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Samsung to close down its video store and Media Hub
Samsung has announced that it is pulling the plug on its Video and Media Hub, putting an end to the last of its paid content media services. Samsung had previously revealed that it was shutting down its book and music stores too.
The option to purchase or rent video from Samsung’s media service has been disabled since July 1st, and the Video and Media Hub will no longer be available from August 1st 2014, which will unfortunately lock consumers out of re-downloading past purchases from this date. This leaves customers with about a month to download their library to a new format. Samsung says that this move will allow them to “focus on exciting new video products”, although they haven’t said exactly what that entails.
However, customers will still be able to watch their already purchased videos through the Samsung video player right up until the end of 2014, and can also transfer their existing videos over to its new partner company – M-GO. The transfer over to this new service won’t cost anything and Samsung is even throwing in a goodwill gesture, valued at up to $13, for those who switch their accounts over.
If this shutdown affects you, you can begin making the switchover process here. For a full list of instructions, terms, and details on the shut down and the move over to M-GO, check out this page from Samsung.
Back in May, Samsung also notified customers that Samsung Hub Books was to be replaced by Amazon’s Kindle app, and that Samsung Music would be switched over to Milk Music internet radio and a three-month trial of Google Play Music. The suspicion is that Samsung is closing down its services after facing increased pressure from Google for selling devices that come preinstalled with competing media applications and services.