mSpot Beats Netflix To The Punch, Offers Web-Based Streaming Movie Rentals

Posted by Tyler Tschida on: September 29th, 2009, 10.02 am

mspot

If you are sick and tired of waiting for Netflix to “eventually” release their own iPhone app, you will be happy to hear that you already have another option and it’s called mSpot.  mSpot is now offering streaming movie rentals that are viewable on a variety of mobile devices, including the iPhone.

You can access mSpot Mobile Movies by simply heading to their website on your iPhone or iPod touch.  You will be able to rent movies individually for $4.99, or sign-up for their monthly subscription plan called Movie Club, which starts at $9.99 (four movies) and goes all the way up to $15.99 (eight movies) per month.  Not all movies are available through Movie Club, but those that are not included can still be rented for $4.99 each.  Rented movies will be viewable from anywhere between 24 hours and 5 days, depending on the movie.  During this time you will be able to watch your rented movie as many times as you wish.  Movies will launch within Mobile Safari.

Since mSpot’s movies are viewable over Wi-Fi AND 3G, they highly recommend an unlimited data plan, something us AT&T subscribers don’t even have to worry about since they force it upon us.  You are allowed to choose which connection type you will be using before viewing a movie, so the service can provide an appropriate level of buffering based on the speed of your connection.  At this time, movie rentals are only available in the US.  mSpot currently offers 350 movies from major production companies such as Paramount and Universal.  They are also offering a special of 15 free extra credits (about three movies) during the first month of your Movie Club membership.  Credits do expire if they go unused for one month, but there is no cancellation fee to leave the service.

So what do you think?  Are you willing to give mSpot’s new service a try while on-the-go, or is the price simply too steep?

[via TechCrunch]

3 Comments

  1. I don’t really see how this is any different (besides streaming) than just renting a movie from iTunes and loading it on to your phone. If I have to pay to view a movie I’d rather watch it on the native iPhone movie viewer than through a browser.

    I just have to download it at home first. I can’t see renting a movie for $5 on the fly then possibly only having 24-hours to watch it. What if I don’t finish it while on the train, bus, plane whatever? Hmmm….

  2. What if you get stuck overnight at an airport and you’ve already watched all of your preloaded iTunes movies. Being able to stream one could help prevent you from descending into flight delay madness.

  3. Orbmedia is a great little program you should get if you do a lot of traveling and tend to get stuck over night somewhere.

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