Sonic Solutions teams with MOD for on demand content kiosks

Sonic Solutions has announced that it has partnered with kiosk company MOD Systems to help bring digital movie distribution to kiosks, offering a better multi-system platform for content distribution.

DVD kiosks have become popular with movie viewers, especially with convenient locations in grocery stores, pharmacies, shopping malls, Walmarts, and other popular consumer destinations.

“Together with Sonic, we’re taking a major step toward meeting the long-standing vision of the entertainment industry by giving consumers easy access to digital entertainment whether in-store, online, at home, or on the go, all sold and supported by the retailer brands consumers trust,” said Antony Bay, MOD Systems CEO and Chairman, in a statement.

If implemented properly, a new kiosk will be able to provide content in-store (DVD rental, downloads to SD cards), online (digital video distribution), in the living room (via custom app or through a set-top box), and while on the go (distribution on smartphones).  I’d very much like to be able to transfer a movie to an SD card and be able to watch it across several different platforms and I’m sure many other consumers would also.

The new Sonic, MOD partnership can offer distribution for PCs, notebooks, standalone Blu-Ray players, HDTVs, set-top boxes, and smartphones. Content on SD cards from kiosks is delivered in the GreenPlay™ format, which can be played on any Windows PC and a growing number of GreenPlay-compatible consumer electronics devices. Entertainment from online storefronts will be streamed or downloaded to portable and connected devices through the RoxioNow entertainment platform.

Sonic also recently announced it has secured the DivX video codec platform, and continues to expand on its software lineup.  Sonic Solutions is the manufacturer of programs such as RecordNow, CinePlayer, CinemaNow, Toast, CineVision, and other such popular DVD authoring software.

Even though Redbox continues to lead the kiosk market, there is a growing market for digital media distribution.  As mentioned in early February, Redbox has started looking into digital distribution as a way to keep up with competitors and a changing marketplace.