CNET
News is reporting on a new company called PortoMedia that claims it has a
better idea on distributing movies rather than on disk or even on the Internet.
Rather the company would have
kiosks with movies stored on a hard drive that
people could go to to pay and transfer movies to a Flash memory card or portable
hard drive. The key to the service is a proprietary USB interface that
transfers data at a faster average rate than standard USB devices. A
standard-definition movie can be loaded onto a memory device in 8 to 60 seconds,
depending on the length and chip speed. High-definition movies, which won't be
available initially on the service, can be downloaded in 18 to 45 seconds. The
USB interface works just fine with the USB slots on PCs and notebooks. The
company plans to officially launch the service in four unnamed US cities
sometimes later this year and claims it has the support of several of the major
movies studios.