsers. Similar to cable video-on-demand services, the videos ordered by users will start streaming immediately after users placed their orders.

In addition to the computer support, Amazon has also reached a deal with Sony Electronics that would put Amazon’s Internet video store on Sony Bravia high definition TVs. Users who will opt to use the Video On Demand on their Bravia units would initially need the Sony Bravia Internet Video Link which costs $300. This would give them access to the Amazon Video on Demand content from their Bravia’s menu. Sony has also promised to embed this link in the Bravia’s menu screen sometime soon.

The new Amazon Video On Demand service will be initially available to selected US customers before it goes public later this summer. To answer the issue of storage, Amazon will also offer a service called “Your Video Library” which will store each customers downloads, and users can watch the movie or show whenever they go back to the Amazon Video On Demand store.

Read [New York Times]

That sound you hear may be the death knell for the set-top box/dust magnet in your home entertainment center. Sony and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association have announced an agreement that will place the cable companies’ technologies inside future Sony TV models. This will allow consumers to dial up ALL their cable channels, access video-on-demand and use interactive services without having to find a place for a steaming-hot cable box near the TV.

The nation’s largest cable companies - Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House - are on board, and the pressure is now on Samsung, LG and other big-screen makers to follow Sony’s lead. The NCTA says they’re welcome to do so.

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Two legendary movie producers, Samuel Goldwyn and Jack Warner, are both credited with telling some studio underling, “If you want to send a message, call Western Union.”
It now appears that the men (and yes, it’s still mostly men) who now sit in the corner offices at the studios that Goldwyn and Warner built are sending a clear message to consumers: we’re willing to roll with the digital tide.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes told those listening on his company’s earnings conference call that Warner Brothers will release movies to video on demand (VOD) on the same day they become available on DVD. And the Hollywood Reporter tells us Apple now has a deal with nearly all the major movie studios to sell new releases on iTunes at the same time they hit brick-and-mortar retailer’s shelves.

Corporations as big as Warners, Sony, Disney, et al don’t suddenly “get” this digital revolution thing; most of them have been experimenting with day-and-date releases in some form or fashion. They’ve been studying sales figures to determine just how much a digital movie release eats away at real-world sales. The answer, at least for Warners Brothers, appears to be only 3-5 percent; not enough, it seems, to continue the 1-2 month window that has traditionally existed between DVD release and a movie’s appearance on your Comcast, Time Warner or Apple TV digital service.

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What The Future Holds, a column written by Adam Berger, that introduces tomorrow’s technology and trends today, is published on Thursdays.

All you hear about the second you turn on your TV is why you should either switch to cable and your local cable provider’s video on demand (VOD) content offering. These PSA commercials also tend to mention 3-in-1 services - phone, internet, and TV - as well as HD channels, and digital DVR set-top boxes. What they neglect to talk about is the one thing that most providers don’t...provide HD content on demand.

Holding things back are the usual problems: capacity and content. Everyone has the ability to receive HD channels but the total number of channels is still very limited. Until MPEG-4 and switched-digital roll out most providers simply don’t have the bandwidth to deliver all their regular programming and more than a few HD VOD offerings (and on Cablevision those are all nature programs). Just image how much less you would go to the movies if you could watch top rated movies in HD from the comfort of your own home. Oh wait, you can? It’s called Blu-ray and HD-DVD? Right I forgot…

The studio’s don’t want to offer their content for VOD HD options because they are investing a ton of money into the next generation disc formats. Once you have the ability to just stream down the HD content from your provider whenever and wherever you want there will be no reason to purchase the HD capable discs or their players (especially because who wants to drop over $1000 on a format that may become obsolete.

However as the bandwidth issues get sorted out, media research company Diffusion Group sees progress made the same way it has for regular HDTV, sports & broadcast networks first just like primetime television and ESPN-HD have led the charge so far. So alas this column is titled What The Future Hold’s so I should finish up with a future oriented statement. I expect that over the next 12 months we will see more and more HD VOD offerings but nowhere near the point of current standard-def on-demand offerings.

Read [HD Beat]

Back in February we announced MovieBeam, the first HD on-demand movie box. Live Digitally has just published a detailed review of the Moviebeam service.

“Today, Moviebeam’s offering is, in a nutshell, a $250 set-top box that delivers up to 10 movies per week (it comes with 100 or so available to start!), available in an instantaneous on-demand offering at prices ranging from $1.99 to $3.99 per movie. All movies are available at either DVD or HDTV quality, and the box does not interfere with any other TV or Internet offerings in your household. ”

Via [I4U]

The TiVo expert, David Zatz, was playing around on the TiVo store last night and found some really interesting stuff. We have all heard the rumors that TiVo and Netflix had a partnership going, then didn’t, and maybe did again. Well Dave found a Blockbuster partnership within TiVo.

For about $10 - $15 more than TiVo’s current 1 year hardware/service bundle, you can include a Blockbuster Online subscription (1, 2, 3).

There are no details on how the relationship works thus far. Maybe you cue Blockbuster movies through TiVo, or can download movies to watch (integration with TiVo’s VOD service). As we hear more we’ll dish it out. Until then I would recommend you stick with Netflix.

Read [Zatz Not Funny]