PlayStation 3 HD Movie Downloads Begins

The new PlayStation Network movie download store has opened for business in the UK and select European territories.

The online store was launched in London yesterday with a huge party featuring media from across Europe. Sony says users have a choice of 800 movie titles from a wide range of studios – both new releases and back catalogue titles.

Unlike Xbox’s new 1080p streaming service, the PSN proposal involves downloading a DRM-laced file to the PS3 hard drive. While Sony concedes that this will take several hours on a good connection, it points out that viewers will be able to watch their movies only shortly after the download begins. With movie rentals, users have a 48-hour window to view their download, commencing with the first Play activation.

Interestingly, those who download a standard-def movie have the option of transferring the film to Sony’s PSP portable for additional viewings. However, if you opt for a 1080p movie, there is no provision for transferring a portable version of the file to a PSP.

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Hot on the heels of X-Box, Sony has also introduced dedicated Facebook functionality to the PS3 with its 3.10 firmware update, and is promising that this is ‘just the beginning of our integration with Facebook.'
Sony says that as of November 16, its PlayStation Network has over 33 million registered users worldwide.

Sony confirms European PlayStation Network movie download service for November 2009

Move over Xbox Live, Sony is finally getting serious about digital movie downloads via PS3. Speaking at the opening press conference at IFA, in Berlin, CEO Sir Howard Stringer confirmed that its PlayStation video store, the PlayStation Network , would be launched this November in the UK, France, Germany and Spain, with other European markets to follow in 2010.

'The PSN is a key priority for Sony's distribution of content,' according to Stringer. And the stats are certainly impressive. The PSN is now available in 58 countries, 12 languages and 22 different currencies.

'PSN began in November 2006 and the number of registered accounts has grown to more than 27 million – that is a groundbreaking development,' said the Sony boss. In the US, the PlayStation Network 'now offers more than 12,000 TV epsiodes and more than 2,200 movies, of which more than 35 per cent are available in HD.'

At launch the UK service will feature 'hundreds of movie titles' with new material added regularly. 'Consumers will be able to purchase or rent on either their PS3 or PSP and share the content on those devices.'

Wii Movie Downloads - Only in Japan at the moment

Nintendo's Wii is to offer movie downloads, but only in Japan. Sonic Solutions’ Roxio CinemaNow has partnered with Fujisoft, to offer streaming media via Fujisoft’s local VOD service. Hollywood major Paramount will supply blockbuster film and TV content.

The Wii may be a latecomer to the game console movie download arena, but with a user base of over 50 million worldwide, there’s little doubt that it could find content-provider support quickly. But is Nintendo really interested in the nascent video on demand market? Time will tell...

Free Movie Downloads Caution

A number of websites offer the prospect of 'free movie downloads' for users worldwide. The latest file compression technologies enable providers to compress films to formats which are easy to download even with low bandwidth connections.

Legal movie downloads are available through websites such as Vizumi, backed by film studios, whereas illegal movie downloads often take place through file sharing networks.

Websites offering legal downloads often provides movies whose copyright period has expired, and therefore can enter the public domain. These websites are unable to provide the latest blockbuster films.

Lack of such movies often tempts people to use alternate ways such as peer to peer (P2P) networks for searching and downloading the latest movies such as Limewire. These networks were originally intended for file sharing between computers, but now are widely used for downloading movies, games and software.

Various technologies are used to reduce the size of movies, as a large size movie takes almost a day for users to download, even with a high speed broadband connection. Most companies use codecs such as DivX and Xvid to convert movies to a low file size version, for speedy downloads. These codecs can reduce a 4.8 GB movie to sizes less than 1 GB with absolutely no loss in the clarity of video or sound. To view these movie formats, users need to install these freely available codecs in their computers.

While downloading free full movies, it is often recommended to use softwares called download managers. These softwares were designed for managing scheduled downloads and are also capable of resuming broken downloads. So even if the internet connection goes off during download, your downloaded data is safe and can be resumed from where it left off.

Free full movie downloads include movies in various languages, with both older films and new ones which are no longer running in theatres. Often, these movie collections may contain classics and hits of a particular era. There are also websites which provide recently released movies, where users are required to pay a one time payment for registration.

The facility provided by P2P websites for anyone to upload a film for others to download, can pose a serious threat to movie makers, particularly if the film print was leaked and has not yet been released in theatres. As production companies are facing losses in their DVD sales due to online movie downloads, they are also starting their own movie download services for users, but with a fee. However, the free full movie downloads provided by many websites are a boon to those who cannot afford to buy physical copies of all the movies released.

Movie Downloads vs Blu-Ray

Blu-ray is cool, don't get me wrong. The picture is awesome and the menu features are much more interactive. With the PS3 sporting a Blu-ray player, there?s no doubt in anyone?s mind that this clinched the win over the battle HD-DVD vs Blu-ray.

However, many people are now beginning to ask the question "so what??

Much of this has to do with the fact that Blu-ray is not an entirely new technology. Sure, it?s an improvement on the DVD, but it?s not a brand new thing. Many people want to wait to upgrade their systems until there?s something totally new (and 100% accepted) on the market. DVDs still outnumber Blu-rays in stores and some shops do not sell Blu-ray at all!

So what does this mean? Has Blu-ray already had its moment in the sun? Will it be phased out to make room for the ?next? technology? It?s hard to say. But when the majority of Blu-ray sales are to those with a PS3, (or at least a very significant portion of them) you know there?s a problem. When a stand alone player can?t sell on its own, there?s a definite issue at hand.

Blu-ray also has a unique disadvantage. It?s the first new video technology that has to compete with an actually thriving movie downloads business. When you factor in iTunes sales and Netflix rentals, there?s a greater emphasis on renting than ever before. In short, people are sidestepping the whole ?what player to buy? decision altogether by renting movies or downloading them onto their computers.

Standard DVDs look great. There?s no doubt about it. And sure Blu-ray looks better, but only if you have an HDTV. Otherwise, standard and Blu-ray are playing on the same playing field.

One of the main reasons many people aren?t buying in to Blu-Ray is the high cost of Blu-ray players and the pricey blu-ray discs. Also, many blu-ray players are very slow to start playing blu-ray discs. The current technology seems glitchy, unpolished and very pricey.

As much as I love Blu-ray, it has a rocky road ahead. With high costs, increased rentals and downloads, and a public without the equipment to appreciate its superior quality, Blu-ray may very well be doomed.

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