Judging from the tentative language used by Keith Morrow, it is hard to pinpoint when (or even if) Blockbuster will release any consumer products based on Live Mesh. However, Live Mesh is clearly on the radar of a lot of corporate IT departments and hopefully we will see some 'real' products very soon.

Affordable Film Distribution On Any Site, Any Social Network

MeDeploy is a new digital media distribution platform that just launched last week at DEMO. With this solution in place, any filmmaker, whether a big Hollywood studio or small indie artist, can get access to all the tools needed to manage and distribute their content to any web site, social network, or mobile device. The platform offers features like media transcoding, content management, media storage, delivery, anti-piracy tools, and secure credit card processing. Films can be sold as digital rentals, download-to-own videos, or video-on-demand sales.

Instead of offering pre-made templates or store-widgets, MeDeploy offers a white label solution for sales, marketing, and distribution on any web site anywhere on the web. It provides the necessary tools for doing so in the form of widgetized bits of code. These aren't just simple "blog widgets" functioning as ads, either. The site provides cut-and-paste code for several different types of functions from "add to cart" to "watch trailer" to something called a "balloon widget," which pops up additional info about a title when you hover your mouse over an item, like an image for example.

A Balloon Widget In Action:

The code samples can be pasted into any web site, blog, or social network, including Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Imeem, and other networks on the OpenSocial platform.

Why This Matters

Although some filmmakers may be technical, they shouldn't have to be advanced web developers in order to market their movies on their own sites or social network pages. (Of course, if they are technical, the developer API and documentation are available). By offering a white label solution, customers don't have to leave their current location in order to buy or view the films - the media can come to them instead, no matter which site or social network they're on at the time.

A Social Network Widget for Brain Damage Films

Who knows how many indie films are sitting out there unseen and unknown simply because the filmmakers can't afford to market them. Similar to how blogging CMS platforms leveled the playing field for online publishing, tools like this one from MeDeploy can do the same for filmmakers.

Pricing

Prior to MeDeploy, the only options for distributing paid video content like movie downloads were very expensive enterprise digital solutions that only large studios and TV networks could afford.

MeDeploy's Dashboard

Although MeDeploy was designed to help the indie filmmaker, that's not to say that it can't cater to the large studios, too. The company offers two pricing tiers: MeDeploy Indie ($19.95/mo) and MeDeploy Professional ($199.95/mo). With the Indie account, a filmmaker has everything needed to get started with online distribution. When their catalog and distribution needs change, they can then upgrade to Professional, which is a more customizable and scalable solution ideal for larger distributors, studios, and broadcast networks.

Any filmmakers out there who want to test the waters prior to signing up can get started with a free 30-day trial: just visit www.medeploy.com.

For more information, check out their presentation from DEMO, embedded below:

Last November, we expressed skepticism about the kiosk plan. "The major advantage [Blockbuster] had over Netflix was the ability to offer free in-store rentals if people returned mailed videos to the store," we wrote. An in-store kiosk cuts the convenience level in half -- now that you're not getting anything mailed to you, you're forced to make a trip to the store, and there is no longer any reason for Blockbuster to offer free rentals.

Much of Blockbuster's good news was at the store level where mechandising revenue rose 19.7% over last year. But as the Motley Fool points out, in-store kiosks might hurt that revenue stream. "I thought the purpose of winning foot traffic at the store level was to grow incremental impulse-item sales," writes Rick Aristotle Munarriz. "Folks walking in to use an automated kiosk are unlikely to bother with conventional checkout lines."

What About Redbox?

While it's true that Redbox DVD rental kiosks already have 6800 locations in the US -- more than Blockbuster -- and that the company is moving toward an IPO, Blockbuster's kiosks aren't the same. Redbox works because the kiosks are placed in locations that already have a lot of retail foot traffic -- such as Wal-Mart, Walgreens, and grocery stores. Redbox inspires impulsive movie rentals and is convenient for people already out doing other errands.

Blockbuster kiosks, on the other hand, would be in places you only visit if you're planning to rent a movie already. The convenience of no late fees is also diminished when you have to leave the house and download your movie to a portable device -- which may mean less than perfect video quality when you hook your device up to a television.

The Future is in Downloads

Last fall Keyes told reporters that he expects the DVD business to be a significant part of Blockbuster's business for at least 5 years, and that the kiosks are meant as a way to transition users toward a future of digital downloads. Netflix agrees that in 5 years the DVD business will be on the decline, but Netflix is skipping the "transitional" period and moving straight to downloading movies directly to the TV.

Blockbuster is also working on a set-top box, which will put its acquisition of movie download service Movielink to use. Unfortunately for Blockbuster, they'll be a late entry to a market that is already crowded with mammoth competitors, including Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Microsoft.

Despite some good revenue news, Blockbuster still seems like a company that's making all the wrong moves as it struggles to transition to the digital world.

Perhaps the Onion says it best though, in the following news report.