This is a must watch. Dal LaMagna, an EZTakes investor and board member, will appear on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" at 7pm Eastern Standard Time on Friday, May 27th, 2011.

Dal will discuss his recently-published book, "Raising Eyebrows: A Failed Entrepreneur Finally Gets it Right." At the time of this writing, the book has 17 five-star ratings (out of 17 total ratings) on Amazon.

You can buy Dal's book here. Don't forget to also check out Dal's Web site and watch the trailer.

The new EZTakes Download Manager

If you're an EZTakes customer who has recently made a purchase with an older version of our Download Manager, you may have received an email from us recently reminding you to upgrade the Download Manager.  If you have a version older than 2.5.1.20100422.1058 (the current version), you should upgrade now.  You can see the version number at the bottom of the Download Manager window, or in the top menu bar: Help -> About EZTakes Download Manager.

NB: On some older versions, the option "Help -> Check for Updates" may not work properly.  Even if the EZTakes Download Manager says it is up to date, if it is older than 2.5.1.20100422.1058, it is not up to date.

You can install the new Download Manager from the following URL:

http://www.eztakes.com/store/download/client/install_client.jsp

From there you can download an installer for your system (Windows or Mac).  Just download, close the old Download Manager if it's running, and start the installer.  When you start the installer, it may warn you that an EZTakes Download Manager is already installed.  You should proceed with the install anyway.  It will remove the old Download Manager and install the new one.

That's pretty much it, and you should now be running the latest and greatest version of the EZTakes Download Manager!

So, what's changed?  Well, the big one is the way you purchase films.  The new Download Manager does not accept payment or browse our catalog.  All purchases should now be made through our website.  For a variety of reasons, we decided not to keep duplicating the functionality of the website: most of our customers currently use the website, and we'd rather concentrate on improving one interface.  We also believe that the web interface is more convenient for a greater variety of customers, such as people using mobile devices, or operating systems that do not support the Download Manager.

Accordingly, if you are still using an older version of the EZTakes Download Manager, you should know that the payment functionality in older versions will stop working at the end of this month.  We expect to terminate the Download Manager payment system by May 27th, 2011.  Older versions of the Download Manager will become unsupported at that time.

The new Download Manager has a tab which shows you all of your purchases that are available for download as a DVD. It is easier to queue movies for download using this new version: just select "Download DVD" from the "Your DVD Purchases" tab, and the DVDs will appear in the "Now Downloading" tab, where you can freely change their download order.

Some customers have reported that older, already downloaded, purchases may start downloading upon opening the new Download Manager.  This usually occurs when the purchase has been downloaded and then deleted or moved away from the EZTakes download directory.  If the Download Manager should start downloading a movie from "Your DVD purchases" that you do not wish to download, simply navigate to the "Now Downloading" tab, select the movie, and click "Delete", above.  This will only stop the movie from downloading; it will not delete the movie from your account, or prevent you from downloading it again at a later time.

Also, please remember that our Download Manager only handles DVDs. If a movie is only available as an MP4 file, the Download Manager cannot download, show or play it. You can, however, download any of your purchased MP4s from our website.  The "Your Videos" page will show you all our your purchases, both DVDs and MP4s, with all download options:

http://www.eztakes.com/store/account/user/videos.jsp

Whew!  You should now be running the EZTakes Download Manager 2.5.1.20100422.1058!  Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments on the new Download Manager!

As I was leaving the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)  in Las Vegas this past weekend, I decided to risk missing my plane by visiting the Miniweb suite at the Hilton Hotel. And boy was I glad I did! Ian Valentine, Miniweb's Chief Architect and Founder, treated me to what was surely one of the best connected TV product demonstrations of the entire show. Miniweb has created woomi, which runs on Internet-enabled TVs and Blu Ray players. woomi provides a framework for monetizing video content by delivering video over the Internet directly to consumers' living rooms. Many industry-watchers (including yours truly), think the connected TV market is poised to explode in 2011.

