Sears launched Alphaline Entertainment, a service allowing consumers to purchase and download films and TV shows, on December 28.
Consumers can use the service, built by Santa Clara, CA-based Sonic Solutions, to download entertainment content for TVs and computers. It will be available on mobile devices in the second quarter of 2011, said Elliot Becker, VP of consumer electronics at Sears Holdings.
“Our goal is to provide our customers with a simple-to-use service that enables them to watch a huge library of content on a multitude of devices,” he said. “We want Alphaline Entertainment to provide them with the flexibility to watch content where and when they want to.”
Sears Holdings’ Kmart brand will roll out its own online movie service at a yet-to-be-determined date, said Becker.
Sonic built Alphaline on its RoxioNow platform, a digital service for bricks-and-mortar retailers, cable operators, PC manufacturers, game system vendors, consumer electronics makers and Hollywood studios. The platform serves a broad range of content from new movies to next-day TV programs.
“There has been a shift in entertainment enjoyment,” said Chris Taylor, VP of corporate communications at Sonic Solutions.
The appeal of online movie services like Alphaline is that the content “moves with the consumer whether they’re in their living room or on the road,” he added. “Their movie library is always available to them.”
Sears licensed the RoxioNow platform eight months ago. BestBuy, Blockbuster, Dell and HP also use the service.