Blockbuster VOD Going to Blu-ray Players
Hot on the heels of releasing its own set-top box, Blockbuster said it will expanding its on-demand video rental service into Blu-ray players in the first quarter of next year, as the company goes toe-to-toe with Netflix over direct delivery of video content to your TV.
In an interview with E-Commerce Times posted over the weekend, Blockbuster CEO and Chairman Jim Keyes spilled the Blu-ray beans and other plans for the on-demand service:
We’ll be able to put the same capability into a Blu-ray player. We’ll go into DVRs (digital video recorders), game consoles, etc., just as others are doing to make the same capability available through other devices.
Not only is Blockbuster playing catch up with Netflix, it’s matching its video rival move for move. Netflix has the Roku set-top box; Blockbuster has the MediaPoint. Netflix is on LG and Samsung Blu-ray players; Blockbuster will deliver to Blu-ray devices. And will Xbox and TiVo, which have Netflix capabilities also have Blockbuster? Seems like a definite possibility, given Keyes’ statement.
The one area where Blockbuster won’t be copying Netflix is through its rental model. Blockbuster is sticking with the a la carte service in order to keep the new releases available, while Netflix has the subscription model, which inhibits its ability to get new releases, because of licensing issues with the studios.
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[...] Like rival Netflix, Blockbuster (BBI) is hoping to build its new streaming service into as many living room gadgets as possible. Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes, via E-Commerce Times, via NewTeeVee: [...]
[...] on Blu Ray NewTeeVee reports, citing an E-Commerce Times article, that Blockbuster will be introducing its online streaming [...]
[...] queued up on (a limited amount of) solid state storage. (Which has some implications on the sort of Blu-ray players Blockbuster will support…) Speaking of storage, I haven’t yet tried inserting anything into the SD slot on the [...]
[...] it’s being queued up on an internal 8GB USB stick. (Which has some implications on the sort of Blu-ray players Blockbuster will support…) Speaking of storage, I haven’t yet tried inserting anything into the SD slot on the front. [...]
[...] The video chain also said that, like Netflix, it will be integrating its on-demand service into Blu-ray players and other devices such as game consoles and DVRs. Movies use progressive downloads (not streams) [...]
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