Now with the film even closer to unveiling, one source says the fans will be getting an awesome treat. For those 3D movie-goers, you will be able to pick from one of 4 special edition 3D glasses featuring such great franchises like Captain America, The Hulk, Thor and Iron Man.

To get the glasses, though, you’ll have to be willing to shell out an extra 5 bucks, which isn’t totally unreasonable for such a collector’s item. So if you want to go all out and “nerd it up”, you can opt for the collector’s glasses or go the cheap route and use the stock glasses given to you for the movie. Either way the movie is set to be a hit when it comes out in may of this year.

Long story short, I looked everywhere for this obscure film. Netflix did not have it. Redbox did not have it. My girlfriend was calling every Blockbuster in a ten mile radius and they did not have it! I spent about 45 minutes on this fruitless pursuit.

Eventually, I realized I could probably just download a digital version online. Of course I could! I didn’t even know you could download a movie from Amazon, but you can, and I did. And what a piece of garbage it was (which has nothing to do with this story)!

The point is, resources are getting ever more expensive and physical retailers (in my opinion) have become more and more disappointing (they never have what we’re looking for). Randomly searching for something can waste a lot of gasoline, time, and energy. Why not just turn on the computer, and download what you want.

NPD Group monitors trends in rentals and guess what they found out? That’s right, people don’t like to drive to Blockbuster! In fact, more people rent from Redbox, probably because it’s closer (in most cases) and it’s cheaper (come on folks, $1 versus $5). Less surprising is that even more people simply just download their movies.

Senior vice president and industry analysis for The NPD Group Russ Crupnick had this to say about the trend:

“The movie-rental market is clearly undergoing a sea change, as consumers become better equipped to access on-demand and streamed movies and are more comfortable with available delivery options”

But old habits die hard and the movie rental business has not completely transformed. 37% of rentals go to Redbox, 31% go to digital and streaming formats, and the remainder go to physical retailers (like Blockbuster). I’m sure this will continue to change as consumers become more comfortable renting online.

Netflix member? Will you stick with it? Comment here.

It started even before Netflix announced its controversial pricing plans. Netflix launched a redesign, and people were up in arms over that. Little did they know that they would soon have to pay 60% more to keep the dvd-by-mail and streaming service combination they had enjoyed for so long. You probably know that story. While there were certainly plenty defending Netflix’s decision, there were considerably more visible negative comments on the move.

Not long after that, it was revealed that Netflix would be losing Starz content as part of its streaming offering. This is a huge blow to users, as this particular partnership has been a key provider of many of the newer movie titles including from Disney and Sony.

Then there was talk about Netflix cracking down on multiple streams per account, though Netflix said, “No Netflix member is limited to less than two concurrent streams.”

About a week later, Netflix lowered its subscriber projections and its stock plummeted.

Then, a few days after that, the company made the big announcement that it was just separating its DVD business entirely, making it a separate company called Qwikster. Users who want both services would now have to have two separate accounts with different companies. Some have speculated that Netflix separated the DVD business so it can sell it, and that may very well be the case.

Some think the whole thing presents an opportunity for Amazon to kill Netflix (and that Amazon should buy Hulu to aid that quest).

Then there’s Blockbuster, which was recently acquired by DISH Network. DISH announced Blockbuster Movie Pass, which includes: access to over 100,000 DVD movies, TV shows and games by mail (with no additional charge for Blu-ray), 3,000 streaming titles to the TCV, over 4,000 streaming movies to the PC, hundreds of on-demand TV shows, over 3,000 games by mail for Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii, unlimited exchanges of DVDs and games at participating Blockbuster stores. It also includes over 20 premium channels like MGM, Epix, Sony Movie Channel, PixL, etc.

This becomes available to DISH Network customers starting October 1 at plans starting at $10 per month. That’s going to give Netflix and Qwikster a run for their money, not to mention cable companies and DirecTV.

Netflix did announce a new integration to go along with Facebook’s new Open Graph. CEO Reed Hastings talked about it at f8 – specifically about how much better it was to get advice on what to watch from friends than from the Netflix algorithm.

“Facebook has always made it easy to discover great things through your friends,” said Netflix’s Tom Willerer. “We want to make streaming from Netflix a more social experience and through the new optional Facebook connection, Netflix makes it possible for you to connect with your friends over TV series and movies online.”

“The Netflix/Facebook integration empowers you as a Netflix member to share what you watch from Netflix with your friends on Facebook and to discover what your friends are watching both on Facebook and within the Netflix user interface,” he added. “This makes it easier and more fun to find new television series and movies to watch.”