EZTakes has worked closely with the folks at Miniweb for the past several months to make it possible for woomi users to easily get EZTakes' paid video on-demand (PVOD) titles. The relationship we have with Miniweb enables people to order movies through woomi (by using their TVs and remote controls). Then EZTakes streams those movies from our servers directly to those consumers' TVs. Since this really is the future, I'm excited to say that I just received an email from the Miniweb folks letting me know that woomi, and EZTakes' app within woomi, are live on Samsung TVs and Blu Ray players in the United Kingdom. We already have about 600 movies available via woomi, and we hope to get several thousand titles on the platform soon.

Congratulations to the Miniweb folks! We look forward to rolling out with them on Samsung and other connected TVs world-wide.

woomi, the new connected TV service from Miniweb Technologies, will allow access to EZTakes' paid video on-demand (VOD) titles to millions of viewers on next generation TV devices worldwide.

Northampton, MA - December 2010 - EZTakes, a leading Internet movie distribution company with a focus on art house, independent, classic and cult films, has signed an agreement with Miniweb Technologies that will allow EZTakes to sell or rent films through millions of Internet-enabled TVs featuring Miniweb's "woomi" application. The woomi service will launch in the United Kingdom next month, followed by a global rollout during 2011.

"In the near future, it will be difficult to buy a TV that doesn't have Internet connectivity," said Bill Clarke, COO of EZTakes. "woomi will make it possible for millions of consumers to pay for and enjoy our films simply by using a remote control, which we believe will dramatically increase revenue for our content partners and EZTakes," added Clarke.

Because woomi and other over-the-top (OTT) platforms represent the future of commercial video distribution, EZTakes has invested heavily over the past year in making its service compatible with platforms like woomi, Roku, Boxee and others. EZTakes' Simple Online Catalog Integration (SOCI) interface makes it possible for front-end providers to begin selling and renting EZTakes titles with less than 24 hours of systems integration work.

About EZTakes:

Since going live in 2006, EZTakes has been a leader in Internet movie distribution. By focusing on consumer needs, EZTakes has been able to create a stable and profitable business for both itself and its content partners. The company was founded by experienced executives that have a long track record of building highly successful companies by using new technologies to exploit business opportunities. EZTakes' catalog includes thousands of feature-length films of all genres, many of which won top honors at prestigious international film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin and Sundance. EZTakes' distribution channels include its Web site, mobile applications on Google's Android platform, and over-the-top offerings such as Roku, Boxee and Miniweb.

About woomi Miniweb:

woomi is a global, cloud-based, managed platform that allows content providers to reach millions of connected TV devices, and enhances the connected TV experience via a content-rich, TV-centric, user-friendly marketplace.  woomi enables content providers to easily distribute and monetise their programs with a customisable, branded platform that supports transactional and advertising revenue.  woomi gives viewers access to online video content with tools for easy navigation and consumption of online video, empowering the viewer with global search, recommendations, single payments, personalisation and community functions. It allows device manufacturers to offer a compelling, connected online video experience to their customers while benefiting from a recurring, ancillary revenue stream.  woomi is the consumer brand of Miniweb Technologies, the leading provider of cloud-based connected TV services.

Miniweb's Connected TV Services Platform enables converged broadcast and broadband entertainment on the TV, and has garnered substantial industry acclaim including TVB Europe Editors' Award Best of IBC 2009, Best Interactive Service/Application at IPTV World Series Award 2009, Pick Hit Award for Innovation at IBC 2008 and the Red Herring Europe 100 Winner 2008.

Website: http://www.miniweb.tv

A few months ago, EZTakes and Boxee entered into a formal relationship. Boxee provides an awesome cross-platform Home Theater PC (HTPC) application with a "10-foot user interface" (i.e., suitable for the living room TV) and an impressive array of social networking features, making it the first "Social Media Center." The Boxee software enables its users to view, rate and recommend content to their friends.

