VUDU looks to integrate with TVs, DVD players

VUDU's been doing its darnedest of late to keep up with the slew of rivals looking to steal away every piece of market share they can, and a recent report over at CEPro sheds a little light onto how the company plans to both stay afloat and take off. As with most every other outfit, VUDU has also suffered through a few rounds of layoffs. Currently, the company employs about 50, which is down from a high of around 110. Co-founder Tony Miranz seems pretty optimistic about the future, though, noting that the outfit is being "bombarded with inquiries" from potential partners. Speaking of which, he also asserted that VUDU was -- at its heart -- a software company, and thus it was currently looking to integrate its top-shelf UI and movie delivery network into HDTVs, DVD / Blu-ray players and other standalone boxes. It's tough to say how such a shift would affect the firm. On one hand, you've got CinemaNow barely breathing, while Netflix has managed to execute this plan to perfection. Go on VUDU, roll the dice -- we'll be watching.

[Thanks, Ben]

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 27th 2009 10:31PM]

Whoa... that looks like the Active Desktop Channel Bar from Windows 98! Tell me you remember this! -- http://www.winsupersite.com/images/showcase/no_ie_web_03.jpg

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 28th 2009 1:43PM]

I wouldnt say Netflix carried their service out to perfection, The quality and selection still suck compared to VUDUs 1080p24 HDX with 640kbps DD 5.1

I'd love to see VUDU available as a Media Center plugin.