What Is The Vudu Box?

The Vudu Box is a revolutionary set top box from Vudu Labs that connects to a widscreen TV, and through a broadband connection, gives consumers instant access to nearly every new release movie from major motion picture studios -- eventually the box is expected to carry television shows and video games.

Unlike other earlier attempts at video on demand, Vudu is not dependent upon a PC and has closed deals with most of the major movie studios. Presently, Vudu has over seven studios signed up to distribute their movies through the box, including: Disney, Lionsgate, New Line Cinema, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios, and Warner Brothers. The Vudu box was released late in summer 2007, and management believes they have over 5,000 titles available.

How Disruptive Is The Vudu Box?

Vudu threatens to overrun Blockbuster, Netflix, Apple TV, your local video rental store, and even the DVD standard itself. With nearly instantaneous speed of access, Vudu appears to have the upper hand in delivering convenience to movie afficionados compared to a drive to the video store or waiting for Netflix. At the same time, Vudu appears to have a far larger selection of available movies than cable video on demand services, iTunes/AppleTV, Microsoft's XBOX 360, and other online download services. Co-founder Tony Miranz asserts, "Other forms of movie distribution are going to look silly and uncompetitive by comparison."

How Was Vudu Founded?

Vudu was founded in 2004 by well-known entrepreneurs Alain Rossman and Tony Miranz. Alain is considered the founder of the WAP (wireless application protocol) protocol; he is best known as the founder of Phone.com, which merged with Software.com to form Openwave Systems. Tony Miranz was most recently the VP of Worldwide Sales at Tahoe Networks. Prior to Vudu, Tony was General Manager of Sales for The Americas for Openwave Systems. Vudu is privately held and has received an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Benchmark Capital (Bill Gurley) and Greylock (Roger Evans, David Sze).

How Do I Buy a Vudu Box?

The Vudu Box is now available for sale to consumers, and prices are starting to get pretty reasonable at $399 from Amazon and as low as $300 on eBay. See below for eBay VUDU auctions currently underway and below that to link out to VUDU at Amazon. Vudu is generally in the same price range as the Apple TV box, which sells for $299. In order to use VUDU, you will need a good high speed internet connection!

Is There a Vudu Box Beta Program?

Yes, there is a Vudu Box beta program. In early Fall 2007, you could have signed-up for consideration to participate in the beta program here, but now your best option is to buy a vudu box from retail.