The new Netflix Facebook integration will be available for the month’s over, the company said. Of course, that doesn’t apply if you live in the United States – where Netflix has existed since its inception before finally going international about a year ago.

The company says a U.S. privacy law prohibits them from offering it here, but the company is calling upon customers to write to Congress about it so they can share movie suggestions from Netflix with their friends on Facebook.

I bet Netflix customers are champing at the bit to help.

Does Netflix have what it takes to maintain its leadership position in the movie space or do you see competitors swooping in and taking advantage of recent moves from the company? Let us know what you think in the comments.

During their “Stream Come True” press event today, DISH Network unveiled Blockbuster Movie Pass, which brings streaming and DVD services together at one package, available for $10 a month.

Subscribers will have access to 3,000 titles available for streaming to TV – that number jumps to 4,000 when you are streaming to a computer. The DVD service has over 100,000 titles, any of which can be returned to a Blockbuster location once watched. With Movie Pass, you can’t pick up another DVD once you return yours, however. You’ll have to wait for it in the mail. On the plus side, there will be no up-charge for Blu-rays.

Movie Pass also incorporates over 3,000 games.

Here’s the problem: It’s only available for DISH Network customers, for now. So as it stands right now, super sweet deal for DISH subscribers – but Netflix killer it is not.

If you’re a DISH subscriber, it’s pretty much a no-brainer add-on at the $10 price point. If you’re not a DISH subscriber, it looks like DISH is hoping that this is an incentive to become one. Here’s what they are offering to new subscribers –

From Oct. 1 through Jan. 31, 2012, DISH Network is offering new customers Blockbuster Movie Pass included with their DISH Network subscription for one year when they subscribe to DISH Network’s America’s Top 200 programming package or greater and commit to 24 months of DISH Network service. This is up to $360 in savings.

Movie Pass will become available for existing DISH customers on October 1st.

At least for now, it looks like DISH wants to integrate Blockbuster’s current DVD and streaming services with their pay TV structure. And at first glance, this looks like a good way to do it. Current DISH customers will be getting a lot for just an extra $10 a month.

But until Movie Pass becomes available to everyone, it’s hard to truly think of it as a Netflix competitor.

Video streaming by Ustream

Of course Netflix is the biggest player when it comes to streaming video subscriptions, but you also have players like Hulu and Amazon stealing some of the pie. Apparently, Blockbuster thinks it can compete, because according to CNN Money, they plan on announcing all of this on Friday.

Blockbuster, which was purchased by DISH Network back in April, is set to hold a press conference tomorrow entitled “A Stream Come True.” Here, they are widely expected to unveil their new streaming service.

If true, Blockbuster has picked a rather interesting time to announce all of this. The past few weeks have been hell for Netflix, as a series of changes and announcements has shaken investors and customers alike.

On September 1st, the new pricing structure went into effect. No more $9.99 plans that include unlimited streaming and 1-DVD-at-a-time service – those plans are now separate and both cost $7.99. That drew some backlash, to say the least.

Just this week, CEO Reed Hasting posted a public apology to the Netflix blog, stating that they had made mistakes with how they handled the changes. The only problem was that enveloped in the apology was the news that Netflix is splitting off its DVD service entirely, into another company called Qwikster.

Between those events, Netflix announced that they would be losing all their Starz content after renegotiations failed.

Apparently, Blockbuster wants to try and swoop down when the beast is vulnerable. It wouldn’t be the first time, although this announcement would be significantly bigger than any other opportunistic moves they have made in the past.

After Netflix announced their price hike in July, Blockbuster went on a campaign, complete with a blog post called “Blockbuster Rescues Furious Netflix Customers.” They offered their Total Access DVD subscription as a free trial for those who wanted to abandon Netflix.

Blockbuster has never offered a streaming subscription. They have their aforementioned DVD subscription service called Total Access, and they stream movies via their website as well – but on a pay-per-view basis. A flat-rate unlimited plan would put them in direct competition with Netflix.

Now, if only Blockbuster could combine their upcoming streaming plan with their DVD plan as a bundle for, let’s say, $9.99?

Blockbuster thinks that this climate of frustration could be good for their business, and have said so in a release posted to their official blog -

The post is actually titled “Blockbuster Rescues Furious Netflix Customers” and here’s a what it says -

Blockbuster L.L.C. today began rescuing upset Netflix customers by launching a limited time, nationwide promotion for all Netflix customers who switch to Blockbuster Total Access.

