NanoTech revealed today its agreement with Sony to bundle its 4K UltraFlix Network app into Sony’s 2014 4K/UHD TV line. In all, nine Sony 4K sets with screen sizes ranging from 49 to 85-inches will get the new app. Viewers will have one-click access to what NanoTech claims is “the world’s largest library of 4K VOD content,” boasting more than 300 hours of content. Selections include travel and nature documentaries, including 40 made-for-IMAX theatrical titles, as well as a sizable selection of action/thriller, comedy, drama, and family movies, extreme sports videos, musical concerts, TV shows, and “moving murals.”
Of course, following the trend of a lot of the 4K offerings we’ve seen arrive in the early days of the technology, there aren’t a whole lot of marquee titles available in the library, which seems to lean more on its nature flicks than sought after blockbusters. Here is a sampling of some of the material offered through NanoTech’s UltraFlix service (which is currently only available on NanoTech’s own $300 Nuvola set-top box):
- Movies – Freeway (Oliver Stone), Getting Gotti, Basil, Grizzly, Oblivion, The Complex, Manterra, SOLO, Return of Superfly, Shotgun Stories, Sweet Bird of Youth
- Extreme Sports – Into the Mind, Valhalla, Way of the Ocean: Australia, Tempting Fear, Moto:4, Not Bad, Zero to 100: The Lakey Peterson Story
- Documentaries – LA Nights, Best of Africa, American Empire: The Act of Collective Madness, Strongman, Tibet: Beyond Fear, Dragons, Real Street Fighter, Spirit of The Sea, Pebble Beach Car Classics, Lichtmond, Hayaku
- Concerts – Muse, AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Kings of Leon, Mumford and Sons, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Incubus, Pearl Jam, Queen
The library doesn’t appear to be all that captivating, aside from the fact that… well, it’s all 4K content which is currently still in short demand. Adding the library to Sony’s burgeoning 4K catalog is nice, but it’s not exactly game-changing. Sony’s $700 4K Ultra HD Media Player certainly already offers a much more recognizable selection of films. Either way, Sony is currently at the top of the Ultra HD food chain. And the fact that you’ll need a Sony 4K TV to take advantage of all this stuff makes for a more compelling argument to opt for a Sony UHD set.
However, Sony’s current reign in the 4K realm is far from infallible. Netflix already has UHD offerings available for streaming, and Amazon could begin piping its own 4K content as early as next month. And those are just the obvious competitors; while details are still under wraps, Digital Trends has been informed that there are, in fact, other popular streaming services building out 4K content set to launch in the near future.
If the rumors hold true, the next couple of months could very well out be a turning point for the growing format
