Warner Bros. / Flixster / Samsung / Rovi Press Release - SAMSUNG TO BRING “DISC to DIGITAL” FEATURE TO SMART BLU-RAY PLAYERS IN 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Peter Binazeski
(for Flixster)
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group
peter.binazeski@warnerbros.com
Kelly Hamor
Samsung Electronics
khamor@webershandwick.com
Chris Taylor
Rovi Corporation
chris.d.taylor@rovicorp.com
SAMSUNG TO BRING “DISC to DIGITAL” FEATURE TO SMART
BLU-RAY™ PLAYERS IN 2012
Developed by Flixster and Rovi, Consumers will be able to Import Their Existing
Blu-ray Disc and DVD Collections from Participating Studios into the UltraViolet™ Cloud Making them Viewable on a Wide Range of Devices
Flixster will also be Available on Samsung TVs and Blu-ray Players this Year Allowing Consumers to Stream their UltraViolet Digital Collections from the Cloud
LAS VEGAS, CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW, Jan. 10, 2012—Today, at the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) UltraViolet press event, Samsung announced plans for a “Disc to Digital” feature on Samsung Smart Blu-ray players, developed by Flixster and Rovi. Available later this year, Disc to Digital will allow consumers to add their existing Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD libraries from participating studios to their UltraViolet digital library—making them viewable on a wide range of devices.
Disc to Digital can work with any authorized retail service and will initially be available using a new Flixster application on Samsung’s Smart Hub. When consumers insert an eligible physical disc into a 2012 Samsung Blu-ray player and select the Disc to Digital icon, they will launch the Flixster application and can easily add the movie to their UltraViolet locker for a nominal amount. If high definition versions are available, they will have the option to upgrade their standard definition movies for an additional fee.
Once digital copies have been created and added to the consumer’s UltraViolet collection, the content will be available to enjoy through the Flixster Smart Hub application on Samsung’s Smart Hub, as well as a broad range of mobile and portable devices such as iPhones, iPads and Android-based devices as well as PCs and Macs. UltraViolet also allows consumers to share their entire UltraViolet digital library with other members on their account, and they can even watch the same title simultaneously from different locations.
Flixster will also be available this year on Samsung TVs and Blu-ray players. Through the application, consumers will be able to easily access and stream their UltraViolet movie and TV show collections directly on their TVs.
Disc to Digital uses Rovi Digital Copy Solution, which integrates into consumer electronics devices as well as PC applications to allow them to recognize a movie on a physical disc, authenticate its origin, and then trigger access to a copy from a cloud-based digital library.
The new Disc to Digital feature will be demonstrated Jan. 10-13, at Samsung’s CES booth, #12004 at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). Rovi Corporation will also demonstrate the service by appointment at its meeting space at Caesars Palace.
“Disc to Digital is a revolutionary way for consumers to ‘future proof’ their DVD library,” said Steve Polsky, president of Flixster. “They will no longer need to worry if a DVD is misplaced or if it’s scratched. Through UltraViolet, consumers have an exciting new way to collect, access and enjoy digital entertainment. They can take their movie and TV collection with them and watch it when and where they want.”
“This is exactly the type of ground-breaking service our white-label, digital entertainment technologies and Rovi solutions were designed to serve,” said Corey Ferengul, executive vice president of products, Rovi. “We are proud to be supporting this new market offering that will enable the creation of ‘virtual movie collections’ and introduce more consumers to the flexibility and convenience of digitally delivered entertainment.”
About Flixster
Founded in 2006 and based in San Francisco, Flixster Inc. operates one of the world’s most popular movie communities, used by more than 25 million people every month. The company was the first to launch applications that allow consumers to access UltraViolet, an industry standard that gives greater flexibility with how and where consumers watch the movies and TV shows they purchase. Flixster services include destination websites at Flixster.com and RottenTomatoes.com, as well as leading apps on Facebook, iGoogle, iPhone, BlackBerry and Android-powered devices. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Flixster has offices in New York and representatives in Los Angeles and Seattle.
About Rovi Corporation
Rovi Corporation is focused on revolutionizing the digital entertainment landscape by delivering solutions that enable consumers to intuitively connect to new entertainment from many sources and locations. The company also provides extensive entertainment discovery solutions for television, movies, music and photos to its customers in the consumer electronics, cable and satellite, entertainment and online distribution markets. These solutions, complemented by industry leading entertainment data, create the connections between people and technology, and enable them to discover and manage entertainment in an enjoyable form.
Rovi holds over 5,100 issued or pending patents worldwide and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with numerous offices across the United States and around the world including Japan, China, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. More information about Rovi can be found at http://www.rovicorp.com/.
About Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2010 consolidated sales of US$135.8 billion. Employing approximately 190,500 people in 206 offices across 68 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com
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