First Look: Video Store on the BlackBerry PlayBook
A cool addition to the new BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 software is that of the BlackBerry Video Store. Much like the Music Store, it allows you to browse movies and TV shows for both purchase and rental. There is a pretty good collection of titles (although it could always be better) so most likely something for everyone. It does have it's quirks however as I found out, like the abscence of Back to the Future despite both BTTF II and III being available. Once I recovered from that blow, I did find quite a few movies that I would say are worth downloading. Older titles will run you around $9.95, while shiny new ones are $19.95. When you choose a title to purchaes or rent (after signing up for an account) you can even watch while it continues to download which is a pretty sweet deal. Overall I really dig the Video Store but I just hope the catalog continues to get bigger. Currently available only in the US, the Video Store comes pre-installed on the BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 software. And yes, I love Robin Hood even though I hate Kevin Costner :-)
hibackhand Feb 21, 2012 at 2:57 pm
US only??? Wtf?
anderoc79 Feb 21, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Common RIM! What about canada??
MaiMaiTaru Feb 21, 2012 at 2:59 pm
I was about to ask why I don't see the icon. US only... Lame lolz
you sir name Feb 21, 2012 at 3:00 pm
What's the quality like? $20 for HD would be a prtty decent deal (compared to $25-$30 for the blu-ray).
Detective M Downs Feb 21, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Are you able to watch the movies without WiFi connection?
Adam Zeis Feb 21, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Yup! Once the movie downloads it's just like any other video you have on the device.
Detective M Downs Feb 21, 2012 at 3:37 pm
Thanks, A.D Rock
dopalicious Feb 21, 2012 at 3:22 pm
"so if anyone is a big Taylor Lautner fan..." - Funny stuff.
Thanks Adam for the run through.
pmich Feb 21, 2012 at 3:25 pm
No love for Canada???? pitiful. Then again, it's not like i'm going to pay for movies anyways. Who am i kidding. :)
TJenkinsSC Feb 21, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Don't hate RIM on this one - ask the MPAA/RIAA why they have to be such pains on access.
PLTM Feb 21, 2012 at 3:30 pm
I would like to know the quality and if i buy the movie, if i can transfer it to my PC for storage so that I dont full up my Playbook storage and only put the movies i want to watch on the playbook from my PC?
mkye86 Feb 21, 2012 at 3:41 pm
My update didn't get it. Can I get it via Appworld? I live in TX. I am not around a wifi connection right now.
thatplaybookguy Feb 21, 2012 at 4:22 pm
well your on a computer to post this? ifnot and you are on your phone, then just bt tether your net connection.
juliankueh Feb 21, 2012 at 3:53 pm
What about australia?
iririr Feb 21, 2012 at 5:50 pm
+1...
come on australia...come on!!
hardy83 Feb 21, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Only US?
Oh the beauty if entertainment licensing.
Encouraging piracy more and more every day!
snoozininsomniac Feb 21, 2012 at 4:00 pm
What kinda quality is it? Can anyone whos bought a movie or tv show comment on this? TIA~
MoolahMitch Feb 21, 2012 at 4:11 pm
The movies are HD quality, my wife purchased a movie and watched it on the HDTV at home via HDMI.
What I wanna know is how long are rentals for, I am struggling to find any info
Litt3 Feb 21, 2012 at 4:12 pm
Why can't this be in Canada?
I already have Netflix and Zune Movies on my Xbox in Canada. Those companies have somehow worked out their licences with the US media companies.
RIM is missing the boat on this one.
knightfall Feb 21, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Somewhat. Notice how gimped your Netflix is compared to the selection in the US? Us (Canadians) are getting the short end of the stick.
DirtySantos Feb 21, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Netflix Canada is a joke compared to what's available in Netflix USA. Don't blame RIM on Canada's restrictive licensing deals.
