Apparently Blu-ray sales aren't
increasing fast enough for everyone, in its ongoing plan to not pull a Circuit City,
Best Buy is reportedly in talks with
CinemaNow and other, unnamed, movie services about launching a
digital delivery arm as early as this summer. CinemaNow is well prepared to
set up online video stores for others, with Blockbuster (
bad example) and
Dell already on board.
Variety suggests Best Buy could market and sell Internet-connected TVs and set-top boxes that include CinemaNow access, with a shared revenue stream between the two, but nothing is final. Netflix has a hit on its hands with Watch Instantly so think it over, would you give an Insignia Blu-ray player or HDTV a second look if it could download movies?
posted Apr 17th 2009 6:31AM
The key is if there is subscription content at a low cost (say, $10 - $25 per month). Otherwise, people will just stick with digital cable on demand content or the methods they already use (PS3, iTunes, Netflix, etc.)
I agree completely- price is key. But I can't see Best Buy having super competitive prices on content. It will most likely cost the same as most of the other digital distro systems, if not more.
No.
Ummm....1983 Video Game crash anyone, to many video options not enough TV even though there are 110 million of them.
I would definitely check out TVs or STBs w/digital subscription capabilities. Comcast OnDemand items cost toooooo much. Why pay $1 to see the Office when I can DVR it or watch in on NBC.com? It would be a good idea to make the STBs a standard protocol so when service providers decide to join in, you wont have to get a new box! We'll see what happens.. but the possibilities are endless if its the initial release is well thought out.
no
What would make me give this a second look would be if it played nicely with my other sources. I already have my own DVD library ripped to a media center, recorded shows/movies on a DVR, and On Demand on my STB. Having a third distinct "library" to browse would be a pain (yes, even with a Harmony remote and an HDMI auto-switch). If downloaded movies showed up seamlessly as part of either my DVR content or my media center, I'd give it serious thought. What I'd really like is a unified library combining what I already have and what I can get delivered in one UI...
It's going to take two things for digital content to go mainstream (i.e. appeal to people beyond Engadget's readership.) Delivery to the home is only one half of the equation, and clearly we're getting there. The other half is seamlessly integrating it into the average person's viewing habits -- and that means at a minimum making it appear to be an extension of one of the sources people already rely on.
Insignia--NO,
anything else almost, maybe. But i happen to like blurays so I guess it doesn't matter to me.
abuda abuda abuda passs
those Insignia Blu Ray Players are slow as shit. TV's are ok. Kinda like Vizio TV but usually more contrast ratio
Yeah they are pretty slow, but my friend just bought one for $150 and it is the old samsung blu ray player. So i guess its not that bad just a few generations behind.
As long as BRD movies cost double what a DVD does, it will never catch on. $35-$39 for new releases is a joke. I'll rent BRDs all day before I ever start buying them until the prices come down from the clouds. If I can download HD movies with excellent PQ, I'll do that all day.
RIP DIVX RIP Circuitcity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX_(Digital_Video_Express)
This sounds like my HP Media Center TV. It has a movie download feature... that I have never bothered to try (too much $$$).
Netflix is the answer.
Hell no. Once you see a Blu-ray movie on a good size HD screen (50+) the image is awesome. Do you know how long it would take to download over wifi a 30GB file of equivalent quality? F that. If anything this might spur blu-ray to lower prices faster, but just like dvd it will get there on its own. I have a Roku and its "fun" to have a movie on demand, but quality is just at DVD, actually a little under as that aren't even full screen always.
Just bought 3 blu-rays at Target for $28. Had to stock up on some classics. Clockwork Orange, Bullit, and 2001: A Space Odessey.
I would love to see this!!
I love Blu-Rays... Digital distribution will never take their place. Having said that, I've never been much of a movie buyer - I rent them and see them in the theaters. I usually only buy when they are on sale, so I'm still buying DVD's.
Though, 50% increase in sales from last year is nothing to scoff at. It may not be 200%, but it's still significant.
Ahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaa...... GASP.... Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Yeah no thanks.
This is all fine and dandy, but poor Time Warner customers will be screwed in the end (pun not intended).