K download store

[Rihoward]

Does anyone know when the (delayed) online K download store is due to be launched? I was originally told Feb 2012 by a K employee in the UK, prior to the subsequent deferral. But I've heard nothing since then. Have K been distracted by the legal case and put the store on the back-burner? Or are we actually going to see something (hopefully sooner rather than later)?

 

[cinelife]

Good question. Last I heard they were still hard at work to make it happen. Not sure who gave the Feb. date, but no one I've spoken to at K on this subject has ever given a hard date. I do remember hearing a "hopefully, first or second quarter" comment, and obviously not many days remaining in the 2QTR, so not sure when we will see it, but I'm told it is still coming.

Sorry, I know that isn't much help, but hang in there.


Jim

 

[videofile]

The rights for majors are almost always negotiated on a per-territory basis with local studio / distribution subsidiaries, so I would probably expect launch to be initially US centred - has anyone heard otherwise?

 

[JDS]

I hope the forthcoming store does have an international presence and is not solely US based.

Kaleidescape is certainly a worldwide product and does have offices external to the US. As ever time will tell.

 

[Mr.Poindexter]

Well, the hold up is likely to be negotiating with the studios. The question I would have is if they don't even want to offer permanent downloads in hopes of instead offering downloads with a restricted viewing window or a pay per view type of system. I have always felt that Hollywood really prefers the pay per viewing system over outright ownership.

 

[DigitalStudioWerks]

Does anyone know when the (delayed) online K download store is due to be launched? I was originally told Feb 2012 by a K employee in the UK, prior to the subsequent deferral. But I've heard nothing since then. Have K been distracted by the legal case and put the store on the back-burner? Or are we actually going to see something (hopefully sooner rather than later)?

The Kaleidescape Store is currently being tested by certain Kaleidescape dealers. This is different than the beta download all Kaleidescape dealers did earlier. It's coming out and I am "predicting" it will fully available to all, Dealers and Customers by the first week of September.

 

[DigitalStudioWerks]

Well, the hold up is likely to be negotiating with the studios. The question I would have is if they don't even want to offer permanent downloads in hopes of instead offering downloads with a restricted viewing window or a pay per view type of system. I have always felt that Hollywood really prefers the pay per viewing system over outright ownership.

It is purely purchase & download of blu-ray. No streaming, pay per view or renting (At least to start).

 

[BigHat]

Thanks James,
I've been wondering about the status, but figured the news would come when ready to release.

FIOS recently rolled out their Quantum speed package. For an additional $20 a month I went from a min of 35mps/35mps to 75mps/35mps in expectation of this eventually. Those true power users I think you can get up to 300mps downloads for about $200 more per month.

In addition to saving a changer spot, it greatly reduces the cost of packaging and transportation which is always a good thing. Just hope the prices stay somewhat reasonable.

 

[JDS]

The Kaleidescape Store is currently being tested by certain Kaleidescape dealers.

Splendid news, thanks for sharing.

I shall look forward to watching a downloaded movie without having to "buy" a slot to keep the disc in.

 

[iansilv]

Yes!

Passed the bar, got my first case, Kaleidescape download store is being tested... Everything's coming up Millhouse!

 

[JerryL]

James, if so that sounds pretty cool!!!!! Would that mean we don't need the physical disc?

 

[DigitalStudioWerks]

James, if so that sounds pretty cool!!!!! Would that mean we don't need the physical disc?

You will NOT need the physical disk of the movie you have downloaded from the Kaleidescape store.

 

[JerryL]

Me likey.

 

[iansilv]

James- would it be possible for you to answer some questions?

1. Will there be a restore/redownload option if a server is corrupted or if a movie is deleted to save space, but the user wants to put the movie back on later?

2. Are these BLURAY downloads IDENTICAL copies of the disks we can buy in the store, extras and everything included?

3. Any possibility of seeing music audio BLURAY disks included in the store?

4. What publishers or studios are included?

 

[nineball]

You will NOT need the physical disk of the movie you have downloaded from the Kaleidescape store.

I am very encouraged with this news. I have long argued that Kaleidescape needed to shift its business model away from the shiny disks and this news certainly moves in that direction. The Kaleidescape experience with this business model will continue to build real value both to its established customer base as well as open the doors to new customers which is a good thing. The math behind this shift is really significant at first blush.

Assuming that the download provides a bit for bit comparison to the original BD movie then the following, albeit overly simplified, cost model emerges.

Today, my average Canadian cost of a BD movie is close to $25.00 + 13% HST (tax). But the real cost of owning the movie should include the M700 carousel which will add another $18.75 + tax to the cost of owning the movie in the Kaleidescape environment. But I have to store it on my 3U server populated with 14 2 TB drives that support 600 BD movies or $63.33 (+tax) per stored movie.

