With the introduction movie rentals in the Android Market, Google is positioning themselves directly against Apple. Again. However, Google’s solution is usually less than elegant when it’s released, but renting movies from the Android Market is just about as easy as it gets.
If you’ve used the Android Market Webstore before, you’re already familiar with how you’ll go about renting movies. Just like the books tab that was added not long ago, a new tab for movies is now found on the Webstore. We’re still not sure just how large the movie catalog is, but we can imagine that more will begin to flood the Webstore very soon.
Renting a movie is painless, as all you need to do is sign into your Gmail account. Whatever credit card you have on file with Google Checkout will automatically appear, and you can use it instantly. While it’s likely some time away, we’d like to see carrier billing of some sort for renting movies.
Being a fan of B-rated horror, I decided to rent the movie Wolvesbayne (it’s pretty bad). The movie page is simple and to the point, and without many reviews available for movies at the moment, it looks like there could be a bit more going on. Of course, that will change as time goes on and more people begin to use the service.
To rent a movie, simple click the “Rent” option, and you’ll be taken to a window to choose what card you’d like to purchase the movie with, and finalize the order. After the order has been completed, you’ll return to the movie’s page, and instead of “Rent,” it now says “Play.” When you play the movie, a YouTube box will pop up and begin to play the film. While the option to watch the movie on a dedicated YouTube page is available, it will only play the first two minutes of the film, and will give you a link to rent it. Odd.
It’s really easy to get movies from the Android Market, and we can’t wait for the official application to land on mobile devices.
1.) Find your movie, click Rent
2.) Confirm Order
3.) Finalize Order
4.) Purchase Confirmation
5.) Click Play
6.) Enjoy.
