04/10/2008, 9:30am, EDT
Thursday, April 10thBlockbuster to offer Apple TV rival this month?
Blockbuster today is subject to rumors which claim the movie rental house is developing its own networked media hub. Similar to stand-alone devices such as the Apple TV or the Vudu, the unnamed project would let users watch Internet-streamed movies on TV and would take advantage of Blockbuster's union with Movielink to supply the content, with an unnamed electronics maker assembling the hardware itself. The device could be announced as early this month, though it may not be available until at least May.
A spokeswoman for the video store declines to confirm or deny the rumor but says it's "not surprising" that it exists in light of Blockbuster's wider digital initiative. The company has already set out plans for digital download kiosks for portable media players and a download service for cellphones, both of which are meant to recover the company's ailing physical video rental business.
An effort by Blockbuster would compete both with Apple and Vudu services but also an officially revealed effort by Netflix, which is teaming up with LG to produce a system similar to the Blockbuster model with its own media streaming device that would also offer movies from an existing Internet service through TVs.
Filed under: industry, gadgets
Other story tags: LG, Apple TV, Netflix, Blockbuster, Vudu, Movielink
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Isn't this the same company that took the netflix model, offered a smaller variety of movies for a little less money, and then abandoned it after a short period of time?
What makes them think they will succeed at this? The one thing that streaming provides is ease of use, but they will probably have a small range of movies.
And there is (for now) a huge sacrifice in quality.
FU, Antioco.
"Don't worry, were trying to catch up," is all that says to me. Once again, Apple innovates, then sets a trend, and everyone else chases tail-lights. Personally, I think BB would be better off sticking to the physical media side.
There's a bit more discussion about this going on here: http://www.speculationcentral.com/
That being said, I have to give them credit for gauging the pulse of the movie rental business; they adopted the Netflix movie rental through the mail model and incorporated it into it's BM business. The writing is on the wall as far as streaming media is concerned and BB as least has the sense to see it. Regardless of what I and others may think of BB, they still have a large base and could very well transform itself to keep up with the times.
Just so proud of being good. Had to tell someone. Not to worry though, BB never listens to the customer. They do have a better available selection than Netflix. No one seems to be empting their shelves. Used BB for awhile until they figured I was a fast user. They raised fees and seemed glad that I dropped out.