Vudu Puts the Video Store in a Box

How about a $400 box that offers access to 5,000 downloadable movies that viewers can either rent or buy?

Vudu’s new little black box (about 7 by 9 by 2 inches) connects to TV and to internet to grant a choice of 5,000 movies to begin playing instantaneously. There’s no computer needed, no waiting to do and no monthly fee to pay.

How can one hard drive hold 5,000 movies? It actually holds only the first 30 seconds of each movie — typically the movie studio logos. While you watch that, the rest of the movie quietly begins to download so you need a fast internet connection,

With a 250GB drive that could hold 100 full-length movies, Vudu will offer movies in true high definition after it finishes negotiation with movie studios. (via HDMI connector only — not its component, S-video or composite jacks.) If you have an HDTV, the box will convert the picture into pseudo-high def.

You pay by the movie, not by the month. Or you can buy the movie (it stays on your Vudu drive forever.)

The remote has only four buttons, plus a clickable scroll wheel like a computer mouse has. The wheel lets you zoom through lists of movies and categories. During playback, the wheel is a rewind/fast-forward shuttle control. It lets you jump almost instantly to any spot in the movie.

Vudu plans to expand the movie list to 10,000 but their dependence on the profit-driven Hollywood movie studios means we may not see it in Europe for a while. Hollywood will want regional protection, anti-pirate protection, as well as different royalties via each country. The American company will need real “voodoo” to get through the mess Hollywood creates with DVD movies.

Go Vudu