US video rental giant Blockbuster just announced the Onkyo BD-SP808 Blu-ray player, set to ship to retailers in September, features a client for their online video service, Blockbuster On Demand.
Blockbuster On Demand is already supported on a handful of players from Phillips, Samsung & Toshiba, as well as a range of other devices including TiVo DVRs and the Archos 605 portable media player. There is also a client for Windows.
Unlike the Netflix Watch Instantly service, which offers unlimited viewing of mostly catalog titles and TV shows, Blockbuster On Demand rents and sells individual titles, including many new releases.
Blockbuster is favored with support from movie studios in the form of earlier access to new releases because this is sees as a tool to keep Netflix and Redbox from dominating the home video landscape. But Blockbuster’s failure to compete with either company has led them to bankruptcy.
Blockbuster’s plans for success in the on demand rental space may also be in trouble if rumors about Apple expanding their iTunes rental operation are true.
Their online offering has neither the brand name recognition of Netflix nor the base of TV-connected clients. From game consoles to Blu-ray players to HDTVs themselves, Netflix clients are everywhere.
Not to mention this year’s introduction of iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch clients. An Android app is also coming at some point in the future.
The widespread availability of the client, especially connected to TVs, has become arguably the biggest driver of recent growth for Netflix.
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Result for: consumers
Following the industry’s recent push into 3D, Roxio’s latest Creator software bundle gives users the chance to convert their 2D photos and videos into 3D, as well as manage and edit 3D content.
Consumers can import files from 3D cameras and camcorders, edit the video, save it to a number of popular formats and finally burn it to DVD, or Blu-ray if you have the proper hardware.
If you have a large collection of 2D video and photos (like everyone does), you can convert it over to 3D using a few clicks.
Gizmodo reviewed that section of the software and had this to say: “The standard amateur 3D rules apply—things work best when you leave a good distance between you and your subject; when there’s a well-defined foreground, midground, and background, etc.—but on some of the examples I saw, there was a decent 3D effect (on others it was less successful, but as always, practice makes perfect).”
Outside of the new 3D upgrades, Creator still allows for management, editing and sharing of a variety of file formats.
Result for: consumers
Google has confirmed their purchase of the virtual currency start-up Jambool for $70 million, continuing its strong expansion into the social gaming market.
“We’re pleased and excited to welcome the Jambool team to Google. We are committed to offering consumers and merchants innovative digital payment solutions and Jambool will help Google evolve our payments offering and expand into digital goods and content,” says Google.
Jambool was founded in 2006 and has been a hit with its Social Gold virtual currency product.
Social Gold can be used in MMOs, virtual worlds, regular online games and social gaming applications.
The company was started by former Amazon execs Vikas Gupta and Reza Hussein.
Last month, Google purchased the social gaming developer Slide, for $182 million, and earlier in the year, Google invested about $150 million in developer Zynga, the company behind hits like Farmville.
