[opendtv] Re: Motorola to put Blockbusters on handsets
- From: Tom Barry <trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:58:59 -0400
My Sprint $15/mo data plan allows unlimited Internet usage at about 500
kbps. Meanwhile, third party Windows Mobile phones like my HTC Mogul
(Titan) don't seem to need any unlocking to install new applications.
So I'm not sure you have to ask Sprint for permission to use a service
like this.
But I have heard the Sprint unlimited data plan might actually have a 5
GB/mo cap. I'm not sure since I don't really watch video on the phone
and have never approached that limit.
- Tom
Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
> Another strangely exclusive and restricted deal idea. IIRC, or if I
> understood correctly, none of these exclusive arrangements will be
> allowed on 4G networks?
>
> Bert
>
> -------------------------------------
> http://www.rethink-wireless.com/?article_id=1808
>
> Motorola to put Blockbusters on handsets
> By PETER WHITE
> Published: 20 August, 2009
>
> The 15,000 films there are available on Blockbuster's OnDemand online
> movie network will be made available on selected Motorola mobile phones.
> That seems straightforward, but given the amount of detail that the two
> have issued, it isn't.
>
> It's easy to imagine that this means the films are streamed over a
> cellular network, but somehow, given that AT&T in particular and US
> carriers in general, are very careful about what service they allow or
> don't allow over their networks, it is unlikely that this is how
> Motorola expects this service to pan out.
>
> And given that the Blockbuster OnDemand service is only available right
> now in the US, then Motorola has to anticipate one of the major
> networks, probably one of the two CDMA networks in Verizon and Sprint,
> allowing the handsets that this throws up, to be connected to their
> networks.
>
> The announcement, as far as it goes, is fairly straightforward, that the
> application which looks after delivering Blockbuster progressive
> download movies to consumer electronics devices, will be ported to
> select Motorola phones. No service pricing and no delivery date for the
> application were given but we'd guess that the price will be the same as
> the existing film prices, varying between $2.50 and $4.00 per film, and
> the application will probably take no more than 3 to 4 months to port
> and test.
>
> There will be lots of readers immediately asking if people really want
> to watch movies on a phone. Well THEY DO. That much has been proven in
> overseas markets where mobile TV is popular, and it is especially true
> as long as the viewer can stop the film when they get to work and begin
> watching it again in their lunch hour, in other words it is better as a
> download than a stream or a TV channel and in order to start watching it
> without delay, it needs to be a "progressive" download, one that you can
> begin watching before the download has completed.
>
> But what cellular operator would want to let its customers watch an
> entire two hour film over their network, when this interferes with
> talking and other revenue earning activities, while taking up huge
> amounts of data traffic.
>
> What Blockbuster is trying to do is build an ecosystem of devices which
> includes PCs, portable media players, Blu-ray Disc players, personal
> video recorders (PVRs), set-top boxes, web-connected television sets and
> mobile handsets, an eco-system to beat its fierce rival in online films,
> Netflix.
>
> What we expect is that this application will be limited to a download
> format that will only play on the phone, but which is delivered either
> over wi-fi direct to the phone or to a PC for later sideloading to the
> phone, rather than cellular delivery. But that will still mean being
> able to watch films on the go and it is every bit as good as video from
> iTunes, but with way more movies.
>
> Blockbuster has recently partnered with Sonic Solutions and it is that
> company's technology which is gradually underpinning the Blockbuster
> service. This is pretty far out technology, which relies on the idea of
> a "rights locker" the principle of if you have bought or rented a film,
> you can view it and download it in multiple formats without more cost,
> and the Sonic system holds up to 14 different format versions of a film,
> and it downloads the appropriate resolution file with the right DRM keys
> and right encoding system, for any given device. The system CAN stream
> films and it is working on the capability to download a film to one
> device and play it on another, although Hollywood, as yet, has not given
> it permission to use this. It can also work with any DRM system from
> Microsoft, Widevine and OMA.
>
> So we would expect the service to use all of that eventually, and that
> Sonic and Blockbuster (who bought CinemaNow and Movielink respectively,
> the original studio initiated online film services) see the handset as
> just another part of an eco-system that lets you watch films on pretty
> much anything.
>
> This deal is described as an "exclusive" and this either means that
> Motorola cannot put other similar systems, such as that from Netflix, on
> its phones OR it means that the Blockbuster systems can ONLY run on
> Motorola phones - or perhaps both. If it is the latter, then Motorola
> will get a pretty decent uplift from the deal - if it is ever sanctioned
> for a network and especially if it turns up on the new Android phones at
> Verizon.
>
> Either way the rest of the cellular handset community is likely to beat
> a path to the Netflix door, because having an official film service on
> your handset is likely to deliver a significant edge.
>
> We might expect Blockbuster to slightly change its business model from
> getting a 30-day storage period for a rental, and having to watch the
> film within 24 hours of starting, with that viewing period perhaps being
> stretched to 72 hours for people who are watching films in 15 minute
> snippets.
>
> Other things that the application is likely to be able to do is search
> films on the handset and set them up for play on other devices or for a
> download to purchase, as well as schedule movies for mail delivery or
> reserve titles for in-store and vending machine pick-up, and it might be
> worth inclusion just for these features.
>
>
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