The Beginning of the End for UV in Canada?

[twobelowpar]

I can't imagine UV continues in Canada for much longer. It is absolutely horrendous to use. There are only 4 studios that support it. There's no useful way to watch your titles if you don't circumvent and use Vudu. It was a disaster from the start.

[bdmckinl]

I got a bit excited there for a minute, as Apple Canada has a page updated yesterday describing how to connect iTunes to the new Movies Anywhere service. So I turned on my VPN, created a Movies Anywhere account, connected my VUDU account, then went to connect my iTunes account...but, alas, without success. Perhaps it would have worked had my iTunes account been a US one, but since all my movies are in my Canadian account it would defeat the purpose of amalgamating everything together. Sigh.

[bdmckinl]

On the other hand, after connecting VUDU to Movies Anywhere using my VPN, I disconnected my VPN and seem to be able to still access and stream my UV titles via Movies Anywhere.

In short: Movies Anywhere can be a new way of streaming UV titles in Canada VPN-free. The only downside is that not all UV titles appear in Movies Anywhere. TV shows don't, and I imagine anything from Paramount and Lionsgate won't as they haven't joined Movies Anywhere.

[darthpepsi]

Originally Posted by Gitaroo

sorry so what is the option to redeem UHD code in Canada without going through VPN? Really wish google movie is a viable option since they will probably last longer than any other service, I don't even mind if I don't have the hardware to playback UHD DV atm with google movie but as long as I get access to them in the future.

That’s a good question? I have boycotted Sony and WB Blurays because of UV, so where do the slips say to go to redeem their so called digital? Cineplex store !!!

[Bad_Deal_Assassin]

Ahh.... I'm stubborn, I refuse to use a VPN to connect accounts. I shouldn't have to use a work around to watch movies that I've payed for... like it was said earlier in this thread I do hope they bring the app over before UV goes belly up so I'm not SOL with the near hundred movies I have in my locker.

Going forward I'll be redeeming everything through itunes, no more services that are going to fade into obscurity for me thank you.

[whitefinger]

Has anyone in Canada used the Flixster Video app for Windows lately? I downloaded it on a new laptop, and after logging in all my movies are unavailable to play. Interestingly, all my TV shows are available. Does this occur for anyone else?

[bdmckinl]

Originally Posted by whitefinger

Has anyone in Canada used the Flixster Video app for Windows lately? I downloaded it on a new laptop, and after logging in all my movies are unavailable to play. Interestingly, all my TV shows are available. Does this occur for anyone else?

I'm on a Mac myself, and have had the Flixster app on it for ages...but when I attempted to stream anything just now I just got a black screen (had to quit the app each time and reopen); moreover, when I tried to download anything (including TV shows) nothing would download. Either it just stayed as 'pending' until I cancelled the download, or it would flat out tell me there was an error.

At least things still seem to stream from the flixstervideo.com website (albeit with bugs aplenty). For now.

But still. Is it any wonder Canada pirates the hell out of Hollywood with second-rate treatment like this? Pay more. Get less.

[twobelowpar]

Universal has ditched iTunes, leaving us with another Flixster-exclusive studio. Just awful.
I'm writing a how-to guide for Canadians who wish to use Movies Anywhere.

[darthpepsi]

Originally Posted by twobelowpar

Universal has ditched iTunes, leaving us with another Flixster-exclusive studio. Just awful.
I'm writing a how-to guide for Canadians who wish to use Movies Anywhere.

That would be great if you can. I think the code market is dead anyways. They seem to be harder to find in the forums and I’m not paying $6-8US per code when I know I can buy it from iTunes in 4K for $10 no tax, eventually. It’s just not worth the time anymore.

I can’t see MA ever coming to Canada with the distribution issues so might as well sign up witht the US version. I’ll already have a US iTunes account just not a VPN.

[Wasgo]

Originally Posted by twobelowpar

Universal has ditched iTunes, leaving us with another Flixster-exclusive studio. Just awful.
I'm writing a how-to guide for Canadians who wish to use Movies Anywhere.

Which movie was this confirmed with? Home Again had an iTunes code.

[bdmckinl]

Originally Posted by darthpepsi

I can’t see MA ever coming to Canada with the distribution issues so might as well sign up witht the US version. I’ll already have a US iTunes account just not a VPN.

Oh no - I certainly don’t want to hear that . I have the VPN, and have already created a MA account linked to VUDU and Amazon... but the vast, vast majority of my digital titles are in my Canadian iTunes account. ‘Breaking Bad’ series excluded, I think I only have about 20’ish titles unique to UV (many others are redeemed in both UV and iTunes).

I understand the acquisition of Fox by Disney substantially improves their international presence - perhaps the articles stating this are referring to the Sky shares this purchase includes, but it is my hope that somehow, someway this larger more international Disney at least expands MA north. Otherwise I’ll just want to go full iTunes and wipe my hands of UV/MA completely.

[twobelowpar]

Originally Posted by darthpepsi

That would be great if you can. I think the code market is dead anyways. They seem to be harder to find in the forums and I’m not paying $6-8US per code when I know I can buy it from iTunes in 4K for $10 no tax, eventually. It’s just not worth the time anymore.

I can’t see MA ever coming to Canada with the distribution issues so might as well sign up witht the US version. I’ll already have a US iTunes account just not a VPN.

I have it in a Google Doc I will share here. Hopefully everything is correct. I don't see MA coming to Canada either (DMA never did) but the code market is still alive. They just cost more because I think more and more people are adopting digital and discovering this secondary code market.. supply and demand. Usually my new releases are $6, just FYI. I let Canadian buyers buy in CAD to help. PM me if you want my Google Plus page.

