CES 2014: Samsung Announces 4K Streaming with M-GO, Amazon
In an attempt to seed the market with 4K content and thus move greater numbers of Ultra HD (UHD) televisions, Samsung—the market leader in this product category—has announced a major set of content partnerships with online streaming services and Hollywood studios.
Where LG had earlier rolled Netflix head Reed Hastings to highlight the service's 4K offerings, which will be available on LG TVs and other compatible devices, Samsung has signed up streaming services from M-GO—the pay-as-you-go joint venture of DreamWorks Animation and Technicolor—and Amazon.
The service, slated to launch this spring, will see around 100 movies and TV shows offered for streaming. Since this content was not originated in 4K it will be upscaled.
Amazon's Instant Video service will provide 4K content from its partner studios including Warner Bros., Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox, and Discovery. The service was not given a launch date or pricing but it can be expected to premiere when Samsung's latest range of UHD TVs—ranging from 55 inches up to a whopping 110 inches—ship.
In addition, a UHD video pack preloaded with movies like Star Trek will be available from Paramount.
Further, Comcast and Direct TV will work with Samsung to offer a UHD streaming service.
The director Michael Bay, brains behind the Transformers movie franchise, was brought on stage to talk up the cinematic experience of Samsung's new curved 4K screens. But in a strange turn of events, when his tele-prompter broke he appeared unable to continue and made a sharp and unplanned exit. He was supposed to give an exclusive preview of Transformers 4 in UHD.
Samsung also wheeled out entrepreneur Mark Cuban to sing UHD's praises. “People love a better viewing experience," Cuban said. "But what is interesting from a geek point of view is that the extra pixels are for gaming, entertainment, and an untold number of things that developers might come up with. UHD will help turn TV into unique platform.”
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