Beginning on Tuesday, Blockbuster's new service - 'Blockbuster On Demand' - can be ordered at blockbuster.com, allowing customers to download movies directly to their computer. The new digital media player will bring fewer, but more recent titles from the Internet to consumers' televisions than a six-month old offering from rival Netflix Inc.

Unlike Netflix's "Watch Instantly" feature, which streams movies to subscribers' TVs or personal computers, the Blockbuster on-demand service will be open to customers who do not subscribe to its DVD-by-mail service, Blockbuster Online.

The MediaPoint player by broadband device maker 2Wire allows Blockbuster customers to download high-definition quality movies to their TVs via broadband lines. The service will cost $1.99 apiece, after an initial $99 for the box and 25 films. The rental will be able to be saved for 30 days, and then 24 hours upon watching the film.

The new service is essentially a rebranding and expansion of Blockbuster's Movielink.com Web site, which offers about 10,000 on-demand movies for download to personal computers. Initially, about 2,000 of those titles - including recent DVD releases 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2' and 'Get Smart', will be available for download to TVs via Blockbuster OnDemand; and more titles would be added in the future.

According to a posting on Movielink.com, all its customers will be redirected to Blockbuster.com after December 15.

Blockbuster's CEO, Jim Keyes, said that Blockbuster also pursuing deals to package the new service with Blu-Ray DVD players and is considering alliances with video game console makers.