Is it time to subscribe to a printer service from HP?

Ever since my dad brought home an...

What’s the best way of buying a phone today?

How did you buy your latest phone?...

MWC: What device highlights did you miss?

So, early last week I predicted that...

Porto Media looks neat; now just add mobile

I came across Porto Media whilst I was sat on the Heathrow Express this afternoon in a promotional video by IBM. (You can, incidentally, see the video here… IBM haven’t quite entered the 2.0 age — the video is simply a Quicktime download link so I can’t embed it here).

Here’s how it works:

porto media

The Movie Key is a USB stick. You plug it into these ATM style ‘moviepoint’ machines and download your movie of choice there and then. Smart.

It’s using Microsoft Windows digital rights management stuff so the movie will expire after a few days and the movie companies can relax about content control.

The thing that struck me when watching the video was that it would be rather convenient to use your mobile instead of a USB Stick. Theoretically speaking, actually, you could probably get a Nokia N95 8Gb to work with this service. You’d have to wait a little while for the movie to download to it though, even by USB… it’d probably take ages.

Still, i like the concept of being able to ‘plug my mobile’ into a moviepoint ATM and rent a few movies to watch at home later on. Or on the plane. Or wherever.

4 COMMENTS

  1. If Porto Media can really afford to fund thousands and thousands of their MoviePoint terminals around the country, I’d reckon they’re onto a (probably very large) winner!

    My only doubt is the resolution of the movie.
    Typical USB2 file transfer speeds are about 3 MB/s, so the video files can only be around 200MB — not large enough to give “dvd quality”.

    Maybe they’ve found a way to increase the transport speed?

    HeavyLight’s last blog post..Whatleydude’s N95 saga: VF comes out shining!

  2. Just got a response back from Porti Media:
    “We have managed to get more from USB2 so we are able to produce a DVD
    quality experience from the user. Also, we have developed another solution
    based on another interface (other than USB) that allows even higher speeds
    so therefore larger files in super-quick times – ideal for HD content.”

    I’m still a little sceptical but can’t wait to give it a trial.

    HeavyLight’s last blog post..Whatleydude’s N95 saga: VF comes out shining!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recently Published

Is it time to subscribe to a printer service from HP?

Ever since my dad brought home an HP LaserJet printer (version 3, if memory serves), I have been printing with an HP. Over the...

What’s the best way of buying a phone today?

How did you buy your latest phone? I'm asking because I'm thinking about what I should be doing. When I was living in Oman, I...

MWC: What device highlights did you miss?

So, early last week I predicted that next to nothing from Mobile World Congress would break through into the mainstream media. I was right,...

How Wireless Will Pave the Path to Neobank Profitability

I'm delighted to bring you an opinion piece from Rafa Plantier at Gigs.com. I think it's particularly relevant given the recent eSIM news from...

An end of an era: Vodafone UK turns off 3G services

I thought it was worthwhile highlighting this one from the Vodafone UK team. For so long - for what feels like years, seeing the...

Mobile World Congress: Did the mainstream media notice?

I resolved this year to make sure I wrote something - anything - about Mobile World Congress, the huge mobile industry trade show taking...