Starting this week, consumers who use the Boxee software can watch EZTakes' ad-supported movies via Boxee. The two companies jointly developed an interface to make that possible. This integration represents yet another step by EZTakes to enable consumers to enjoy its content on living room TVs, PCs, Macs and mobile devices.

The Boxee User Interface Supports EZTakes Titles.

In addition to Boxee support, EZTakes also provides a full Web interface, a paid video on-demand channel on the popular Roku media player and well over 300 "smart" video apps that are available on Google's Android Market. Our plan is to support rentals, purchases and subscription options on every important Internet video platform.

EZTakes has published over 300 movies on Google's Android Market. We make these movies "smart" by wrapping them in Android apps. If you own an Android-based phone or tablet, just start up the Google Market app and search for "eztakes" (you can leave out the quotes).

There are a number of cool things about our apps. First, we've built all of our apps using our patent-pending App Authentication Technology (AAT), which not only ensures that authorized customers use the app, but also enables any app purchaser to link their app to their EZTakes account. That way, if you buy a movie app that's available on the main EZTakes site (www.eztakes.com) as a DVD download or high-quality stream, then you can log into our main site from any computer to access the movie there. That's in addition to being able to watch it on your Android. And if you own a Roku player, you can get your Android purchases there as well by linking your Android app to the same EZTakes account you used to activate your Roku player.

Another great thing about our Android movie apps is that you can not only stream your movie directly to your Android, but you can also download it. That means you can play the movie even when you're off-line (i.e., no Internet access), such as when you're on a plane or a beach.

The "smarts" we've built into our movie apps also include the ability to email links to friends, provide us with feedback and post to Facebook. We'll be adding a lot more smart functionality to our movie apps in the near future. So, stay tuned. In the meantime, we hope you'll check out the following screen shots of our Android movie apps in action.

The above screen shots show the movie "Super Size Me" for sale via the Android Market (left); the interface for the "La Dolce Vita" app (center); and some of the additional features that we include in all our movie apps (right).

If you don't have an Android-based phone or tablet, we think it wouldn't be a bad idea to get one. We bought a bunch for testing and we're pretty impressed. And remember to search for "eztakes" in the Market!

Buy/Rent Using Your Remote

If you're not familiar with Roku, it's a set-top player that lets you watch movies over the Internet on your living room TV. Our first interface on Roku went live a couple of weeks ago. A few days ago we released a massive upgrade to our Roku app. Whereas before you could only "link" your Roku to your EZTakes account, now you can browse and/or search our entire catalog; preview movies; purchase and/or rent films by using your remote control; and manage your queue of purchases and rentals directly from your Roku player.

Starting at $49, Roku has a player for anyone's budget. Current models include: Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p, Roku 2 XS 1080p Streaming Player and Roku LT Streaming Player.

We're very excited about our Roku app since it's our first full-blown over-the-top (OTT) interface. Once you see how it works, we're sure that you'll agree that OTT is not only the way most people will get their long-form Internet video (i.e., over 20 or 30 minutes) in the future, but it's they way most people will get just about all of their long-form video soon.

To get a taste of what our Roku app looks like, check out the video below. It shows how you can browse genres and special collections, do a text search, rent a film by using a PIN, and manage your queue by moving titles to an "archive" folder.

Stay tuned. We plan to be doing a lot more with OTT platforms.

For Roku users:

• Instructions for setting up an EZTakes channel on your Roku player.

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Roku (coming soon).

For Media Organizations:

• If your organiztion is interested in having a custom-branded Roku channel, please read about our Roku-related professional services offerings.

EZTakes is now offering a combination of professional services and an optional off-the-shelf solution that can enable just about any organization to have its own custom-branded Roku presence at the lowest possible cost and in the shortest time-frame.