Originally Posted by Wasgo

Which movie was this confirmed with? Home Again had an iTunes code.

Home Again was the first US Universal release to be UV only. The Canadian release of Home Again was distributed by eOne, which does give iTunes codes (and Canada iTunes only at that). Victoria & Abdul is the first Universal Canada release I got which was UV only. It doesn't matter as much for US buyers because they have MA. For Canadians, we're screwed over again.

[bdmckinl]

Originally Posted by twobelowpar

I have it in a Google Doc I will share here. Hopefully everything is correct.

Thank you very much for this! I was so hung up on the idea of wanting to consolidate everything into my one iTunes account it hadn’t occurred to me that by creating a US iTunes account I could at least have all of my digital movies in iTunes and available to stream through my Apple TV (even if they are in two different accounts). All in all, not a bad compromise.

You, sir, are both a gentleman and a scholar!

[Wasgo]

I tweeted them. I recommend people either email, tweet or write on their Facebook page.

[zeze]

Originally Posted by twobelowpar

I have it in a Google Doc I will share here. Hopefully everything is correct. I don't see MA coming to Canada either (DMA never did) but the code market is still alive. They just cost more because I think more and more people are adopting digital and discovering this secondary code market.. supply and demand. Usually my new releases are $6, just FYI. I let Canadian buyers buy in CAD to help. PM me if you want my Google Plus page.




Home Again was the first US Universal release to be UV only. The Canadian release of Home Again was distributed by eOne, which does give iTunes codes (and Canada iTunes only at that). Victoria & Abdul is the first Universal Canada release I got which was UV only. It doesn't matter as much for US buyers because they have MA. For Canadians, we're screwed over again.

Can the new Canadian Universal title codes (like Victoria and Abdul) still redeem in the US without using a proxy?

[twobelowpar]

Originally Posted by zeze

Can the new Canadian Universal title codes (like Victoria and Abdul) still redeem in the US without using a proxy?

Yep


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bdmckinl]

Originally Posted by twobelowpar

I have it in a Google Doc I will share here.

Having trouble making the US iTunes account - when I sign out of my current Apple ID in the App store on my iPad and try to download a free app, it doesn't provide the option to create a new Apple ID .

Also tried creating a new Apple ID on my Mac - I got all the way to the verification email process twice but the final verifications were met with error messages and the IDs weren't created. Perhaps Apple is onto us Canucks?

ADDENDUM:

Just tried with my iPod touch. It *did* provide the option to create a new Apple ID (presumably because the software is older, I guess they’ve patched the hole in later iOS versions allowing for this backdoor creation of new Apple ID’s). However, the verification still failed. This time a message was displayed that I would need to contact Apple Support to complete the creation. Sigh.

[twobelowpar]

Originally Posted by bdmckinl

Having trouble making the US iTunes account - when I sign out of my current Apple ID in the App store on my iPad and try to download a free app, it doesn't provide the option to create a new Apple ID .

Also tried creating a new Apple ID on my Mac - I got all the way to the verification email process twice but the final verifications were met with error messages and the IDs weren't created. Perhaps Apple is onto us Canucks?

ADDENDUM:

Just tried with my iPod touch. It *did* provide the option to create a new Apple ID (presumably because the software is older, I guess they’ve patched the hole in later iOS versions allowing for this backdoor creation of new Apple ID’s). However, the verification still failed. This time a message was displayed that I would need to contact Apple Support to complete the creation. Sigh.

That is frustrating. Creating the US iTunes account is the one step I haven't had to do myself, which is why I linked to how-to. My wife is from the States and already had one.. so.. problem solved.

[bdmckinl]

So, with the advent of 'Movies Anywhere' and the demise of UV down in the US, I've been curious to see how this would shake out in Canada: how would digital copies be identified on discs north of the border as a result? Would they double-down on the obsolete UV service which was never adequately supported for us Canucks in the first place (oh the irony), or would they put more emphasis into other formats (Google Play, Amazon Video, or my favoured iTunes) which at least provide a serviceable platform whilst we wait to see if MA will ever be extended to us?

Alas, the answer is the former: again Canada is treated like the red-headed stepchild (at least when it comes to WB). Blade Runner 2049 makes only very obscure references to 'Digital' which you can 'Watch Anywhere!'. The small print emphasizes 'DOES NOT INCLUDE ITUNES FILE', and the even smaller print tells you to 'register...with any digital locker service listed at wb.com/digitalmoviefaq (e.g. UltraViolet)'. Funny that insertion of the 'e.g.', since wb.com/digitalmoviefaq now automatically redirects you to myuv.com/faq. Seems to me they meant 'i.e.', not 'e.g.', as the latter implies some modicum of choice.

Boo, WB!

[bdmckinl]

Also curious to know - has anyone from Canada purchased a US digital code since the advent of MA? How does it work down there now? Is there just a single 'MA' code you have to use on a 'MA' site at which point you choose your primary provider (e.g. iTunes)? Will US codes still work in Canada (e.g. if it's an iTunes code intended for use with MA, will it still redeem on iTunes in Canada)?

Lastly, has anyone tried redeeming a 'Canadian UV' code with an MA service like VUDU with any success? For the time being this seems unnecessary, as my Canadian Flixster redemption quickly populated into VUDU (and then into MA/YouTube), but just wondering.

Any enlightenment will be greatly appreciated, thank you!