CinemaNow Offers Mobile Ordering

Digital movie download service CinemaNow has launched a mobile service that lets customers view film trailers and order movies for home viewing via their mobile phone.

Digital movie download service CinemaNow has launched a . that enabled customers to view movie trailers on their mobile phones, as well as order movies to be watched later at home on their personal computers or televisions. The idea is to enable CinemaNow users to check out movies and make a rental or purchase decision when they’re away from home: when users purchase or rent a movie via the mobile service, it’s automatically downloaded to the user’s registered home PC or media center setup, and should be ready to watch by the time the user gets home.

The new CinemaNow mobile service is being driven by mobile video operator UvuMobile.

The service does not enable mobile users to watch full-length movies on their phone, although CinemaNow has said it plans to introduce just that sort of service in the future.

CinemaNow’s download service is compatible with Windows XP/Vista and Windows Media Player 10; depending on the title and conditions, users may be able to rent or buy movies, sometimes with the ability to burn them to DVD, although rented movies can’t be synced to portable players. Rentals are typically $1.99 and good for 24 hours once playback has started; movies typically cast between $9.99 and $14.99.