Verizon and Redbox hope to give consumers an option that is a “simple and affordable way to access the video entertainment they crave.”

Speaking about the partnership, Coinstar CEO Pau Davis said:

“Consumers rely on Redbox for the latest new release movies at a great value, and our joint venture with Verizon will enable us to bring them even more value by offering expanded content offerings and greater flexibility for how and when they enjoy entertainment.”

“Together, we are erasing old technology boundaries, freeing people to spontaneously enjoy the entertainment they want, whenever they choose, using the devices and media they prefer, at home or away,” added Bob Mudge, Verizon’s President of Consumer and Mass Business Markets.

Since the unnamed service is very similar to Netflix, a lot of people are wondering what will happen to it once this new venture launches. What’s more, the past several months have been rather rough for Netflix after it dramatically raised its prices last September. Consumers were outraged and some even dropped the service, as Bryan Gonzalez, the Director of Social Entertainment Labs at the Entertainment Technology Center at USC, explained in this video:

WebProNews recently caught up with Gonzalez again to talk about this latest development. According to him, Netflix has to continue to focus on its content in order to effectively compete with Verizon and Redbox’s service.

“For Netflix to really continue competing, I think they’re really gonna need to push hard and try to get as much content up front as possible,” he said.

“As long as Netflix keeps that drum beat of fresh content – new content – to their streaming sector, I think they’ll do fine,” he added.

Should Netflix be worried? What do you think?

Gonzalez went on to raise an interesting point about the deal between Verizon and Redbox. As he explained, Netflix’s actions last year were part of a bigger effort to move away from its DVD service. However, it seems that this new venture focuses on the DVD side, which he believes could be due to accessibility issues that so many Americans face.

“A lot of Americans still don’t have very fast Internet connections, so streaming quality isn’t as great necessarily for everyone as a DVD or a Blu Ray,” Gonzalez pointed out.

Another potential issue he raised was in regards to Verizon’s current FIOS cable TV service. At this point, Verizon’s FIOS program is not national, but one can’t help but wonder what will happen since the new venture seems to contradict it.

These details and others were not disclosed in the announcement but are expected to come as the launch date gets closer. The companies said the new service would be available during the second half of the year.

Redbox’s offerings today, are of course kiosk-based. People can go up to a kiosk at a grocery store, a McDonald’s, a Walgreens or other place, swipe their card, give their email address and rent a DVD or game. Redbox has become very popular thanks to the convenience (customers can return discs to any kiosk) and low prices. The lack of a streaming offering, however, has kept Redbox from being a bigger threat to Netflix and Blockbuster. That may soon change.

The announcement says that the venture’s services will offer Redbox’s new release DVD and Blu-ray rentals combined with “a new content-rich video on-demand streaming and download service from Verizon”.

“Consumers rely on Redbox for the latest new release movies at a great value, and our joint venture with Verizon will enable us to bring them even more value by offering expanded content offerings and greater flexibility for how and when they enjoy entertainment,” said Coinstar CEO Paul Davis. “This alliance is the result of a deliberate and strategic process to identify a partner who shares our commitment to delivering innovative solutions to consumers. We look forward to rolling out the shared benefits this venture will bring to consumers, retailers, and shareholders.”

“When you consider the core elements the parties bring to this venture – our powerful brands; our national rental kiosk footprint; our anytime, anywhere network presence; and our mutual commitment to customer-focused innovation – it’s clear that Verizon and Redbox are a powerful entertainment team,” said Bob Mudge, president of Verizon consumer and mass business markets.

“The joint venture will combine the accessibility and value of Redbox with Verizon’s vision for a borderless lifestyle – where consumers easily accomplish what they want or need to do, on their terms, through the power of the network,” added Mudge. “Together, we are erasing old technology boundaries, freeing people to spontaneously enjoy the entertainment they want, whenever they choose, using the devices and media they prefer, at home or away.”

The companies say additional brand and product info will be revealed in the coming months.

Last week, news came out that Redbox will no longer have 28-day delays on Warner Bros. content. That’s one edge Redbox has over Netflix.

Over opening weekend, the movie ended up taking in $11.5 million domestically, which was more than expected. Variety reports:

According to Lionsgate, 32% of “Money’s” entire audience polled on opening night was aware of the Groupon deal, but only 11% of auds bought tickets using the promotion.

More telling, however, is that 93% of the film’s Groupon patrons saw “Money” because of the discounted rate. That means just 7% of Groupon auds already intended to see the film, Groupon notwithstanding.

