Well, this is unexpected. When Vudu dramatically shifted course to de-emphasize their own hardware in favor of a licenseable software platform, I figured their original set-top would wither and die. As it turns out, the companies did right by their customers and have ported the newer appilicious Vudu experience in its entirety to the early adopters that (barely) kept Vudu – afloat before being acquired by Walmart.
In addition to the app platform, Vudu’s original P2P movie queuing has been replaced by the CDN-powered HDX 1080p streaming. Plus, the new experience is web-based – so Vudu hardware should mirror Vudu-enabled HDTV and Blu-ray players going forward.
Lastly, as you can see from the pics, I dug my Vudu out of the closet to verify the update. And I had forgotten how heavy it is – several pounds, compared to the several ounce (new) Apple TV. My, how times have changed. (via Engadget)
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I actually have two of the Vudu boxes. I really enjoy watching movie trailers on the Vudu and their VOD is still unsurpassed for video quality. One word of caution, you can’t buy a replacement RF controller. I learned this the hard way after my dog destroyed my original RF controller forcing me to purchase a replacement box on eBay for $49. I wonder if there is any possibility TiVo will offer Vudu in addition to Amazon VOD.
Have you compared Vudu quality to Zune 1080p on the Xbox? I haven’t and probably should…
Doubt TiVo would launch yet another VOD provider. Unless that app platform appealed to them in some way.
Like you, I haven’t performed a detailed picture quality comparison between the two services. I tend to stay away from the Xbox 360 for renting movies for some unexplained reason although I prefer the 360’s Netflix experience over any others. It took a bit of digging but I found a good discussion that concluded the two are approximately equal in terms of Picture Quality here –> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1233674
http://gizmodo.com/363600/apple-tv-vs-vudu-vs-xbox-360-video-download-battlemodo