Walmart’s Vudu movie streaming service is ready to pipe movies directly to your iPad. But don’t look for the traditional iOS app. There isn’t one. Vudu is streaming movies over a web app, which doesn’t force Walmart to share revenue with Apple.
Vudu is skirting Apple’s new terms of service that requires sharing revenue. Much like Amazon’s new Kindle Cloud Reader, Vudu can offer all the functionality of a streaming vide app through the magic of Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) without dealing with the App Store and its approval police or revenue tax collectors. → Read More
Netflix just got some more competition. Walmart launched its video streaming service today and don’t just write it off as a “me too” service. This is a serious offering.
Walmart bought Vudu 18 months ago and has slowly evolved the business. Vudu, like Netflix, is available on a number of set-top boxes, gaming systems, and media streamers. Users have access to 20,000 titles, including titles the same day they hit DVD, when used on one of these devices. The just-launched service puts Vudu streaming directly on Walmart.com for instant viewing. The Walmart.com service doesn’t seem to have access to the entire library, but there’s still a good chunk available and that might be good enough to make Netflix slow its roll. → Read More
Sony’s latest connected Blu-ray players just got a nice upgrade in the form of Vudu movies streaming. All eight of the firm’s 2011 Blu-ray players should have access to the service that pushes 1080p movies with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound through the Internet tubes to your HDTV. 3D content are even available on the 3D-capable models. Cord cutting what? → Read More
Everyone likes the Boxee Box, even Viewsonic is adding Boxee inside their new TVs. It just that, most of the other streaming media boxes have Netflix — even Apple TV. When Boxee CEO responded to complaints about Boxee’s lack of Netflix he said, “[they] are working hard to get Netflix out the door.”
So what’s new with the update? Read on after the break. → Read More
A cryptic Tweet from Boxee points to a new firmware version rolling out in the next few hours, one that probably promises Vudu and Hulu content on what Matt calls “his favorite box.” Matt here: Nevermind John. He meant to say Netflix, not Hulu. → Read More
We heard last week that Vudu was coming to the PS3. They said it would launch on the 23rd, and if you’ll direct your eyes to the date portion of your screen, you’ll find that the 23rd is today. Conclusion: Vudu goes live today. → Read More
It really is that simple (if you’re in the US). Download the app next week (it’s free) and start watching movies (they aren’t free). → Read More
The Boxee Box will hit retailers and livingrooms with in the coming weeks and because of Vudu, it will be a bit more versatile thanks to the addition of Vudu. The service provides 1080p movie streams with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound for a reasonable $2 for two nights of viewing. This isn’t your average HD-lite movie, either. It’s a high-quality stream that will probably satisfy most viewers.
Plus, seeing how it’s owned by Walmart, Vudu tends to have first run movies right away making the Boxee Box a legitimate contender in the media streamer pageant. The service should hit the platform within the coming weeks. It’s not clear if it will launch alongside the Boxee Box, but it will be available this November according to the press release. → Read More
Porn has been around forever. Sometimes celebrated, sometimes persecuted, porn has gone through various levels of social acceptance throughout history. A cyclical porn journey, as adult content becomes too pervasive and socially acceptable, there is always an effort by government and social groups to squash it. In recent news, Apple’s purge of the app store caused widespread disappointment when even the tamest sexy apps were removed. In similar news, Wal-Mart bought out video on demand company VUDU and made the decision to completely block the sale of anything pornographic – even if you’ve already bought the video, soon it will not be viewable. With adult content purveyors targeting technology like smartphone applications and video on demand as part of the constant struggle to monetize porno, could this mass effort to purge the world of porn seriously put a damper on porn industry profits? → Read More
When it was announced that retailer Walmart would buy streaming movie startup Vudu a couple days ago, a number of sites wondered what it would mean for Vudu’s adult content. Here’s what it means: bye bye.
An email is currently being sent out by Vudu letting its After Dark (the adult portion of its service run with adult publication AVN) partners that the section will be discontinued in the “coming days.” Find the full email at the bottom of this post. → Read More
The title says it all, ladies and gentlemen. Walmart plans to buy VUDU. The deal is expected to close in a few weeks. Full press release inside. → Read More
VUDU apps is going to start being a lot more available with the announcement today that Zoran, “the U.S. market share leader in flat panel televisions according to DisplaySearch,” is integrating VUDU apps and VUDU Movies into its SupraHD processor. This announcement comes on the heels of a recent deal with Entone to bundle VUDU apps with a variety of IPTV set-top boxes. All this in addition to existing VUDU integration with TVs from LG, Mitsubishi, Samsung, SANYO, Sharp, Toshiba and VIZIO means that VUDU is more and more available. Full press release of the Zoran deal inside. → Read More
Vudu had a great run. The company made boxes you set up near your TV that could download stream HD video without glitches, a sort of Netflix On Demand, as it were, without the popularity. Well, Vudu is teaming up with LG to offer Vudu streaming in their new LH50 and PS80 TVs which puts their position as one of the better and more promising hardware providers and video streaming services in serious doubt. → Read More
Widgets and gadgets are the latest trend to hit HDTVs. Vizio is upping the game by equipping its soon-to-be-released HDTVs with an impressive suite of Internet applications and video streaming sites. So much so, that this portfolio will place them on top of many people’s wish list as these TVs will be better equipped than a TiVo or even Windows Media Server. → Read More
Great news for VUDU owners this morning. Well, great news if they happen to have kids. VUDU just announced that Disney has released 60 library films for purchase and future titles will be up on the same day that the Blu-ray/DVD titles are released. → Read More
Streaming video platform Brightcove has added another partner to its already-impressive group of associates. Vudu, purveyors of fine set-top boxes, have struck up a deal to stream Brightcove-associated content. Brightcove has, at last count, about twenty-one trillion API partners, and delivers video for big names like AOL and the NY Times. Those aren’t available on the Vudu box yet, though; it’s just launching now and the first (and only) video service to hit is Sony’s MyPlay, through which you’ll be able to watch Sony Music videos to your heart’s content. Joy of joys! → Read More
Streaming video platform Brightcove has added another partner to its already-impressive group of associates. Vudu, purveyors of fine set-top boxes, have struck up a deal to stream Brightcove-associated content. Brightcove has, at last count, about twenty-one trillion API partners, and delivers video for big names like AOL and the NY Times. Those aren’t available on the Vudu box yet, though; it’s just launching now and the first (and only) video service to hit is Sony’s MyPlay, through which you’ll be able to watch Sony Music videos to your heart’s content. Joy of joys!
A year ago, I would have considered the idea of Sony letting me stream their content onto my TV for free a ridiculous notion, but here we are. Pleasant surprises are mighty rare in this sector. → Read More
People do not want multiple devices hooked up to their TV. They don’t. What they really want is the functionality of all the devices without the physical boxes and it seems that Vudu understands this. The movie streaming company has teamed up with Entone to provide the IPTV company’s set-top boxes with the Vudu software. This is the first time that the service has been available without the actual Vudu box and it’s fantastic news. → Read More
VUDU seems to always be growing and expanding its Internet content and Pandora is the latest app on the device. It joins services such as Youtube, Picasa, Flickr but is the first Internet Radio app on VUDU and it seem to be a great implementation of the popular service. → Read More
Attention Vudu owners-
You now have the privilege of downloading and owning HD movies from an on demand online distributor. There are roughly 50 titles that you can download in both HD and HDX. Magnolia, Kino and FirstLook are among the indie studios who have films available at the moment including “Man on Wire.” → Read More
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