Walmart is putting a big bow around Vudu, its streaming-video service that competes with Amazon.com and Netflix, just in time for the holidays.
Vudu says that movies and TV episodes it sells will now be downloadable, whereas before they resided in the cloud and were not available to consumers who didn't have an active Internet connection even though they owned access to the titles.
Vudu rents and sells 40,000 movies and TV episodes. Television episodes for purchase start at $1.99 and movies at $4.99, with more popular film titles running around $15 for standard definition. Some of the titles include Megamind, No Strings Attached, Ghostbusters,Spider-Man and Men in Black.
Also, Walmart is giving $5 Vudu credit when customers buy certain DVD and Blu-ray titles at its bricks-and-mortar stores through Nov. 30.
Walmart bought VUDU in 2010 and has been steadily integrating it into its operatioins. VUDU titles may be viewed directly from Walmart.com, VUDU.com, or from one of more than 300 VUDU-enabled devices, including select HDTVs, Blu-ray Disc players and the PlayStation3.