Blockbuster Total Access provides benefits Netflix doesn’t offer: availability of many new releases 28 days before Netflix; unlimited in-store exchanges; games for Xbox 360, Playstation3, and Nintendo Wii, and no additional charge for Blu-ray movies.

As part of Blockbuster’s ongoing efforts to provide the ultimate in convenience, choice and value, Netflix customers who switch to one of Blockbuster’s two most popular Total Access plans will receive a 30-day free trial. After the free trial, customers will continue to receive Total Access for a new everyday price of only $9.99 per month for “1 Disc” at a time or $14.99 per month for “2 Discs” at a time.

They then go on to talk about all the furious “Screw Netflix, I’m going to Blockbuster” tweets. In my experience I saw more “Screw Netflix, Hello Redbox” tweets but I’m sure some people mentioned Blockbuster.

So, if I understand this correctly, Blockbuster is going to charge $9.99 for the 1-DVD-at-a-time deal, whereas Netflix is going to charge $7.99. For that extra two dollars, customers would get new releases earlier, games and blu-rays included in the deal. When you look at it that way, it sounds like a solid option.

Here’s the problem: Blockbuster doesn’t offer a streaming subscription, and most people value that option. That means that they are likely to keep their Netflix streaming service. People who don’t value DVDs and new releases as much will most likely chose to forgo the $7.99 DVD plan offered by Netflix. And they probably won’t want to have another monthly charge from Blockbuster either.

Going forward, it seems like the most popular option will be to keep the $7.99 Netflix streaming service and just hit the Redbox for any new releases that you can’t find on Instant.

And of course there’s the download option, which this funny little flow chart captures beautifully. Enjoy -

[Flowchart via Geekosystem]

It’s worth noting that this would have only affected older models of DISH DVRs, and the company said it would work to replace those still in use by customers. Now, here’s what the two parties have worked out, per an announcement released this morning:

Under the terms of the settlement, DISH Network and EchoStar agreed to pay TiVo $500 million, including an initial payment of $300 million with the remaining $200 million distributed in six equal annual installments between 2012 and 2017. TiVo, DISH Network and EchoStar agreed to dismiss all pending litigation between the companies with prejudice and to dissolve all injunctions against DISH Network and EchoStar.

The parties also granted certain patent licenses to each other. TiVo granted DISH Network a license under its Time Warp patent (US Pat. No. 6,233,389) and certain related patents, for the remaining life of those patents. TiVo also granted EchoStar a license under the same ’389 patent and certain related patents, for the remaining life of those patents, to design and make certain DVR-enabled products solely for DISH Network and two international customers. EchoStar granted TiVo a license under certain DVR-related patents for TiVo-branded, co-branded and ingredient-branded products.

“We have tremendous respect for TiVo’s management, and we have always said that regardless of the outcome of the case, there were many ways that we could work together with TiVo,” said Charlie Ergen, Chairman and CEO of DISH Network. “The results of TiVo’s formidable intellectual property enforcement program speak for themselves, and consequently, we are pleased to put this litigation behind us and move forward. Additionally, we believe that our agreement with TiVo provides us a competitive advantage as one of the few multichannel operators with rights to operate under TiVo’s Time Warp patent, which ultimately will allow us to enhance the performance of our award-winning DVRs. We look forward to continuing to offer DISH Network customers the most choices in video service.”

“We are extremely pleased to reach an agreement with DISH Network and EchoStar which recognizes the value of our intellectual property,” said Tom Rogers, president and CEO of TiVo. “The compensation from this settlement, including the resulting reduction in legal expenditures, puts TiVo in an enviable financial and strategic position. This settlement, which brings the total compensation paid by DISH Network for use of TiVo’s ’389 patent family to over $600 million, demonstrates the significant return afforded to our shareholders by diligent enforcement of TiVo’s intellectual property rights. Those efforts will aggressively continue with other parties.”

Interestingly, the DISH and TiVo have formed a partnership in which they will work together to promote Blockbuster services (the company was recently acquired by DISH). “We are excited to work with TiVo to help develop our Blockbuster video service,” said Ergen. “Resolving the patent infringement case allows us to further engage with TiVo on a variety of exciting strategic initiatives, like Blockbuster, where we are uniquely positioned to collaborate.”

It will be interesting to see how another DISH collaboration – one with Google develops in the coming months. Recent reports indicate that Google is working on a new version of Google TV, which may be displayed as early as next week, at Google I/O, the company’s developer conference.

