Hasta La Gadget!

Blockbuster announced its entrance back into the video streaming game in January after pledging to exit that market late last year. Today, Blockbuster’s reincarnation as a video streaming service continues, as the company rolled out its On Demand app for iOS, bringing “thousands” of movies to iPads and iPhones running iOS 4.3 and up. By adding Apple devices to the fold, Blockbuster can now shoot movies to the majority of mobile devices — previously it was only available for Android (plus Mac, PC, Roku and Samsung Smart TVs). So, if you’re looking for 1080p video with 5.1 surround streaming to your Apple-fied mobile screen, your download awaits.

Filed under: Software, HD, Mobile, Apple

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Via: 9to5 Mac

Source: App Store

Blockbuster hasn’t had much success shifting from physical rentals to digital, even under Dish’s wing. Nonetheless, it’s betting that the umpteenth time’s the charm with a relaunch of its Blockbuster On Demand streaming movie service. The revamp ticks many of the checkboxes for a modern by-the-title rental store with 1080p and 5.1-channel surround sound as well as apps for 2012 Samsung Smart TVs, Android and Roku 2 boxes. However, there’s a number of curious choices, and we don’t just mean the omission of a subscription model. It’s missing an iOS app, emphasizes apps for desktop viewing and leaves no way to watch HD video on anything but a TV — our mobile and PC screens have advanced in the past several years, Blockbuster. Idiosyncrasies notwithstanding, the rebirth presents more of a unified front than the one-time giant has offered in the past.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Via: Android Police

Source: Blockbuster On Demand

Blockbuster was once the largest movie rental company in the country before digital services such as Netflix and others began to seriously encroach on its turf. Blockbuster was forced to close many of its stores around the country and eventually filed bankruptcy. Satellite TV company Dish Network purchased Blockbuster in 2011 for $320 million.

Dish Network announced this week that it would be closing 160 Blockbuster locations in the UK as the company entered administration. Dish Network is also closing an additional 300 Blockbuster stores within the United States in the coming weeks. Dish Network spokesman John Hall announced on Monday that the store closures would result in 3000 employees losing their jobs.

Dish says that the stores being closed are locations that are underperforming or those nearing the end of their lease. Of the stores being closed, 26 are located in Colorado. Hall said that Dish Network will continue to analyze store-level profitability. That likely means more store closures are coming.

Hall also stated that the location of the stores that will be closing in the coming weeks haven’t been announced. However, the employees who will be losing their positions have been informed. Those workers were told of their fate on Friday. Dish says that the store closures will happen over “a period of time” as many leases are ending.

[via Denver Post]

Dish Network to close 300 Blockbuster stores in the US is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Things just went from bad to worse for Blockbuster, with its UK arm entering administration today. That probably won’t come as much of a surprise to most folks, considering that Blockbuster has suffered at the hands of online retailers and streaming services like Netflix for years now. For the 4,190 employees who work at Blockbuster’s 528 stores in the UK, however, this certainly is sour news.

Deloitte has be named administrator for Blockbuster after becoming the administrator for struggling UK media retailer HMV just a few days ago. Deloitte’s task is now to make Blockbuster’s UK arm more attractive to potential buyers, with the ultimate goal of finding a purchaser for the embattled company. In a statement made to Eurogamer, Deloitte administrator Lee Manning cited increased competiton as a reason for Blockbuster’s decline.

“In recent years Blockbuster has faced increased competition from internet-based providers along with the shift to digital streaming of movies and games,” Manning said. He continued by pointing out that Blockbuster will still “trade as normal in both retail and rental,” and that the chain will still accept gift cards and trade-in credit toward purchases. So, for the moment at least, Blockbuster will continue business as usual, but it’s unknown how long that’s going to last.

Manning said the core of Blockbuster’s business is still profitable, which is both good news and bad news. It’s good news because that means it’s possible Deloitte will be able to trim down the business and ultimately secure a purchase, but bad news since administrators will likely need to shut down a large number of stores to get Blockbuster to the point where it looks like a good deal. We’ll be watching Blockbuster UK closely over the coming days and weeks, so keep it here at SlashGear for more.

[via Eurogamer]

Blockbuster UK faces administration with more than 4,000 jobs at risk is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Blockbuster was once the largest movie rental company in the country. The company has seen its popularity decline significantly in recent years as more and more people move to streaming movie rentals and mail-order services from Netflix and others. Blockbuster has closed many of its locations around the country, but there are still some Blockbuster movie rental stores around and the company also runs a mail-order rental service.

Blockbuster has announced a new Android app is available to allow movie fans to search for title availability at local Blockbuster rental stores. The app also allows Android users to browse movie and game titles as well as manage their Blockbuster By Mail account. I wonder how accurate in-store availability will be with this app.

The Blockbuster Android app is designed to work with Android Gingerbread and later and is available for download at no cost on the Google Play and Amazon app stores right now. The app also allows users to search movie and game titles for synopsis, list of actors, available formats, and more. Films can also be sorted by title, actor, and genre.

The app also allows users to add, remove, and organize their mail order queue. The app can also act as your in-store membership card eliminating the need for a physical card to rent movies. Other features include a service to find your local Blockbuster store and users can navigate in English or Spanish. Blockbuster plans to update its iOS app later this quarter.

Blockbuster launches new Android app is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.