Disney to release HD MovieBeam STB
by Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Feb 14th 2006 at 7:50AM
It's a good thing we all have our OTA antennas ready because we're going to need them to
enjoy the latest in HD entertainment: MovieBeam. Disney started testing this back in 2003 and now it looks like it's
ready to go and in HD to boot. MovieBeam will be available in 23 cities and come preloaded with 100 films from most of the major studios. Considering the price of $200 plus a monthly and per movie fee, I wonder how many people are going to take advantage of this, not to mention how this will effect our OTA HD that we love so much. They are distributing the content with datacasting and I can only imagine where they are getting the wireless bandwidth from. Now we just need one to test in the HDBeat labs. This should be interesting to watch develop.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave Zatz @ Feb 14th 2006 11:15AM
I also caught wind of MovieBeam's new box and service this AM. Obviously those investment announcements made last week had been in the works for awhile... since it looks like MovieBeam will let me order a Linksys box NOW for my location (Washington, DC area). I wonder if they're using local television stations to broadcast the signals, like they are with that one cable OTA service in the west? Movie rentals are for 24 hours and include DVR controls. I don't see this taking off with this business model, but I'm tempted to buy it... in the name of science. :)
Ben Drawbaugh @ Feb 14th 2006 11:28AM
The site was down last night when I wrote the post. It is availabe in my area as well. I tried to order it, but it requires a land line, of which I haven't had in years. So I guess someone else will have to try it out. They say it doesn't support VOIP but they may just not want to support it.
Buzzcut @ Feb 14th 2006 1:43PM
"MovieBeam plans to introduce a standalone antenna with a USB port that can be attached to a computer or other portable device, eliminating the need for a box."
Very cool. Yet another service that is building itself on MCE (I'm guessing that's what the above quote means).
No more hardware. Just build your service on MCE.
Chris @ Feb 14th 2006 2:01PM
Just to clarify, there is no monthly fee. However it does cost $250 plus $30 activation fee minus $50 rebate. More pricing info is here: http://www.moviebeam.com/opencms/opencms/Pages/WhatIsMovieBeam/PricingInfo.html
Seems pretty reasonable. However unless you have an HDTV this service doesn't seem to offer anything beyond what you could get with your Cable Co's or MCE's Onlight Spotlight Video on Demands. Though this could be a great service for people who rely on just OTA HDTV and use this for their movies.
Richard Lawler @ Feb 14th 2006 2:07PM
Looks interesting, we'll see how the cable and satellite companies respond to this end-run, or if any other content providers sign up.
Adam @ Feb 14th 2006 9:33PM
Hmmm....says you need a HDMI connection for HDTV, but looking at the pictures of the device it appears to have component video output on the back. Could these guys be downrezing the the component? I definitely won't be supporting any service that doesn't support legacy component video connects especially when the box has it. May be it's a typo in the FAQ. Not sure what this gives me that my cable provider does not with their on demand service.
epobirs @ Feb 16th 2006 11:13AM
According to the site's tech page the component video output only supports SD res.
http://www.moviebeam.com/opencms/opencms/Pages/WhatIsMovieBeam/TechInfo.html
It is somewhat confusing since they also make reference to component inputs on HD sets after saying HDMI with HDCP is required.
One glaring ommission is the lack of an ethernet port to use broadband connections for billing. Do they really think affluent consumers who are the target market for this thing don't have broadband? I can understand not having WiFi built-in as a cost savings but no network support at all? This tells me the product is doomed. Alienating the target demographic with annoyance like having to connect via POTS is not the mark of a smart plan.
daspeeker @ Mar 10th 2006 2:03AM
epobirs - i was a product tester for MB and i heard word that internet connectivity is comin' down the pipeline. I'd imagine this'll solve the landline gripe. also, Ben, the image of MB that you've got up there is of the Gen 1 box... the new one is sleeker... just my thoughts