Not to be too outdone by yesterday's news about the planned Wal-Mart digital movie download service, Time Warner is now planning to launch its own direct-to-DVD movie download service.

According to reports, this is in the "wait until next year" time frame.  TW also said it's pondering movie kiosks at Wal-Mart.

Seems to be it's about time the major motion picture studios woke up and smelled the coffee over the potential profits of direct-to-consumer downloads. And why oh why? does it always seem to take four months between theatrical release and DVD availability (and VHS I guess, still, too)?

Might be a good idea to give that timeframe some more thought -- bet there are plenty of consultants for hire (or hired already) that are trying to figure that out for the big boys ...