Under the multi-year agreement, Sears has licensed Sonic Solutions’ RoxioNow platform, which will power digital entertainment delivery services for both Sears and Kmart. The new services will launch later this year and will be promoted at retail stores nationwide.

"Teaming up with Sonic is a great opportunity for Sears and Kmart to quickly establish a position in digital video entertainment, and offer another great service to our customers," said Karen Austin, President of Home Electronics for Sears Holdings.

"With direct access to so many movies and TV shows from a broad range of devices, our customers will have the ability to obtain the latest high-quality entertainment virtually anywhere, anytime."

The new entertainment service will offer a range of updated movies and TV shows for rent or purchase, including new releases often on the same day DVDs become available at retail stores. Sonic and Sears will embed the service on a network of devices including portable media players, Blu-ray players, mobile phones, and high-definition televisions.
 

The two companies are working with a number of consumer electronic manufacturers, including Sonic’s CinemaNow, to expand the ecosystem of interoperable devices offering the Blockbuster service.

The devices will include PCs, portable media players, Blu-ray Disc players, set-top boxes, mobile phones and Internet -connected television sets.

Jim Keyes
Blockbuster Chairman and CEO

The two companies will make their digital libraries of content available under the Blockbuster brand offering 10,000 premium films and 40,000 digital titles.

"Blockbuster is a ubiquitous entertainment presence in the physical world. Through this alliance with Sonic, we plan to become a ubiquitous presence in the digital world as well. Our goal is to offer consumers the most digital content, the most accessibility, via the most devices, both in- and out of home," said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster Chairman and CEO.

Sonic’s device ecosystem, powered by its CinemaNow SDK (software development kit), will help streamline the introduction of Blockbuster’s digital entertainment service into a variety of consumer electronic devices.

"With more and more broadband-enabled consumer electronics hitting the market, there is a growing need for a service that gives consumers access to premium entertainment on any device, anytime and anywhere," said Dave Habiger, president and CEO, Sonic Solutions.

The new Blockbuster service will be available in the second quarter of this year, pricing details have not been announced.