Buy a movie on Blinkbox, get a copy for your phone on UltraViolet
Selected films bought in Tesco or on Blinkbox now come with a digital copy on UltraViolet -- handy if Blinkbox shuts down.
Buy a DVD or Blu-ray in Tesco and you can magically watch it on your phone, tablet or games console as Blinkbox adds support for UltraViolet.
Founded eight years ago and currently owned by Tesco, Blinkbox is an online store for films and TV shows, similar to iTunes or Google Play. You can buy or rent movies and TV shows to watch online or on the Blinkbox app for your smartphone, tablet or games console.
And UltraViolet is a "digital locker", an online service to store and watch digital copies of the movies and TV programmes you've bought in disc form from a shop without having to rip them off the disc. DVDs and Blu-rays come with a code that you use to add the film to your UltraViolet library; when you have a movie stored on Ultraviolet, you can watch it on your mobile device without having to go through the hassle of ripping the DVD or Blu-ray.
Now Blinkbox and UltraViolet have joined forces, you get an Ultraviolet copy of selected movies you buy on Blinkbox or from Tesco if the movie in question is made by Warner Home Video, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures or 20th Century Fox. You also get an Ultraviolet copy of films you've already bought on Blinkbox if you bought the film after the studio signed up with Blinkbox -- look for the Ultraviolet logo to see which films are included.
Tesco bought Blinkbox in 2011, but is now reportedly looking to sell off the service in the wake of the supermarket's £250 million accounting snafu. If the supermarket giant can't sell the video service and decides to close it instead -- this is just a worst case scenario, mind you -- you could potentially lose the movies you've bought... which is why it's a good idea to make sure they're backed up in UltraViolet too.