Blockbuster, Sonic team on online movies

Blockbuster and Sonic Solutions on Wednesday announced a multi-year agreement that will have the former deliver its library of digital movies and shows to home and portable electronics devices with Internet connectivity and Sonic software. The companies will also merge their digital libraries – including Sonic's recently purchased CinemaNow – and offer them under the Blockbuster brand, to create one of the largest VOD services on the market.

The service will be available on numerous devices from yet unnamed hardware manufacturers of HTPCs, portable media players, Blu-ray disc players, PVRs, set-top boxes, cellphones and Internet-enabled HDTVs, and will include Sonic's current CinemaNow partners. Sonic's CinemaNow SDK will allow for the quick introduction of the service into devices with Mac and Windows based operating systems, allowing users to view content via adaptive streaming and progressive downloads.

Blockbuster itself recently launched a set top box in conjunction with 2wire, allowing users to download digital movies for a set fee.

It was not announced when or from whom the first hardware bearing the Blockbuster service will appear.

Filed under: industry
Other story tags: Blockbuster, cinemanow, Sonic