Over-the-top (OTT) video distribution is causing a great deal of excitement in the TV and movie industries. With OTT, you typically deliver films and TV shows directly to Internet-enabled set-top boxes. Any video content provider that wants to fully exploit the Internet MUST have an OTT plan. Part of that plan should be to support all of the important OTT platforms. And with over 500,000 set-top boxes installed, Roku is clearly an important player. That's why EZTakes developed an application for the Roku player, which Roku (the company) recently approved and added to its official channel store. Our Roku channel allows us to deliver our content directly to TVs owned by hundreds of thousands of Roku users.

Roku is a Leader in Over-the-Top (OTT) Video Distribution

EZTakes' "sweet spot" is to utilize our existing, and proven, back-end content delivery infrastructure to create customized, private-branded Roku channels for media companies. As an option, we can also provide the ongoing services to manage, upgrade and support the implementations we create, allowing our customers to achieve an industrial-strength Roku presence in the shortest period of time and at the lowest possible cost.

EZTakes is Listed in the Official Roku Channel Store

Our back-end is a comprehensive platform for monetizing long-form video on the Internet. It includes publishing work flow, content management, geo-filtering, pricing (for rentals and sales), security, server management, billing, customer service, revenue share accounting, reporting and more.

As a company, we have tremendous expertise in online video system implementation, including software development, Web site design, scalability issues, user testing and content encoding. Our areas of technical expertise include the Java programming language, MySQL database, Linux, Apache and Tomcat. We also have significant expertise using the Android Software Development Kit (SDK), having already developed and deployed about 100 video apps on the Google Market.

EZTakes has been in the Internet video industry since 2003. Our background allows us to offer our clients the benefit of unsurpassed domain expertise in online video. To learn more about how EZTakes can help you create a presence on Roku, contact us today.

IMPORTANT: All Roku channels must be approved by Roku. We can guarantee that we'll create a working channel, but it's 100% up to Roku to approve it or not.

Roku Media Player

Roku (www.roku.com) makes an elegant and inexpensive set-top player that lets you easily access videos from a lot of different companies via the Internet. If you own a Roku player, you should be able to watch your EZTakes purchases and rentals on it starting June 24, 2010.

Getting EZTakes movies on Roku involves two important tasks. First, activate the EZTakes channel on Roku, and then add EZTakes movies to your "My Videos" page on the EZTakes site, which will automatically add those movies on the Roku player as well. This post explains both of those tasks.

NOTE: If you've already activated EZTakes on your Roku player, please skip the next section, and go to "Adding Titles to Your EZTakes Channel on Roku" section below.

Activating EZTakes on Your Roku

To activate the EZTakes channel on a Roku player, please follow these steps:

1. On your Roku player, go to the My Channels section. You should see the EZTakes channel. Add the EZTakes channel by selecting "Go to channel." You'll be given an activation code along with instructions.

2. Go to http://www.eztakes.com/roku. You'll be prompted to login to your EZTakes account (or create one), and then enter the Roku activation code. You'll be notified automatically when the code is accepted.

3. After the code is accepted, your EZTakes channel will be active on your Roku player. You'll be given the option of adding free content. We recommend that you do that. Otherwise, you'll only see titles that you purchased, rented or got for free from EZTakes. Please see the section below to find out how to add movies to the "Your Videos" pages.

Adding Titles to Your EZTakes Channel on Roku

IMPORTANT: In order to watch EZTakes movies on a Roku player, you'll have to add them to your personal "Your Videos" section on the EZTakes site first.

The Your Videos section displays all the movies that you either rented, purchased or acquired for free from EZTakes. When you activate your EZTakes channel on a Roku Player, we'll give you the option to add some free titles right from the Roku player. To get more titles than that, however, you'll have to either buy or rent them on this site. Don't foreget to also check out our free movies section to see what else you can add to your EZTakes channel on Roku. To find more movies on EZTakes, we recommend you start at our featured movies page.

TIP: Whenever you add titles to the Your Videos section on EZTakes, you'll need to refresh the EZTakes channel on your Roku by exiting the channel and entering it again. We're working on a fix that we hope will make this unnecessary in the near future.

If you have any questions or problems, please don't hesitate to contact EZTakes support at: