Rakuten’s Wuaki.tv launches in the UK

Rakuten have just gone head to head with LoveFilm and Netflix with the full launch of Wuaki.tv, their streaming media service.

Wuaki.tv, which launched in the UK in beta earlier this year, aim to become the European alternative for watching movies directly on your computer, TV, tablet or console. They offer monthly subscriptions from £4.99 per month as well as pay as you go and buying specific movies.

The three options available to user are Wuaki Selection, a subscription service to access all contents available under the Wuaki Selection catalogue; Renting a movie which allows you to watch it as many times as you like for 48 hours; and Buy, which isn’t quite the same as owning a video – when you buy a movie from Wuaki.tv you only get the right to access it for three years from the date of purchase so it’s not forever.

With Cable TV from Virgin, Satellite from Sky and streaming from LoveFilm, Netflix and BlinkBox (Tesco), plus of course the likes of iTunes and streaming TV from the BBC and ITV, Rakuten are entering a pretty busy market. Currently Wuaki have launched in Spain and now the UK, but aim to be “fully launched in main European countries by 2015”.