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Disney, Fox, Warner and Universal may team up on downloadable movies
After nearly a decade of battling between movie lockers, Disney may finally have support from other studios. According to a report from Bloomberg, "several major Hollywood film studios" are signed up to participate in a new film service with Disney, including Fox, Warner and Universal. Since 2010, most of the industry has relied on Ultraviolet to enable cross-store digital movie ownership, with the exception of Disney, which launched its own Movies Anywhere service in 2014. Most of us got our first taste of the systems that link purchases across stores like iTunes, or Amazon via digital copy codes included with DVDs and Blu-rays. The studios hope that by finally banding together, they can convince customers to buy more movies instead of relying on subscription services or other avenues to get their flicks. There's no word about what might happen to studio support for Ultraviolet, or stores that support it like Walmart's Vudu, but Disney Movies Anywhere currently links to iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play, FiOS and not Microsoft. The other major studios, Lionsgate and Paramount, are reportedly "supportive" but aren't joining yet.
Disney Movies Anywhere drops Microsoft as a partner
Disney has recently sent out emails to its Movies Anywhere users telling them that the service no longer supports Microsoft's Movies and TV store. The Movies Anywhere app gives you a way to stream all the Disney movies you've purchased, so long as you bought them from partner outlets like Amazon and iTunes. And by "Disney movies," we're not only talking about the House of Mouse's princess flicks -- they also include Pixar and Marvel films. Unfortunately, if you enjoy having access to all your Disney flicks in one place, you'll need to skip Microsoft when deciding on the store to buy from.
Comcast deal lets you buy 'Star Wars' from your set-top box
It's not that hard to get Star Wars: The Force Awakens through digital sources, but Comcast doesn't want to be left out. It just struck a deal that brings Disney's movies to the Xfinity TV store, both online and from your TV proper -- if you want to watch the adventures of Rey and Finn from your set-top box, you can. Only The Force Awakens is available right away, but Comcast will fill out the catalog over the "coming weeks."
Amazon and Microsoft's stores connect to Disney Movies Anywhere
When Disney launched its Movies Anywhere app early last year it could only plug digital copies into your iTunes account, but today it linked up with Amazon Instant Video and Microsoft Video. Besides new Disney apps for Xbox 360 and Amazon's Fire TV platform, next week on the 15th it's launching on Roku and Android TV. That means any movie you've unlocked with Disney (like Big Hero 6, Guardians of the Galaxy or Avengers: Age of Ultron) is viewable through any of those services, as well as Google Play and Vudu. Once you connect them to your account, buying a copy on one service unlocks the movie on others, as powered by Disney's KeyChest setup. More importantly, Amazon and Microsoft don't support Ultraviolet digital copies, which may swing the balance of power just as Ultra HD Blu-ray arrives on the scene. Wherever you stream your movies, linking your accounts may be worthwhile since Disney will toss a free copy of Monsters Inc. into your account for doing so.
Disney Movies Anywhere service comes to Android with a link to Google Play
After years of development Disney unveiled its digital movie service on iOS earlier this year and today it's coming to Android too. When it launched, Disney Movies Anywhere had an unprecedented deep link to iTunes, and now on Android it's sharing a similar tie with Google Play. For users it's apparently as seamless as can be -- as long as they have a Disney account, any movies they unlock will be viewable on either family of devices (or the DMA website). The agreement covers access to around 400 Disney, Pixar and Marvel movies, and to make the sign-up worth your while, Disney is throwing in a free copy of Wreck-it Ralph for anyone that signs up and links an account. Going cross-platform makes Disney's KeyChest-based system much more appealing -- and conveniently timed for the launch of Nexus Player / Android TV -- but we're still waiting to see if a tie-up with the likes of Amazon or Ultraviolet can fulfill the promise of unlocking a single copy in one store or with a Blu-ray / DVD purchase, and then being able to watch it anywhere, on any device. The Android app isn't live yet(update: here it is), but you can check out a demo video for now (embedded after the break).
Disney Movies Anywhere service launches with an unprecedented link to iTunes
Last year Apple introduced store sheet, a feature that allows developers to sell things like music and movies inside their apps without making you leave and head to iTunes. Now a new app from Disney is taking the feature a step further, allowing you to play iTunes purchases in-app as well. The first of its kind, Disney's new Movies Anywhere app not only allows you to purchase and play new Disney movies within the app, it also allows you to stream Disney content you've already purchased from iTunes without downloading it again onto your device. As long as the app knows you've purchased the movie before, you'll be able stream it for free on your favorite iOS device or on your home computer. As you might expect, movies purchased within the app will also be available through your iTunes library to play on your iPhone or iPad without the Disney app, and can be played on your TV via Airplay. To use the app you'll need to first sign in with both your Disney and iTunes account information. Once you're logged in, it automatically brings in any Disney flicks you've purchased through iTunes previously, as well as any Disney Movie Rewards digital copies you might have redeemed from Blu-ray or DVD purchases.
Disney to shut down its Online streaming site
Ever heard of Disney Movies Online? Apparently not many have, as Disney announced it'll be shutting down the online movie streaming service at the end of the year. It isn't a shock that a movie streaming site that only offers flicks from one studio and no integration with something like UltraViolet (Disney remains the only major studio avoiding that kludge) wasn't a success. People who were actually using it can use the same redeem code that came bundled with their discs, in iTunes or Windows Media Player. Those few who actually paid for access have until the end of February of next year to request a refund. There's talk of a replacement "Disney Movies Anywhere" solution on the way -- possibly based on its KeyChest system -- but joining UltraViolet, in its current form, doesn't seem much better then Disney Movies Online was.
