Some of you may already have heard of FilmOn. It’s a service that allows you to purchase films, download them and then burn them onto a DVD.
Kind of like what lots of people already do with films rented from Blockbuster, but a shade more legal and without the need to venture outdoors or risk late return fines.
Far from settling into their own little corner of digital downloads, it seems that FilmOn has aspirations way beyond its current offerings and is planning to roll out its own IPTV service.
UK IPTV Service in Beta
The service, which is currently in its beta phase, will be launched officially in September supported by FilmOn-branded hybrid freeview/broadband set top boxes. The hardware will ship on the 14th of October costing £199.
The initial model is an 80GB offering which will include PVR functionality and will come preloaded with 10-20 films. Later, another version with an integrated DVD burner will follow.
The service is set to be backed by a $200 million advertising push courtesy of UK-based independent film production and sales group 111pix. As such the service will have a focus on independent movies and films that are just two or three notches above Carry On levels of naughtiness if you get our drift (*whispers* soft porn).
Sounds ambitious, but we question whether people will pay for a 200 quid box to watch films they have never heard of; might be a bit of a niche market and a tough sell.
[Via Tech Digest]
