Wal-mart beat Apple to the internet movie download punch today as it unveiled a beta service that lets you purchase TV shows and movies online through their website. Apple does not yet have all of the movie studios onboard for their downloads through the iTunes store, and those may not be full resolution movies anyways.


Wal-mart is pretty vague about what kind of file it is, though they claim you can play it repeatedly.

As for the size, here's the info:

Available Movie Formats

PC Format: Recommended for our customers that do not own or intend to purchase a compatible portable video player. PC/Laptop videos can be played on a PC/Laptop or on the TV via a Windows Media Extender (e.g. Xbox 360) or through direct connection from a PC to a TV. Videos in this format have the highest image quality. Technical Specification: 640 X 480 maximum resolution, 30 fps, 1,500-1,700 kbps average bit rate. THIS FORMAT WILL NOT PLAY ON MOST PORTABLE VIDEO PLAYERS.

PC & Portable: Recommended for our customers that own or intend to purchase a compatible portable video player. This bundle provides the greatest flexibility providing you two files: one to play your on PC, and one for your portable players. This bundle requires approximately 30% more storage space and time to download as a stand-alone PC/Laptop format. PORTABLE BUNDLE FILES ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH iPODS.

Available TV Episode Formats:

Portable Format: Our TV episodes are optimized for fast downloads and viewing on the go. All TV shows can be played on both your PC/Laptop and compatible portable video players. Technical Specification: 320 X 240 maximum resolution, 30 fps, 500-810 kbps average bit rate. PORTABLE FILES ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH iPODS.

With all sorts of companies (from Netflix to iTunes to Wal-mart just to name a few) competing in the digital download space, the competition should be quite beneficial to us consumers!