Blockbuster and Motorola team up for OnDemand movies

Posted in Motorola by Conner Flynn on August 18th, 2009

blockbuster-sbBlockbuster is preparing a mobile movie download service specifically for Motorola handsets. Blockbuster didn’t provide many details, and we have no pricing info or a launch date. We don’t even know which Motorola phones the movies would play on, or how the movies will be distributed.

All we know for sure is that “thousands” of movie will be available. This could be a much needed source of revenue for Blockbuster, but it’s risky. It could blow up in their faces. It remains to be seen just how much money they can make renting movies that are watched on such small screens.

Blockbuster to offer Archos netbook in stores

Posted in Archos by Shane McGlaun on July 17th, 2009

archos10The small and compact netbook might make for a good way to watch movies on the go. The big downside is that the average notebook has no optical drive making watching DVD movies impossible. You can download digital films or stream digital content when you are connected online though.

Blockbuster and Archos have announced that the new and slick Archos 10 netbook will be offered for sale in 1,000 corporate owned Blockbuster locations around the country. The netbook will sell for $299.99 and has a 10-inch screen and a keyboard.

Blockbuster and Samsung team up for streaming content

Posted in Samsung by Shane McGlaun on July 14th, 2009

blockbuster-sbI think the future of movie rentals and purchases are in digital form. One day we will no longer trek to the movie store on Tuesdays when new movies are released on DVD. We will just hop on our Apple TVs or maybe even our Blu-ray players and rent the movies digitally.

Blockbuster and Samsung have announced that the two companies have signed an agreement that will provide access to streaming content from Blockbuster on select Samsung HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and home theater systems. The service is expected to debut this fall.

Blockbuster offers summer escape pass

Posted in Home Theater by Shane McGlaun on June 12th, 2009

blockbuster-sbI remember summers back when I was in school. It was great for a few weeks and then I was bored out of my mind. I ended up watching lots of movies and playing video games until my parents cut me off for spending too much.

Blockbuster has announced a new summer escape pass that is good for a full week and allows customers to rent all the video games and movies they want for only $10. The catch is that you can only have one movie or video game out at once.

Blockbuster survey finds most popular sci-fi characters

Posted in Sci-Fi by Shane McGlaun on May 7th, 2009

fireflytv-sbI am a big sci-fi fan. Not one of the rabid types mind you that wear costumes and goes to conventions, but I like to watch sci-fi films and read sci-fi books. All sci-fi fans have their favorite characters and many of the favorites are classic characters we can all agree on.

Blockbuster has surveyed sci-fi fans to come up with top five lists for best starship captain, best villain, hottest male sci-fi star, and hottest female sci-fi star. The top five captains in order are Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly, James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, Han Solo, and William Adama. Picard so should have been number one.

Blockbuster and Sonic Solutions Team Up for Digital Movie Service

Posted in Home Theater by Shane McGlaun on January 14th, 2009

BlockbusterStreaming movie rentals are seen by many consumers and movie rental firms to be the future of movie rentals. The problem is that many movie studios and large rental chains like Blockbuster are slow to support online rentals for fear of hurting their retail rental and sales business.

Blockbuster and Sonic solutions announced this week that they would be working together on a new digital movie service. Sonic will provide the software part for delivering movie content across PCs and consumer electronics devices.

Blockbuster OnDemand download service coming to Blu-ray players

Posted in Blu-ray by Conner Flynn on December 1st, 2008

Blockbuster OnDemand download service coming to Blu-ray playersNetflix streaming has made it’s way into everything and people like it. As usual, Blockbuster is behind. But here’s some good news for the company.

According to Chairman Jim Keyes, Blockbuster’s download-to-rent service in a Blu-ray player will be here by Q1 of next year. Basically, if you’re an HD film fan then you’ll be able to rent HD quality films from Blockbuster directly through your Blu-ray Disc machine. No word if this will be in the form of a firmware update for existing hardware or part of a new player, but it’ll need to standout a bit and lower the price in order to compete with Netflix.

Blockbuster releases MediaPoint Player set-top box

Posted in Set Top Boxes by Conner Flynn on November 25th, 2008

Blockbuster releases MediaPoint Player set-top boxThis isn’t really a surprise, but if you like you can put your hands on your face and feign shock. Just last week, we were speculating that Blockbuster might launch its video-on-demand (VOD) solution before the holidays. Here it is.

Since the Blockbuster set-top box is official, here are some specs: There are 2000 movies available for a 1.99 rental price. You have 30 days to watch a movie after the order. You have it for 24 hours once the movie has been started. It sports WIFI connectivity and is HD Capable. No word on pricing for the box itself.

Blockbuster may release set-top box before Christmas

Posted in Set Top Boxes by Conner Flynn on November 10th, 2008

Blockbuster may release set-top box before ChristmasRumor is that Blockbuster could roll out its own set-top box by the time the holidays are fully upon us, which would let users receive Movielink downloads in the comfort of their own living room. There isn’t much info available, but it will be interesting to see whether this rumor pans out or not. Netflix having some competition is probably a good thing, but Blockbuster will have to come up with something really interesting to even compete.

Blockbuster wants to buy Circuit City

Posted in mergers by Shane McGlaun on April 14th, 2008

Blockbuster Wants to Buy Circuit CityWhen it comes to getting my gadget or video game fix and I don’t want to wait for something to ship from an online store it’s off to Best Buy or Circuit City for me. I also like to watch lots of movies and I am in the movie store almost every Tuesday looking for something cool to watch and Blockbuster is a store of choice. It seems that Blockbuster and Circuit City could see a merger at some time in the near future.

Blockbuster announced today that it has offered to buy Circuit City for $6.00 per share in cash with the offer subject to due diligence. Blockbuster says that the offer was made in a letter sent to Circuit City Chairman and CEO Philip Schoonover on February 17 on behalf of the Blockbuster Board of Directors.

Blockbuster direct-to-TV streaming rumors

Posted in Rumors by Darrin Olson on April 12th, 2008

Blockbuster rumored to have a streaming video solution in the worksBlockbuster has been rumored to have been secretly working on some new technology in the works that would allow streaming video content from an online rental service direct to consumers televisions, and could be available as soon as the next few weeks. No information has been given on the exact technology or price but the service could again bring the home video renting giant back up to par and possibly ahead in technology, compared to other rival video renting services from Netflix and Apple.

Netflix would be directly affected by this new service by Blockbuster and has recently upgraded their service to provide unlimited streaming to some subscribers, however it streams to their computer and not necessarily to the living room of most consumers. In order to work their way into more entertainment centers, Netflix is also looking into providing streaming video rentals through Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console.





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