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Vudu teams up with Sony to offer extra streaming features

Steve Dent
Reporter
Updated ·4 min read
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Vudu is joining Netflix in trying to put another nail in DVD's coffin by offering interactive features for select Sony films. The Walmart-owned streamer calls the new service Vudu Extras+, and kicked it off today with deleted scenes, featurettes and trivia from Sony's District 9 alien flick. Other perks include an "enhanced scene search" for dialogue, videos, photos and more, along with "clip and share," which lets you grab and share film snippets on Facebook and Twitter. Netflix mentioned it will test similar features for its original shows like House of Cards, and could expand it to other content if it catches on. Film buffs may stick with Blu-ray for director commentary, subtitles and the like, but we wouldn't be shocked to see those technical obstacles hurdled soon, too.

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Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and VUDU Launch "VUDU Extras+," a New Interactive Movie-Watching Experience

CULVER CITY, Calif. and SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) and VUDU, Walmart's subscription-free video streaming service, are delivering a new, enhanced way for movie fans to experience their digital movies with VUDU Extras+. Fans can now enjoy extras they've come to love from DVD and Blu-ray titles online with additional interactive features.

Select Sony Pictures titles on VUDU will now feature "Enhanced Scene Search" and "Clip & Share," along with deleted scenes, featurettes and movie trivia, available on the cloud with UltraViolet.
Action and sci-fi fans can experience VUDU Extras+ today with District 9, directed by Neill Blomkamp (Elysium), followed by other exciting new release SPHE titles including This is the End, After Earth, White House Down, Grown Ups 2, Mortal Instruments, Smurfs 2 and One Direction – This is Us later this year.

VUDU Extras+'s "Enhanced Scene Search" allows viewers to search movie content such as dialogue, videos, photos and extras and enables viewers to instantly jump to favorite scenes, including events inside the film. "Clip & Share" delivers social movie-watching to fans. The feature enables viewers to select a clip from the film and share with their friends on Facebook and Twitter.

In making the announcement, David Bishop, SPHE President said, "Sony Pictures has always been at the forefront of creating innovative technologies to enhance the consumer home entertainment experience both in the physical as well as the digital spaces. VUDU Extras+ will bring the extras experience which consumers have come to expect from discs to digital retailers more consistently and with increased interactivity. Strategically, VUDU Extras+ will enhance the value proposition of digital ownership which is so key to the future success and strength of the home entertainment industry. Our intention is that it will evolve it into an industry standard for use across multiple studios and services."

Added James Underwood, SPHE Executive Vice President of Worldwide Digital and Commercial Strategy, "VUDU has been an ideal partner to enhance the digital extras experience thanks to its long-standing commitment to our shared vision for the future of the online digital business. Launching VUDU Extras+ joins a long line of digital technologies from VUDU that enriched the consumer digital viewing experience, including Ultraviolet, in-store disc-to-digital, and in-home disc-to-digital."

"Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and VUDU developed VUDU Extras+ with the movie fan in mind. We wanted to give fans new ways to interact with the digital movies they own," said Amit Balan, head of marketing and merchandising, VUDU. "The launch of VUDU Extras+ is an exciting innovation that enhances the way people watch and enjoy movies."

VUDU Extras+ is available to preview before purchasing the movie. Consumers can access the full VUDU Extras+ experience when they purchase a movie or redeem their UltraViolet code on VUDU. VUDU users who already have the movie in their library will get access to the VUDU Extras+ experience at no extra charge.

VUDU Extras+ for District 9 is available now on PC and Mac, with additional titles and platforms coming soon. Consumers can go to www.vudu.com/extrasplus/District9 to access the features. SPHE is also committed to enabling these interactivity features as an industry standard for EST/digital ownership. View the VUDU Extras+ sizzle reel here.

VUDU supports UltraViolet, the movie industry's initiative that allows consumers to put their purchased movies into a cloud-based digital library and keep track of them safely and securely. VUDU is able to offer customers the ability to watch and