Wuaki.tv brings Spanish Armada of movies to battle Lovefilm, Netflix

Wuaki.tv launches Spanish Armada of on-demand content to tackle Lovefilm, Netflix
Pronounced ooh-aki. Apparently.

A third nag may have entered the two-horse race between Lovefilm and Netflix after Spanish streaming site Wuaki.tv launched in the UK on Friday at a starting price of just £2.99 a month.

The on-demand platform, a property of Play.com owner Ratuken, has built a subscriber base of 600,000 users in Spain since its launch in 2009.

Now it's bringing a library of thousands of movies and TV shows across the Mediterranean, with the UK the first stop on its European invasion.

Users can rent movies a la carte on an individual basis, or pay a monthly subscription fee to snap up unlimited streaming.

£2.99 for life

The starting price of £2.99 (for life!) is for the first 75,000 customers who sign-up for the service, but once those spots are gone it'll be a Netflix-matching and Lovefilm-beating £5.99 per month

If you wish to rent a movie outright, that'll cost you £2.49 a pop, while some titles are available to buy and keep. Play.com users also get 50 per cent off their first two movie purchases from the Wuaki store.

The service is being touted by Ratuken as the first of its kind in the UK to offer subscription and individual rentals of movies.

Although the price is right at the moment, the service is only available through the web browser of your desktop or laptop TV, but the company is promising mobile, console and smart TV apps are inbound before the summer is out.

Chris Smith

A technology journalist, writer and videographer of many magazines and websites including T3, Gadget Magazine and TechRadar.com. He specializes in applications for smartphones, tablets and handheld devices, with bylines also at The Guardian, WIRED, Trusted Reviews and Wareable. Chris is also the podcast host for The Liverpool Way. As well as tech and football, Chris is a pop-punk fan and enjoys the art of wrasslin'.