MoolahMitch Feb 21, 2012 at 4:16 pm
How this works:
When you Rent a film from a webstore, download the film to your Rovi Player and click Watch Now when available. If the title has a 24 hour viewing period, you have only 24 hours from the time you click Watch Now the first time to completely view the film. If you try to click Watch Now or select the Play button more than 24 hours after you have started watching the film you WILL receive a license error. You must renew your license to the film in order to obtain a new, valid license.
Remember, you can keep an "unwatched" rental title on your hard drive for up to 30 days. The license clock will NOT begin until you click Watch Now or the Play button for the first time.
Titles listed as "Buy" have an unlimited license period meaning that your license should not expire. If you do experience problems viewing a title which you have purchased instead of rented, please contact the Rovi Customer Support team and they will help troubleshoot the issue for you.
thatplaybookguy Feb 21, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Rim gives us a Rimjob and effs us Canadians with the video store(that worked throughout the beta) but not now. Bye Bye rim cause a shitload of your customers are going to sell their pb's because of this. I just cant believe that RIM a Canadian company would screw its own kind like htis. i hope your company dies. I AM CANADIAN! but not a fan anymore.
hardy83 Feb 21, 2012 at 4:45 pm
Don't blame RIM on this.
International licensing for media is a giant mess, ESPECIALLY in Canada where the biggest media companies (Bell, Rogers) scooped up the majority of the rights to entertainment.
I'm still surprised Netflix was even able to get in here.
The amount of hoops and walls a company has to go through to get any kind of media license in this country is astounding.
Complain to your MP about the giant mess our entertainment industry is, not to RIM.
JPMorgan_ Feb 21, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Not available in Mexico, that's a shame.
dagerlach Feb 21, 2012 at 4:45 pm
I hope you all now recognize why Hulu and Netflix were blocked on the Playbook. Hopefully, the Video Store will have very similar content. Unfortunately, we have Hulu and Netflix at home. So, until I can use The Video Store from my laptop and Roku boxes, I will not be purchasing from The Video Store!
WillieLee Feb 21, 2012 at 6:09 pm
Hulu and Netflix are the ones that blocked their services. What is so difficult about this issue for people to understand?
Barefoot_Kevin Feb 21, 2012 at 6:00 pm
I hate Kevin Costner too, and I went to high school with him.
buckwylder Feb 21, 2012 at 7:10 pm
i am canadian - so i don't get a video store, who cares
worked throughout beta? ummm, no it didn't, lol
____________________________________________________________
in the time of your life, live so that in that good time, there should be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life that your life touches, seek goodness everywhere
buckwylder Feb 21, 2012 at 7:13 pm
i never once thought to myself, "gee, wish i had a movie store on my playbook"
definately NOT a selling feature for this device, but i guess to the "average consumer" a wack video store full of kostner movies is desirable, ROFLMAO
long live movies filmed prior to internet enabled mobile devices - like "The Mack" with Richard Pryor
peace
________________________________________________________
in the time of your life, live so that in that good time, there should be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life that your life touches, seek goodness everywhere
veganberry Feb 21, 2012 at 9:55 pm
RIM has nothing to do with the video store, so stop blaming them. It's licencing groups that have everything to do with it. Ask why you can't watch Hulu in Canada either. These people are stupid as I will continue to seek out pirated movies which is what they're trying to avoid with ridiculous rules like SOPA.
Scrybe Feb 21, 2012 at 11:36 pm
Rovi already has this in Canada -- the company is behind the BestBuy and Future Shop online video rentals. So can't see why it wouldn't be available in Canada soon, since it's essentially already here anyway and you'd think the licensing rules wouldn't come into play.
victoriavictor Feb 21, 2012 at 11:47 pm
victoriavictor
Come on people, why is it so hard to understand this. RIM are powerless against the goofy copyright laws we have to put up with. OK? It is not RIM's fault that Netflix or Hulu (or for that matter. SNL) is not available in Canada. Got it?