Clearly, that speaks a great deal about Groupon’s influence. Considering, as Variety’s report indicates, Lionsgate was more aiming at spreading word of mouth for the film than expecting the Groupon deal to significantly boost box office numbers, I’d say they’re content with the strategy.

This is the second time a Groupon deal has proven effective for Lionsgate, as they also saw similar success with the Lincoln Lawyer last year.

The film’s director Siok Siok Tan tells WebProNews, “We have lots of exciting plans in 2012. We have just announced an open call for community screenings between February 1st and May 1st.”

“The first of the community screenings will roll out over Social Media Week in February,” she says. “We are screening in New York City on Feb 15th, London on Feb 17th and will be announcing more Social Media Week events in other locations soon. ”

Here are a few teasers for the documentary:

We first interviewed Tan here, where she explained the concept and process of making the film. The following year, we followed up with her, and it was getting a sneak preview in NYC. Now, many communities around the word should have a chance to see it.

Anyone can organize a screening for their community as long as they meet the guidelines discussed here.

According to the LA Times, beginning February 1st, Netflix users will not be able to immediately add new Warner Bros releases to their DVD queue. Currently, as soon as a new film jumps into Netflix’s database, users can add it to their queue. Of course, they still have to wait the designated window before the DVD will actually ship, but it serves as a kind of placeholder.

Well, now users will have to wait 28 days after the film is released on DVD before they can even add a new Warner release to their queue.

Earlier this month, Warner Bros and Netflix reached an agreement that extended the new release window from 28 days to 56 days. Once a DVD goes on sale, Netflix will have to wait nearly two months before they can ship the DVD out to customers. This rule also applies to Warner Bros new releases with Blockbuster and Redbox.

So now, a Netflix customer will have to wait 28 days to even add a new release to their queue, and then wait another 28 days before it’s actually shipped.

Apparently, the idea behind this is that any obstacle to lower-cost film viewing is good. Warner Bros believes that the current Netflix policy makes the wait for a new DVD tolerable. If a person adds it to their queue, they know it’s on the way. There’s a clear indication that as soon as it’s available, it will be shipped right out to their house.

But in the mind of Warner Bros, not having the DVD sitting comfortably in your queue will make you more likely to go out and buy the full-priced DVD.

It’s shit like this, Warner Bros. And people wonder why downloading a film seems like such an attractive option to many.

Recently, Spielberg received the 2012 David O. Selznick Achievement Award from the Producers Guild of America.

To commemorate the occasion, Todd Sandler created a tribute video that celebrates all the films that Spielberg either produced or directed. The usual suspects like Indiana Jones and The Goonies show up, but his less known films such as Gremlins and *batteries not included make an appearance as well. It truly is a celebration of everything that made Spielberg a household name and he’s sure to make more amazing films if the critical reception of War Horse is any indication.

The compilation does an excellent job of sorting out the adventure and sci-fi films that Spielberg is more well known for while giving his more personal works like Schindler’s List their own place to shine.

As an aside, I could have done without the E.T. footage, scariest film Spielberg ever made.

Now, Redbox is running a new campaign where customers can answer trivia questions for discounts on movies. Customers started receiving emails today that look like this:

Email marketing, by the way, appears to be a pretty powerful channel for Redbox, as the company’s kiosks require customers to enter their email addresses each time they rent a movie.

Notice that the trivia offering is powered by Scene It, a popular DVD-based movie trivia game.

Digital Pal, launching in beta today, allows users to discuss specific subjects without it getting lost amidst all the photos and status updates. It also allows users to discuss their experiences and recommend movies, music, books and games to one another. It also offers powerful tools that recommend new products to users based upon what they already like.

Tatiana Utornik, DigitalPal project manager, explained the main role of the network: “Imagine this situation: “The Hangover” is on tonight. Should you watch it? It may be fun, but is it your kind of fun? Should you risk wasting your time – again? If only you could quickly find out what your friends thought about it. This is where DigitalPal steps in. It allows you to immediately see what your friends had to say about movies you want to see – but also music you want to hear, books you want to read, and games you want to play.”

DigitalPal is attempting to differentiate themselves from the other Web sites that focus on only one type of media like films and music by gathering them all into one place. With the service, users can receive recommendations from their friends and their own ratings.

The most important thing to remember is that DigitalPal is not trying to supplant Facebook. It only seeks to supplement the service for those who wish to share movie recommendations without the clutter of Facebook.

