Think there's room for another player in the video streaming business? Sears believes so, announcing its movie download service today, Alphaline Entertainment -- though it's not an entirely new offering. Sears has licensed the RoxioNow platform from Sonic Solutions, the same firm that Best Buy partnered with last year to ship electronics with its (RoxioNow-powered) CinemaNow service.
Sears has similar plans, as it is working with Sonic on a "multi-phase rollout" that will see Alphaline Entertainment embedded in various connected devices, including portable media players, Blu-ray players, mobile phones, and HDTVs. New titles will be available to purchase through the store the same day they ship on DVD and Blu-ray, but don't expect a steep discount on the digital form.
Looking at the Alphaline Entertainment store, DVD-quality downloads of movies like The American and The Town are priced at $19.95, which compares to $10-$15 on Amazon for physical copies. 24-hour rentals are cheaper at $3.99, but that still seems unreasonable compared to Netflix's $7.99 all-you-can-eat approach, even if you do have to wait an extra month for new releases.
