Redbox has made some major strides in the movie-rental business, offering consumers the opportunity to pick up newly released films from a kiosk around town for just $1 per day. It has even forced Blockbuster to try a similar strategy.
But according to a report, Redbox isn't content to stick with movies.
According to Reuters, Redbox is currently in negotiations with video game developers to offer games in all the company's kiosks. Redbox president Mitch Lowe told the wire service his company is "talking early and often with the content providers of games so that we start out with a much better understanding of what we're doing."
Lowe was referencing Redbox's recent troubles with Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, and NBC Universal, which recently denied Redbox immediate access to their DVDs, saying a $1-per-day fee undervalues their films. Redbox is trying to sell game developers on the idea that its service would benefit both developers and consumers.
That said, Redbox doesn't plan to offer games for just $1. The company has been quietly testing game rentals in Reno, Nev., and Wilmington, N.C., and in those cases, games are priced at $2 per day. It offers games for the Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and Xbox 360.
For now, Redbox isn't saying which developers it's in talks with. But considering the company currently has more than 20,000 kiosks in more than 17,000 locations nationwide, it might behoove game developers to consider it.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
The Samsung UN46B7000--one of the newly entertained Samsung HDTVs.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)Samsung announced on Wednesday that on-demand video services from Blockbuster and Amazon are coming to some of its home entertainment products.
Blockbuster OnDemand, which allows people to rent or purchase video content on a one-off basis, is now available on some of Samsung's high-definition TVs, Blu-ray players, and home theater systems.
According to Samsung, the service will be offered on its Series 650 and above LCD and plasma HDTVs, as well as its Series 7000 and above LED HDTVs. Blockbuster OnDemand will be available to owners of the Samsung BD-P1600, BD-P3600, and BD-P4600 Blu-ray players, as well as the company's HT-BD1250, HT-BD3252, HT-BD7200, and HT-BD8200 Blu-ray home theater systems. The company said that the service is available now through a firmware upgrade.
As part of the rollout, Blockbuster OnDemand content can be streamed across multiple Blockbuster-enabled devices in the home. According to the company, users who order a particular movie can start watching it on one Samsung product in their home and continue watching it on another supported Samsung device.
For its part, Blockbuster has had a busy week. On Tuesday, the company announced that its OnDemand service was finally made available on TiVo DVRs. Like the service on TiVo, Samsung equipment owners can expect to pay between $2.99 and $3.99 for movie rentals. Blockbuster charges between $7.99 and $19.99 for film purchases.
As part of the deal, Blockbuster will start selling Samsung Blu-ray players that feature the company's OnDemand service in "thousands of corporate-owned stores and participating franchise stores." Blockbuster also said on Tuesday that it will also start selling TiVo DVRs in its stores.
But Samsung didn't stop there. The company also announced on Wednesday that Amazon Video On Demand will be offered to owners of Samsung LCD and plasma HDTVs that are series 650 and above, and LED HDTVs that are series 7000 and above. To get the service, users will need to download the Amazon Video On Demand widget using their television's Internet@TV content service.
Samsung said that once the user downloads the Amazon Video On Demand widget, they will be able to access Amazon's more than 50,000 movies and television shows. Amazon's widget joins already-available widgets from Twitter, Yahoo, YouTube, and others, the company said.
A growing trend?
The fact that Samsung has added Blockbuster's and Amazon's video services to its HDTVs shouldn't come as a surprise; it's competing in a marketplace where integrated entertainment is becoming the norm.
Earlier this year, LG announced the launch of two broadband-equipped HDTVs--the 47-inch 47LH50 and the 50-inch 50PS80--that feature the company's NetCast Entertainment Access. That service gives users the ability to access Netflix's streaming library of movies and TV shows. Toshiba is also getting in on the trend.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Broadband-connected TiVo DVR subscribers have access to Blockbuster's long-awaited OnDemand rental service, TiVo announced on Tuesday.
The service is available to owners of TiVo Series2 and TiVo Series3 digital-video recorders (including the TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL).
