Aarthi Ramamurthy is standing outside of her building talking to her first paying customer, and she’s about to make a product decision.
She’s shipped him a camera across country overnight on a rental program, and he’s so in love with it that he wants to buy one from her. He’s wondering if he can apply his rental fee towards the purchase of the camera. Read More
Video producers that sell through Vimeo On Demand now have much more flexibility in marketing their wares. Starting today, Vimeo Pro members can offer both purchases and rentals at separate prices. They can also supply pre-orders and promo codes, while stat hounds will see more advanced viewership data, such as trailer play counts. It’s up to content creators to use the new features, but we’ve already spotted at least a few titles that take advantage of the upgrades; head over to Vimeo if you’d like to give them a try.
Via: The Next Web
Source: Vimeo On Demand
Sure, there’s a cool factor to having a vintage arcade game parked in your rec room. But there’s more to it than that — as we saw for ourselves at Engadget Expand, people are genuinely excited about playing the original cabinet games from their childhoods. Now you can rent titles like Ms. Pac Man, Pole Position 2 and Donkey Kong for $75 per month in California, thanks to a company called All You can Arcade. It started as just a collecting hobby for brothers Timothy and Seth Peterson, but has blossomed into a business that now rents over 100 games and is constantly adding more. The best part is that you won’t have to part with any of your allowance to play — hit the More Coverage link for the copious list of titles.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Kotaku
Source: Associated Press
Canadians who love movies (but hate vowels) just received some good news: Rdio has launched Vdio in their homeland. The content and pricing is largely similar to what we’ve seen in the US, including major movies that cost $5.99 to rent and $19.99 to buy. There are a few glaring omissions, though — some bigger titles, such as Django Unchained and Silver Linings Playbook, are listed as “unavailable.” Vdio isn’t launching all that smoothly in the Great White North, then. Even so, its arrival is noteworthy when many online media services tend to skip Canada altogether.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Via: GigaOM
Microsoft revealed some details of how “game licensing” works on its upcoming Xbox One console, and included the tidbit that “Loaning or renting games won’t be available at launch, but we are exploring the possibilities with our partners.” In response, Redbox has launched a site called GamingFuture.net, which is ostensibly a place for gamers to express what excites or concerns them about next-gen gaming. It should also help provide a base for Redbox to defend its $2 per night videogame rental business. Interestingly, Redbox and Microsoft would appear to already be close “partners”, since the former launched an Xbox 360 app for its Redbox Instant service earlier this year.
There are links on the page to various reports about the Xbox One and PS4, plus a simple comment section for the public to chime in. GameTrailers reports the company messaged members of its “Text Club” service an alert about the new site, along with tweeting it from the official account. We’ve seen similar strategies employed during negotiations over cable channels, we’ll find out more this week about what Microsoft and Sony’s new hardware means for the game rental market — and how the public responds.
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Sony, Microsoft
Via: NeoGAF
Source: GameTrailers, GamingFuture.net
Blockbuster started the month by launching an On Demand app for iOS and embracing the streaming video era. For the end of the month, it’s going retro: following a quiet App Store launch earlier in May, the company has formally announced a free Blockbuster 2.0 iOS app that covers everything but streaming. The release is built almost exclusively for traditionalists, letting them manage their Blockbuster By Mail rental queues, scan membership cards and check the stock at those stores that remain open. About the only concessions to modernity are the built-in movie trailers. While the app does give some needed love to disc-based viewers, it’s an acute reminder that much of Blockbuster’s original audience has moved on.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: App Store
When Blockbuster’s UK brand entered administration at the start of the year, there were concerns that it would ultimately prove just another casualty of the inexorable move toward online video. Not quite: Gordon Brothers Europe, a private equity firm known for rescuing troubled companies, has bought Blockbuster’s British assets. The acquirer isn’t disclosing the cash involved, but it plans to keep 2,000 workers and 264 stores in full swing while it plots a turnaround. That recovery is only described in vague terms at this stage, however — Gordon Brothers plans to bring “new products” and “new technologies” to the bruised retail chain. While we’re glad to see a one-time cornerstone of video rentals get a second chance, we hope that its bounce-back strategy involves a more futureproof selection than aisles full of plastic discs.
[Thanks, Steven]
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Via: Sky News
Source: Gordon Brothers Europe
Blockbuster hasn’t had much success shifting from physical rentals to digital, even under Dish’s wing. Nonetheless, it’s betting that the umpteenth time’s the charm with a relaunch of its Blockbuster On Demand streaming movie service. The revamp ticks many of the checkboxes for a modern by-the-title rental store with 1080p and 5.1-channel surround sound as well as apps for 2012 Samsung Smart TVs, Android and Roku 2 boxes. However, there’s a number of curious choices, and we don’t just mean the omission of a subscription model. It’s missing an iOS app, emphasizes apps for desktop viewing and leaves no way to watch HD video on anything but a TV — our mobile and PC screens have advanced in the past several years, Blockbuster. Idiosyncrasies notwithstanding, the rebirth presents more of a unified front than the one-time giant has offered in the past.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Via: Android Police
Source: Blockbuster On Demand
Think you can finish a 168-page novel in a month? It might pay to opt for Amazon’s new Kindle rental feature, now available on an incredibly limited number of titles. A few options published by Princeton University Press appear to represent the site’s introductory offering. The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking isn’t exactly a bestseller — we weren’t able to locate any eligible books from that list — but it’s a popular enough title, with a current rank of 1,432 (if the rental option takes off, that position’s likely to change). You can buy it outright for $9.99, or you can instead opt for a 30-day rental. Prices there start at $5.50, increasing by pennies each day until you reach the buy price (in this case, that’ll happen at the end of June).
This new rental option certainly seems appealing, unless you’re the type who slowly makes your way through a text over the course of a year. The feature appears to be open to any US-based Kindle owners, though you’ll need to do quite a bit of digging before you locate any titles with the rental option affixed. In fact, if you wouldn’t mind, do us a favor and share your findings in the comments section after the break — we have quite a few bookworms on staff who wouldn’t mind saving a buck or two.
Update: It’s likely that the book rentals currently available have been internally categorized as textbooks, which is prompting such an offer to appear. We’ve reached out to Amazon and are awaiting confirmation.
Via: Zatz Not Funny
Source: Amazon
International data services give us the freedom to leave our carriers’ roaming plans at home, but that’s only so much consolation to travelers who have to lug a giant laptop or cater to a digitally savvy family. Xcom Global is gambling that some of us want more portable (or just additional) gear for our travels: it’s offering daily rentals of the WiFi Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 as a complement to its usual hotspot deals. Paying $2 or $3 per day for the respective slates will give a big-screen fix to those who can’t get by on smartphones alone. Although the Nexus 10 isn’t available yet — something to do with the tablet only just shipping — Xcom Global is currently discounting the tablet rental rates to $1 and $2 to lure us in. Any reasonable extra fees might be worthwhile if they let us pack light.
Continue reading Xcom Global starts renting Nexus 7 and 10 tablets, lets us keep the laptop at home
Filed under: Tablets, Networking, Google
Xcom Global starts renting Nexus 7 and 10 tablets, lets us keep the laptop at home originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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