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Classic 'Speed Racer' Toons Online Available for Downloading Date: 3/27/2008 |
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Crunchyroll and Speed Racer Enterprises have announced a strategic digital video partnership that will bring the classic 1960s Speed Racer anime series from Tatsunoko Productions to audiences around the world through a combination of Crunchyroll's ad-supported, subscription and download-to-own video services. Fans from across the globe will soon be able to watch streamed episodes of the Speed Racer anime in an ad-supported environment with new episodes added to the mix at regular intervals. In the download-to-own service, which is not yet operational, customers will be able to download near-DVD quality individual episodes or digitized box sets that will come with special digital "extras". The downloads will not include Digital Rights Management (DRM) elements, which means that customers will have the freedom to manipulate the material in order to play back their episodes on their computers, iPods or PS 3's. Taken together with Gonzo's recent announcement (see "Gonzo Series Available for Download") that it is experimenting with download-to-own and streaming video of new anime series simultaneously with Japanese broadcast, it is clear that the next generation of commercial video delivery is already here, albeit in a very limited form. Don't expect hardware, such as the 10cm DVD disk, to disappear anytime soon. Computer-to-TV interfacing is still in its developmental phase and is currently too complicated for all but the most technical savvy, and the vast majority of American broadband connections are not fast enough for quick downloads of DVD-quality movies to say nothing of hi-def. But these are all problems that can be solved in a variety of ways, and it is clear that the handwriting of the new digitally downloaded era is appearing (however faintly) on the wallscreen. |
| Source: ICv2 |
