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Vudu first teased us with the announcement a few weeks back that they would soon be offering Blu-ray quality downloadable movies.  However, at the time, the details were limited and the service was only available to a limited group of beta testers.  Well, flash forward a few weeks and Vudu has officially made the HDX service available for everyone.

The new HDX movie downloads will be the equivalent of Blu-ray quality, meaning they will come in 1080p at 24 frames per second and are optimized for those viewing on a 40-inch or larger HDTV.  Currently, Vudu has around 50 titles ready to go in the new HDX format with plans to add any new HD release in the HDX format as well. Additionally, they are also working to bring all the current HD movies into the HDX format; of course, they have not given any timeline as to when that will be completed.

Perhaps the best news is that these 1080p HDX formatted titles will retain the same pricing as the HD movies which range from $4 to $6 each. While the new HDX format sounds great, the one big drawback here is that these movies will require roughly a 4 hour download time prior to watching.  That alone could be enough to make this not worthwhile for the average movie viewer.

Continue reading to check out the full press release…

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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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Vudu first began showing up in Best Buy locations back in late-March and at the time it was just 24 locations, all of which were located in California. The limited availability was thought to be a testing period to make sure the devices would be able to sell as expected.

Well, jump forward a little over a month and it looks like it must have been successful because Vudu and Best Buy have just announced a little more widespread availability, however it is still not nationwide.

They have remained in California, but also expanded to Arizona and Illinois, all in all it looks like they are now available in almost 70 Best Buy locations. In addition to the move into Best Buy locations in other states, Vudu has also recently added 35 new movies to own and 30 new movies to rent.

Via [CrunchGear]

http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/07/02/vudu-continues-to-infiltrate-best-buy/

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Vudu has just released a wireless accessory kit for their set-top box. The new kit will allow current Vudu box owners to easily add a wireless connection for $79. While it would have been nice to see the new Vudu boxes begin to offer wireless connectivity built-in, they are also offering a bundle for anyone who is still planning a purchase, the bundle includes the set-top box along with the wireless kit and retails for $349, which offers you about a $30 savings if you purchased each on their own.

While a wireless connection for streaming movies is not always ideal, it is preferred by many simply for the convenience of not having to run a new Internet line out to the TV area. The wireless kit, according to Vudu is plug-and-play and should just take a few minutes to get set up. The kit comes with an adapter that you plug into your home network and also your current Vudu box. After those are plugged in, you should be all set to enjoy your movies.

Product [Vudu]

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Vudu has just given their set-top-box a nice update, now at software version 1.5 it brings one update that some will consider very important. The new feature is movie rental extensions. Now, with the new software if, or for some, when you fail to finish watching your rented movie in the 24-48 hour time frame you can now have the option to get an extension for a discounted price.

Now if you let that time window pass you by, then for a discount of $2 for HD movies, $1 for standard movies and $50 off the $.99 cent movies you can re-rent it. Of course there are a few catches, the discounted rental extension period will only be available for 7 days after the movie expires and the movie can only be extended once.

With a feature that seems so obvious, it almost makes you wonder why it has not been done before. It will be interesting to see if or more than likely when similar movie download services will have a similar offering.

Via [CrunchGear]

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Vudu, while maybe not attracting quite as much attention as originally hoped, are proving they are still alive in the small but welcomed movie set-top-box market. The Vudu box was originally launched back in the Fall of 2007, but sales may have been slow because of the limited availability, up till now it could only be found directly with Vudu or with Amazon.com.

However customers can now purchase the Vudu box in one of 24 Best Buy outlets in California, which should help overall sales and awareness of the product. While the management from Vudu would not comment on the strategy behind the limited availability of Best Buy locations, its safe to assume that they are most likely looking to see just how well they will sell.

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The Vudu XL has begun to ship. Available in the 1TB XL model, users will now have a pretty decent amount of available local storage for all your content. In addition, and just in case that large local storage is not going to be enough, they have also announced the Vudu Vault. Still listed as being in Beta, the Vault will allow users to store content online as opposed to taking up your precious local storage space. Access to the Vault will come with the latest software update, which brings it to version 1.3.

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With the AppleTV “take 2” still not available, Vudu seems to be willing to put up a strong fight to remain in the market. It was just last week that Vudu lowered their price by 25% and have now added more HD content.

A new update, that will bring the software to version 1.2 will add about 80 more movies and also adds an on-screen broadband instant-HD indicator. The movies are priced starting at $4 each, which is comparable to the AppleTV pricing. The indicator will help the instant start movies by giving users an alert as to whether or not their current broadband speed will be able to handle the movie without any delays in watching. It also has a recommendation option that will help you choose the best movies based on your broadband speed. Like other competing services, the eventual winner will come down to who has the better user experience and more available content.

Read [Wired]

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In what seems like a move to better compete with the newly priced AppleTV, Vudu has just announced a price cut for their video-on-demand box. Originally priced at $399, the box will now be selling for just $295, which is pretty close to the $229 for the 40GB and the $329 for the 160GB AppleTV. Competition is always a good thing, at least this way if the Vudu fails it will not be because of the price.

Good news for those customers who have purchased a Vudu box within the past 30 days, you can get a $100 movie credit by calling 888-554-VUDU(8838) and speaking with a customer service representative.

Read [CNET]

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