Vudu Offers 5,000 On-Demand Movies Right to Your TV
There's no doubt the eventually DVDs, high-def or otherwise, are on the way out. Like CDs, which are losing ground to music downloaded over the Internet, DVDs will eventually lose ground to movies downloaded and/or streamed over the Internet and (or from your local cable provider) and watched on your TV.
Numerous companies have been jumping on the download bandwagon, from pay-per-view services like Movielink, all-you-can-eat subscription services like Vongo, for-rent streamed offerings like Netflix Instant Watching, and purchase-only stores like iTunes and Amazon Unbox.
The latest company to jump into the movie download pool is Vudu, which in September will launch a set-top box capable of downloading and instantly playing any of 5,000 movies its catalog. Movies will cost around $3-$4 to rent for a 30-day period (or 24 hours once you press 'play'). Titles can also be purchased, but exact prices have not been determined. There's no subscription fee, but you do have to shell out for the box, which is expected to cost less than $500.
What makes Vudu different from the other movie download services out there? For one thing, the way it handles. We got a hands-on test drive with the Vudu service and box and were impressed with the speed and fluidity of the Vudu interface: The minimalist remote has only a half-dozen buttons and a scroll wheel that let us fly around the onscreen menu and stop on a dime when we found movies we liked. In addition, users can filter the kinds of movies they want to browse through by choosing multiple genres, ratings, actors, and the like (so, for example, instead of having to only see 'Action' movies, users can choose to see a list of 'Action,' 'Comedy,' and 'Classics' rated PG-13 and below).
The box is a sleek and flat affair that looks like a slightly larger (and black) Mac Mini or Apple TV. It has a full set of connections, including HDMI for upscaling standard-resolution movies up to HD-quality 1080p resolution (and, by the end of this year, for HD movies). Some movies will have Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks.
We've tried out a lot of the movie-download services, and we're fans of most of them, despite their slow download times and sometimes mediocre picture quality, but we were impressed with the Tivo-like ease of use and smooth operation of the Vudu player and service.
Who is this service for? Well, download and media nerds like us, for one, but also for the soccer Mom who doesn't want to schlep to the store at the last minute. And what about those of us who are sitting on a pile of the same Netflix rentals for six months, a year, or so? Might be easier to just rent what you want, when you want it.
We're looking forward to getting some more hands-on time with Vudu when it comes out in September.
How about you? Would you rather get a box with the ability to download 5,000 movies or just go to your local video store?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nycmuscleasian said 8:15AM on 3-11-2008
I completely disagree with the prediction that "no doubt" download and/or streamed movie formats will take over DVD or HD disc formats. Internet video services may catch on for TV shows or U-Tube material videos, but the market for films and movies will go by the way of HD content discs for the following reason: The way consumers purchase and utilize music services is very different from how films and movies are utilized.
Downloadable music service took over CD sales because of conveniences and portability. Consumers are not as picky when it comes to audio quality when it comes to convenience and portability. Not many are interested in high quality audio, and this has been shown by the failure of high quality audio mediums such as DVD Audio and SACD. The superior audio quality of DVD Audio or SACD (or even CD) as compared to compressed MP3 formats CANNOT be heard over crappy headphones on portable MP3 and iPod players. Consumers are interested in fast access to materials they can purchase and use instead of audio quality. As a result, crappy sounding iPods and all sorts of MP3 players are a common sight nowdays. Higher quality audio systems for home use are now all marketed for surround sound applications for movie and film watching. This trend towards home surround sound systems is indicative that when it comes to films and movies, the consumer IS indeed interested in the immediate "AWWW" factor of high quality video material. Another indication of this trend is that the consumers are begining to buy larger and larger HDTV's instead of buying portable DVD players. This is the exact opposite from the music industry, where quality comes second to convenience and portability. The consumer is only interested in convenient and portable but low quality video medium when it comes to TV shows and U-Tube video materials being watched on laptops and portable media players. Downloadable hi-def video formats with video and surround sound quality that is comparable to Bluray are currently not available, and inherently slow. The consumer has already shown that they prefer to listen to music, even if it of inferior audio quality, as long as it is fast to download and they can carry it wherever they go AND whenever they want... Consumers want to drive, run, ride the bus, cook, clean the apartment,etc with music from an iPod. However, when it comes to movies and films, the consumers wants to sit in front of a large screen with surround sound at home. The movie industry is a competely different animal when it is compared to music.
So there you go... That is why I think the prediction provided in this article is... crap.
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