TVSquad

While Apple is the undisputed king of music downloads, no company dominates the video download space yet. Well, it looks like Sony wants to make a bid for the lead position. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company that was once synonymous with portable music players (remember the Walkman?) before Apple came along wants to compete with iTunes in the video download space.

Sony may have the goods to pull this off. Part of the reason Apple has been so successful is because the company has both hardware and software: iTunes an the iPod. Sony's already got the hardware for video: the Playstation3, the Playstation Portable, and Bravia television sets. And Sony's got Sony Pictures content.

It looks like Sony's got some big (and possibly desperate) plans for the Playstation 3. Not only has the company slashed $100 off the price of the 60GB PS3 gaming console, but Sony is also introducing a new version with an 80GB hard drive.

So what's the extra storage for? Sony tells Newsweek's LevelUp blog that it's part of a plan to let users download and play online games -- and also to download high definition video content.

Microsoft has already been selling HD video downloads for the Xbox 360 for the better part of the year. And seeing as how Sony kind of has its own movie studio, there's no big surprise here.

Few details are available regarding the planned video download service. But given that Sony announced its PS3 price cut and new model just days before the E3 convention, it's probably a safe bet that there'll be some news before the week is out.

[via Zatz Not Funny]

Ars Trechnica is reporting that Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer may have accidentally let slip plans for digital video download stores from Best Buy and Blockbuster.

During a conference call, Feltheimer reportedly said "we have nearly a dozen active agreements in place for digital delivery of our content." Two of the companies he named were Best Buy and Blockbuster, neither of which has officially announced details of a digital download service, although it should come as no surprise that either company would want in on the download market.

If true, two of the biggest names in bricks and mortar movie sales and rentals could be entering the increasingly crowded digital delivery marketplace. Right now, most online video stores have limited selections, restrictions on burning movies to DVD and lower quality than a standard DVD, or in some cases, VHS. So while it might seem like there are already more places to purchase or rent online video than necessary, we welcome a little more competition in the marketplace.

Online video company Akimbo is getting out of the hardware game Monday. The company had been selling a set-top-box that allowed customers to download movies over the internet without a computer.

It's likely that the company may have overestimated the market for standalone boxes that only do one thing. At a time when you can pick up an AppleTV, Nintendo Wii, or Xbox 360 and surf the web, browse RSS feeds or watch movies on your TV, it's hard to justify another set-top-box by your TV.

Akimbo will be launching a new website where you can buy digital downloads. The new strategy will be to deliver content to consumers via PCs and set-top-boxes from other companies.

Looks like Microsoft wants to give you a good reason to buy that new Xbox 360 Elite with the 120GB hard drive. So they're pumping up their offering of HD video content available on Xbox Live Marketplace.

New content from Paramount, New Line, and Warner Brothers will include Braveheart, World Trade Center, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Snakes on a Plane, and Babylon 5: The Lost Tales.

There will also be new content from A&E, National Geographic, Totalvid, and anime from ADV Films.

While there's been a lot of talk these last few days about the AppleTV, the truth is you can only purchase programs with VGA resolutions from iTunes, while Xbox Live offers up HD content (with a hard-to-follow pricing scheme based on "points.")

According to the Wall Street Journal, Blockbuster is in negotiations to buy movie download service Movielink. This would give Blockbuster an entry into the digital download business, while giving Movielink much wider exposure than the company has right now.

Movielink is owned by the Hollywood studios and has about as good a library of films available for download as any other service on the market right now. Word is that Blockbuster could pick the company up for less than $50 million.

Blockbuster has already shown its interest in moving into online video distribution, having created a Netflix-like online rental store that allows users to order movies online and return them either to a local store or through the mail. With Netflix rolling out online video streaming, Blockbuster may be feeling the pressure to keep up with the Joneses.

[via Zatz Not Funny]

Move over Xbox 360 (well, at least make room for some competition), Sony appears to be working on a video download service for the PS3. In an interview with 1UP, Sony exec Phil Harrison strongly hinted that a video download service was on its way.

Asked whether Sony users could expect a service like Xbox Live Marketplace, Harrison responded "we have a hard drive, we have a commerce engine, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out we will have that on the network very shortly."

Sony pushed the PS2 as more than a video game console due to its inclusion of a DVD drive. The goal was to make it a multimedia center. The PS3 steps up the game with the inclusion of a Blu-Ray drive, a hard drive, and network interface. But to be honest, this is the second time Sony has played second fiddle to Microsoft. First, they launched the PS3 a year after the Xbox 360, and now, three months after Microsoft launches its download service, Sony's is still in development.

[via Engadget]