Netflix. Schmetflix. ‘Tis the season to have some good old fashioned CE competition!

Blockbuster just announced plans to put the pedal to the metal on its own set-top box, which would allow on-demand movies. Welcome to 2008, fellas. Home Media Magazine says that the retailer is using the Movielink service to deliver the goods. This comes on the heels of multiple announcements from Netflix, who is working with manufacturers such as Samsung, Roku and Microsoft, to deliver on-demand entertainment in a branded set-top. We’re not even counting things like VUDU or Apple TV, either.

Could Blockbuster break the mold? Who knows? It’s hard to get excited or even interested; Blockbuster didn’t give any other info, such as a price, manufacturer, or an actual delivery date.

Maybe they are busy. After all, this isn’t the only Blockbuster project in the works. The company is working on pricing models, as well as “a Blockbuster-branded widget on Intel-manufactured chips imbedded in IPTV monitors.”

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.