Blockbuster and Sonic Solutions announce an alliance to give consumers access to a vast library of premium digital entertainment across a wide assortment of home and mobile electronic devices. Under the multi-year, preferred-provider agreement, Blockbuster will supply the branded consumer interfaces and Sonic will power content delivery across PC and consumer electronic devices.
The two companies are collaborating with a host of consumer electronic manufacturers, including Sonic's existing CinemaNow providers, to expand the ecosystem of interoperable devices offering the Blockbuster service. These devices include PCs, portable media players, Blu-ray Disc players, personal video recorders, set-top boxes, mobile phones and Web-connected television sets. Additionally, the two companies will make their digital libraries of mainstream content available under the Blockbuster brand resulting in one of the most expansive VOD and electronic sell-through offerings in the marketplace.
Sonic's device ecosystem, powered by its new CinemaNow SDK, will help streamline the introduction of Blockbuster's digital entertainment service into a wide variety of consumer electronic devices, both Mac- and Windows-enabled, via adaptive streaming and progressive download. The devices will be sold through Blockbuster retail stores, blockbuster.com and other leading retailers.