Fox Becomes First Studio to Allow Movie Sideloading on Android

Fox will offer digital downloads of movies that will be playable on Android smartphones, marking the film studio as the first in the industry to allow such a feature for Android devices. Digital downloads playable on Android devices will debut in October, and the first title available will be X-Men: First Class. The digital download will come pre-bundled for users who purchase a Blu-ray version of the movie, allowing them to download the video and then copy the video to either their smartphone’s internal memory or to a memory card.

While Fox had previously allowed digital downloads for iTunes and Windows Media, Google’s Android platform had previously lacked the copy protection. Google had since bought Widevine in December to fill the void. Since then, Google has also launched movie rentals through Google’s own Android Market.

Fox is also working on Android apps for phones and tablets that will augment the video watching experience as well.

The digital download service for Android will initially be available in the U.S., UK, France, and Germany.

Via: Electronista