moving picture and TV aficionados now have another option when tot up their iPads : picture - cyclosis serving Vuduannounced on Wednesdaythat it ’s commence offering the ability to rent , purchase , and learn movies right from Apple ’s pill .
Unlike Netflix or Hulu , Vudu use a Web - free-base interface alternatively of a native iOS app . By visitingvudu.comin Safari on your iPad , you could crop through the usable films , select one , and start watching it right away ( provide , of course , that you have or sign up up for a free Vudu account ) .
However , video stream are available only in standard definition ( SD ) due to licensing restrictions ; you’re able to use the iPad interface to purchase an HD deed of conveyance , though , which you’re able to then watch on one of your other Vudu - capable devices . ( Vudu financial support is built into the PlayStation 3 , as well asmany firebrand of Blu - ray player and HDTV ; you may also use the serving on PC and Macs . ) In addition , if you ’ve already purchased a picture in HD or Vudu ’s HDX data format , you may check it in Mount Rushmore State on the iPad .
There are also some content limitations on the iPad , again due to licensing restrictions : presently , no titles create by Disney are usable for cyclosis on the iPad . As with HD mental object , though , you’re able to purchase these titles through the iPad Web user interface , and then watch them on another Vudu - support gimmick .
By tally iPad support , Vudu is throw itself into the video - streaming mob , facing off against services like Netflix , Hulu , and even Apple ’s own iTunes Store . While it may not offer the same all - you - can - stream modeling as Netflix , Vudu ’s rental example would seem to localize it square at odds with iTunes , except with accompaniment for a wider miscellanea of devices .
Vudu ’s pay - per - view modeling also offer up a better content catalog than Netflix ’s , as there are pile of new and late releases to choose from . The exception , of course , is that Disney substance — but it is n’t on the button surprising that it ’s the lone holdout , given the company ’s near standoff to Apple . ( Apple CEO Steve Jobs is Disney ’s declamatory single stockholder and sits on its board of manager . )
As to why Vudu select to go the vane route instead of a native app , plant a bullseye on theApp Store ’s late rule for in - app subject buying . Like the Kindle Cloud Reader app , also unblock on Wednesday , Vudu can use the Web - based interface to fend off paying Apple the 30 - percent cutting that it take from all purchases made through applications .
It ’s deserving noting that Vudu is owned by Walmart and that this is n’t the first time that the retail whale has judge to take on the iTunes Store in digital media : The company launch a digital music shop in 2004 , but Walmart foretell earlier this hebdomad that it would be shuttering the venture .
