CinemaNow

Best Buy today announced CinemaNow, its new digital video service which will give customers instant access to new release movies and TV shows.

The service will initially be available on LG connected Blu-ray players purchased from Best Buy, and will be available on additional devices from various manufacturers, including Insignia, later this year.

Connected devices from Best Buy with CinemaNow will have the ability to buy or rent from a library of new release movies and TV shows, with no subscription required. Movie rentals will be $2.99 - $3.99 per movie and purchases at $9.99 to $19.99.

"With the introduction of CinemaNow, Best Buy continues our commitment to evolve with our customers as their demand for digital entertainment grows," said Chris Homeister, senior vice president of entertainment for Best Buy. "The convenience, selection and flexibility of the CinemaNow service offers customers more freedom in the way they choose to consume entertainment from Best Buy. This service, which complements our existing suite of digital entertainment brands, will be available to customers in their homes and on-the-go through a broad array of devices and will be brought to life in store with the help of our Blue Shirts and Geek Squad Agents."

Best Buy announced yesterday an agreement with Sonic Solutions to offer on-demand movies in some of their digital entertainment products. Powered by Sonic's Roxio CinemaNow, it will allow customers to buy or rent movies directly from the device.

The Roxio CinemaNow technology will be a standard feature on devices such as web-connected TVs, PCs, Blu-ray players, portable media players and mobile phones, bought at Best Buy stores or online. Specific models will be announced at a later date.

With the new Best Buy service, consumers will have access to buy or rent premium content including new movies, TV shows, independent films, and older catalog movies, which they will be able to access on devices. Best Buy says that new titles will often be available on the same day they become available on DVDs in retail stores.

By adding the popular Roxio CinemaNow content to the VuNow Internet TV platform, Verismo is enhancing the entertainment options for movie lovers – letting people watch an extensive content library directly on the TV without a computer.

The palm-sized VuNow Pod gives consumers access to a wide range of online video content including movies, YouTube videos, and live global TV channels, with a click of the remote. Through relationships with more than 250 content providers, including all major Hollywood studios, the CinemaNow library includes thousands of high-quality Hollywood movies, TV shows, and music videos.

Verismo Networks sells the VuNow Pod directly to consumers online through their website as well as through Amazon.com. The platform has already generated significant interest among large Consumer OEMs, Content aggregators, Telco equipment companies, and Service providers who plan to deploy their own differentiated versions of VuNow based products.