Gizmodo: Download

Download Slacker Uprising, First Free Full Feature Film on the Web

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:45:00 EDT

With only a few weeks to go until Election Day, director/showman/clown—strike out words depending on your political preferences—Michael Moore's Slacker Uprising is now available on the internet. Created to promote voting among young people, Moore is saying that this is the first full-feature film to be released for free on the web, using Blip.tv, Amazon Video on Demand, iTunes, DivX, MPEG4, and Lycos VOD.

The movie follows a 60-city tour across 20 battleground states to promote voting with the objective of changing the color of the current administration. It has appearances by REM, Joan Baez (Steve Jobs' former girlfriend, for those of you who are not as old as myself), Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Viggo Mortensen, Roseanne Barr, and of course, Michael Moore himself, as well as a bunch of extras. Quite honestly, while I personally agree—looking from outside the US—with the need for change, I would have preferred to get the Dark Knight free in HD. [Slacker Uprising]

Download Google Chrome Now

Mark Wilson — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:48:00 EDT

Google's new web browser, Google Chrome, is now available for download. Will it dethrone Firefox? Will it further crush the hopes and dreams of Internet Explorer? Hit the link to find out. Note: Mac users still out on the cold on this one, same goes for Linux. Also, click here for our full photo tour.[Google Chrome]

Toshiba's Internet Connected DVD Download DL Seems Like a Bad Idea

Jason Chen — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:20:00 EDT

Either Toshiba is still stinging from the HD DVD loss to Blu-ray, or they're really in need of some fast cash from the really low barrier of entry DVD market. Either way, it seems like the Japanese company is going to introduce an internet-connected DVD line called "DVD Download DL", using the nets to bring next-gen connectivity features to old-gen. This way Tosh can get easy money now from the huge DVD install base, then get into Blu-ray when that's cheaper and more widely adopted. [TGDaily]

Rumor Smashed: Nintendo DS Not Getting Downloadable Full Version Games

Jason Chen — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:09:49 EST

Nintendo's just dropped the hammer on the NYT story saying the Nintendo DS will get full versions of downloadable games. Turns out that it's not true, and they were just thinking of the old DS getting demos via the Wii. The Ninty says these demos will be playable just like a normal game (but won't have all the content, of course) after you download it, but will be erased once the DS is turned off! [NYT]

Starbucks-iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store Launches In SF

Adrian Covert — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:33:52 EST

Apple was on hand in downtown San Francisco today to launch the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store in Starbucks locations across the nation. This is the third major city to launch the service, with New York and Seattle launching back in October. Los Angeles and Chicago are due up in February and March of 2008, with many cities to follow after. For more info, check out our coverage of the New York launch. [Starbucks-iTunes Alliance on Giz]

Korean McDonald's Becomes First Restaurant to Offer RFID-Based Transactions

blongo3 — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:30:12 EDT

Soon you'll be able to skip the lines at Korean McDonald's. Instead, just sit down, pull out your cellphone and pop in an RFID adapter to place an order. All you need is a phone that is compatible with the RFID adapter and can download the McDonald's ordering application. The idea of a fully autonomous Mickey D's is getting closer and closer every day. [KoreaTimes via The Raw Feed]

iPod and iPhone Media Download Kiosks Coming January 2008

Jason Chen — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:45:36 EDT

Although the "upcoming" Zune music kiosk download feature seems obvious thanks to the player's Wi-Fi capabilities, being able to download music onto your iPod or iPhone on the go seems less obvious. However, 22Moo has just announced a date for their iPod- and iPhone-compatible internet kiosk station that lets you download movies, videos, games and music onto your player when you're on the go. The launch is planned for January '08 at CES and MacWorld. [iPhoneTower]

Nokia's Music Store to Launch August 29th Worldwide...Sideloading Only?

