James R | On 11, Jun 2015

blinkbox will no longer be available on certain TVs, PCs and Blu-ray players from July 2015.

The pay-per-view VOD service offers TV shows and films to buy and rent on a range of devices. Next month, though, customers who use certain TVs, Blu-Ray players or set top boxes by Samsung, Toshiba, Philips, Technika and 2011 LG TV models will no longer be able to access their titles. Support will also be removed for PCs running Windows Vista, XP or below.

The move has been prompted by Microsoft’s announcement that it will stop supporting Windows Media DRM, the the encryption technology the site uses on a number of older devices and for downloading purchases to PCs.

“We take the decision to discontinue support for devices very seriously and always consider the consequences of our action,” the company told customers in an email.

“The good news is that you’ll still be able to enjoy blinkbox Movies on all of our other supported devices, including options that are compatible with your TV, like Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Google Chromecast.”

The site will not consider requests for refunds, as titles are still available to watch, albeit by different means.

Downloading to watch titles offline is currently available on Apple iPad, Android tablets, PCs and tablets with Windows 8.1 or higher and the blinkbox app. By the 14th July, customers will also be able to watch offline using “many” of blinkbox’s mobile phone apps.

“The easiest way to continue accessing your movies and TV shows on your smart TV is to purchase a Google Chromecast,” the site advises on its help page.

Windows users

Consumer support by Microsoft for Windows 7 ended on January 13th 2015, so blinkbox is now advising users to consider upgrading to a newer version of Windows, such as Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, both of which support the site’s new watch offline function.

“We’ve focused our efforts on developing watch offline for newer versions of the Windows operating system that are still supported for consumer use by Microsoft,” says blinkbox.

“You’ll be able to use our new watch offline service by upgrading to Windows 10, which will be offered as a free upgrade for one year after it’s launched by Microsoft later this year.”

Other devices

blinkbox support will also end for some Samsung 2001 TVs, Blu-ray players set top boxes, LG 2011 TVs, Toshiba TVs, Philips TVs, Blu-ray players and set top boxes, Technika TVs and set top boxes.

“We’ve worked really hard on a new version of our app,” says blinkbox, but adds that these older devices “are not powerful enough to support the application, so we’ve been forced to discontinue support”.

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