It’s not exaggeration to call Apple a trendsetter. When Cupertino does something, then other companies will invariably follow. As a result, it’s no surprise that Google has just announced that customers in the U.S. and Canada will receive free 4K upgrades of titles they have previously bought on Google Play Movies.
“Movies you own will automatically be upgraded to 4K, on us: When 4K titles are available from participating Hollywood studios, we’ll upgrade your past movie purchases so you can stream in 4K, even if you originally bought the movie in SD or HD,” the company notes in a press release. “It’s all on us, just open the Play Movies & TV app and we’ll let you know which titles have been upgraded.”
This is a case of Google playing catch up with Apple. Apple introduced this feature as a surprise at its media event this time last year, rolling it out to all iTunes users to celebrate the release of the new Apple TV 4K. It meant that, where available, anyone who previously paid to download an HD copy of a movie on iTunes would get an upgrade to 4K viewing — without having to pay a single solitary extra cent.
As a user of both Apple and Google software, this is great news for me. It’s the perfect illustration of how, when companies try and compete with one another, it’s us, the users, who win out!
Source: Google
