Uniloc.com Tests ""Promising"" For ""Try Before You Buy"" Video For DVD Format On PCs

4-May-00

Uniloc.com, Inc., a pioneer distributor of digital contents, including software, music, video and books, announced plans to develop a ""try-before-you-buy"" version of its technology that will allow consumers to rent or buy video products in DVD format for use on their PCs.""Initial tests of this capability are very promising,"" said Ric Richardson, founder, patent inventor and CEO of the Huntington Beach, California firm. ""With a decent cable or broadband connection, as many as two to three of the most popular recent video titles can be downloaded onto a PC overnight.""Unilocís patented ""unlocking"" technology, called the Uniloc Demorizer, already allows consumers to receive the most popular software on standard PC storage media (CDs, DVDs and hard drives). They can try the titles free for a limited time, then make their purchases using a secured e-commerce transaction directly with a Uniloc retail partner. The contents are then permanently ""unlocked"" on the consumerís PC and full shrink-wrapped copies also are shipped from the retailer.The Demorizer tool is designed to use the DVD-Video standard MPEG4 files and allow downloading of full-screen, 30-frame DVD-Video during overnight or non-viewing hours, he said.Preliminary testing of the ""try-before-you-buy"" DVD tool includes timed consecutive and non-consecutive viewing and intermittent ""taste tests,"" Richardson added. ""These trial methods will enable consumers to view up to 14 minutes of a movie starting anywhere in the film, or a combination of smaller samples from the throughout the film for a total of 15 minutes per day,"" he said.Richardson said he anticipates that up to 48 consecutive hours of viewing will be offered to customers for the same rental rate they are charged today - without the need to return the video to the retailer.In addition, consumers will be offered a permanent ""unlock"" of the video, along with a full DVD copy of the title, for the normal sale price of the DVD, and it can be delivered to the nearest participating video retailer or directly to the consumer for an additional shipping charge.Uniloc.com is an international patent holder for the proprietary electronic software delivery system originally developed in Australia for music applications. Subsequent successful partnerships with IBM, Ziff-Davis and other major players in the PC industry have attracted worldwide business opportunities for the company founded in 1992. According to Richardson, the companyís marketing efforts include distribution of its ""TITLEwave Of Software"" disks with Family PC Magazine, PC Magazine and other high-circulation national and regional publications.