Vongo Comes to the 360

[Damion Chaplin]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6405190.html' target='_blank'>http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6405190.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Starz has partnered with Microsoft in a deal that will bring its Internet movie service Vongo to TVs via PCs with the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system and the Xbox 360 game console, the companies announced Monday at CES. Consumers will be able to download Vongo movies for viewing on any TV in their home connected to their Windows Vista Ultimate-based PC or Xbox 360 game console. “The launch of Windows Vista provides us with a great opportunity to converge the benefits of the PC and the TV into the ultimate, connected digital entertainment experience,” said Blair Westlake, executive VP of the Microsoft media and entertainment group. Starz has developed a new Vongo user interface designed for Windows Vista to allow users to easily search for movies on a TV screen. For consumers using their Xbox 360 as a connector between their PC and TV, the game console will automatically check for Vongo movie downloads to make viewing easy."</i><br /><br />Oh, sweet. With Netflix, I've never really even been tempted by Vongo, but this just might make me check it out. The idea of movies downloaded to my PC and streamed to my TV via my 360 is just too cool. C'mon Netflix, get with it! :wink:

[Felix Torres]

This seems to work two ways:

1- Using the MCE interface on 360 you can connect to a Vista Home premium or MCE PC and log into Vongo, explore, and download movies for streaming to the TV. This is supposed to also work with other MCE-compatible systems like Movielink and Cinemanow, I think.

2- Using an XP PC, you can download movies to the PC and those movies can be streamed to the 360 via WMP11. Not as seamless but it works.

BTW, Vongo dl's are supposed to be portable to media centers and pocket PCs. They offer a two week fre trial so I'll have to take a look at this sometime soon. I also heard of an australian movie dl service that also allows streaming to 360 so odds are we will see a lot more of this. Now, if the broadcast networks would just get going and allowed streaming of their dl's...

Things are looking mighty interesting on the 360 media front.

[Jeremy Charette]

Can't wait to finish getting my desktop built and give this a whirl on the HDTV!

[Jason Dunn]

For two years in a row at CES, I've asked Vongo reps if there were any plans to roll it out into Canada. Their answer: not in the plans. Drat!

[Jeremy Charette]

One of these days you'll listen to me, and move to New York City. :lol:

[Felix Torres]

One of these days you'll listen to me, and move to New York City. :lol:

Minneapolis/St Paul sounds more his speed. ;-)
(less distance, too.)