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Qflix posts

DVD Forum's latest standard, DVD-Download for DL revealed in licensing specs

by Richard Lawler posted Feb 4th 2009 at 7:49AM


It's been months since the DVD Download DL logo surfaced, offering little info for anyone trying to figure out how this might play into Toshiba's post-HD DVD anything-but-Blu-ray plans, but now that it's available to licensees we got a peek at the details behind the spec. Approved by the DVD Forum, it's a standard for content providers to send deliver movies as a disk image that can be burned onto a DVD complete with CSS encryption, Qflix-style. That includes print to order service providers like CustomFlix CreateSpace or even home users downloading a legitimate flick over the Internet. The net benefit? It's guaranteed to play on any standard DVD player, although given the ease with which nearly anyone can download and burn less-legitimate copies nowadays, the biggest potential plus we see would be an in store kiosk that burns discs while you wait, saving SKUs and packaging costs for suckers who bought the special edition. Check out the conformance guideline PDF straight from the Forum for more details, we'll let the BDA know they can stop holding their breath, if they ever were.

[Via Format War Central]

Sonic Solutions signs on to acquire CinemaNow

by Darren Murph posted Nov 20th 2008 at 4:01PM


Now here's a couple that really makes sense. Sonic Solution's fancy schmancy burn technology is already used on Qflix-enabled DVD burners, and those very drives are used to toast CinemaNow movies. See the connection? Do ya? Obvious similarities aside, Sonic really has entered into a "definitive agreement" to acquire CinemaNow, and after the deal goes down, CinemaNow will combine with Sonic's Qflix team to form "a new Premium Content Group under the direction of Mark Ely, Sonic's EVP of Strategy." The reason? To increase the placement of CinemaNow's storefront on PCs and consumer electronics devices, all while "expanding the adoption of the Qflix technology platform." We hope Sonic scored this company for a song, 'cause even with our blinders on, we just can't see Qflix becoming the next big thing. Nor the next, next big thing.

Plextor reveals PX-Q840U / PX-806SA Qflix-enabled DVD burners

by Darren Murph posted Nov 3rd 2008 at 12:01AM


Hot on the heels of Pioneer's latest Qflix-enabled duo comes a fresh pair from Plextor. The PX-806SA (internal) and PX-Q840U (external) both feature Sonic Solution's sophisticated burn technology that enables users to imprint CinemaNow movies onto specially-keyed blank DVD media. Yes, you actually need proprietary media for this to work -- fun, right? Anywho, the drives come bundled with Roxio Venue / Creator 10 CE software alongside a pair of recordable Qflix discs, and both should be available right now in North / South America for $89.99 and $149.99, respectively. Full release after the break.

Gallery: Plextor reveals PX-Q840U / PX-806SA Qflix-enabled DVD burners

Continue reading Plextor reveals PX-Q840U / PX-806SA Qflix-enabled DVD burners

Pioneer intros DVR-2920Q and DVR-X162Q Qflix-enabled DVD burners

by Darren Murph posted Oct 22nd 2008 at 9:45AM


Ah, Qflix. That snazzy burn technology that enables users to toast CinemaNow flicks onto specially-keyed blank DVD media for playback in your DVD player. For the eight people out there that still find this appealing, Pioneer is looking to compete with a handful of rivals by introducing the internal DVR-2920Q and external DVR-X162Q DVD / CD writers, both of which are Qflix-enabled. Each drive is also bundled with Roxio Venue software to facilitate the whole download-to-DVD process, and the Roxio CinePlayer will allow you to play back the resulting disc right on your PC (should you so choose). Mum's the word on a price / release date, but the pair ought to be hitting soon enough.

Dell offers up Qflix drives to burn CinemaNow movies to DVD

by Steven Kim posted Sep 16th 2008 at 9:52AM

Dell Qflix DVD burner
It's been almost a full year since we first saw DataPlay's CSS-compliant DVD burner, so let's recap the model -- you download a DRM-protected movie to your PC, grab a piece of specially-keyed blank DVD media, use the DataPlay burner to commit the movie to disc and then enjoy your oh-so-legal fun on the run. For all of you who want to live that dream right now, Dell has brought out its $120 Qflix drive bundle so you can save your CinemaNow movies to Qflix DVD media using the included drive, software and two pieces of media (in case one coasters). Seriously, what else are you going to use for long-term archiving of your movies -- hard drives or something?

[Via Electronista]

DataPlay unveils CSS-friendly external DVD burner

by Darren Murph posted Sep 28th 2007 at 2:27AM


Just a week after the DVD CCA approved an unexciting (and incredibly restrictive) download-to-burn scheme, DataPlay has unveiled what it calls the "world's first CSS-managed recording DVD burner." Of course, this isn't the first time we've heard about this type of setup, and as it turns out, DataPlay is actually "participating in the Qflix technology and IP licensing program." The aptly-named MovieWriter is an external USB 2.0 device that is "capable of writing CSS encrypted content for playback on standard DVD players," but alas, you'll be forced to pick up the presumably expensive CSS-MR pre-keyed recordable discs through Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden before any burning can take place. Currently, no pricetag is being listed, but we are told that the outfit is already planning an internal version for OEMs to integrate into pre-fabricated machines. [Warning: PDF read link]




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