New Vongo 2.0 Application Makes it Easier to Take Your Movies With You, Enjoy on Your PC, and Watch on TV

New Vongo 2.0 Application Makes it Easier to Take Your Movies With You, Enjoy on Your PC, and Watch on TV

Newly Certified Portable Devices Announced, Vongo Service Enhancements Implemented, More Support of Extenders for Windows Media Center Ushers in Next Generation for Movie Download Service

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Starz Entertainment announced today that the company has launched Vongo 2.0 with enhanced functionality and performance to create a more robust, smoother overall user experience for the broadband subscription movie and video download service. As part of Vongo 2.0, Vongo has expanded the number of certified portable media devices it supports by five to now include a total of seven different models from ARCHOS, Creative, and Toshiba. Movies downloaded are now also watched more easily on the TV with the announcement of new Vongo compatibility for several recently announced Extenders for Windows Media Center.

   (photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071023/LATU043)    Starz Puts More "GO" in Vongo  

Vongo has certified five new portable media devices as officially compatible with the Vongo service and which it will offer customer support. These include the ARCHOS 405 and 605WiFi and the Creative ZEN, ZEN Vision: M, and ZEN Vision W. Adding these five devices to the previously certified Toshiba gigabeat S and V series family of devices -- which Vongo continues to support -- brings the number of Vongo compatible portable devices to seven, with multiple models and versions of each.

"Since Vongo's inception, our goal has been consistently to provide an entertainment service and ecosystem that allows movie lovers to enjoy content on their terms," said Bob Greene, executive vice president, advanced services, Starz Entertainment. "We are listening continually to our passionate customer base. The top request voiced is the ability to watch our movies on the TV (see more below) and the next request was more choices for portable devices. Vongo 2.0 and the associated support for all of these new devices addresses many of these needs."

The certification of new portable media devices with the Vongo Internet movie and video download service expands the way consumers can enjoy the more than 2,500 movie and video titles available on Vongo, including first-run Hollywood blockbusters, anime, concert and extreme sports videos. Taking Vongo's robust subscription movie and video library beyond the PC through portable media devices allows Vongo users to become immersed in entertainment content anywhere from the comfort of their home to the hustle and bustle of a city subway. Vongo subscribers may register up to three devices, including PCs and the aforementioned portable media players, per account as part their $9.99 monthly subscriptions.

Multitask with Work and Entertainment on your PC

Starz is providing Vongo consumers with a thoroughly more convenient way to access and watch movie and video content. The new, enhanced Vongo application allows the user to resize and pin the Vongo video player in order to watch a movie or concert while doing other tasks on the PC. Vongo now also runs faster through better PC resource utilization and offers an updated recommendation engine to further personalize the service.

   -- Updated Personalized Recommendation Engine -- Enhancements to the Vongo      personal recommendation engine have made it easier for users to find a      movie they will enjoy by the genre with more recommendations listed.      Particularly appealing with Vongo's unlimited subscription model --      encourages sampling and experimentation.    -- Better Device Management Screen -- The updated Vongo device management      screen allows users to more easily swap out old registered devices with      new ones.    -- PC Speed and Efficiency -- Vongo now uses less memory, runs more      quickly, and taps less of the PC's memory and core operating resources.    

New Extenders for Windows Media Center Offer More Ways To Bring Vongo To the TV

Further enhancing how Vongo can be used by customers in the near future, the availability of new Extenders for Windows Media Center platform will allow individuals to play Vongo movies and videos on their TVs. Vongo content watched in one room from a Windows Vista or Windows XP-based PC can be streamed to any room in the house utilizing Extenders for Windows Media Center, as well as the Xbox 360.

New products featuring the Extender for Windows Media Center technology will be available shortly from companies such as D-Link Corporation, Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems Inc.; D-Link Corporation, and Niveus Media Inc.

Greene continued, "Wireless connectivity is a recipe for success in bridging the gap from the PC to the TV. Since January, the Xbox 360 has ably provided a successful solution to get Vongo movies and videos to the TV. These recently announced devices illustrate new ways Extenders for Windows Media Center can wirelessly bring Vongo to the TV. With Vongo and Extenders for Windows Media Center, our subscribers are empowered with the ability to enjoy movies from their comfort of their sofas, while the movies are downloaded to the PC."

About Vongo

Vongo subscribers have unlimited access to more than 1,000 movies and 2,500 total video selections as well as a live, streaming Starz TV channel for a monthly cost of $9.99. Select popular pay-per-view titles are also available for individual rental. In addition to Windows-based PCs, laptops and portable devices, Vongo subscribers can also stream their Vongo content onto a TV from the PC for optimal viewing with Extenders for Windows Media Center and the Xbox 360, or navigate Vongo and play their movies on the TV with a remote control and Windows Vista with Windows Media Center. Vongo is available as a free download for broadband subscribers in the United States, http://www.vongo.com/.

Starz Entertainment is the exclusive subscription television and broadband provider of first-run films from leading Hollywood studios including Walt Disney Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Overture Films, Revolution Studios, Miramax Films, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Pixar, TriStar, Screen Gems, Sony Classics and Warren Miller Films. Select first-run theatrical films from The Weinstein Company, IFC and Yari Film Group are also available for subscription television and broadband exclusively on Starz Entertainment services. A vast collection of classic and favorite titles are provided by a wide array of other Hollywood studios.

As one of the largest content aggregators in Hollywood, Starz Entertainment has access to thousands of theatrical films that it makes available on the Starz services and Vongo including The Pursuit of Happyness, Ghost Rider, Gridiron Gang, Scary Movie 4, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Da Vinci Code, Invincible, Disney and Pixar's Cars, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and The Illusionist.

About Starz Entertainment

Starz Entertainment, LLC, is a premium movie service provider operating in the United States. It offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz(R) and Encore(R) brands with approximately 16.1 million and 28.4 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies per month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz HD, Starz On Demand and Vongo(R). Starz Entertainment (http://www.starz.com/) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation that is attributed to Liberty Capital Group.

(C) 2007 Starz Entertainment, LLC. All product and company names and images herein are the property of their respective owners and are protected by applicable domestic and international copyright and trademark laws.

   Contacts:   Eric Becker                      Bryan Olender   Starz Entertainment              Brodeur for Starz Entertainment   (720) 852-4065                   (617) 587-2044   eric.becker@starz.com            bolender@brodeur.com  

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Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071023/LATU043
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: Starz Entertainment, LLC

CONTACT: Eric Becker of Starz Entertainment, +1-720-852-4065,
eric.becker@starz.com; or Bryan Olender of Brodeur, +1-617-587-2044,
bolender@brodeur.com, for Starz Entertainment

Web site: http://www.starz.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment