Welcome to the MOD blog!

Welcome to the first-ever "MOD blog" post.

It’s hard to believe it’s the mid-point of 2010! Our team has been heads-down working on several new initiatives that we’re really proud of and excited to share with you. Today, we’re launching two new websites, this blog, and drum roll… our first nationwide rollout of our digital download kiosk solution for retailers. (More about that in a bit.)

You may remember that consumers can use the self-service kiosks to quickly download movies, TV shows and music to SD memory cards, USB drives and portable devices. Needless to say, it’s been a major undertaking. And while there’s much more to do, it's time to let you know what else is going on behind the scenes.

First, about this blog. We're excited to communicate directly with our customers, partners, media, staff, friends, and family—anyone who has been following us over the years. It is our new go-to place for announcing company news, as well as updates about customers, products, studios, events, and more. Of course, it'll include personal musings about industry developments and announcements. Several MOD folks will be adding their insights too to give you a wide view of thoughts and perspectives. But most importantly, we can’t do this alone—we look forward to, and count on, your feedback on these activities.

You’ll notice we launched a new MOD Systems website. It's aligned more closely with our corporate values, reflects the evolving nature of our solution, and showcases several new products, capabilities and features.  In particular, you’ll want to check out:

• The Download2Go kiosks with the new user interface. We've been working with our partner NCR to sculpt a kiosk structure that gives retailers flexibility in deploying in their retail stores and consumers the best self-service experience for searching, downloading and purchasing digital entertainment.
• The "Now Playing" section shows a daily update of what movies and other content is currently available from the kiosks. Right now, there are thousands of movies, including new releases like Blind Side and Fantastic Mr. Fox, as well as classics like Wizard of Oz and Pink Panther.
• We have a Resource Center that aggregates helpful tools, demos, collateral and so on. Be sure to watch an interview I did recently with William Shatner about the state of the entertainment industry and how MOD Systems is leading the transformation to digital downloads in retail. Pretty cool chat with Captain Kirk, I have to admit. We’ll be adding to the collection here frequently.

We’ve also introduced GreenPlay—a new digital video format supported by Hollywood studios for storing secure video content from a kiosk on an SD memory card. You can read all about it on http://www.GreenPlay.net, including finding PCs and other devices that play movies in GreenPlay format. If you’re a consumer electronics device manufacturer, you’ll want to ensure your devices play video in GreenPlay format. To help you get started, we’ve created a certification process, SDK, and much more. Check out the site and let us know what you think.

And finally, more about our nationwide rollout. Based on the positive customer feedback from our technical trials at select Blockbuster and Hollywood Video stores, we’re bringing digital entertainment to airport travelers. This month, we’re underway with our first major deployment at InMotion Entertainment stores.

For the millions of airport travelers hopping on a plane with their laptop, you’re about to have a much more enjoyable flight. You can watch the latest new release movies, TV shows, or favorite classics purchased or rented from our kiosks at InMotion stores. The next time you’re in the airport, check out the InMotion store. If the kiosks are not there already, they will be soon.

We continue to be highly engaged with the studios, labels and other content providers, as well as device manufacturers, retailers, and many industry associations. Together, we’re jump-starting consumer adoption and the use of digital download kiosks in retail.

I’ll be writing more about some of these developments over the coming months, as things are moving very quickly.

Until then,

Anthony