TV and PC retailer moves into internet movie delivery

Best Buy is launching the service in partnership with Sonic Solutions, a Californian company that digitises content for every major Hollywood studio, but branding it as a Best Buy service.

Sonic's Roxio CinemaNow video platform will be embedded within a range of web-connected devices that Best Buy sells, including televisions, computers, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes and mobile phones, not just under its own Insignia brand but also others such as Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba.

The CinemaNow movie service has a library of over 22,000 films and often makes titles available on the same day as their DVD release.

Sonic chief executive officer Dave Habiger said that the content will be stored on servers so users can watch on any device, similar to how web-based email can be viewed on different computers.

Best Buy said that it had taken a small stake in Sonic as part of the partnership and will launch a marketing campaign to educate consumers about the new movie service, which is due to launch early next year.

Brian Dunn, Best Buy's chief executive officer, said in a statement that the digital video store expands Best Buy's foray into services, helping the company increase customer loyalty.

Last month the company partnered with content delivery service Netflix to stream its film library to its Insignia Blu-ray DVD players.

The US retailer will increasingly be competing with services like Apple's iTunes, which as well as music, sells digital downloads of films and TV shows.

DVD rental chain Blockbuster also runs an online movie service using the CinemaNow platform.