Microsoft, in collaboration with Britain's largest retailer Tesco, have today announced plans to bring a "virtual DVD" experience to broadband-connected UK consumers.
Beginning this autumn, consumers who purchase select titles from Tesco will be able to download a digital copy onto their Windows or Mac computer. The download promises to offer "a similar level of quality as consumers have come to expect from DVD and Blu-ray" and will feature a complete set of DVD-like content - including interactivity and bonus features.
Although details are slim at this early stage, Microsoft has confirmed that the service will be powered by its Silverlight technology. In a separate announcement, the software giant confirmed that the fourth iteration of Silverlight will be previewed at an event taking place in Amsterdam this weekend. Silverlight 4 is said to include support for offline digital rights management (DRM) powered by Microsoft PlayReady technology, and although unconfirmed, PlayReady could be implemented as the anti-piracy measure for Tesco's virtual DVD experience.
Commenting on the announcement, Rob Salter, category director for entertainment at Tesco had this to say:
"Tesco is excited to be the first retailer to partner with a broad range of major movie studios to offer this next-generation movie experience. For the first time, consumers will be able to enjoy a DVD equivalent experience with digital movies, which paves the way for more advanced viewing experiences enabled through Silverlight."
"This is just the beginning. In the future we expect to offer our customers innovative digital solutions that far exceed the DVD experience and deliver exclusive content, Web events and services wherever and whenever they want them," he adds.
It remains unclear as to whether or not virtual DVDs will be made available as standalone products, but with Microsoft actively encouraging digital distribution, this could be the beginning of a Netflix-like service for UK consumers.
