July 14th, 2009
Blockbuster OnDemand service comes to Samsung's TVs, Blu-ray players
Another day, another news item about a TV manufacturer and a streaming-video partner. Yesterday, Mitsubishi announced it was giving away a Vudu Box with the purchase of a TV (most models, at least) for the next month. Today, Samsung and Blockbuster have revealed a partnership to bring the Blockbuster OnDemand online movie service to Samsung’s networked HDTVs and Blu-ray players this fall.
While it’s another feather in Samsung’s Internet-services cap, the deal probably means more to Blockbuster, which has whiffed with its attempt to sell a player, the 2Wire MediaPoint, that ran Blockerbuster OnDemand and has to compete against Netflix’s on-demand service as well as Amazon Video On Demand.
The service will be available with new Samsung connected TVs and Blu-ray players at some point in the fall, while consumers who’ve already purchased those devices can get access to Blockbuster OnDemand either through a firmware update (Blu-ray devices) or by downloading the Blockbuster widget (TVs). The service will have “preferred positioning” on the Blu-ray interface, though it remains to be seen what that exactly entails.
Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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