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Vudu arrives on the Boxee Box, along with a host of big fixes (update)
Ah, there we go. After a bit of a false start, Boxee's rolling out Vudu to the Boxee Box today -- you can either hold tight for the auto update in the next 24 hours, or trigger the manual update in Settings. Vudu's offering new users who sign up on the Boxee Box a $5.99 credit, which is the price of a single HDX rentals, so that's clever. Vudu remains Vudu -- 1080p/24 video, 5.1 audio -- but we'll obviously give it a look on the Box to check it out. As for other improvements, there are quite a few; highlights include better browser performance with HTTPS support, a sorting option to ignore "the" or "a" in titles, more deinterlacing controls, a whole host of bug fixes, and quite a bit more. Not bad -- we'll let you know if we discover anything crazy. PR and the full changelog after the break. Update: Vudu's $2 for two nights deal applies to SD rentals, but you can get a single HDX rental for $5.99.
VUDU teaches old boxes new tricks: HDX streaming, apps and more
It's unfortunately rare to see manufacturers extending support to hardware they no longer sell, but VUDU has reached back to owners of its set-top boxes and updated the software to bring them up to par with its platforms running on TVs and Blu-ray players. That means access to the VUDU Apps platform, access to 1080p, 5.1 audio HDX movies as instantly starting streams, not just downloads, movie trailers and social tie-ins with Twitter and Facebook. The new interface also means updates can be instantly pushed down from their end meaning easy access to any new features in the future. It all sounds good to us, go ahead and flick on your box and see if that new software works as well as promised.
Vudu starts offering special features with Avatar
What does the Vudu HDX version of Avatar have that the Blu-ray version doesn't? That's right, special features. Typically you don't get 'em with a digital download, but Vudu figured the release of Avatar is the perfect time to change that forever. We're not exactly sure what features will be available, but at free, they are priced just right. This is yet another sign that Hollywood is warming up to digital delivery -- the first sign was that digital download customers don't have to wait another 28 days like Redbox and Netflix -- and Vudu also reminds us that if you want to stream Avatar in HD it is them or the Playstation as all the other streaming services will only offer the movie in SD -- we don't know about the Playstation service, but Vudu's HDX certainly qualifies as real HD. Another pictures of the Vudu interface after the jump.
Mitsubishi now shipping VUDU powered 1080p streaming HDTVs
Joining LG and (eventually) VIZIO, Mitsubishi's new line of Diamond Unisen HDTVs are shipping with VUDU 1080p streaming capability built in, plus out of the box ability to handle the service's Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround audio, thanks to the 18 speakers peeking out of the bottom of the frame. The 46- and 52-inch LCDs can stream movies via Ethernet, or wirelessly with the optional VUDU wireless accessory bridge. Buyers unsure of whether the streaming experience can live up to expectations are encouraged to take advantage of an offer of two months of SD, HD and HDX movies (up to $50 worth) for free, so if the LT-46249 or LT-52249 find their way into your living room for anywhere near their respective $2,599 and $3,099 MSRPs, we'd plug that network cable in and give it a shot. Check the official PR after the break.
VUDU's HDX titles compare to Blu-ray's picture quality
There's nothing more annoying when you're enjoying HD than when the background starts moving when it's not supposed to. We know all to well what compression artifacts look like, and the lack of artifacts is one of many reasons why we just love to watch Blu-ray movies. So if you were disappointed to read about the less-than-stellar quality of VUDU's HD titles, you're probably wondering if the recently announced HDX titles live up to their name. We're happy to say that they do, and although we aren't anywhere near the biggest videophiles around, we're hard pressed to see a difference between the picture quality of VUDU's HDX movies and Blu-ray. Unfortunately for VUDU, when it comes to home entertainment, picture quality isn't everything. Among the remaining barriers to acceptance over Blu-ray is the fact that although the movies are encoded with Dolby Digital Plus, the box is only capable of letting you enjoy old fashioned Dolby Digital -- either way, a far cry from TrueHD or DTS-HD. Oh, and you still can't own HD movies. And HDMI is required for any HD viewing. The download speed is limited to 4Mbps, so even if you have a 20Mbps connection, you'll still have to wait four hours for an HDX title to download. On top of all that, the box costs $300 and is a one trick pony -- even Blu-ray players sell for less now and can upconvert DVDs. Even with all of these caveats, we could still see this being the perfect solution for an HD movie junkie, but there's the relatively limited selection of HD and HDX titles to contend with. So while we're very happy to see Vudu make an important step in the right direction, we're still not ready to jump on in.