According to the company, users will be able to stream films ranging from new releases to classics. Users will be charged $2.99 for classic hits and $3.99 for new releases. Blockbuster will be adding more films over the coming weeks, including "select HD titles."
As part of the agreement, Blockbuster will also begin selling TiVo DVRs in "thousands" of participating Blockbuster stores around the United States.
Blockbuster OnDemand's arrival on the TiVo (and TiVo's arrival in Blockbuster stores, for that matter) has been a long time coming. The partnership was first announced in March.
Whether Blockbuster will enjoy success on the TiVo is up for debate. The company's main competitor, Netflix, is already streaming films and television shows to TiVos for no additional fee beyond the company's unlimited-plan charges. Amazon Video On Demand is also available to TiVo users, and like Blockbuster, it, too, allows them to purchase individual videos, rather than pay a monthly subscription fee.
TiVo owners can also access content from YouTube, as well as films through Jaman and CinemaNow's Disney.
To access Blockbuster OnDemand, users will first need to create a Blockbuster account. Once complete, they can access Blockbuster OnDemand content from the TiVo's video-on-demand menu.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO
(Credit: Netflix)Although it has no immediate plans to do so, online video rental service Netflix is hoping to bring its video-streaming service to Sony's PlayStation 3, Nintendo's Wii, and Apple's iPhone, CEO Reed Hastings said in a recent interview with Reuters.
Hastings told Reuters that his hope is that Netflix's streaming service will eventually "be on all the game consoles, all the Blu-ray players, (and) all the Internet TVs." But as Hastings pointed out, his company has signed a deal with Microsoft to deliver Netflix streaming exclusively to the Xbox 360 in the video game space.
The chances of that changing anytime soon are slim, though Hastings said his company is "working in parallel" to achieve his goal of bringing Netflix streaming to all the aforementioned devices. While Netflix is likely to offer such a service on the iPhone and iPod Touch "over time," he said there is little chance of Netflix video streaming becoming available in the App Store "in the short term."
Despite rumors indicating that a Netflix app is already on its way to the App Store, Hastings would not give a timetable: "(With) movie watching, we are not focused on mobile yet, but (instead) on the TV, on Blu-ray, and on the video game consoles. We will get to mobile eventually, including the iPhone."
Hastings also chimed in on the recent announcement that Blockbuster might be closing up to 960 retail locations. He told Reuters that the closures "don't really benefit" Netflix.
Netflix's focus, Hastings, said, is on streaming video and maintaining a big catalog of available titles. Blockbuster, he said, "competes on doing the inexpensive new releases." He said Redbox would be the company that would benefit most from the closure of Blockbuster stores.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
As the undisputed heavyweight champion director of such classic '80s flicks as "Sixteen Candles," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Weird Science," "The Breakfast Club," and more, John Hughes made a tremendous impact on the industry. We're all still shocked by his passing, so we take a moment to discuss how his movies have affected our lives. You'll be dearly missed, John!
Speaking of movies, Wilson checked out "Thirst," and believe it or not, he actually enjoyed it! If you're a fan of vampire movies or the unique directorial style of Park Chan-Wook, whose previous films include "Sympathy for Mr./Lady Vengeance" and "OldBoy," you'll definitely like this new thriller. Vampires: so hot right now.
The next segment is all about Netflix coming to the iPhone and movie rental kiosks in general. Somehow, Wilson had it in his head that the Netflix delivery service was on its way out two years ago, but he has the right idea predicting that soon, all movies will be delivered online instead of in person.
We also get to a few Calls from the Public, as well as the winner of our most recent "Choose Justin's next pair of glasses" competition!" We think you'll be happy with the winner, so be sure to watch the video for all the commentary--surprisingly, Jeff and Wilson actually agree with the decision!
Finally, don't forget to check us out today on Gadgets and Games, LIVE at 2 p.m EDT. We'll be chatting with our good buddy Clayton Morris, host of "Fox and Friends," about tech, gaming, unboxings, etc. We'll also post the show online next week, so don't worry if you can't watch it live. Have a great weekend everybody!
