Amazon has begun bundling digital copies with sales of physical Blu-rays and DVDs, giving buyers a chance to watch the film almost immediately while they wait for their title to ship.
The new promotion, dubbed Disc+ On Demand works on 313 titles. Says Amazon: “Buy select DVDs and Blu-ray discs and watch the Amazon Video On Demand version instantly as a gift with purchase.”
There are newer titles such as Funny People and many catalog titles such as The Wizard of Oz and Ghostbusters in both DVD and Blu-ray.
Notably, some of the digital copies will be rentals while others will be permanent downloads. Those with rentals are available for 30 days after download and can be played back on any device that supports the Amazon Video On Demand platform, including PCs and Macs.
View the full promotion here: Amazon Disc+ On Demand
Result for: digital copies
Due to its byline stipulations, beginning in December all Blu-ray titles will come with the option to make one “managed copy” (a legal backup).
However, for all current Blu-ray player owners as well as most near term future owners, your player will not have the capability to make the copies, making the feature useless.
AACS-LA chairman Michael Ayers says the Managed Copy is mandatory given the final AACS license and over 600 companies have signed on. Each new movie from December 4th on will come with a link on the disc which will send the player to an authentication server. If it passes, the disc can make a full 1080p copy of the disc. For now though, there are no players capable of making the copies so the links are useless.
Manufacturers are not required to even make such devices but Sony and other AACS-LA members say they expect the first PC drives with the capability to hit by the Q3 2010. The AACS-LA says they won’t even have authentication servers up and running until March 31st.
There are, of course, catches to the managed copy. Studios can choose to offer the managed copy instead of digital copies like most current discs have. The studios can also choose to charge for the backups, likely a nominal fee under $10 USD.
VideoBusiness adds that “Managed copies can be burned to recordable Blu-ray or DVD discs, as a download to a Windows Media DRM-compatible portable player or hard drive, on a memory stick, SD card or as a bound copy, such as a digital copy file on the disc.”
Result for: digital copies
Microsoft and the large UK retailer Tesco have announced they will be teaming up to provide a new “DVD-quality” movie downloading service that uses Silverlight technology.
Beginning this fall, any Tesco customer who purchases certain DVDs will receive a free “digital copy” of the movie that they can download to their Macs or Windows machines.
In addition to the film, the digital copies will also bring “extra network-connected features such as auto-updated trailers, exclusive bonus content, movie viewing parties with online chat, related music offerings such as MP3s and ring tones, and networked games.”
“Tesco is excited to be the first retailer to partner with a broad range of major movie studios to offer this next-generation movie experience,” said Rob Salter of Tesco. “For the first time, consumers will be able to enjoy a DVD equivalent experience with digital movies, which paves the way for more advanced viewing experiences enabled through Silverlight.”
“This is just the beginning. In the future we expect to offer our customers innovative digital solutions that far exceed the DVD experience and deliver exclusive content, Web events and services wherever and whenever they want them,” Salter added.
Adds Gabriele Di Piazza, senior director for the Media & Entertainment business in the Communications Sector at Microsoft: “We believe this alliance will offer consumers in the U.K., and eventually additional markets, the opportunity to download a digital copy that is truly the equivalent of a physical disk –with the same package of navigation, bonus features and director commentaries.”