So the real cost of owning a BD movie in todays K environment is approx $107.08 plus tax. One of the first obvious amendments to the cost in the new environment is the carousel is no longer necessary. So my cost just dropped to $88.33 +Tax. But wait there's more. I have close to 1800 BD's and if they were all in servers I would have to stack fully populated 3 U servers to hold them all. This wouldn't change the per cost storage but if I could theoretically store the movies so that only 600 BD movies were on line at any given time with access to an off line library then at 38K for each new fully populated server I have just taken roughly $72,000 out of my equation. so my 1800 library movie storage cost is now 21.11. My net result under the new model is my original $25.00 plus 21.11 storage cost or $46.11. For me that's less than half the cost of the old model. This is very compelling because in the current model I have to get into my 12 cylinder gas fed vehicle and drive to a big box outlet which although sometimes fun....the gas costs more than the movie!!!!!

All of this assumes that once I buy my movie from the K store that I can (within reasonable limits) download it again at a later date if I was to remove it from my system. My hope is that there might be an eventual upgrade program that would allow me to replace DVD's with BD's where it made sense. I am not buying DVD's anymore and have not for the last couple of years.

My wish list also includes the hope that the catalog of available titles is reasonably comprehensive and not just obscure material.

This news I hope is a fabulous introduction to what it will be like living life 'in the cloud'. It certainly extends Kaleidescape's powerful ease of use all the way to the point of sale. Count me in!!!

Peter

 

[sbutter]

This is great news.

Currently, I like the physical BluRay combo with DVD/Digital Copy. This allows a great Kaleidescape System at home and easy import into Apples iTunes for iPad travel. I hope the new K downloads come with a Digital Copy for iTunes to allow for travel viewing.

Also the Ultraviolet studio deal with Walmart Vudu, shows that the studios want cash to upgrade existing DVD collections. I bet the new download service will have the ability to upgrade existing movie collection to HD download.

Finally, it would be great to have the choice of full 50gb uncompressed or 5gb compressed. I want some movies with full reference quality but others I would be fine with a compressed file similar to current digital downloads. This would also save on server space.

 

[Mr.Poindexter]

Certainly there would be value in upgrading DVD to a more compressed quasi-blu ray as MPEG-2 on DVD is nowhere near as efficient as the newer compression codecs. I could see a lot of value in converting a 7GB DVD title to a 5GB compressed HD title, freeing up space and increasing video quality at the same time. However, I don't expect Hollywood to offer any kind of trade in credit as they are not going to be able to get the old DVDs out of the marketplace and those getting dumped pushed down DVD prices further, putting more downward pricing pressure on BluRay, something they are trying to shore up. notice the WalMart system wants people to bring in their old DVDs?

 

[Mr.Poindexter]

Peter, good point on the total cost of ownership for these films. I use that same calculation in my head when I see marginal films in the bulk bin for a low price. Like Elaine pondering if a new boyfriend was sponge-worthy, I have to ask myself if a film is Kaleidescape worthy. For DVD, that isn't really an issue - the storage cost is quite low but for BluRay, it is much higher.

It is also worth noting that the total cost of ownership will decrease as hard drives become larger, allowing the server chassis cost to be spread over more and more titles. I figure my total price per GB and look at that number in relation to the titles. TV series really add up on BluRay in that regard as those discs are generally very full.

 

[nineball]

Peter, good point on the total cost of ownership for these films. I use that same calculation in my head when I see marginal films in the bulk bin for a low price. Like Elaine pondering if a new boyfriend was sponge-worthy, I have to ask myself if a film is Kaleidescape worthy. For DVD, that isn't really an issue - the storage cost is quite low but for BluRay, it is much higher.

It is also worth noting that the total cost of ownership will decrease as hard drives become larger, allowing the server chassis cost to be spread over more and more titles. I figure my total price per GB and look at that number in relation to the titles. TV series really add up on BluRay in that regard as those discs are generally very full.

Truth is, I am very happy with a self imposed limit of 600 BluRay movies real time on line access as long as I have eventual access to my full library. I do want Planet Earth and Lord of the Rings extended version on line but I don't need Game of Thrones taking up space unless I have a guest who hasn't seen it and might enjoy it.

I absolutely want my full library of movie covers on line at all times. That's as much about ego as anything else. I am prepared to accept a pop up when I choose a movie not on the system that tells me it has to be downloaded.

Peter

 

[Mr.Poindexter]

If you were going to go that far with the offline titles, might as well pre-pay for a few titles and have everything that isn't online for immediate viewing listed as available after download. If you are not storing it long term, the cost of the title again becomes relatively small.

Then again, the online store seems like it would be a web portal to buy movies, which is very different than having a store you could browse through the player. Think of having a store on the player. Browse: Music, Movies, Store and store would look just like your movies collection but would have films you do not yet own with recommendation based on your current collection similar to how Amazon and others give suggestions. You could also have store collections of New Releases, Classics, Recommendations, On Sale, etc. I could even see how one could have recommendations based on an existing collection. For example, browsing your "Favorites" might yield some suggestions and looking at "My Wife's Movies" might yield totally different suggestions, each more accurate than suggestions that might be based off the total movie library.

I could see where one could have an account and it just auto-bills you if you enable local purchase on that player - something you might want to turn off for a player the kids use possibly.