Brian Lam — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:57:48 EDT

Nokia is planning to launch a worldwide music store on August 29th. Fortune compares it to iTunes, and somehow works iPhone into the headline. Two things I notice: a) This isn't an application, it's a website. b) This is like iTunes in that you can't buy songs over the wire; you have to download them to a PC and transfer songs to a phone. What's the point of Nokia getting into this game if they're not going to allow downloads directly to handsets by WiFi or 3G? [CNN]

CinemaNow Extends Video Download Service to Xbox 360s

Jason Chen — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 21:28:08 EDT

Unsatisfied with the selection on Xbox 360's Marketplace for movies? CinemaNow, the PC movie download and rental store, has updated their Media Manager software to allow rented or purchased movies to be viewed on the Xbox 360. Over 7,000 of them.

Now when you buy or rent one a flick, your Vista or XP machine will be able to see your Xbox 360 as a connected machine (while using their Media Manager). Not only that, there's the Burn-to-DVD option on Vista, which lets you (obviously) burn your movies onto a DVD and watch them on any standard DVD player. Like your Xbox 360, for example.

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. — July 18, 2007 — CinemaNow Inc., (www.cinemanow.com) the premier online destination for downloadable Hollywood movies and TV shows, today released an upgraded version of its 'Media Manager', a proprietary software application enabling the download, management and playback of video content. CinemaNow video downloads are now directly accessible by networked Xbox 360™ users, and its Burn-to-DVD service is now compatible with Windows Vista™ users worldwide. This marks CinemaNow's latest effort to ensure that content purchased through the site can be viewed on multiple platforms - from PCs to portable devices to TVs.

"CinemaNow is on a mission to enable simple and fast integration into our customers' lives," said Curt Marvis, CEO of CinemaNow. "This upgrade alone makes our entire library of more than 7,000 videos available to the millions of Xbox users who are downloading movies online and watching them on their TVs."

To facilitate the downloading process, the Media Manager automatically downloads to a user's PC when a video is rented or purchased. It now has the ability to detect an Xbox 360 gaming console on a customer's home network. A customer can choose any video from CinemaNow's selection, download it to a Windows XP or Windows Vista PC and play it back on a TV using the Xbox 360 as a connective device. The new Media Manager also makes CinemaNow's exclusive Burn-to-DVD service available to Windows Vista users, so that they can choose select movies to burn a video to a DVD for playback in a standard DVD player

CinemaNow is integrating its service capabilities with more devices than any other online video provider to ensure that videos can be easily accessed via PCs, set top boxes (STBs), game consoles, and portable media players (PMPs), all with the ability to connect to TVs. The site is compatible with the latest WiFi PMPs from ARCHOS, which enable users to wirelessly download CinemaNow videos directly to their PMPs and stream them to their TVs. CinemaNow is also integrated with HP's upcoming line of MediaSmart LCD TVs, which enable customers to rent or purchase CinemaNow movies from their couch. The MediaSmart TV connects to a customer's home network either wired or wirelessly, so that a user can use their remote to purchase or rent a movie from CinemaNow, download the file to a designated hard-drive within their home network, and watch the video directly on their MediaSmart TV.

HP's New Connected TVs

www.gizmodo.com — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 15:42:22 EST

Remember HP's MediaSmart TV—a 37-inch LCD with the Internet connection and ability to stream content from a PC? Well, it's back for '07; and like all TVs, it's bigger. The new models come in 42-inch and 47-inch, 1080p sizes.

They're more powerful, too. The Wi-Fi is upgraded from 802.11a/b/g to 11n, and HP says wireless HD video streaming will be easy as pie. (It handles MPEG 1/2/4, H.264, DiVX, XVid, WMV, and WMV-HD.) The MediaSmarties can now aggregate content from multiple PCs on the network, not just one. And you can now order CinemaNow movies downloads directly from the TV remote, without having to fiddle with the PC (though you need a running PC or network drive like HP's new media server to stores the downloads on).

HP says it will have more content sources when the TVs launch in "late spring." No pricing yet, but they say MediaSmarts will cost about $300 more than their standard LCD models of the same size. – Sean Captain

Wal-Mart Relies on Superman to Kick Off Movie Service

Louis Ramirez — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 16:45:25 EST

Looks like Wal-Mart is looking for a slice of the movie download business. Starting next week it's launching its own movie store. The way it works is you buy a DVD at the store and then log onto the Wal-Mart website to get your download (each DVD will have a sticker with a URL and promo code that you punch in to get the process going). Then for $1.97 you can download a version of the movie that'll play on a portable media player or for $2.97 you can download a version for your PC/laptop. Cough up $3.97 and you have the right to play it on either of the two.

