Walmart’s streaming VOD service VUDU is now working on the Apple iPad—but via the Safari browser rather than a native iOS app in the App Store.
VUDU account owners can just navigate to the VUDU website and dial up a title to rent or purchase, and watch via the browser in standard definition. Savvy VUDU can thus avoid the “Apple tax," the 30-percent cut that Jobs & Co. take from all purchases made through applications.
That’s not to say it has to be a hassle: “To make it easy to get to VUDU quickly, simply add the VUDU icon to your Home Screen, by clicking the ‘Add to Home Screen’ button when you are on vudu.com/movies," Walmart helpfully explains.
For those hankering for an HD experience, they’re not going to get it on the iPad (Walmart cites “content licensing issues), but users can use the iPad interface to purchase HD titles that can then be watched via another VUDU-enabled device, like the PlayStation 3, connected Blu-ray player and certain HDTVs.
VUDU’s pay-per-view model offers a range of current programming and a collection of over 20,000 movies. Some studios are holdouts, however, notably Disney.
