CinemaNow

They were acquired by Best Buy last year, and I recently read they were having some issues rolling it out in Canada. That's about it.

yea sony just got cinemanow for the ps3 so it should be soon

My Sony player says "coming soon" but I already had it on the Samsung. It duplicates a lot of offerings found elsewhere.

The last part of your post is very true.....I checked out offerings on Blockbuster, CinemaNow, and VUDU.....Amazon is not available on my device yet(WDTV Live Hub).....Both BB and CN have a lot of catching up to do in terms of equaling VUDU, plus their SD prices are high in comparison, they do not offer HD(as far as I know, only to Intel ICore powered PC's)....On the plus side, they offer downloading to my device, when VUDU does not, but I have no interest in downloading SD films.....

I live in the US and CinemaNow is available on my Sony devices(SMP N100 and S570), make sure you update the list(Options->Update List) and select "Auto Software Notification" in setup. VUDU is only available on 2011 and newer Sony devices, Amazon VOD usually has better prices.

Cinemanow is not available yet on the Sony S480 and it has "Auto Software Notification" on.

Looks like the OP's BD player has VUDU, a service with a superior selection, PQ and AQ. Given that, why would anyone care about CinemaNow? My BD player has Netflix, Amazon, VUDU and CinemaNow for movies and I've never felt any need for CN.

It may only be added to newer models. I have both an S370 and S380 in two rooms. They are virtually the same, yet the 370 has no Vudu (but does have DLNA.)

Welcome to the future. To add a new 'channel', you have to buy new hardware every year!!!

I read that the older models aren't getting VUDU or the Netflix update* because they don't support streaming 5.1 audio. I don't believe it because I can stream 5.1 via DLNA, Sony probably wants you to buy new hardware.

*subtitles and 5.1 audio

I have the Sony N460 which is the first model that has streaming and it has the CinemaNow. But it never got the Sony one. I can't remember the name, it starts with a Q.

I have a launch PS3, and it has Vudu. I'm too cheap to rent the movies, but the trailers sure are fun to watch!

I guess I'm one of the rare breed that likes to download from these online services instead of stream....I have my reasons for this....I was disappointed that VUDU does not support downloading to my Live Hub, it doesn't make sense to approve a device that has the ability to download, then don't support it, this was a deal breaker for me...The Hub was approved along with the newer WDTV Live streaming player.....so I will watch C/N and Blockbuster's progress to see if they truly want to compete with VUDU in terms of a superior experience.....Now with Amazon's deal to join Ultraviolet and offer WB movies, things could get interesting....

I rarely rent anything but the 99 cent movie of the day.

I can see little PQ/AQ difference between CN and Vudu, as both offer 1080p and Dolby Digital Plus. Actually, there is one difference that I noticeed...CN's prices are a dollar or two less than Vudu for the 1080p/DD+ flicks.

That CN has 1080p/DD+ for any title is news to me (the last time I looked, many months ago, they didn't). Given that I suppose it's worth complaining about your device not having it as promised.

What device are you using to get 1080P and DD+ with CN? I definitely DO NOT get either one on my Live Hub.....Movies are available in SD only with stereo sound.....

I just installed it on my PS3 and created an account. Bizarre "slot machine" UI, not nearly as nice as VUDU's. Looking at "Technical Details/High Definition" for an arbitrary title, it says:

Video: 1080p, Adaptive H.264 (4.0/8.0 Mbps)
Audio: AAC stereo (192 Kbps) | DD+ 5.1 (256 Kbps)

I assume that "4.0/8.0 Mbps" means some set of encodings ranging from 4 to 8 Mbps according to available bandwidth; VUDU's 1080p HDX tier is 4.5 to 9 Mbps. The bit rate for DD+ is lower than Netflix is using (384 Kbps) but it's there. There's an option to enable surround sound, which is enabled by default.

There's no extra charge for 1080p as on VUDU; it's $5 for new release HD, $1 cheaper than HDX or Zune HD (adaptive up to 1080p if you pay for HD).

Strange, the UI on my device is like a horizontal scroll configuration, no option at all for HD nor DD 5.1.....It does offer SD downloads, though, I don't have a NAS set up yet, but I think this service would even download to it if it was online, if that is the case, that would be a plus IMO.....

Download capability is nice--VUDU now has the option for that to the PS3. It allows people who lack the bandwidth to stream it in high definition to view titles in those resolutions at the full bit rate. It might take hours to download, but who cares? Just set it up and walk away and you have the same amount of time to play it when the download finishes as you would have if you'd streamed it.

Absolutely, and that is why VUDU not allowing downloading to the Live Hub was a deal breaker, I still stream movies that I own with them, but have stopped any new purchases or rentals, which had been a substantial amount....Both Blockbuster and CinemaNow have basically the same UI on my device, powered by RoxioNow....Prices are varied between the services, but all have the new releases save for an exclusive here and there.....

With issues concerning hackers on the 'Net causing all kinds of chaos, I want the ability to download my films to local storage...Cloud storage is nice until the "Net comes crashing down, or ISP's cap the hell out of their services, etc......

I don't know how serious BB and CN are about competing in this VOD space, but they better get their act in gear or be left in the dust by VUDU.....I also think Amazon's decision to join Ultraviolet and distribute Warner's movies is a huge step forward for digital distribution of content.....I will monitor that development closely....

I'd be surprised if downloading VUDU ("VUDU-to-Go") doesn't come to the WD TV Live Hub in an update soon. It's only been a couple of months since VUDU announced the feature in mid-November.

It's called Qriocity and it's expensive compared to the competition, besides I don't trust Sony with my CC info(they were hacked last year).

Actually, it has been renamed. It's now "Video Unlimited" and "Music Unlimited".

I guess it was as catchy as "Qwikster" was, the website is still www.qriocity.com though.

Want to mention that CinemaNow is active on my Sony TV (KV-EX700), but is still 'Coming Soon' on the two Sony BD players. Did 'activate' the TV, but you can't even watch $0 stuff without a credit card on-file.

That name probably wasn't picked by a Japanese executive with English as a second language. I'm sure that Sony employs plenty of American-born marketing morons.

The really really sad part is there are people in this country, adult American citizens even, who thought it was a good idea to choose "qriocity" and in the same vein "qwikster" as names for web sites. How much more of a "pro eugenics" argument do you need? Despite that, some people remain opposed to involuntary euthanasia.

Huh. CinemaNow offers 1080p/24 and DD+ bitstreaming? I'll have to check this out... I wouldn't think the PS3 could bitstream DD+ outside of a Blu-Ray as there's a bug, but the WD TV Live should be able to do it...

PS3 slim seems to bitstream DD+ for Netflix at least (I get the right lights on my receiver and can hear all the channels). What is the bug? I've never tried CinemaNow on it.

No it doesn't. The PS3 slim cannot bitstream DD+ (except for Blu-Ray), there's a known bug which Sony apparently has no intentions on fixing. It downconverts everything to standard 640K DD.

Ironically the PS3, which cannot bitstream DD+, gets the better CinemaNow client here. The WD TV Live, which can bitstream DD+, gets the crappy no-HD, no DD+ client. Oh well...