Blockbuster on Tuesday announced its own Video-on-Demand set-top box, joining arch-rival Netflix, which has been pushing VOD for some time now, with the $100 Roku set-top box as well as the Xbox 360, Samsung BD-P2500, Samsung BD-P2550, and LG BD300.Blockbuster is teaming with 2Wire and using its recently introduced MediaPoint player. And, at least for a limited time, the 2Wire player is free, with some up-front cash that is:
Beginning today, for a limited time, the MediaPoint digital media player is available free with the advance rental of 25 BLOCKBUSTER ONDEMAND movies for $99 at http://www.blockbuster.com/. Unlike subscription-based services, which typically offer movies years after their release, BLOCKBUSTER ONDEMAND includes hot new releases, many available within weeks of leaving theaters. After the initial 25 rentals, movies are available for as little as $1.99 each. The players will begin shipping in time for the holiday season.Once again, another broadband-connected device set to push us to the limit on the soon-to-be-nationwide (if things keep going the way they are) bandwidth caps, eh?
Nicely, there's no need for a subscription to the service. For those who don't watch a consistent number of movies a month, this would be a plus.
What's going to happen to MovieLink, which Blockbuster purchased in August of 2007? It's going to say good-bye. The site mentions that as of Dec. 15th it will no longer be available, as it passes the torch to Blockbuster OnDemand.
Details on the player are already posted on Blockbuster' site (.PDF). The player uses progressive playback rather than streaming, which Blockbuster claims will improve the playback quality.
Blockbuster needs this service to be a hit. It's been losing market share and revenue to Netflix for some time. The company has lost nearly $4.5 billion since 2001, including $14 million through the first three quarters of this year.
0 comments:
Post a Comment