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Apr

No, BorrowLenses Won't Let You Rent Google Glass (Yet) - Trust No One On April Fools

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, News

Yesterday, BorrowLenses, a site that rents gear to photo and video enthusiasts, posted up a rental page for Google Glass and a matching blog post. Those interested were invited to rent Glass on April 30th. The prices started at $105 for 3 days all the way to $499 for 4 weeks. With the developer version of Glass going for $1500, this didn't sound like such a bad idea if you were just looking to see how it worked without a huge commitment.

As we suspected, the whole thing was a hoax. Good one, BorrowLenses. You managed to convince quite a few sites around the web that the Glass offer was the real deal, so props for the original idea.

Jan

From The Ashes, Blockbuster On Demand Rises In A New, Play Store-Competing Form, Probably Isn't A Phoenix

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Blockbuster, the former golden child of movie rentals, is feeling left out lately. No one is paying attention to its online offerings, no doubt partially because it's been broken into a thousand pieces. However, today the company launched a new, central service for renting movies online with just one app for all devices: Blockbuster On Demand.

When we say "rent", we do mean that. There is no subscription option that we see yet, and every movie costs a few bucks to check out for a 24-hour period. This firmly pits it against the Play Store and Amazon Instant Video.

Jan

Mega Movie Showdown: A Thorough Comparison Of Movie Selections On Netflix, Amazon, Redbox Instant, And Google Play

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Features

Last Updated: January 31st, 2013

Two weeks ago, we took a look at the invite-only beta of Redbox Instant. In that article, we gave a brief glimpse into what the fledgling service's library had to offer. Of course, the inevitable question had to be asked: how does it stack up against Netflix? Or Amazon Instant Video for that matter? While we're at it, how does Google's Play Store compare? Those are pretty big questions! So, they deserve pretty big answers. Today, we have them.

With Oscar season upon us, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings laying down some serious smack talk recently, and the public release of Redbox Instant right around the corner, the time feels right to give the various services a close examination.

Jan

Hands-On With RedBox Instant: Netflix Has Nothing To Be Worried About

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Features, News

At last, my collection is complete. Just the other day I received my invite to the beta of Redbox Instant. I was excited. The idea sounds great: it's like Netflix, but you also get four monthly credits at Redbox rental kiosks! Awesome, right? What's that? Verizon has something to do with it? Well, no matter. It's not exclusive to the carrier's handsets, so I'm sure it's nothing to worry about! I'm ready to get my hands all up on this thing.

Oh, how naïve I was.

I'm going to start by taking a look at the desktop site and the service as a whole, but don't worry, we'll get to the Android bit in its own section.

Jan

[CES 2013] Redbox Instant Set To Launch By March, According To Verizon CEO

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Hi, my name is Eric Ravenscraft and I'm an addict. I have a weakness for trying out new online media services. I've signed up and, where applicable, paid for Spotify, Rdio, MOG, Rhapsody, Pandora, Last.fm, Jamendo, Grooveshark, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Epix, Crackle, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, and virtually every other movie and music streaming service on the internet. So it bugs me that I haven't yet been invited to add Redbox Instant to my collection of collections. According to Verizon's CEO, though, people like me won't have to wait too much longer as the service will be going public 'before the end of the first quarter.'

What's most interesting is that the company is touting it has 7,500 "streaming and transactional movie titles" available so far.

Jan

[New App] Blockbuster Launches New Disc Rental Android App To Complement 10 Streaming Apps

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Blockbuster probably has bigger problems than scattershot Android app development, but it's a problem nonetheless. On the surface any effort to clean things up seems like a great idea, but the way Blockbuster has gone about it is... well, bizarre. The company, which was acquired by Dish when everyone stopped renting discs, has released a new Android app. Can you guess what it's for? Yep, renting discs. Brilliant!

Blockbuster's movie streaming apps appear to still be listed in the Play Store, but these are device specific. There is one app for HTC devices, one for LG devices, and so on.

Dec

VUDU Releases Android App, Gives All Those 'Digital Copies' You Keep Getting With Your Blu-Rays A Tablet-y Home

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Chances are, even if you haven't heard of Vudu (though that's a little hard at this point), you might just own some piece of content that can be used with the service. Vudu is a digital movie locker that allows users to rent or buy movies online and have them streamed to their computers, or a number of set top boxes and Blu-Ray players with internet connectivity. This is all pretty standard fare. The standout feature, though, is Ultraviolet support, which happens to be one of the preferred methods of offering 'digital copies' for Blu-Ray multipacks.

Once you sign in, you'll have access to your entire library (if you have one), as well as the ability to shop around for anything you'd like to watch.

Dec

Redbox Instant By Verizon Details Announced: Unlimited Streaming & Four One-Night Disc Rentals Per Month

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Verizon Wireless

We've been hearing rumblings for a while now about Redbox partnering with Verizon for a streaming service. Today, the company announced the details of that arrangement: for $8/month you can get access to unlimited streaming of a selection of movies (including the EPIX library which, for those who don't know, is pretty impressive), as well as four monthly credits to rent a physical movie for one night from any Redbox kiosk.

The plan is clearly aimed to compete with Netflix directly. Customers may recall that the current leader in the streaming video world split off its DVD services from the Instant collection in an attempt to increase revenue.

Sep

Redbox App For Android Updated to v3, Brings Better Design And Improved Filtering Options

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Last Updated: October 1st, 2012

The Redbox movie and video game rental kiosks that seem to be at every McDonald's, Walgreens, Walmart, and umpteen other locations across the country are easily one of the most convenient ways to get your entertainment fix. If Redboxes in your town are anything like they are in mine, however, there's always a line of people. Instead of standing around waiting for you chance to grab The Cabin in the Woods, though, you could fire up the recently updated Android App. It's much, much better and far more useful than it used to be.

If you used previous versions of the app, you probably know that it was borderline useless; even simple sorting options were absent!

Jul

EVO 4G LTE Owners Can Receive A $25 Credit Towards HTC Watch, HTC's Video Streaming Service

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in EVO 4G LTE (Jewel), News

If you have or will in the near future purchase an Evo LTE from Sprint, HTC has a special treat for you: $25 in movie money. HTC Watch, which is the Taiwanese company's offering in the streaming movie market, lets users buy or rent movies and TV shows, very similarly to how the Play Store operates. If you already have an Evo LTE, just sign up for an HTC Watch account and you should receive your credit immediately.

While we're still a little unsure how well HTC's video streaming service will do in the long run when even Google's own Play Movies is still trying to gain traction, free money is free money.