Panasonic adds Amazon VOD to Blu-ray players

Posted in Panasonic by Conner Flynn on August 4th, 2009

panasonicPanasonic is making a lot of people happy today. This morning it gave all of its Viera Cast Blu-ray players support for Amazon’s Video On Demand service. The feature lets the company’s more advanced disc readers from 2009, stream purchases and rentals directly from the reader without needing storage for a complete copy. You don’t need a matching Panasonic TV and it supports HD with a fast connection.

An update to add Amazon’s service should be available for free today and will go well with existing support for Picasa photos, YouTube videos and the other services already available on the Blu-ray players.

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.