Will portable movies be a viable format? If you’re Warner Bros. or Paramount, yes: in January, the two studios launched an SD card partnership with MOD Systems. Disney said this week that it’s doing the same thing.
But for Sonic’s CinemaNow, the answer is more traditional USB keys. Bundled together with WideVine’s digital-rights-management technology, the pre-loaded keys will begin showing up at retail nationwide later this year. Sonic is also targeting bundling agreements with mobile phone manufacturers and netbook PC makers, the company said.
Here’s how it works: “Once consumers connect to the Internet, the title on the USB Movie Drive is added to their Roxio CinemaNow Digital Locker where it can then be viewed on as many as four additional CinemaNow-compatible devices,” Sonic said in a statement. “Rather than delivering the same file used for USB playback, a unique file is delivered that has been optimized for the capabilities and display characteristics of the selected device.”
No word yet on how many movies will be sold on this format, or which studios will sign on — Sonic has content relationships with most of the premier studios, however, so a wide breadth of content should be there. And, of course, there’s the price, which has yet to be disclosed.
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