Word: starz
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...downloading to your computer at about the same time they hit the pay-per-view window. Not only do the movies take hours to download, but they also disappear from Movielink's catalog altogether 90 days later, when they enter the premium-cable window. Because channels like HBO and Starz! offer lucrative licensing deals, Movielink has not been able to compete in the latter window. "We'll see this business become a true mass market," says Jim Ramo, CEO of Movielink. "It's just a matter of time...
...CONNECTION To use one of these services, you need a high-speed Internet connection. Starz! won't let you in the door unless your DSL or cable modem is clocking at least 600 kilobits per second. (Tip: you can test your line at toast.net/ performance. If you think Starz! is rejecting you without merit, try again later; the site's speed meter is not always right...
...SERVICES I tried MOVIELINK movielink.com) which is industry backed, CINEMANOW cinemanow.com and STARZ! TICKET ON REAL MOVIES (movies.real com) which debuted in June. Each service works a bit differently, but the goal is the same: to deliver major studio releases to your PC in a secure format that's "near DVD" quality. Movielink and CinemaNow charge from $1 to $5 for each 24-hour rental. Starz! charges $12.95 a month for unlimited downloads, but its library is smaller (150 selected titles vs. Movielink's 900 at any one time...
...bargains. He's also looking for outlets for the programming assets in which he owns stakes through Liberty Media. Though Liberty is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, Malone owns 44.6% of the voting shares and controls the company as its chairman. Liberty owns the Starz and Encore premium movie channels, plus 50% of Discovery Communications (which includes Discovery, Animal Planet, Learning and Travel channels) and 43% of the home-shopping channel QVC. In addition, it holds valuable stakes in Vivendi (3%), News Corp. (18%), USA Interactive (20%) and AOL Time Warner (4%), the parent company of this...
...coolest one I saw was the VJ Starz Karaoke Music Studio from Toymax ($99, due out this fall). It's a tiny, stylish unit with a built-in video camera that hooks up to your TV so you can watch yourself singing closed-captioned lyrics as they scroll by. If you think The West Wing is compelling viewing, you've never seen me cover Abba's Dancing Queen at fjord-rattling volume. Younger children might do better with Vtech's DJ Karaoke Studio ($39.99, ages 3 and older, available this fall), a surprisingly comprehensive little music machine with a working...