Vudu, Inc.

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Vudu, Inc.

Type	Private VC-backed startup^[1]
Genre	Net TV
Founded	2004
Founder	Tony Miranz and Alain Rossmann
Headquarters	Santa Clara, California, USA
Industry	P2P/TV
Products	Vudu set-top box
Services	Video Content Delivery
Employees	75
Website	www.vudu.com

Vudu, Inc. is a media technology company responsible for the development of the Vudu box, which is an interactive media device used to distribute full length movies to any television, using peer-to-peer TV technology.

1 History
2 Technology
3 Content
4 Reception
5 Competitors
6 See also
7 References

[edit] History

P2PTV overlay network serving three video streams.

Vudu was founded by Tony Miranz and Alain Rossmann (the creator of WAP). The Vudu box had been secretly in development since 2004, but on April 29, 2007, The New York Times revealed that Vudu had signed deals with many movie studios and independent distributors to deliver access to the nearly 5,000 films currently in the company's collection.^[2] Unlike most other movie download services, and like the Apple TV, Vudu does not require a computer or cable box, but only to have access to a broadband internet connection.

The product team is made up of veterans from TiVo, WebTV, Openwave, 2Wire, Slim Devices, OpenTV, and Danger, Inc. Vudu has received $21 million in VC funding from Greylock Partners and Benchmark Capital. ^[3] Before the New York Times article, little was known about the company, which operates within a non-descript building in Santa Clara, California.

[edit] Technology

Movies are streamed over a broadband ethernet connection with MPEG-4 video and Dolby Digital Plus audio^[4]. Standard definition movies are then upscaled to higher resolution (HD) ^[5] and High Definition movies can be output at 1080p. To ensure instant playback, the beginning of every movie in the catalog is loaded on the box. In peer-to-peer network, each box is used to serve content to other boxes. The rest of the movie begins to download while the user watches preloaded segment of the movie.

For users with above 2.0 Mbit/s internet connection, DVD quality movies and TV shows will start playing instantly. For users with above 4.0 Mbit/s, HD quality movies will also start playing instantly. One's connection can be tested at http://speedtest.vudu.com/cdn1/.

[edit] Content

VUDU currently has just over 5000 movies in its catalog and new movies are added weekly. There are movies from every major Hollywood studio. VUDU also has recently added TV shows and has hundreds of episodes in its catalog. All movies are at least near DVD to DVD quality ^[6] and VUDU has recently added HD movies to its catalog which at this time totals about 100 HD movies.

However, most reviews have pointed to a good but not outstanding selection of mainstream movies. Blockbuster movies, trilogies, or series that are currently available on Vudu include: 300, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider Man, Bourne, Superbad, Knocked up, 2001 a Space Odyssey, The Matrix, The Fifth Element, Transformers, Clockwork Orange, Live Free or Die Hard, and Ratatouille. TV shows that are currently available on Vudu include: 24, Firefly, Arrested Development, and Family Guy.

Disney has just added the ability to purchase select titles on the VUDU in addition to rentals. These titles include: Cars, National Treasure, Ratatouille, Game Plan, Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy, The Incredibles, and Meet the Robinsons.

VUDU has also added collections of classic movies that are free to rent which include: Comedy, Crime, Adventure, Westerns, SciFi, and Horror. Granted these free movies are from the 40s, 50s, and 60s, these are titles that would not be found at a video rental location.

A sample of the movies and TV shows available on Vudu can be found at http://www.vudu.com/product_movies.html.

[edit] Reception

Reception to Vudu has been mostly positive ^[7] ^[8] ^[9] ^[10] ^[11]. Reviews in which the reviewer did not have an internet connection fast enough to take advantage of the instant start feature on Vudu were significantly more negative.^[12]

The most significant major complaint in most reviews was the lack of mainstream movies and TV shows in the Vudu catalog.^[13]. All reviewers also believed that the $400 price point was too high. However, since these reviews have been written, TV shows have been added to the Vudu catalog, HD movies have been added, and some mainstream movies have been added as well.

Most reviewers praised the easy to use remote, clean interface design, excellent image quality, and instant start of any movie (with a fast enough connection).

On January 24, 2008, Vudu announced a reduction in pricing of the basic Vudu box to $295^[14], a move viewed as an effort to compete with the AppleTV.