Disney bringing back MovieBeam set-top box

[dvdguy4]

Not sure if anyone will be interested in this.Again
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11343330/

[Dv8ted2]

This will be a failure, again.

[ebenton]

Looks like they already have their own website:
http://www.moviebeam.com/opencms/opencms/Pages/

[paulw]

As they are doing HD Video maybe this time it will fly especially as Hi Def DVD still seems like vaporware at present.

Anyone care to buy one and see if you can get the movies off the hard disk??

[ebenton]

Looking at their website, there is a small, not-very-good picture of the player's back panel. There are obviously RCA jacks. The specifications say that it has S-Video, Composite Video, Component Video and HDMI video outputs. Since Component Video is analog and not digital, I doubt that you will be able to get HD from them. I am sure that you will not be able to get HD out of it unless you use the HDMI port and have HDCP. You might be able to get standard video out of it through the other connectors, but they probably have some sort of copy protection going on. You also need to connect it to a phone line, for billing.

This reminds me somewhat of the failed late-1990's Circuit City DIVX DVD project, where you bought a disk for $6.00 or so and got to watch it once, and then paid $3.00 for every subsequent viewing.
The main difference here is that the player ($199 after rebate) comes with 100 movies already installed, supposedly from "virtually every major Hollywood studio". They "beam" "up to 10 new movies a week " to your player. You get charged for what you watch. They don't say if you can keep a movie indefinitely on your player, or if once it's scheduled for replacement, it's gone and you can't do anything about it.

One of the things that killed DIVX was the lack of support from the studios and therefore the lack of movies available on DIVX DVDs. This system apparently doesn't have that drawback.

I wonder what has changed in the last 6 years to make the studios support this scheme when they didn't support DIVX?

[ebenton]

I just thought that some of you might be interested in this response from Moviebeam to my question:

My question was:
Can I keep a movie on my player, even if it has been scheduled
for replacement, or is it "once its scheduled for replacement, its
gone"?

Their answer was:

At this time, movies are automatically replaced each week so that you
have a current selection of movies always at your fingertips. We[sic] you
view your movies there is a "guaranteed until" date so that you know how
long the movie will be on the player.

[SilverBlade]

I'll stick with DVD"s. I have a physical copy I can watch *anytime* without worrying about it being replaced and not be charged per view.

[Dv8ted2]

Looking at their website, there is a small, not-very-good picture of the player's back panel. There are obviously RCA jacks. The specifications say that it has S-Video, Composite Video, Component Video and HDMI video outputs. Since Component Video is analog and not digital, I doubt that you will be able to get HD from them. I am sure that you will not be able to get HD out of it unless you use the HDMI port and have HDCP. You might be able to get standard video out of it through the other connectors, but they probably have some sort of copy protection going on. You also need to connect it to a phone line, for billing.

This reminds me somewhat of the failed late-1990's Circuit City DIVX DVD project, where you bought a disk for $6.00 or so and got to watch it once, and then paid $3.00 for every subsequent viewing.
The main difference here is that the player ($199 after rebate) comes with 100 movies already installed, supposedly from "virtually every major Hollywood studio". They "beam" "up to 10 new movies a week " to your player. You get charged for what you watch. They don't say if you can keep a movie indefinitely on your player, or if once it's scheduled for replacement, it's gone and you can't do anything about it.

One of the things that killed DIVX was the lack of support from the studios and therefore the lack of movies available on DIVX DVDs. This system apparently doesn't have that drawback.

I wonder what has changed in the last 6 years to make the studios support this scheme when they didn't support DIVX?

You are overlooking the main reason for why DIVX failed. It cost more than a blockbuster rental and was a one time usage thing. Viewing more times could considerably cost more than buying the movie outright.

[SatStorm]

Hmmm...
This is like a PPV movie channel thing. Only based on different kind of "media" (while media "here" is a device).
I see market for this! In Europe they pay satellite and cable TV to watch channels dedicated to movies. Here we have something like bringing the channel's hard disks to your living room...
Now, if people may find ways to rip those movies (something obviously illegal of course), they might be a hit!

[ebenton]

Back when DIVX was getting started, there weren't nearly as many Blockbusters around as there are today, and DVDs occupied a small percentage of shelf space at video stores. VHS tapes were still popular. However, it is correct to say that DIVX cost more than a movie rental, probably about twice as much, or maybe a little more than that.
Anyway, I don't know what Blockbuster will charge for HD movies, but I think they charge around $4.99 per rental for SD movies right now. Moviebeam is $3.99 for SD and $4.99 for HD (not all movies are available in HD) for "New Releases" and $1.99/$2.99 for "Popular Pictures". My experience with Blockbuster has been that all movies are "New Release" until their rentals start dropping off. Then they become "Popular". A movie can remain in "New Release" status for several months or even longer.
So it doesn't look like Moviebeam will be very much more than rental, if at all.
This Moviebeam system is not very different from DIVX.

Moviebeam - you have to buy a player for $199 (after rebate).
DIVX- you had to buy a DIVX-compatible DVD player which cost $100 extra.

Moviebeam - you can watch a movie for 24 hours, but you have to pay the same amount every time you watch a movie.
DIVX - After buying the disk for $6, you could watch it for free for 48 hours, then it cost $3 every time after that. The 48 hours started when you first watched the disk, not when you bought it.

Moviebeam - new movies are "beamed" to your player every week and old ones are replaced. You have no control over this.
DIVX - You could ignore or buy any available movie. You could watch your movie any time you wanted. (Until DIVX went out of business )

Moviebeam - If Moviebeam goes under, you will probably own a useless box for which you paid $199.
DIVX - when DIVX went under, you got a $100 refund check from DIVX (the extra cost of your DVD player), plus your DVD player could still play regular DVDs.

I would still like to know what is it about Moviebeam that the studios like, when they didn't like DIVX 6 years ago? (Aside from the fact that Disney is running it?)

[somebodeez]

I'll stick with DVD"s. I have a physical copy I can watch *anytime* without worrying about it being replaced and not be charged per view.

I'm with you, SilverBlade