MSpot claims that it is the first company to offer an online streaming movie service with a mobile component.

The movie service instantly streams full-length movie rentals to customers? PCs and mobile phones. Consumers can switch between both devices as they pick up and leave off throughout a movie.

?The way we see mobile, especially as it pertains to entertainment, is that it is a change in lifestyle,? said Daren Tsui, CEO of mSpot, San Francisco. ?We used to be stuck in front of our PC to enjoy visual entertainment.

?We see mobile as a very life-changing important trend,? he said. ?It allows folks to not be tethered ? that?s the big trend that we believe in and this is just the beginning to this trend.

?For the first time now, you?re able to rent a movie, watch it on your PC, take it with you and watch it on your mobile phone ? this is a new way consumers are going to consume entertainment content.?

MSpot is a mobile and PC entertainment company that delivers music, movies, radio and TV.

The service is available on over 50 different handset devices including iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm, Android and Windows Mobile phones.

The company has licensing agreements with major movie studios, including Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Disney-ABC Domestic Television, Image Entertainment, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures and Screen Media Ventures.

Consumers can user their credit card to rent and stream individual movies for $4.99 each. Additionally, they are invited to join the monthly movie club.

The company is currently focusing on the new releases. It claims that a majority of movies that users watch are new releases.

Movies galore
MSpot launched approximately 1,000 films on their sites that are available for viewing and plans to announce additional content partners this year to expand its catalog.

Some of the new movie releases include ?Inglourious Basterds? and ?Couples Retreat.?

Users can also watch old classics such as ?Grease,? ?Top Gun? and ?Fatal Attraction.?

Consumers have a 24-hour viewing window period before their film expires.

In addition, they can rewind, fast-forward and go through different chapter stills.

The service has a single sign-on process and it remembers where consumers left off so that they can resume the movie at the exact scene.

?Our service is at the mercy of how good wireless networks are,? Mr. Tsui said. ?The networks are improving very quickly.

?We elected to go the streaming route first,? he said. ?Even though there are some spotty networks, there is still good user download.

?Streaming gives you instance access, and we?ve also done focus groups and user surveys.?

Mobile streaming
The company also streams television shows, but its main focus is movies. MSpot is experimenting with an Apple iPhone application which will focus on horror films.

Plans call for an Android application launch in the future.

?Some of the challenges for us is that every single movie has different encodings to support different platforms,? Mr. Tsui said. ?There is a different encoding on each phone.

?In the area where you have 4G, it just really works well,? he said. ?It is still a problem today, but it is going to be resolved soon.

?In the event that you want to watch something on the airplane, there is a buffer and we can take care of spotty issues.?