They're already offering UMD game rentals, so they do have the infrastructure in place.
The 3-inch DVD is a bit larger than a UMD with shell but significantly thinner.
From a technical standpoint, UMD addresses the content distribution dilemma that has plagued other portable video players.
As color reader, GM2000 suppport TXT, PDF, CHM, HTM, PDB, UMD formats, font change and TTS functions.
The bold Sony-of-Tomorrow, though, might dispense with UMD altogether and use that precious real estate for a hard drive.
Blockbuster has no projected availability, but their spokesperson gave me a spiel about it being dependent on what the distributors and movie studios decide about supporting the UMD format.
Engadget pal Dave Zatz delivers again with a special report for us about the prospects for renting UMD movies for Sony's new PlayStation Portable (several places have already rent UMD games).
While buying fully digital copies of games we already own is less than appealing, if Sony can implement something like the abandoned UMD-to-PSP Go "good will" plan, then there may be benefits for all.
Sony was certainly challenged to offer a way to deliver high capacity to its freshman portable gaming device, but the 1.8GB UMD must take at least some of the blame for the relatively slow load times for PSP.
However, as it gets easier (and cheaper) to use tools like the Neuros Recorder to get flicks onto the PSP, the already meager demand for films on UMD is likely to continue to dwindle, further discouraging retailers and studios.
More bad news for Sony's UMD format: after word last month that several studios were cutting back on UMD releases or dropping support for the format entirely, it now looks like the discs are about to lose coveted shelf space in America's largest retailer.
Information is also gathered on the kinds of products individuals purchase together (i.e. a PSP and a UMD in the same trip), and strategically located "POP" machines conveniently give detailed descriptions about scanned items to customers, while sneakily collecting data of its own for those oh-so-clever marketers behind the scenes.
After speaking with several companies it seems like everyone is in wait-and-see mode right now, they'd like to see what the market penetration of the PSP is first, whether the demand is there for UMD movies, and of course whether Sony is going to add support UMD drives to set-top boxes or the PlayStation 3.
This stirred a deeply (well, not that deeply) buried memory in the hive mind that is Engadget, and we hunted down a Sony ad that's run on Japanese TV recently, which shows popular magician Tomohiro Maeda messing with a couple of PSPs and demonstrating playing a networked game on them with a UMD inserted into only one.
ENGADGET: Multiplayer PSP games with one UMD to be a feature, not a hack?
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