Walmart Wants to Be Your Movie Cloud
By Grant Clauser
Walmart is prepping a cloud-based movie service where users can bring their DVDs into stores in order to access the same material online.

Mega retail giant Walmart is launching a cloud-based movie service through Vudu—and we’re not talking about another Netflix wannabe. No, Walmart wants to be your movie server in the cloud, the digital bin where you store all your DVDs for access on whatever Internet-connected device you have handy.

Earlier today, Walmart announced the launch of an in-store program to allow users to turn their DVD movies into digital cloud-stored copies which, presumably, would be accessible over tablets, smart phones, smart TVs and similar products.



This isn’t a lone-wolf initiative. Walmart has the support of major movie studios including Paramount, Sony, Fox, Universal and Warner Bros. The company says the service will launch on April 16 in 3,500 stores.

Here’s how it works. First, you need a Vudu account, which is free (unlike Netflix, you pay for videos individually). You walk your DVDs into a Walmart store, and there you load them into a device of some sort (a self-serve kiosk is the mostly likely scenario) and then purchase the rights to a digital cloud copy. Yes, you purchase the right to a movie you already own. In this case it’s $2 for a standard definition version or $5 for a high-def version.

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