Ben over at HD Beat got his hands on a MovieBeam and doesn’t come away impressed. The bottom line seems to be a limited selection of content with poor picture quality. Granted, both these faults could be improved without requiring a software or hardware upgrade — sign more partners and use less compression. But its … Read more
MovieBeam, who just received a large cash infusion, is relaunching in 29 markets this year. In fact, my neighborhood already appears to be online. Basically you buy the Linksys MovieBeam set-top box, every week a few movies are downloaded via a digital over-the-air (OTA) signal, and then you choose which you want to rent. The … Read more
If you recall, MovieBeam was a Disney service similar to Akimbo offering pay-per-view rentals of downloaded movies via leased set-top boxes. After testing the service in a few markets, Disney shut it down and later spun off the company. Most, including myself, figured it was gone for good despite comments that service would be relaunched … Read more
We’ve covered the Sezmi television solution for some time. But, alas, they’ll now be joining the likes of Akimbo, ZillionTV, and Moviebeam in the deadpool. From Sezmi’s recent customer outreach: We regret to inform you that Sezmi is discontinuing its consumer service. As of Monday, September 26, 2011, you will no longer be able to … Read more
This morning I disposed of the awful 2Wire Blockbuster VOD box… that you probably didn’t remember existed. Not only was it limited to just standard def content, but it was also plagued by DRM issues and UI lockups. As you can see below, I took it apart (like Akimbo, Moviebeam, etc) looking for salvageable parts before sending it … Read more
Wow. The rumor was true. Wal-mart is indeed acquiring Vudu. Given their prior failed attempt at digital media distribution and MediaMemo’s way-off financing stat, I had a difficult time buying it. But the deal is done – so congrats to the Vudu team. Vudu’s story arc is interesting. From the beginning, and like many, I … Read more
After a few false starts, it appears XStreamHD will be launching for real in 2010. As they’ll begin accepting pre-orders shortly for an expected spring delivery. I was pretty intrigued with their product offering as first described at CES 2008. However, CES 2009 was disappointing with a zero-hour press conference cancellation — possibly related to … Read more
Given a year of radio silence, I’d assumed Sezmi had gone the way of the dodo Akimbo and Moviebeam. However, after speaking to president and co-founder Phil Wiser last week, it seems they’ve quietly been working deals, raising new capital, and refining the Sezmi experience. And, today, they’re launching a public pilot in Los Angeles. … Read more