Wal-Mart to offer digital movie access to customers

Reuters
Shopping carts are seen outside a new Walmart Express store in Chicago July 26, 2011. REUTERS/John Gress

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is launching a new service for customers to access digital copies of movies they buy at its stores and website across all platforms. The world's largest retailer, along with VUDU, rolled out a beta version of the service, InstaWatch, in collaboration with seven movie studios. These include DreamWorks Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. About 800 movies available at Walmart stores and 1,100 on walmart.com will be a part of the program at the launch, the company said. InstaWatch, which can be accessed via the Wal-Mart app, will enable a user to watch digital copy of a purchased movie on VUDU. Wal-Mart acquired digital entertainment service VUDU in 2010. (Reporting By Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)