Intel Launching HD Movie Service With WiDi 2.0

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Intel is getting into the entertainment side of things.

Along with the Sandy Bridge CPUs unleashed earlier, Intel also has its second generation of Wireless Display, or Wi-Di 2.0.

With its new graphics technology, Intel is getting into the media game with an Intel Insider program with arrangements with CinemaNow, Dixons Retail, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, Image Entertainment, Sonic Solutions, and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.

To show this feature, Intel VP Mooley Eden used a clip from the feature film Inception from Warner Bros. and demonstrated how easy it would be to get the movie from CinemaNow and watch it in full 1080p HD on a laptop. Eden then demonstrated how consumers can also use Intel WiDi 2.0 to beam content like Inception to their big screen HDTVs.

Through Intel's control of the hardware, the chipmaker is better able to create a DRM scheme that should be more appealing to content providers. This will hopefully mean more digital downloads the same date as DVD/Blu-ray releases. Commercial distribution of HD premium content using the Intel Insider technology is expected to begin during the first quarter of 2011.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
15 Comments Comment from the forums
  • coldtortilla
    So in order for people to notice this service intel is going to add more bloatware to new computers? Dam you intel, just stick to making processors!
    Reply
  • joytech22
    Intel's only good at one thing: CPU's.

    If they start a content delivery system they "Might" catch on but that's a pretty big IF.

    There are already enough content systems out there, like FixPlay (free tv), and a bunch of other places which i don't know of because i buy my movies from the store rather than buy them online.
    Reply
  • 2real
    what if i own an amd cpu?
    Reply
  • Randomacts
    2realwhat if i own an amd cpu?It won't be able to stream the video fast enough so you will get constant buffering.
    Reply
  • dEAne
    Well this is good news we will be able to stream HD video on the web, hopefully without pause.
    Reply
  • alyoshka
    Hog wash, the GPU infused is capable of not too much..... just a better basic onboard VGA.....
    Basically they'll be (Intel) will be getting royalty for it's GPU so as to do away wit paying royalty t other GPU chip makers..... so it's the same crap just manufacturers changed.....
    So now you have a CPU that's going to have it's so called GPU so the load on the CPU is still going to be high.
    I really can't understand the point of it, instead of having utilized that space for more ondie memory or more cores and threads they have come up with this bullshit of having an ondie GPU which is basically good enough only for laptops or net tops and the most basic of computing.
    Reply
  • td854
    I'd like some WiDi on my Phone instead.
    Reply
  • rbarone69
    alyoshkaHog wash, the GPU infused is capable of not too much..... just a better basic onboard VGA..... Basically they'll be (Intel) will be getting royalty for it's GPU so as to do away wit paying royalty t other GPU chip makers..... so it's the same crap just manufacturers changed.....So now you have a CPU that's going to have it's so called GPU so the load on the CPU is still going to be high.I really can't understand the point of it, instead of having utilized that space for more ondie memory or more cores and threads they have come up with this bullshit of having an ondie GPU which is basically good enough only for laptops or net tops and the most basic of computing.
    You fail to realize that the largest segment in the consumer space is laptop and low end desktops...

    So yes, this was a very good business choice by Intel. AMD is doing the same exact thing.

    Not everyone is like you and I with a need for high end GPUs for gaming or work. We're actually the minority.

    Did you know that Intel is currently the largest graphics chip mfg in the world? Intel integrated graphics has about 50% market share across the board with integrated graphics dwarfing the discrete market.

    Laptop segment has about 2.5x integrated vs discrete chips.


    So again... YES, this is a good move for Intel and it will make the majority of people happier with this product... Business man and grandma do not buy laptops based on graphics power... But htey will bitch and complain when they cant watch a movie because the power isnt there...


    Reply
  • mister g
    They already tried the DRM scheme with HDCP (High Definition Content Protection, sounds like HD videos doesn't it?). It was cracked last year, this is probably why Intel wasn't rushing to try and nullify the hack; not because they don't beleive in DRM.
    Reply
  • jaybus
    Why would anyone think Intel can only do CPUs? What about their networking chips? Motherboard chip sets? Centrino? SSDs? RAID controllers? GPUs are maybe the only thing they haven't done well.

    Intel knows that high end PCs and servers are not the only target. Putting things like GPU, hardware DRM decryption, hardware codecs, etc. on-die is targeting the tablet and set top box market. Hardware DRM decryption would allow for a much tougher DRM that could still be used with low end hardware. That is, I'm sure, to get the content providers to release digital content earlier. The advantage is that they get content way before other services do. Could work.
    Reply