I’ve jumped on board to try the service out and can provide a few more details than what the company offered. First and foremost, users can sign in with their Facebook account which makes using the site much easier.

From there, the site takes you to MoviePal. It asks you to rate 10 movies on a scale of one to 10. You can either rate movies that are already there which are among the most popular films or you can search for the film you want to rate. After rating 10 of them, you are taken to a page with more films and are asked to refine the selection process so it can recommend more movies to you.

This same process is repeated for music, books and games. I’ve already rated my first 10 movies and games so here’s a screengrab of the book selection process to give you an idea of what it looks like at first.

The recommendation refining process lists a series of genres that allow the user to pick and choose which genres they like and then the service will pick out movies or games that belong in those genres. It’s a little wonky as the recommendation service is not always spot on nor does it feature every title out there.

Nonetheless, the service is off to a good start and most recommendations are spot-on. I rated Requiem for a Dream highly and every Darren Aronofsky film was at the top of my list of potential new movies to rate and recommend to friends.

The service features a board for users to display all of their recently rated media alongside their friend’s ratings. You can comment on your friend’s ratings as well as your own.

The rated tab allows you to organize your rated products alongside changing the rating. It’s a useful feature in the case of somebody not liking a movie that much anymore after repeated viewings.

There’s a wishlist so users can list what they want to watch or listen to. The final tab is the catalog which allows users to list every movie, book, album and game that they own. It’s a great way to brag about your collection and let your friends know what you have.

Finally, there’s a bar on the side called, “My Pals” that lists all your Facebook friends and lets you invite them to use DigitalPal. Below that is a bar called, “My Pals Favorites” which lists all of their favorite games, movies, music and books in real time as their lists are updated.

The site is a little rough around the edges now. It’s pretty simplistic aesthetically, but it gets the job done. The site is also in open beta so it’s not fully completed yet. The site’s team want users to try out DigitalPal and let them know what you think.

I for one love the idea of having all of my friend’s recommendations in one place. I don’t usually agree with the critics at large publications, but I can usually trust my friends’ recommendations. This site allows me to easily view those. The only problem is that it’s new and other much older and respected sites allow people to recommend stuff to their friends. It’s only a matter of time though to see how successful DigitalPal is especially after they exit beta and go into full commercial release.

What do you think? Are you interested in a social networking site that focuses more on media than statuses?

THX Media Director is integrated into a number of home theater devices, including the Dune HD Max and Dune HD Smart B1 Blu-ray players, the Sharp Elite LED LCD TV, and Indy Audio Labs’ Acurus Act 4 preamplifier. The Dune HD players are currently available, and will have access to THX Media Director via an automatic firmware update.

THX has also partnered with several major content authoring companies to make the Blu-ray discs they create for the various entertainment companies compatible with THX Movie Director. The statement does not say what, if any, THX Media Director compatible content is already available.

[Source: THX Blog]

The current 28-day new release window came about in June of 2010, as the result of an agreement whereby Netflix accepted the gap between home video release and rental availability in exchange for rights to stream more of the studios’ content. This time around, Warner Brothers has increased the window without giving anything at all back.

This latest move against Netflix, Redbox, and Blockbuster follows a similar move against Blockbuster in October. Without asking permission first, Blockbuster made several new releases from Warner Brothers available for rent on the same day that they were available for sale. Warner Brothers retaliated by applying Netflix’s 28-day gap to Blockbuster.

As DVD sales and theater attendance have dropped in recent years, Hollywood’s increasing panic has driven the search for a scapegoat. Since the answer could not possibly have anything to do with increasing ticket and DVD prices and decreasing movie quality, the industry’s eye has fallen on Netflix (and the movie rental industry in general), and on piracy. As they combat the latter with legislation, they have been using every means at their disposal to make life as difficult for Netflix as possible, apparently believing that people who cannot rent a movie will simply go buy it instead. This is just the most recent of the entertainment industry’s efforts to resist the march of technological progress. Nearly every advance in entertainment technology – from the radio in the 1920s to VCRs and casette tapes in the ‘70s and ‘80s – has supposedly heralded the collapse of the entertainment industry.

Unfortunately, we can probably expect the entertainment industry to continue its staunch opposition to the forward march of technology. Which means that Netflix, Hulu, Redbox, Bitttorrent, and pretty much any means of accessing content that doesn’t line Hollywood’s pockets will continue to be the bad guy for the foreseeable future.

What do you think of Warner Brothers’s decision to increase the release window? Sound off in the comments.

[Source: All Things D]