Here’s what we know about the new Blockbuster Internet set-top box and accompanying On Demand service:

• The box isn’t made by Blockbuster or even really branded as such (aside from the User Interface – see screen shots below). Instead, the device, dubbed the MediaPoint digital media player, is made by San Jose-based 2Wire.
• It will retail for $99, although there is a special launch offer whereby the first 25 movie rentals are included in the price, a model that I recently suggested competitor Vudu should adopt.
• Rentals start from $1.99 but for most movies will be priced at $3.99.
• Each rental downloaded has a 30 day viewing window, reduced to 24 hours once you hit play.
• The MediaPoint player supports both WiFi and Ethernet, has 8GB of storage (enough for around 5 movies), and features both composite and HDMI connections.
• The MediaPoint hardware is capable of displaying HD content, though most of Blockbuster’s initial On Demand offering, around 2,000 titles, will be Standard Definition.

Here’s what we don’t yet know for sure:

• How long the launch offer will last — without the 25 movie rental credit, the $99 box feels a lot less like an impulse buy and will have a much harder time competing in a crowded space that includes the Apple TV, Sony PS3, Netflix, Vudu and Microsoft XBox 360. Not to mention telcos with their own on-demand services.
• In NewTeeVee’s previous coverage of 2Wire’s MediaPoint offering, there’s mention of additional functionality, including support for other Internet video and the ability to stream content from a PC — photos, music and video — on the same home network via UPnP and DLNA support (see our guide to all things DLNA). However, the user manual for the Blockbuster-branded version of the player, makes no reference to such functionality.
• Is the $1.99 starting point for rentals, TV shows only?

---
Related Articles at last100:

• Video: Blockbuster’s set-top box in action
• Playing catch up, Blockbuster partners with CinemaNow
• Dan Rayburn: 10 years on Blockbuster still lacks a digital strategy
• Weekly wrapup: Blockbuster STB, iPlayer, Livestation, Nokia N97 and more
• Internet TV news: BlackBerry, Blockbuster and TiVo, Netflix on PS3?

The latest company thought to be readying its own Internet TV set-top box plans is Blockbuster, according to Hollywood Reporter. The new “set-top device for streaming films directly to TV sets” could be announced as early as this month, and would utilize the company’s recent acquisition of online movie service Movielink, giving users access to over 3,000 film titles from major Hollywood studios Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. and MGM.

As Zatz Not Funny notes, while linking an online movie service to the television is what lots of consumers want, yet another set-top box probably isn’t. Instead, it would make much more sense for Blockbuster to partner with an existing hardware/online service player (or TV manufacturer?), rather than rolling out a device of their own. If they are in fact going solo, the box itself will need to be heavily subsidized if the new offering is to take off.

Blockbuster declined to comment but a spokesperson told Hollywood Reporter: “We’re talking to numerous companies and vendors about products, services, alliances and initiatives that can help us achieve our mission to transform Blockbuster into a company that provides access to media content across multiple channels — from our stores, by mail, through kiosks, through downloading, through portable content-enabled devices– so it’s not surprising that there are rumors out there.”

That’s hardly a denial.

---
Related Articles at last100:

• Blockbuster VOD service to land on Motorola handsets sometime in the future
• Blockbuster acquires movie download service Movielink
• Finally, Blockbuster’s Internet set-top box unveiled
• Report: Blockbuster in talks to join Hollywood Video-On-Demand joint venture
• Internet TV news: BlackBerry, Blockbuster and TiVo, Netflix on PS3?