Blockbuster, the company once synonymous with movie rentals, has been strangely absent from the digital download business. It’s been left to companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Netflix to build a movie rental/download business online.

But now, almost a year after acquiring movie download service Movielink, Blockbuster finally looks set to enter the fray. Although it remains a mystery why it took Blockbuster so long to do this after buying an out-of-the-box business designed for the job.

Blockbuster Movielink In Testing

According to The Dallas Morning News, Movielink has now been integrated in to the Blockbuster website, and 500 specially invited Total Access members are currently testing the service, this hints that existing members of BlockBuster’s DVD rental service will soon have access to video downloads too.

When the service fully rolls out in August, Blockbuster will charge $2 upwards for each movie rental and $8 upwards for each movie purchase, depending on age and popularity.

Serious Contender?

Movielink will not work with Macs, and it’s said to be tricky to watch the downloaded content on a TV, so for now at least, watching on a PC monitor seems to be the only option.

Blockbuster must now be counted as serious competition for Apple, Microsoft, Sony, CinemaNow, ZML, Netflix and Amazon all who have movie download services already established, or on their way. The question remains though: Is this too little, too late?

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