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Walmart Wants to Be Your Movie Cloud

13K views 35 replies 23 participants last post by  MrBobb 
#1 ·
Walmart Wants to Be Your Movie Cloud

By Grant Clauser
Walmart is prepping a cloud-based movie service where users can bring their DVDs into stores in order to access the same material online.


Mega retail giant Walmart is launching a cloud-based movie service through Vuduand we're not talking about another Netflix wannabe. No, Walmart wants to be your movie server in the cloud, the digital bin where you store all your DVDs for access on whatever Internet-connected device you have handy.


Earlier today, Walmart announced the launch of an in-store program to allow users to turn their DVD movies into digital cloud-stored copies which, presumably, would be accessible over tablets, smart phones, smart TVs and similar products.




This isn't a lone-wolf initiative. Walmart has the support of major movie studios including Paramount, Sony, Fox, Universal and Warner Bros. The company says the service will launch on April 16 in 3,500 stores.


Here's how it works. First, you need a Vudu account, which is free (unlike Netflix, you pay for videos individually). You walk your DVDs into a Walmart store, and there you load them into a device of some sort (a self-serve kiosk is the mostly likely scenario) and then purchase the rights to a digital cloud copy. Yes, you purchase the right to a movie you already own. In this case it's $2 for a standard definition version or $5 for a high-def version.

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#27 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by chikoo /forum/post/21782693


My Prediction:


Each movie house will end up with a Cloud Server that you can access your movies that you buy from that house digitally, anytime, anywhere with an internet connection.


Then Vudu, and such will go bust.

Anythings possible, but customer prefer a central website to stream from. If that were the case a customer would have to build an account and login into Warner, Disney, Fox, Universal, Paramount, Dream Work etc. etc. etc.
 
#28 ·
The media companies are fighting tooth and nail to prevent you from taking a disc that you bought and ripping it to your PC, but they'll gladly sell you the ability to watch a digital copy on a service that's not guaranteed to be around forever.


They're stripping you of fair use rights and selling them back you you piecemeal. On that basis alone I douldn't pay a dime for this service.
 
#29 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by chikoo /forum/post/21782672


Do they take away my CD/DVD or do I still get to keep it?

You will get to keep your discs but I have a feeling that they will require the case so they can remove the UPC code(sort of like Red2Blu), that way they can prevent rental and borrowed discs from being converted to digital over and over again. If Walmart was smart they would give you a digital copy for free(or discount) if you buy a disc from them, it's a win-win for Walmart and the consumer.

Quote:
It doesn't matter if person owns it - it still generates revenue for the "Disc to Digital" program.

The whole idea is to get people to buy discs(and other things) in the store, why give it away for $5 when VUDU sells it for $15-20?.
 
#30 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by sebberry /forum/post/21783094


the media companies are fighting tooth and nail to prevent you from taking a disc that you bought and ripping it to your pc, but they'll gladly sell you the ability to watch a digital copy on a service that's not guaranteed to be around forever.


They're stripping you of fair use rights and selling them back you you piecemeal. On that basis alone i wouldn't pay a dime for this service.

^^ THAT. This hit the nail on the head. Oh this is so very screwed up.
 
#32 ·
in the long run, it seems cheaper for me to continue ripping my own DVD's, paying a little extra for the PlayOn pro license, and eating the costs for any bandwidth overages on a monthly basis. PlayOn already allows me to view my content in the house on any DLNA device, and the Pro version claims to allow you access via a smartphone.


i haven't tried it yet, but i would experiment with something like that LONG before i would pay someone for the honor of burning my discs for me.
 
#33 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by chimpuat /forum/post/21802205


in the long run, it seems cheaper for me to continue ripping my own DVD's, paying a little extra for the PlayOn pro license, and eating the costs for any bandwidth overages on a monthly basis. PlayOn already allows me to view my content in the house on any DLNA device, and the Pro version claims to allow you access via a smartphone.


i haven't tried it yet, but i would experiment with something like that LONG before i would pay someone for the honor of burning my discs for me.

Who would be burning discs for you, not walmart. With Walmart and VUDU you are only getting digital access to the title if it's one of the titles they have in their 20K+ digital library.
 
#34 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by cwt /forum/post/21777083


Fascinating ;something doesnt quite add up if they havent released a bd version of your disc ; so what quality is the hi def version ? upscaled sd for $5 ? or bad luck take the disc home



Not hard to wonder why this has never happened ;what a joke


Quote:
Will Blu-ray support mandatory managed copy?


Yes, mandatory managed copy (MMC) will be part of the Blu-ray format. This feature will enable consumers to make legal copies of their Blu-ray movies that can be transferred over a home network. Please note that "mandatory" refers to the movies having to offer this capability, while it will be up to each hardware manufacturer to decide if they want to support this feature.

Speaking of blu-ray Managed Copy...

Media Tech - Packaged Media and Beyond 2012, Las Vegas

Quote:
2:15-2:45 pm

Topic: The Roll-Out of Managed Copy'

Speaker: Donald Leake, Jr.,
Program Director, Copy Protection Business Development,
IBM


AACS, the encryption system that protects Blu-ray discs, is moving forward on Managed Copy, allowing consumers to make single copies. The initial launch is in the U.S., but Europe will be following. What are the implications for replicators?
 
#36 ·
"The Cloud" attacks again. EVERYBODY and their nephew is doing the "cloud" thing. Since the early days of the consumer Internet, 1980s, people used refer this thing as the THIN WORKSTATION. Just have a smart machine in front of you, and all your apps and data and everything is gonna come from a far away data farm of some sort. 20 years later they're still trying.


Doesn't Walmart have a video service? I don't sense is a hot topic over here. Walmart doing the cloud? I may raise an eyeblow or two if they poach a few hot dogs from Apple and or Netfix, else I don't think it's going anywhere.
 
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