Tuesday, July 13, 2010
mSpot Streaming Rental Service Available for iPad
Posted by Joe Johaneman in "Apple Software (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad)" @ 07:30 AM
"mSpot provided a first for the iPad today as it officially launched mSpot Movies (free, App Store). The now universal app gives Apple's tablet the option of renting both current and vintage movies without having to store the videos locally, even with chapter markers and resuming. The newer service also works over 3G in addition to Wi-Fi and can auto-adjust the bitrate to keep the movie playing depending on the connection quality."
I installed mSpot on my iPad to take a look. They have a pretty good selection of movies. They also have a club model where you can pay a fixed cost every month and receive credits for a certain number of movies ($9.99 for 4 movie credits). Not all movies can be rented with credits however, due to "the restrictions of some movie studios." If you're a member of the club, you can still rent those movies, but you have to pay for them separate from the cost of your club membership. Movies cost between $2.99 and $3.99. mSpot works over 3g and Wi-Fi, and can adapt the resolution of the movie to fit your data connection. I watched a few trailers over Wi-Fi and wasn't impressed with the video quality, but the full movies might be better. If you've rented a movie from mSpot, what was the quality like?