Samsung punts popcorn flicks for pounds

You're gonna need a bigger purse

By Bill Ray, 19th March 2009

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Samsung, in common with the rest of the mobile industry, wants to get into service provision, and today that means downloadable movies for phone and PC - as long as your phone is a Tocco Ultra and your PC runs Windows.

The new service comes as part of Samsung's portal, and the company is boasting deals with Warner Bros, Paramount, Universal and Momentum Pictures: though for the moment there are only 500 titles available. The most interesting part of the announcement is Samsung's assertion that the service will soon be spreading to the company's range of TVs.

A quick look at the service shows Clint Eastwood's classic Firefox selling at £11, which doesn't compare well with iTune's seven quid for the same film - though both services will rent you the title for £2.49. The pattern is repeated in more recent releases, with Iron Man costing £14 from Samsung compared to the tenner iTunes is asking. That Robert Downey Junior caper is 50 pence cheaper to rent from iTunes too.

Samsung should be able to offer support across more devices, but not right now as the service is being used to promote the screen experience offered by the Tocco Ultra.

Integration into Samsung TVs would be interesting; Apple has had limited success with Apple TV, and getting downloaded movies into the ordinary living room is still a significant challenge. Samsung will be prepared to pour money into making that work, and punters may be prepared to pay a small premium to easily move the experience into the living room. ®

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