DISH was a launch partner for Google TV, announced at last year’s Google I/O event. Since its launch, sales of Google TV devices have been less than impressive. You must remember, however, that Google TV is a platform, as opposed to a device. If Google can continue to make the right partnerships, it may be harder to count the platform as dead in the water. If Google is able to follow Netflix’s lead (or even that of its own Android mobile OS) and get Google TV on a wide range of devices, it should have a better adoption rate. Android integration is supposed to get ramped up, so that should help. It could, in turn, help DISH Network as well.

After closing adjustments, Dish expects to pay about $228 million in cash. The closing is expected in the second quarter.

“With its more than 1,700 store locations, a highly recognizable brand and multiple methods of delivery, Blockbuster will complement our existing video offerings while presenting cross-marketing and service extension opportunities for DISH Network,” said Tom Cullen, executive vice president of Sales, Marketing and Programming for DISH Network. “While Blockbuster’s business faces significant challenges, we look forward to working with its employees to re-establish Blockbuster’s brand as a leader in video entertainment.”

Blockbuster has been struggling for quite some time, as players like Netflix and Redbox have eaten into customers’ DVD rental dollars. With more and more options for streaming/downloading movies online becoming available, things are not getting easier. That includes an emerging streaming-via-Facebook phenomenon that is likely to escalate.

It’s unclear what Dish’s plans for Blockbuster are at this point. Will it be mostly about content licensing? It looks like content exclusivity is becoming the weapon of choice in the battle for customers.

Netflix recently announced that it will offer the new David Fincher/Kevin Spacy project: House of Cards exclusively, followed by more exclusive programming. DISH recently put out an announcement touting itself as the only service to offer Reelz with The Kennedys in HD Nationwide.

“DISH Network has chosen to support an independent during a very important time in our network’s history,” said REELZCHANNEL CEO Stan E. Hubbard.

“DISH Network is always seeking ways to offer our customers unique and compelling viewing experiences,” said Dave Shull, senior vice president of Programming for DISH Network.

One of the biggest things Blockbuster has had going for it is getting some movies earlier than its competitors. This may end up translating into good things for Dish customers.

"As more people access information via mobile and other intelligent devices, additional strain is being put on existing wireless networks," said Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer. "Microsoft appreciates the hard work by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and the other FCC Commissioners and Congress leading up to this vote. Their action will deliver greater broadband connectivity to consumers, and promote growth and investment in a new generation of wireless broadband technologies."

Google’s Richard Whitt said, "Today’s order finally sets the stage for the next generation of wireless technologies to emerge, and is an important victory for Internet users across the country."

According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon will introduce tiered data pricing over the next four to six months. It might go about it in a different way than AT&T, however. The details have not been ironed out. 

Facebook has been experiencing some technical difficulties. A lot of users have repeatedly had trouble accessing the site. The company gave the following statement (via TechCrunch):

We’re currently experiencing some site issues causing Facebook to be slow or unavailable for some users.  We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy. Here’s the announcement on that.

Blockbuster says the move makes them the only entertainment company to offer rentals of games, movies, and TV shows for home delivery through a single subscription service.

"The addition of games for our BLOCKBUSTER By Mail customers – from families looking for entertainment experiences they can enjoy together, to serious gamers – is yet another convenient way to access entertainment content from Blockbuster," said Kevin Lewis, Senior Vice-President, Digital Entertainment. "This enhanced offering supports Blockbuster’s multichannel strategy and shows our commitment to being the leading provider of home entertainment content."

Customers have received emails like this:

The move is smart and probably overdue. The competition in this space is heating up on both the movie side and the games side, and Blockbuster has yet to make a significant impact on the movie side with regards to the direction things seem to be going in (streaming). Netflix continues to bolster its streaming offerings and other online-only content sources offer streaming and downloadable movies. Redbox also recently expressed interest in moving towards streaming.

On the games side of things, besides the increasing interest in online, social games, Gamefly is generally thought of as the leader in the console game rental-by-mail space. A couple weeks ago, Gamerang launched its new game rental site with social and API features, hoping to carve out a bigger name for itself in the space.

Blockbuster’s movie/game combination service does give consumers something they can’t easily get anywhere else – games and movies from a single subscription. That will at least entice some gamers.

Meanwhile, Netflix continues focusing on increasing its streaming catalog A new deal with Epix was just announced today. This will give Netflix customers more streaming titles from Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM.