According to ObjectCube CEO Jay Janarthanan, the software provides an easy-to-use solution for studios and VOD companies.
“All they have to do is take a DVD from the shelf, use our software to create an image, and from that image they create a downloadable format,” Janarthanan said. “You get all the menus and chapters and everything you would on a regular DVD, but without all the re-encoding. It’s the next step in technological evolution.”
Studios and VOD companies will be able to set the terms and conditions of the download based on their own needs and preferences, Janarthanan said.
In other words, users can be restricted from burning more than a single copy of a title, or the download-to-DVD feature can be disabled after 30 days of the title’s release, for example.
For Janarthanan, the download-to-DVD service will serve as a temporary solution to satisfy the growing user appetite for movies online.
“There are a lot of things happening in the next few years,” Janarthanan said. “You’re going to have set-top box players with Internet connections, and you’ll be able to download movies onto your hard drives. But until that happens in the U.S., this is a great substitute for the next two or three years.”
ObjectCube recently launched version 6 of its Download Manager application, which allows users to download large movies at speeds higher than those allowed by many browsers.