EPISODE 399
Listen now: Download today's podcastSubscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video
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Blockbuster OnDemand as seen on the 2Wire MediaPoint Player
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)Blockbuster OnDemand is coming to a long list of Samsung TV and home theater products later this fall. The online pay-per-view streaming service will be added to Samsung's online-enabled HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and Blu-ray home theater systems via future firmware updates. As part of the deal, Blockbuster will also sell some of the Samsung products in its video rental stores.
According to Samsung, the Blockbuster OnDemand feature will be added to "Samsung LCD and Plasma HDTVs Series 650 and above, and Samsung LED HDTVs Series 7000 and above," as well as ""select 2009 Samsung Blu-ray players and home theater systems." We translate that as follows:
LCD TVs:
LNB650 series
LNB750 series
LCD TVs (LED-backlit):
UNB7000 series
UNB7100 series
UNB8000 series
plasma TVs:
PNB650 series
PNB850 series
PNB860 series
Models for Blu-ray players and home theater systems weren't specified, but all 2009 models already support Netflix and Pandora streaming, so adding a third online service wouldn't be a stretch.
Essentially, the Blockbuster OnDemand service will be an integrated version of the service found on the 2Wire MediaPoint Player. The problem: we ranked that video-on-demand set-top box dead last when compared to competitors such as Apple TV (iTunes, YouTube), Vudu, and Roku (Netflix and Amazon). So, while it's always cool to get a free feature added to your TV or Blu-ray player, we're a bit skeptical that Blockbuster OnDemand will be a big step-up for these Samsung products. Thankfully, the TVs and Blu-ray players on the list that we've already reviewed already have a lot more to offer.
(Credit:
Blockbuster/TiVo)
Blockbuster will become the latest Internet video-on-demand service to appear on TiVo DVRs.
The two companies announced late Tuesday that they are working to make Blockbuster's service available on all TiVo Series2 and Series3 DVRs (including the HD and HD XL models) in the second half of 2009.
The announcement marks the first non-PC device to support both Blockbuster OnDemand and its archrival, Netflix. TiVo DVRs also support Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Jaman, and some Disney movies via CinemaNow.
In addition to Blockbuster's online video service being available on TiVo, Blockbuster will sell TiVo hardware at its stores. The companies will also launch a joint marketing campaign. Blockbuster, meanwhile, already offers its own movie rental set-top box, the 2Wire MediaPoint.
On this week's installment of the Digital City, it's the post-Black-Friday special, where we discuss the latest economic woes, our holiday wish lists, Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday, the new MTA text alert system, and Blockbuster's lastest idea--a set-top streaming movie box.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
(Credit:
Blockbuster/2Wire)
When 2Wire introduced its MediaPoint set-top box just two weeks ago, we told you that "it'll be a matter of weeks--if not days--before you see a yet-to-be-named service provider offering its own version of the MediaPoint, possibly at a sub-$100 price point." The curtain has been pulled back, and that initial provider turns out to be Blockbuster Video. For a limited time, the once-dominant movie rental chain is offering its version of the MediaPoint box for just $99, which includes a credit for 25 movies--effectively making it free.
... Read more
(Credit:
Kotaku)
A leaked internal memo shows that Blockbuster will be lowering the price of the entry-level 40GB model PlayStation 3 this weekend. Kotaku was able to get a screenshot of the memo, which clearly shows a new price of $360. Also, the store-exclusive Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray/Transformers video game and HDMI cable bundle will drop to $460.
This may seem like a decent bargain, but remember that $40 more will double your hard drive capacity to 80GB. (Confusingly, the "old" 80GB model, which had four USB ports and flash media slots, has mostly disappeared from store shelves. The new "Core" 80GB model--two USB ports, DualShock 3 controller, and no flash media slots--has replaced the 40, which is why the old one is being discounted.)
In addition, we can't really advise anyone to opt for the HDMI bundle either, as we all know how cheap you can find one of those cables online.
A Sony-initiated price drop does seem likely in time for the holidays, especially after Microsoft recently lowered the prices of the entire Xbox 360 product line.
Note: this post was updated to clarify the difference between the old and new 80GB PS3 models.
