Posted 08/25/08 at 12:17:02 PM by Paul Lilly

On the surface, things aren't looking very bright for Vudu, the IP-based streaming movie service. The company laid off 15-20 percent of its workforce, including Patrick Cosson, former VP of marketing. And if that weren't enough, dealers have been complaining that Vudu stopped answering voicemails and would only provide tech support through email.

But not to worry, says Mark Donnigan, national channel manager for Vudu. According to Donnigan, most of the allegations are wrong or misleading.  Donnigan claims that the layoffs were normal for a startup that has seen such rapid expansion, adding "we just have to figure out how to get back on track in terms of spending." And while dealers are complaining of email-only support, Donnigan insists that isn't the case.

CEPro has three pages worth of allegations and rebuttals, leaving it anyone's guess as to what's really going on behind closed doors. What's yours?

Update 8/25/08

Vudu just announced the hiring of Chris Watts, former Ebay financial exec, as Vudu's new CFO.

"Chris is going to play a critical role in developing financial strategies as we extend our retail presence, deepen relationships with AV resellers across the country, and expand the functionality of VUDU’s e-commerce platform,” said Mark Jung, CEO of VUDU. “Chris brings deep experience in translating business strategy into financial and operating plans and that will be immensely valuable to our company going forward.”

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hd, vudu, video on demand, layoffs

Posted 07/17/08 at 01:04:06 PM by Paul Lilly

This time last year, most of us would have predicted that Blu-ray and HD-DVD would still be going at it, but even with a victor now declared in the high definition format war, digital downloads and streaming content are ruling the roost, just as Michael Bay prophesized (minus the corporate conspiracy theory). Hoping to become king of the digital hill, Amazon.com is introducing a new online store of TV shows and movies.

What's that you say, Unbox isn't new? That's right, but this isn't Unbox. Amazon Video on Demand departs from the company's first attempt at offering a digital video download service, and this time around, customers will not be required to download special software to the watch programs they buy. And in another departure from Unbox, the new service will extend support beyond just Windows PCs and TiVo set-top boxes.

Find out what else Amazon Video on Demand brings to the table and when it will be available after the jump.

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windows, Software, movies, amazon, videos, tv shows, video on demand