Movielink, who supply a selection of films over the Internet, has revamped its offering, aiming to make the service faster and more convenient to use.
Many in the industry have felt that the clunky, unfriendly service has been a big barrier to customers regularly using the service, and it is widely thought that the new features are many things that most customers would expect to be part of the service.
Where previously users had to watch the movie in one sitting, and the movie remove itself after that viewing. Version 1.0 will allow customers to rent a movie multiple times within a 30-day period without having to download again. It also gives users the ability to stop a movie, shut down the computer, then later resume viewing at the same point. Features that any PVR-savvy customer would expect.
The new software will also allow users to view the movie while it is still being downloaded, so that a user can begin watching a film within two to 10 minutes of starting a download – again, an expected feature. They claim to be adding new customers at a rate of between 10 percent and 20 percent a month.
So slowly, slowly the service is starting to improve. The service is not available outside the US.