Report that Microsoft is to Start TV and Film Downloads

The Zune may be a turkey. But the Xbox is huge. And if you were looking for an Apple Challenger. Microsoft is no shrinking violet. That said, they lack the cult following Apple has. People's passion for Apple will take things so far, thereafter, techy fanboys can be lured away by a superior service.

Reel Pop Blog reported Monday of the announcement that Microsoft XBox will allow content download over the net.
Movies will be 24 hour rentals, TV shows are for keeps, some content will be in HD. Shows are largely sci-fi content like Star Trek, CSI, Adult Swim and Ultimate Fighting Championship. Shows can not be burned to DVD, but you can login to the service and watch your shows from any Xbox. A two-hour HD movie is about 6 gigs, the standard Xbox 360 hard drive is 20 gigs. Content partners include CBS, MTV, Paramount, Warner Bros., and Turner.

I would like to pick up Steve's second point. This is huge, because it is HD. We have all been waiting for iTunes to sell HD content. This brings a service to market that Sony and Apple have been gagging to get to the home. Basically, whether we get HD DVD's, Blu Ray Discs, download from Apple or Amazon or Microsoft is a big issue at the moment. Being first to market on HD Content Downloads and bringing the cheaper HD Disc variant puts Microsoft in a great place to overtake Apple in the media download market. It makes me wonder how Brightcove and similar content streaming services will navigate this evolving market over the next few years.