Ireland-based PortoMedia is trying to change the way movies are rented.  Not the Netflix way, not over the internet, but rather via flash memory cards downloaded from kiosks.  Find your movie, download it to a memory card, and you’re on your way. 

According to CNet, the company plans to setup kiosks that hold hard drives filled with anywhere from 350-5,000 titles.  Consumers can simply pick and choose the movies they’d like to rent, and download it directly to a flash memory card or portable hard drive.  Transfers for standard-definition movies takes about 8-60 seconds, while high-def will take upwards of 75 seconds.  Still not bad considering the size.  PortoMedia uses a proprietary USB interface to transfer data faster than traditional USB, though it works just fine with standard USB connections on home PCs and TVs. 

The company claims to already have partnership with “major” studios that have given them permission to build a high-quality library of videos, as well as new-releases that will be available the same dates as the DVD releases.  Pricing will also be along the lines of DVD prices.

The company is hoping to sell the kiosk to third-party retailers that can brand the kiosk as their own as well.  This would create somewhat of a franchise situation and boost deployment and availability significantly for the company.  Without the packaging costs associated with DVDs, and without the shipping costs associated with a NetFlix-type situation, it provides a low-overhead revenue stream for things like convenience stores, etc.

As for the hardware required, the starter pack, which will sell for around $60, comes with a flash drive, a dock, and six movies.  At the higher end, users can spend around $160 and get a handheld with a 1.8-inch hybrid hard drive with 240GB of storage, a fancier dock, and 12 movies.  This hardware is what’s required for the fast transfer speeds, but it’s not clear whether you can still use traditional memory sticks for portable hard drives as well.  If they don’t, it doesn’t sound like that great of an idea.  Anything that costs at least $60 to get started renting movies is doomed from the beginning, but I guess we’ll see. 

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Entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 11:55 pm under Technology.

Read more entries by Justin Montgomery.
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