Tesco's Digital Locker to take on iTunes
"Buy the title, not the format"
Tesco is to launch a Digital Locker initiative which is set to take on iTunes in the UK.
Announced at the Futuresource Entertainment Summit in London, Home Cinema Choice – part of the TechRadar network – has exclusively revealed that the supermarket giant is to bring the digital service in the UK, which allows you to consume the media you buy on any device.
Play anywhere
Richard Bron, CEO of Blueprint Digital, who is working on the project with Tesco, said about the service: "The way it would work practically is that when you buy a disc in store or online, that title would be put up into your Digital Locker which would immediately be accessible from device registered to that locker."
It is this "buy the title not the format" mentality that he hopes consumers and industry alike will respond to.
The idea of a Digital Locker is not new. Disney is planning to do a similar thing but, in its own saccharine way, is calling it a Keychest.
The service would also urge more people to buy their music and movies from Tesco.
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Although the logistics of the scheme are yet to be finalised, Bron did note that "devices would need to be registered, so that the device can be authenticated by a clearing house to prove that it is that person, and is content they own.
"The content could then be either streamed or downloaded to that device, whenever or wherever they are."
October launch?
The Digital Locker would be tied up to Tesco's Clubcard database and is looking to launch as early as October, with Bron explaining: "I think we will see over the 15 months thereafter, retailers working together to make life easier for consumers.
"Retailers realise that while they compete on price, it doesn't make sense for them to be selling titles digitally that don't work on devices that other retailers may sell."
As for the Locker having DRM, it seems that Tesco wants it to be open, with Bron suggesting: "There are lots of retailers selling discs. We don't want to have a situation where a customer can buy a disc at HMV, Play and Tesco and only be able to access that content centrally on one title."
Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.