Vudu Set to Square off Against Apple TV

Looks like we have another set-top box vying for space in your living room, but this one looks pretty exciting—even more so, perhaps, than the much-vaunted Apple TV. Set to arrive later this year, the Vudu will deliver DVD-quality movies instantaneously to your TV, and according to published reports, almost all the major movie studios are on board.   

Santa Clara, California-based Vudu, Inc. has been working on its Vudu box for about two years, according to a pair of articles yesterday in the New York Times and Gizmodo, and the new device should be arriving in stores this summer for about $300.

What's so special about the Vudu? A couple of things: first, the company has done an impressive job of signing up the big movie studios. According to the Times, all the major movies houses—save Sony—are in and the service has a catalog of 5,000 movies teed up and ready to go. The iTunes movie store, by way of comparison, has just 500 movies from two majors, Disney and Paramount (plus a smattering of smaller studios).

The Vudu also has another ace up its sleeve: rather than waiting for minutes (or hours) for your movie to download, you'll be able to start watching immediately. How? Vudu uses peer-to-peer technology (like the old Napster music sharing app and the current Joost online TV service), which means every online Vudu box shares the load in terms of downloading any given movie. For instance, if you wanted to download "The Departed," the Vudu will grab data for the download from all the other Vudu users with "The Departed" on their hard drives, rather than downloading the movie from a central server. Even better, every Vudu will store the beginnings of popular movies on unused portions of its hard drive.

The Vudu plugs directly into your TV via HDMI, component or composite video connections, and you won't need a PC to use it—just a broadband connection. Want more info? The Times has an in-depth story, while Gizmodo has the specs and some cool photos of the Vudu in action.

Related:
Vudu Casts Its Spell on Hollywood [The New York Times]
Exclusive Pics of the Vudu - Video Store In A Box [Gizmodo]