Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Fox launches Digital HD for early access to latest releases before Blu-ray or DVD - @CNET

The company says that its new titles will be available for streaming or digital download before they come out on Blu-ray or DVD.

September 18, 2012 6:30 AM PDT

Twentieth Century Fox has announced a new way for customers to get their hands on its latest films.

Dubbed Digital HD, the new initiative is designed to allow consumers to stream or download the company's films from a host of services before they come out on Blu-ray or DVD. To make good on that promise, Fox announced today that the sci-fi film "Prometheus" is now available for download. The film will come to Blu-ray, DVD, and video-on-demand three weeks from now.

According to Fox, it'll continue to offer its latest releases digitally weeks before they're made available in traditional formats. However, the company today also announced the launch of over 600 already available films through Digital HD to get its service up and running.

Fox, like other major studios, has expressed its displeasure with the changing times over the past several years. The company has also done quite a bit to protect disc sales. But it appears that the studio is seeing what many industry observers have been witnessing for a while: digital is the future.

"With almost 800 million broadband connected devices globally, and millions of people accessing entertainment on those devices, we feel the medium's time has come," Mike Dunn, worldwide president of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, said today in a statement.

Digital HD releases are available in high-definition on iTunes, Google Play, Sony's PlayStation Store, Xbox Live, and YouTube, among others. The films will work across the devices that work with those services. According to Fox, the service is available in over 50 countries.