Downloadable HD Movies via XBOX Live?
SHSIBAE has heard a rumor that Microsoft might begin to offer downloadable HD movies for rent or purchase, possibly as soon as later this month, through an XBOX 360 connected to XBOX Live. Feature length movies will require a short caching period before viewing, which should be just long enough to make some popcorn, grab a beer, and find your favorite blanket.
Rented videos will run about $4. A renter will supposedly have a couple weeks to start watching a rental, and then a day or so to finish a rental that they have already started. Presumably, rental downloads will self-erase, but we haven’t heard specifics. Likewise, we do not know the cost to buy a title, but we expect Microsoft would keep their pricing in line with Apple’s selection through iTunes ($10-$15).
Now, the big question in all of this (besides “Is it true?“) is: How in the world will 360 owners store the content? Feature-length HD video files must be huge, and certainly they’d be too big to maintain any sizable library on standard 360 drives. We’ll find out soon if there’s any truth to this rumor, and if there is, we’ll also get some answers on storage solutions.
If nothing else, it’s a neat dream. Streaming HD for everybody!
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