Blockbuster OnDemand service comes to Samsung's TVs, Blu-ray players

Another day, another news item about a TV manufacturer and a streaming-video partner. Yesterday, Mitsubishi announced it was giving away a Vudu Box with the purchase of a TV (most models, at least) for the next month. Today, Samsung and Blockbuster have revealed a partnership to bring the Blockbuster OnDemand online movie service to Samsung's networked HDTVs and Blu-ray players this fall.

While it's another feather in Samsung's Internet-services cap, the deal probably means more to Blockbuster, which has whiffed with its attempt to sell a player, the 2Wire MediaPoint, that ran Blockerbuster OnDemand and has to compete against Netflix's on-demand service as well as Amazon Video On Demand.

The service will be available with new Samsung connected TVs and Blu-ray players at some point in the fall, while consumers who've already purchased those devices can get access to Blockbuster OnDemand either through a firmware update (Blu-ray devices) or by downloading the Blockbuster widget (TVs). The service will have "preferred positioning" on the Blu-ray interface, though it remains to be seen what that exactly entails.