CinemaNow and Rovi launch beta at home D2D service

[dawgyjay]

I had an issue mid-afternoon yesterday trying to buy some movies with CN and somehow I got a free movie out of the deal. At least I think I did. I was trying to buy like 4-5 movies one of which was Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World. None of my attempts were successful and later I noticed that the movie was in my UV locker as acquierd from CN. It shows up in VUDU but the weird thing is it doesn't show up in my CN library.

I was trying to use the CN credit I got from Ebay and that total didn't go down. There is a pending charge on my charge account from BB US for $1. I guess that could somehow be it but I'm hoping it's not. If it is I wonder why just that movie would have been charged to my CC and none of the others I was trying to buy were. Also weird that it wouldn't have come out of my credit balance like it did when I later got an order to go through. I also didn't get an e-mail from them with my purchase receipt like I did with the other orders I made. Does CN have a purchase/redemption history? I couldn't find it.

Anybody else have this or something similar happen yesterday?

[madmod20061]

Originally Posted by dawgyjay

I had an issue mid-afternoon yesterday trying to buy some movies with CN and somehow I got a free movie out of the deal. At least I think I did. I was trying to buy like 4-5 movies one of which was Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World. None of my attempts were successful and later I noticed that the movie was in my UV locker as acquierd from CN. It shows up in VUDU but the weird thing is it doesn't show up in my CN library.

I was trying to use the CN credit I got from Ebay and that total didn't go down. There is a pending charge on my charge account from BB US for $1. I guess that could somehow be it but I'm hoping it's not. If it is I wonder why just that movie would have been charged to my CC and none of the others I was trying to buy were. Also weird that it wouldn't have come out of my credit balance like it did when I later got an order to go through. I also didn't get an e-mail from them with my purchase receipt like I did with the other orders I made. Does CN have a purchase/redemption history? I couldn't find it.

Anybody else have this or something similar happen yesterday?

I had that happen the first day they added UV to Cinemanow. I was trying to use credit to pay for Alien Vs Predator and it wouldn't go through. I had no credit card in my account. I checked UV later and it was there twice. My balance did not go down though and there was no credit card to charge.

[rdodolak]

Appears UVVU.com is still down ... going to guess they're also affected by the Amazon Web Services (AWS) server problems that have been affecting Netflix.

[seregloth]

Yeah, I've ended up with a couple free titles from CN, where it errors out with the D2D program or in purchasing, and then SOME of them (but not all) have ended up in my UV locker and VUDU.

[rdodolak]

There's a newer version of the CinemaNow/Rovi player available. Not sure when this first became available since one of my computers notified me of the update on startup where as the other did not.

Old Version: 2.6.0.0 Build: 250B58A
New Version: 2.7.0.0 Build: 250B70A

[AreaUnderTheCurve]

You all would be better off just going to Walmart instead of dealing with beta software.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by AreaUnderTheCurve

You all would be better off just going to Walmart instead of dealing with beta software.

IDK, I haven't had issues, it was more convenient, and I saved money compared to going to WM.

[AreaUnderTheCurve]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

IDK, I haven't had issues, it was more convenient, and I saved money compared to going to WM.

Have you been able to get HD titles during the upgrade?

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by AreaUnderTheCurve

Have you been able to get HD titles during the upgrade?

If you mean by purchasing a HD version then yes. If you meant redeeming a blu-ray copy for the HD version then no since it's currently DVD only right now.

[AreaUnderTheCurve]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

If you mean by purchasing a HD version then yes. If you meant redeeming a blu-ray copy for the HD version then no since it's currently DVD only right now.

This is why it's useless. I have zero DVDs and I want some of my BDs to be available for streaming. It's better to just put them in the queue on Vudu and go to Walmart.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by AreaUnderTheCurve

This is why it's useless. I have zero DVDs and I want some of my BDs to be available for streaming. It's better to just put them in the queue on Vudu and go to Walmart.

Thus in your case it's better to go to WM. I have an extensive DVD collection so the CN beta app benefited me. In addition, I took advantage of the CN code sale so my D2D HD conversions only costed $1/ea out of pocket.

I'm hoping CN opens up their D2D program to blu-ray after the beta period ends.

[tomasmas22]

This guy has amazing deals!!!! Why ever buy a movie? This guy is my savior!!!! thank sweet baby jesus for daranman!!!!

[ghostbobb89]

I gotta say, I was pretty impressed with CinemaNow. I tried it on my Bourne DVDs and paid the $2 to add the UV copies to my library. Pretty cool. I didn't have to go to Walmart, and get tax charges, and I didn't have to get the Bourne steelbooks from Target, just to finally get the UV versions. Pretty nice.

[tsken02]

I've had trouble with CinemaNow too. I travel full-time, so I need my content downloaded. I have the usual combination of personal iPad and company issued Dell Laptop as most travelers. If I'm spending money on movies now, I want them to be in HD.

