Long restricted in the range of TV shows or movies they can buy or rent online, Canadians now have a much broader selection with the opening of the Bell Video Store.
With more than 1,500 movies and TV titles available, the Bell Video Store is the country's first online service to offer download-to-own movies the same day they become available in retail stores. People in less of a hurry can download them to rent shortly after, when they are released for rent.
The site is a collaboration between Bell and its partners, which includes digital delivery services developed by ExtendMedia as well as content from Paramount Pictures, Corus Entertainment, Maple Pictures, Eros Entertainment and Image Entertainment.
In announcing the opening, Bell cited recent movies such as Cloverfield, Into the Wild, and There Will Be Blood as available. The store also offers access to classic TV shows, Bollywood movies and children's entertainment including Franklin, Rolie Polie Olie and Little Bear. It will also include music concerts from Cher, BB King and Neil Young.
To watch the shows, customers must install the Bell Video Store media player on a PC or laptop, and can start watching a few moments after purchasing a video without having to wait for the entire file to download. Owners of a Media Centre PC will be able to use their remote to control their viewing.
The content is protected by desktop applications that support Windows Media digital rights management, which does not exist for computers running Macintosh OS or Linux operating systems. Only those devices that support the Microsoft PlaysForSure format can be used for portable players. The system cannot be transferred to popular devices such as the Apple iPod.
The content is also compatible with ARCHOS portable media players and accessible via the ARCHOS content portal.
Aside from the Bell Video Player, content can also be viewed using Windows Media Player, a Media Centre compatible computer and a PlaysForSure portable device to be released some time this month. Content can be streamed from a Media Centre computer to a television using a Windows Media Centre Extender such as an Xbox 360 console or from a machine running Windows Vista (Home Premium or Ultimate). Downloaded videos may be burned to a DVD disc for storage purposes, but the resulting DVD will not play on a DVD player.
Bell says the content is "DVD and above quality," delivered at bit rates from 1.5 to 2.5, resulting in file sizes of about one gigabyte for one hour of content. As a result, the service requires a broadband Internet connection capable of sustaining transfer speeds of 800 kilobits per second or more.
The Video Store includes a social networking feature, using "widgets" from Broadband Mechanics to allow users to give five-star ratings to the content, write reviews and comments, add friends and send messages.
There are, however, some people who are not overly impressed by the announcement.
"Although the news of more online download services is welcome news for Canadians, the Bell service is limited in both who can use the service and how videos can be played," wrote Hugh Thompson of Digital Home Canada in a post on the website's forum. "Movies only play on ARCHOS portable players - no iPod; it requires Bell proprietary software for download and playback; and the movies are very expensive," he added.
The Bell Video Store was formerly called Videoplay.ca, which was launched in beta form on May 4, 2007, and has a French equivalent called Boutique video Bell.
Customers can purchase shows for prices starting at $4.99, and rent them for prices starting at $1.99. A rental allows a user to access a movie for 30 days after downloading it; once started, the movie will continue to be available for 24 hours.