Monday, January 16, 2006
Vongo (Beta) Video Download Service Review
Posted by Jeremy Charette in "CONTENT" @ 06:00 AM
"Starz Entertainment Group recently announced their latest foray into online video distribution called Vongo. Initially, when I saw this announcement, I disregarded it thinking that video content on a PC doesn't make sense. When I saw, however, that the software provided support for up to 3 devices - including Portable Media Centers - I became intrigued at what Starz may be able to offer. So, I signed up and am here to bring you a first-look review at the service, including details on some of the movies I downloaded."
This is a fairly positive review of Vongo, though it does point out a few shortcomings. The interface isn't customizable, there's no option to store movies anywhere other than the default location, and the audio and video quality isn't DVD quality (or better). Which brings me to my question: what is Vongo's target market? They seem to be competing with NetFlix with the advantage of an "instant" delivery system, but the quality isn't as good as a DVD, the content can only be played on a computer with Windows Media Player (or a WMV DRM compatible PVP), and if you mostly rent new releases, it's more expensive than NetFlix. Looks like they still have a ways to go before this is truly a service that consumers will see as "value-added".
This is a fairly positive review of Vongo, though it does point out a few shortcomings. The interface isn't customizable, there's no option to store movies anywhere other than the default location, and the audio and video quality isn't DVD quality (or better). Which brings me to my question: what is Vongo's target market? They seem to be competing with NetFlix with the advantage of an "instant" delivery system, but the quality isn't as good as a DVD, the content can only be played on a computer with Windows Media Player (or a WMV DRM compatible PVP), and if you mostly rent new releases, it's more expensive than NetFlix. Looks like they still have a ways to go before this is truly a service that consumers will see as "value-added".
