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Amazon Disc+ On Demand Lets You Stream Video of Purchased DVD, Blu-ray Disc

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I’m pretty sure this has been planned out a long time ago but it is only now that Amazon is launching this service. I’m talking about Amazon’s Disc+ On Demand service which lets you stream or download standard definition videos of DVD and Blu-ray Discs you buy from Amazon’s Video Store.

Disc+ On Demand currently has around 300 titles of DVD and Blu-ray movies which are for streaming or downloading. This is just a fraction of Amazon’s more than 330,000 DVD titles, so don’t expect to find most of the current movies that you’ve missed during their regular theater run. But for some older movies, Amazon’s Disc+ On Demand may probably have them already.

Of course, allowing its customers to download movies to their computer without some restrictions would be a little dangerous for Amazon. Hence, Amazon put up a long list of legal terms and conditions associated with the service.

Whether these will be enough to fend off legal issues remains to be seen and would depend on how far consumers are willing to take Amazon’s offering. Although this is not the first of its kind, it’s still good to know that Amazon is trying out something new to revive people’s interests on home video consumerism. That is despite the alternatives that consumers might take to satisfy their home video needs.

Amazon Disc+ On Demand is available for U.S. customers only.

Via NewTeeVee.

Originally posted on December 10, 2009 @ 5:38 am

Best Buy Shifts to Online DVD Movie Delivery

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For Best Buy, it’s better late than never. While online movie delivery is no longer a new thing, it’s  only now that the company more popularly known for selling DVDs has finally decided to start  embracing the current trend in the movie distribution industry – direct online streaming.

To do this, Best Buy is set to announce that it has teamed up with SonicSolutions for the use of its CinemaNow streaming technology.

[Read more…]

Originally posted on November 3, 2009 @ 7:21 am

Tesco to offer digital download service for customers buying DVDs

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tescoIn a move described as “next generation”, Tesco (UK retailer) and Microsoft have announced a new deal whereby customers buying selected DVDs from Tesco stores will be able to download a digital copy of the same film.

Using Microsoft’s Silverlight technology, and with the backing of major film studios, this digital copy will be downloadable to either PC or Mac, offering a “virtual DVD experience” and promising a range of additional features including auto-updating trailers, exclusive bonus content, online chat and related merchandising.

Yes, it’s mainly aimed at making the companies involved more money — expect copious links to Tesco’s music download service and other partner web sites. [Read more…]

Originally posted on September 9, 2009 @ 5:15 am