Microsoft has partnered with brick-and-mortar movie rental firm Blockbuster to serve films on mobile devices.
“Eventually, we’ll give customers instant access to any movie on any device with an internet connection and a screen,” vowed Blockbuster Chief Information Officer Keith Morrow in an interview with the Dallas Morning News.
The offering will be built on Live Mesh, a Microsoft platform that lets users with internet access share data on various devices. Live Mesh launched in April and is primarily used to sync home and work PCs. It will soon be compatible with Mac OSX and Windows Mobile units.
Morrow suggested travelers in airports could use Live Mesh to download movies from Blockbuster digital kiosks. Such kiosks are currently being piloted in select Blockbuster locations.
“We’re trying to get a read on how customers will respond to the availability of this content on a machine, their willingness to buy the portable device and to use the machine to reload their portable device,” he stated.
Rival service Netflix, which lets clients rent films online, recently partnered with TiVo to stream its movie collection to TiVo HD (XL) and Series 2 customers.
Last week Blockbuster launched the MediaPoint digital media player, which streams movies to televisions from the internet. It is a competitive offering to Netflix’s Roku box, released six months prior.
Source: Marketingvox