First movie I tried was Dave. I purchased the HD version right after the beta went live. I could not download HD from them to my laptop, since I don't have an Intel CPU. My UV locker only received the SD license. I tried using the CN iPad client, but it kept crashing on the download. CN has now issued a refund, but the movie still shows in my UV locker. I have no licenses to play it, but it's stuck there.

This weekend, I noticed there is a new version of the software, so I gave them another try. I saw reported elsewhere gift cards could be used, so I put one into my account. I tried Risky Business in HD. No, it didn't use the gift card. Still, CN won't let me download to my PC, since it's not Intel. Even though I did receive both HD and SD licenses, CN has restricted the license in my UV locker to download of SD version only. VUDU shows HDX license, with a small message "This title is viewable on PC/Mac in SD only." CN iPad client says "HD Download is unavailable". Flixster doesn't yet support iPad HD.

My earlier experience with Wal-mart was much simpler. I was hopeful that the at-home option with CN would work, but it seems it's not yet ready for the type of access to HD content I need.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by tsken02

I've had trouble with CinemaNow too. I travel full-time, so I need my content downloaded. I have the usual combination of personal iPad and company issued Dell Laptop as most travelers. If I'm spending money on movies now, I want them to be in HD.

First movie I tried was Dave. I purchased the HD version right after the beta went live. I could not download HD from them to my laptop, since I don't have an Intel CPU. My UV locker only received the SD license. I tried using the CN iPad client, but it kept crashing on the download. CN has now issued a refund, but the movie still shows in my UV locker. I have no licenses to play it, but it's stuck there.

This weekend, I noticed there is a new version of the software, so I gave them another try. I saw reported elsewhere gift cards could be used, so I put one into my account. I tried Risky Business in HD. No, it didn't use the gift card. Still, CN won't let me download to my PC, since it's not Intel. Even though I did receive both HD and SD licenses, CN has restricted the license in my UV locker to download of SD version only. VUDU shows HDX license, with a small message "This title is viewable on PC/Mac in SD only." CN iPad client says "HD Download is unavailable". Flixster doesn't yet support iPad HD.

My earlier experience with Wal-mart was much simpler. I was hopeful that the at-home option with CN would work, but it seems it's not yet ready for the type of access to HD content I need.

The "This title is viewable on PC/Mac in SD only." is a studio restriction imposed on the retailers. So, even though some titles can be streamed in HD the studio won't allow the title to be downloaded in HD to a computer.

[madmod20061]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

The "This title is viewable on PC/Mac in SD only." is a studio restriction imposed on the retailers. So, even though some titles can be streamed in HD the studio won't allow the title to be downloaded in HD to a computer.

That's a message Vudu gives. Cinemanow won't let you stream HD at all unless you have an Intel chip in your computer.

[tsken02]

Originally Posted by madmod20061

That's a message Vudu gives. Cinemanow won't let you stream HD at all unless you have an Intel chip in your computer.

Interesting the studio restriction would apply to CN, but not Vudu. I have no problem streaming and downloading the same movies in HDX from VUDU. Sounds more like CN has a marketing deal with Intel.

[hqn102]

Originally Posted by tomasmas22

This guy has amazing deals!!!! Why ever buy a movie? This guy is my savior!!!! thank sweet baby jesus for daranman!!!!

havent seen him with his deals anymore, wanted to pick up more movies

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by madmod20061

That's a message Vudu gives. Cinemanow won't let you stream HD at all unless you have an Intel chip in your computer.

I realize the quoted message is the Vudu specific message but I was simply requoting tsken02. The same principle applies though regardless of how the message is stated.

Originally Posted by tsken02

Interesting the studio restriction would apply to CN, but not Vudu. I have no problem streaming and downloading the same movies in HDX from VUDU. Sounds more like CN has a marketing deal with Intel.

You mentioned you were seeing the "This title is viewable on PC/Mac in SD only." message which is a specific Vudu message. This implied you were having issues on both CN and Vudu.

I have some times which stream in HDX but are unavailable to download to a computer in HD on both Vudu and CN; this SD limitation is a studio limitation. Yes, I do have an Intel based computer.

If you can download on Vudu in HD but not on CN then that's a different issue altogether.

[dawgyjay]

Originally Posted by madmod20061

I had that happen the first day they added UV to Cinemanow. I was trying to use credit to pay for Alien Vs Predator and it wouldn't go through. I had no credit card in my account. I checked UV later and it was there twice. My balance did not go down though and there was no credit card to charge.

I think this is a glitch and I think it could basically be a way to get free movies from CN in your UV locker. I think if you click "place my order" and then hit the back button on your browser it will end up in your UV locker but it won't go through as a purchase on CinemaNow. I hit the back button as the blue wheel was spinning. The movie ended up in my UV locker but it wasn't a processed transaction on CN's end. I didn't try it with a second title but it probably explains why some of us have gotten free movies with "failed transactions."