Sony has launched their own challenge to Apple’s iTunes this week, dubbed Qriocity, which will be an unlimited, cloud-based music service available via the PlayStation 3 and other Internet-connected devices such as HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
The service will go live by the end of the year, giving users a chance to stream millions of songs in the cloud.
Besides the PS3, the service will be available on Sony portable media devices, Sony Blu-ray players, Sony home-theater systems, 2010 Web-enabled Bravia HDTVs and Windows PCs.
“We are excited to offer our customers high quality, cloud-based entertainment experiences across many of Sony’s network-enabled devices,” says Kazuo Hirai, president of Sony’s networked products and services group. “Services ‘powered by Qriocity’ will revolutionize the way that users play, listen, watch, share, communicate, learn, discover and create their digital entertainment content.”
Sony has said it will expand the Qriocity “Video on Demand” service which launched in April in the U.S. to France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. in the fall.
The video service has content from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Lionsgate, MGM, NBC Universal, Paramount, Sony, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros.
Result for: video service
US video rental giant Blockbuster just announced the Onkyo BD-SP808 Blu-ray player, set to ship to retailers in September, features a client for their online video service, Blockbuster On Demand.
Blockbuster On Demand is already supported on a handful of players from Phillips, Samsung & Toshiba, as well as a range of other devices including TiVo DVRs and the Archos 605 portable media player. There is also a client for Windows.
Unlike the Netflix Watch Instantly service, which offers unlimited viewing of mostly catalog titles and TV shows, Blockbuster On Demand rents and sells individual titles, including many new releases.
Blockbuster is favored with support from movie studios in the form of earlier access to new releases because this is sees as a tool to keep Netflix and Redbox from dominating the home video landscape. But Blockbuster’s failure to compete with either company has led them to bankruptcy.
Blockbuster’s plans for success in the on demand rental space may also be in trouble if rumors about Apple expanding their iTunes rental operation are true.
Their online offering has neither the brand name recognition of Netflix nor the base of TV-connected clients. From game consoles to Blu-ray players to HDTVs themselves, Netflix clients are everywhere.
Not to mention this year’s introduction of iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch clients. An Android app is also coming at some point in the future.
The widespread availability of the client, especially connected to TVs, has become arguably the biggest driver of recent growth for Netflix.
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Result for: video service
It looks like Hulu, the streaming video service owned by NBC Universal, News Corp & Disney is preparing to become a publicly traded company. The New York Times is reporting unnamed sources indicated an IPO (Initial Public Offering) could happen as early as this fall.
Assuming they can convince potential investors their new subscription service, Hulu Plus, can be profitable, there’s still another hurdle to overcome. Hulu’s management, led by ex-Amazon.com executive Jason Kilar, have been proponents of getting Hulu playing on every screen possible. But some of Kilar’s better decisions have been undermined by Hulu’s owners.
It’s quite possible the insider information given to Times reporters was intended to see how potential investors respond. An IPO may wait if their reaction isn’t positive.
But assuming they do go public eventually, Kilar and his team will need less oversight from Hulu’s content providers. Those providers have been resistant to the idea of Hulu’s free (ad supported) content making its way to TV screens through devices like media center PCs and game consoles.
Looking at it strictly from Hulu’s point of view, this seems like a big barrier to attracting subscribers for Hulu Plus. The problem is Hulu’s content owners are trying to solve the wrong problem.
The question isn’t whether some type of free internet distribution will compete with traditional television services. The competition, both licensed and unauthorized, is already there and the market isn’t going away just because they don’t cater to it.
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