TheUnknownUser Feb 22, 2012 at 5:27 am
i live in BC i have no issues watching SNL and Netflix(although its nothing compared to Netflix that US gets but still plenty to watch but more is nice) as for Hulu download HotSpot Shield its free and you can watch Hulu that way :P
carlyincanada Feb 22, 2012 at 12:27 am
Would be nice.....but I've been using Projectfreetv.com for tv shows and movies for free! :)
BlueandWhiteBerry Feb 22, 2012 at 1:51 am
Ok while we are on the subject is there any similar store that IS available here in the UK? We have LoveFilm and Netflix. Neither work on PB from what I gather?
TheUnknownUser Feb 22, 2012 at 5:46 am
here is some of the info about the company behind the video store http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CinemaNow it also shows a little info on quality
mavricxx Feb 22, 2012 at 6:21 am
I feel duped by RIM- the Android player everybody thought we were gonna get- we DIDN'T get and what's more...there aren't ANY decent Android apps in app world they all suck! I thought we were gonna get the Android that ACTUALLY plays ANDROID and we can open and download Android apps from the Android Market but NOPE! There isn't ANY IM Apps still- Skype, Yahoo Messenger, OoVoO or anything just the sucky video app that belongs to RIM and which I can't use cause nobody I know has a PlayBook! Then there's the books, I'm going to college and Kobo doens't have crap of the ones I need so I figured with Android we would get Amazon, Kindle, etc... NOPE! Not even a decent Navigation App... we didn't get anything, as far as I can tell we got duped...again! I've been so caught up in the bridge remote that the more I've been thinking about it the more I get pissed. Another thing the email didn't work for me either, it won't let me setup Yahoo Mail! So still, what can I use my PlayBook for...surfing the web! TOTALLY USELESS!!!
Thompson1423 Mar 9, 2012 at 2:15 pm
I'm in Canada - I've got Kindle sidloaded onto PB along with several other Android apps not yet in App World, and use Witopia VPN on PB to access Hulu and the UK video sites - hooked into the big screen with the HDMI cable, PB is awesome. D
oliverlock Feb 22, 2012 at 6:41 am
That looked as if the scrolling lagged quite a bit.
edgedamage Feb 22, 2012 at 7:31 am
The solution for Canada= Utorrent + private trackers.
flyersfan76 Feb 22, 2012 at 9:38 am
Does anyone really like Kevin Costner? I mean really.
I know a certain famous baseball player certainly hates him.
lang007 Feb 22, 2012 at 9:46 am
I want the wallpaper that you have on that playbook. Where can I get it?
Kackler Feb 22, 2012 at 10:14 pm
More than a disappointment, not available in Canada? Huge oversight I am sure.
JeromeM Feb 23, 2012 at 9:11 am
Ok, so I'm Canadian but I'm in the US right now, I got a software update notice and now I have the Video Store, it looks amazing!!!!
However, I can't sign up for an account :(
ryanlrobinson Feb 25, 2012 at 11:46 am
This is full HD? Once it hits Canada, I may start buying these instead of Blu-Rays.
barbarajd Apr 30, 2012 at 11:46 am
Since RIM is a Canadian company, it irks me that they wouldn't make it available to Canada at the same time or close to it. It is now May (tomorrow ) and not a word yet about it becoming available to Canada soon. In the meantime Netflix is still not available and YouTube movie rentals no longer function on pb.
josectorres88 May 5, 2012 at 11:25 pm
I live in GUAM, which is a US territory...
how can I get the video store on my playbook??? help please :)
danwebb955 Aug 2, 2012 at 8:34 pm
To be honest the movie store isn't rims fault. It is the movie licensers, this app would not be a big selling point for me altho I would like to see some sort of movie app on the playbook. So hopefully they start to put this through to places such as Europe, Canada and so on
johnizomi Aug 25, 2012 at 9:57 pm
As usual US 1st, I believe this will available in my region just a day before the armageddon :( ,, the terms of rent is affordable for us. C'mon make it for the rest of the world soon..
cypherjackson Jan 31, 2013 at 1:40 pm
drama movies online for free will still play and more than capable to work in such unit