Blockbuster to launch set-top streaming box

Blockbuster has been one of the slowest companies to innovate in the next-gen movie market, but the home video rental giant is supposedly taking a step forward later this month by unveiling its own set-top box for streaming films directly to TV sets.

This would put Blockbuster in direct competition with products such as Vudu and the Apple TV, which received a revamp earlier this year in light of disappointing sales, as well as a similar movie-streaming product by Netflix and LG.

Blockbuster’s device will likely be tied to the Movielink film download service that the company acquired last year for $6.6 million, which included rights to distribute some 6,000 movies. If anything, it’s interesting to see how this video rental behemoth is being pushed forward by the market into movie streaming, in order to pick up its ailing business at the risk of cannibalizing sales at their retail chain.