New Movies Anywhere app streams Disney's world
Disney kisses awake its long slumbering digital-locker system with an app tied to iTunes for streaming movies from its studio, Marvel and Pixar. Promotional bonus: "The Incredibles" for free.
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Like a Disney princess waking from an evil witch's spell, Walt Disney Studios is finally releasing its digital-rights-locker project KeyChest from its deep slumber.
On Tuesday, the media powerhouse launched a cloud-based movie app -- descriptively called Disney Movies Anywhere -- based on KeyChest, an alternative to consortia like UltraViolet that has languished for years.
KeyChest was built as a place to store and access all your Disney media, and with the new app, Disney has connected it with Apple's iTunes, another longtime holdout from UltraViolet.
The app -- which lists more than 400 live-action and animated films from Disney, Pixar, and Marvel, as well as extra content and bonus video -- connects to your iTunes account to purchase films and watch movies you already bought through the Apple store. You can download the movies in the app to your device, or save the space and simply stream them in the app. The service goes beyond the app with a Disney-specific streaming site, letting you stream movies by logging into a Web site on any desktop or laptop.
In addition to iTunes purchases, you can redeem digital copies of Disney DVDs or Blu-rays to stock the locker.
For now, it's just on Apple devices: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Apple TV.
People who act quickly to activate a Disney Movies anywhere account and connect it to iTunes will get a free digital copy of Pixar's "The Incredibles."