Further demonstrating how closely the entertainment and tech worlds have become entwined, today 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, SanDisk and Western Digital confirmed they are collaborating on an initiative designed to promote digital content ownership.
The project – known informally as Project Phenix – is being developed by the newly formed Secure Content Storage Association (SCSA). It will be compatible with the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem’s cloud locker ecosystem UltraViolet, but it also will create and license solutions that secure high definition and other premium copyright-protected content on local and portable hard drives, and flash memory products like USB flash drives, SD cards and solid state disk drives (SSDs).
Digital content will be available for purchase via download, bundled with physical media, kiosks and other secure avenues. It then will be portable across all SCSA-enabled devices such as connected TVs, laptops, Blu-ray players, tablets, mobile phones and game consoles, and it can be backed up on cloud-based services.
“Developing solutions that will allow consumers to easily access and store true HD digital content is a critical component supporting digital media and entertainment consumption,” said Darcy Antonellis, president, Warner Bros. Technical Operations. “Through the SCSA, we will accelerate the development of products that will make it easy for the consumer to download, store and playback their high definition digital movies and TV shows, in full 1080p, on any SCSA-optimized device at home and on the go.”
One release likely to leverage this technology is The Wizard of Oz. Warner Home Video North America is ceasing all shipments in all formats later this year in order to build demand for a major push around the upcoming 75th anniversary multi-platform release of the cinema classic in time for the 2014 holiday season.
“The vision for this new product is to store, play and back up in the cloud personal and professional content,” said Mike Dunn, president, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. “The device renders content up to 10 times faster than over-the-top internet. We see Project Phenix as a key component of the emerging digital ecosystem.”
Related links:
Press release – http://tinyurl.com/7zrv348
If I will have more convenience and selection for movies in my life than I am all for this idea. Obviously, we need to keep paying for movies to make sure they are around to enjoy. Right now though I’m enjoying my all you can watch buffet of Blu-ray and games from my Blockbuster @Home subscription I get from DISH. When my employer, DISH bought Blockbuster I hoped that it would benefit me as a customer, and it did. Only ten bucks gets me 20 free HD movie channels with it too.