November 28th, 2006
Wal-Mart Joins the Video Download Gang
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
It wasn’t that long ago that Amazon.com launched their “Unbox” video download service, and now another biggie joins the mix: Wal-Mart.
The service is only beta, and for now, restricted to Superman Returns. It’s also not a download-only site, but one that allows you to get an extra, downloaded copy, after purchasing the DVD.
Starting Tuesday, when customers purchase the disc from Wal-Mart, they will be able to choose from one of three options for a digital copy: $1.97 for a download formatted for portable devices, $2.97 for one that’s compatible with computers, and $3.97 for one that works on both portable devices and PCs. Then, upon returning to their computers, buyers of the Superman Returns bundled DVD can enter a redemption code on Wal-Mart’s beta video download site and obtain the digital version.
Wal-Mart hopes to eventually expand this service to more DVD-digital download packages, as well as to standalone downloads of movies and TV shows in the coming months. Source: News.com
We Say: Amazon’s “Unbox” software wasn’t given very positive reviews (OK, they were negative). Wal-Mart wasn’t able to take on NetFlix; we’ll have to see how this foray fares.
Ramsey says:
I think this sounds like a step in the right direction if it expands to all DVD’s. I’d probably be willing to pay another couple bucks for an ipod formatted version of a few movies (not Superman Returns though).
I hope that soon the studios will begin to include an ipod formatted version of a movie that could be imported to iTunes from the DVD. Apple can’t expect people to buy the same movie twice (once for watching on a DVD player, and again to download for ipod). That’s one reason why I never buy content from iTunes and probably never will.
November 28th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
kaerokh says:
thanks
October 29th, 2007 at 4:32 am