Instant DVD-Quality Downloads For North America

DVDs, eh?  What a waste of space.  You watch them, then you have to store them on a shelf or in a bucket.  Build up a big collection of the damned discs and say goodbye to your collection of porcelain cat figurines; you'll have a rack full of movies instead.  Wouldn't it be nice to be able to get a film on-demand, in full DVD quality, without needing to sacrifice your china kitties in the process?

Well, MatrixStream might just be your saviour, you feline-obsessed delinquent, with their MyTVPal set-top box.  Plug the Apple iTV-alike into your broadband connection and enjoy a variety of 720x480 resolution video, replete with AC3 sound, with no waiting around for it to download or even needing to go near your PC.  There's a downside, though; while they're aiming for "up to 100,000 DVD quality and High Definition video titles and producing a channel line-up that will range from 700 to 1000 plus channels", right now they best of their boasts amounts to 100 movie trailers, free to watch prior to the subscription service kicking off sometime this month.

If you're curious, you can try a free software player available on their site; it'll be interesting to see quite how many titles they have on offer come launch (and how many of those titles are bland dross that you wouldn't make your worst dog watch) and what price they set for subscription. 

MyTVPal [via eHomeUpgrade]