Walmart has Apple’s iTunes in its crosshair – today, the retail giant will be rolling out an iPad app for its Vudu online video purchase and rental service, citing, “We’re committed to offering the VUDU experience on as many devices as possible so customers can shop for and access their favorite movies and TV shows however they want, whenever they want.” This degree of freedom offered by Walmart now might just make it more competitive to the iTunes sector, and while Walmart is currently the top selling DVD vendor in the US, they have failed to capitalize on that position to position itself in Netflix’s shoes as a mail rental service, while falling short of success in its partnership with HP when it comes to delivering movie downloads.
Walmart purchased Vudu last year, and have taken their time to make sure that no more past mistakes are carried forward to the present – slowly constructing it bit by bit into a service which might end up as a serious competitor to iTunes. According to Walmart, Vudu can be found on over 300 electronics devices such as the PS3, effectively turning it into the most widely accessible broadband pay-per-view service.
With more than 20,000 movies and TV shows to choose from, you will be in for an audio visual treat thanks to these movies and TV shows being streamed at full 1080p high-definition video quality with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound. Do you think Apple executives should sit up and take notice?