All In the Family Room

The explosive growth potential for movie downloads lies in the move from the computer to the living room. There are four paths this pilgrimage can take.
The first, downloading files over the Internet and burning them to DVD for playback on the living room DVD player, may grow into a serious contender, though it seems unlikely the studios will choose to cannibalize their retail disc business any time soon.

Downloading to your computer and streaming the movies to your TV over your home network is a more promising path, though not without hiccups. The best solution in this area has been the Xbox 360, which incorporates media streaming from networked PCs along with its zombie-slaying, race-car-driving goodness.
The system works well, with easy-to-use menus and acceptable picture quality, even over high-speed (802.11g or 802.11n) wireless networks.

Apple now offers its own twist on media-streaming functionality with the new Apple TV box. This $299 network-connected accessory works with both Macs and PCs. It takes the content from your computer-based iTunes library, stores a fresh copy on the built-in 40-gigabyte hard drive, and makes it available on your TV set. Of course, you are limited to movies sold by iTunes, and you have to pay nearly as much for this single-purpose box as you do for the multi¬function Xbox 360.

The third option is to connect a PC to your TV, which became more appealing with the launch of Windows Vista. Unlike the earlier Media Center PC implementation, which required the XP Media Center Edition of Windows, a freshly polished edition of the full-screen Media Center experience is included in all home versions of Vista, enabling consumers to watch and record TV with a PC tuner (built-in or USB) and even receive high-def cable programming via CableCARD.

Vongo and MovieLink are also built into Media Center, and the other services are compatible with Vista.

Next: MovieBeam