A couple days ago I came across this article at CNET News.com about a company called PortoMedia and their plan to make movies available on flash memory cards. I’ve touched on the subject before, but for a different reason that PortoMedia seems to be interested (I was interested in the small form factor). They see flash memory cards as an alternative to Internet delivery:

PortoMedia is setting up kiosks that will let consumers download movies to a flash memory key or portable hard drive.

The kiosks will be packed with hard drives that can hold 350 to 5,000 titles. Users then plug in a memory device from the company, enter a PIN code, and buy or rent a movie. When consumers get home, they simply slide the memory device into a dock connected to a TV.

Evidently they have come up with a proprietary USB interface that can load a high-definition movie onto the memory card in less than 45 seconds. There are some big advantages to this model:

• Reduced cost as packaging and shipping associated with DVDs is no longer required
• More selection - you aren’t limited by shelf space with a kiosk like Blockbuster is
• It can happen sooner than Internet delivery (because most of us still have fairly crappy connections)

Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the company plans to use DRM from Microsoft to protect the movies.

PortoMedia did a trial run last year, and plans to go live with the service in four U.S. cities sometime in Q2 2008.

Read: CNET News.com

E3 is now underway, so expect lots of Xbox-related news over the next few days. Though I don’t know how it could get much better than what was announced tonight! For starters, Disney is now offering movie rentals via Xbox Live effective immediately. Their catalogue of content will add to the already impressive 2350 hours of entertainment available at the Xbox Live Marketplace.

The best stuff though, was announced by VP of Marketing Jeff Bell, as Twittered live by majornelson:

Jeff just announced that by the end of this year, Video Marketplace is coming to Canada and Europe. (link)

125 Million dollars from Video Marketplace. (link)

Jeff just announced that Xbox LIVE is now at 7-million members..that is one new Live member every 8 seconds. (link)

It sounds like the Xbox Live Video Marketplace is doing very well. As a Canadian I am particularly happy to hear that the service will finally be available in my country.

Check out Xbox.com for complete coverage of E3.

Remember Windows DreamScene? It’s one of the “Windows Ultimate Extras” that Microsoft promised for Windows Vista Ultimate users. DreamScene makes it possible to use video and other animations as desktop wallpaper. The first demo was shown months ago, but we haven’t heard much since then - until now. Finally, the team has provided an update:

Our goal is to provide the highest-quality, most secure and reliable offerings, and as a result we are continuing our work on these offerings. We apologize for taking so long to provide a status update to customers.

We intend to ship Windows DreamScene and the remaining 20 Language Packs by the end of the summer.

About time. DreamScene supports both MPEG and WMV video files, so start collecting your favorite videos now!

For more on the news, check out Megite.