Amazon launches its video on demand service Lovefilm on Microsoft’s Xbox
LOVEFILM, Europe’s largest subscription service, today becomes available on Microsoft’s video games console Xbox.
The company, which was originally established in May 2002 as Online Rentals Limited and was acquired by Amazon in February 2011, has traditionally operated as a mail-order DVD rental service.
However, in the last two years Lovefilm has enabled its customers to watch online in addition to receiving physical DVDs at their door.
While the video-on-demand service became available on the Sony PlayStation 3 in November 2010, its new compatibility with Xbox marks the first time that Lovefilm will be controllable using voice commands or gestures.
Simon Calver, chief executive of Lovefilm, said: “It is an auspicious day for the TV entertainment industry as a whole.
“Launching Lovefilm Instant on Xbox 360 and Kinect means bringing the service to a million more living rooms – a huge achievement,” he added.
Lovefilm boasts more than 1.8m members across the UK and Europe.
This move to make film watching more accessible comes in the wake of Tesco’s announcement last week that a DVD bought in-store will also be available to the customer in its digital version through partner service Blinkbox.