According to Wal-Mart, this gives buyers the freedom to choose what they want. Personally, I prefer to rip copies of any movie that I own and play them where I want, but that's just me. The service is kicking off with the Superman Returns DVD. Wal-Mart is also working on a more traditional download service, but those details are still under wraps. – Louis Ramirez

Wal-Mart Launches Digital Movie Downloads [via CNNMoney]

Cingular Planning Cellphone Music Download Service

Jason Chen — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 19:45:20 EST

Cingular, the only 3G provider without a music service, is planning to release a music service (we don't count T-Mobile because their service is only hypothetical until we can use it). Cingular plans to officially announce the service tomorrow, and will let users transfer songs from Napster, Yahoo, and various subscription services to users' phones. In 2007, Cingular will allow Over The Air (OTA) downloading directly on phones, so you can rock out on the go.

So what's different about this service than just uploading songs to your phone, something you can do already? Cingular plans to also release software to make it easier for people to transfer songs, and to "download them wirelessly". Not quite sure what this means, but it's probably Bluetooth file transfer.

Is this service something in high demand? How often are users using mobile music downloads? Maybe if it's synced up to your iTunes account and you simultaneously grab songs on the phone and your computer, that would be useful.

– Jason Chen

Cingular to Launch Cellphone Music Service [WSJ via Mobile Tracker]

Comcast Video + Music Download Store Launching Before October 31

Jason Chen — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 16:55:27 EDT

We've heard a little bit more about the upcoming Comcast video store hitting PCs and set-top-boxes before October '06.

On the PC side, the files are going to be encoded in mp4/m4p and Flash format, which means you can either stream your "paid for" movies directly from either a browser or a third party app, or download the mp4/m4p to watch on your computer, phone, or iPod. On the set-top-box side, the files are going to be encoded in some sort of MPEG (2 or 4, we're not sure), and downloaded onto your box to watch.

The interesting news is that when a download is started, because you're on Comcast's ISP downloading from Comcast's own media servers, they'll bump up your download cap to whatever they want, guaranteeing you get your data on time and that there are no stutters in the video. This may go into the grey area of Net Neutrality, so we'll watch and see where this plan is going to go. – Jason Chen

Comcast Prepping Video + Music Download Store?

Jason Chen — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 20:00:34 EDT

If it's not Zune leaks it's Comcast leaks, and this time we're hearing that Comcast is prepping its own music and movie download service. You can select TV shows, music or movies for purchase and download. Once you pay, you watch all content on your Comcast set top box.

Plus, you can even go to the Comcast site and download whatever it is you bought on iPod/PSP/Zune/Whatever format. It's pretty much like the Apple iTV, but without the computer in the middle of the picture. The details are still sketchy now, but we'll update as we know more. – Jason Chen

The Guide To Downloading-and-Burning Movies To DVD

Brian Lam — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 09:46:14 EDT

Intrepid Gizmodo friend, Sean Captain explores all the legal options we have for downloading and then burning movies to disc. His finds? Vivid does it first, CinemaNow and MovieLink follow suit. It takes about an 1.5 hours to download on fast broadband, and burning takes a button click. And then, your new movie-on-a-disc looks no better than "a photocopy of a photocopy". Thank you, Sean, for downloading and burning all that porno for us. I'm telling you, the man is a saint.– Brian Lam

How To Download a DVD[Slate]

Universals Download-to-Gouge Movie Service

Charlie White — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 09:58:30 EST

The clueless film industry again shows its blind greed by offering first-run motion pictures for download to own at a price-gouging $35 for movies such as King Kong. For that price, Universal will soon be offering two digital files for download, one for a PC and another for a portable device, and then they'll also mail you a DVD.

Great idea, Universal: rip off legitimate customers. Have you not heard of ~~rip and return~~ NetFlix?

Coming soon: Download-to-own films [via The Consumerist]