CULVER CITY, Calif., Dec. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- This holiday, do away with rolls of wrapping paper, tape and high shipping costs with the launch of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's (SPHE) online shopping destination, the Sony Pictures Gift Store (www.sonypicturesgiftstore.com) powered by Movie eWrap.  This innovative gift-giving destination and Movie eWrap gift-wrapping technology allows shoppers to purchase and gift any of the nearly 500 UltraViolet™ digital movies available in the Sony Pictures Store to provide a personalized and interactive experience for their family and friends.

Compatible with tablets and computers and optimized for touch interfaces, gift recipients simply swipe or click to see and hear decorative digital ribbon and wrapping paper "tear off," revealing an UltraViolet digital movie selected from a broad collection of Sony Pictures titles.  Shoppers can be confident that family and friends will be able to access and play UltraViolet digital movies on their favorite devices anytime and anywhere.  Favorites from classics including "Lawrence of Arabia" to recent blockbusters such as "The Amazing Spider-Man," "Men in Black 3" and "Arthur Christmas" are available.  The Sony Pictures Gift Store also features a unique "Gift-Finder," which intelligently sources the best titles to give any friend or family member based on a dynamic combination of criteria selected such as release date, genre, and box-office performance.

"Just in time for the holidays, we're pleased to present this unique new way for movie fans to send friends and family a personalized, interactive digital movie gift," said Lexine Wong, Senior Executive Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, SPHE. "With its innovative wrapping and unwrapping feature—powered by Movie eWrap—digital movie gifts are now both fun to receive and fun to give."

"Sony Pictures Home Entertainment continues to develop some of the industry's most ground-breaking creative concepts intended to deliver new and fun digital experiences. Movie eWrap fulfills these goals by providing consumers a uniquely digital service experience that captures the best elements of physical gift giving while leveraging the new ways people want to interact in the digital world," stated Richard Berger, SVP of Global Digital Strategy and Operations for SPHE.

Movies as gifts are in demand according to Deloitte LLP's 2012 annual holiday survey, as movies and music rank among the "top five" gifts that consumers surveyed plan to purchase this year.  UltraViolet™ digital movies are the perfect gift, providing broader access in terms of how and where people enjoy films, across a variety of mobile devices, smartphones, connected TVs and Blu-ray players, and more.  The combination of Movie eWrap with UltraViolet titles from the Sony Pictures Gift Store becomes the ultimate fun, eco-friendly and widely accessible gift that can be purchased last minute without leaving the house, avoiding holiday crowds and shipping costs.  Please click Movie eWrap to see how this innovative gift-giving destination and Movie eWrap gift-wrapping technology works.

Sony Pictures Gift Store and Movie eWrap are optimized for use on Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS computers along with Android and iOS devices. Please visit www.sonypicturesgiftstore.com for more details.

Artwork and digital clips are available for download at www.sphepublicity.com.
Visit Sony Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com.

ABOUT ULTRAVIOLET: UltraViolet is an entirely new way to collect and enjoy your digital entertainment, giving you the power to instantly access your movies and TV shows with unprecedented flexibility.  For more information, visit www.uvvu.com.

SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) company. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 159 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/

SOURCE Sony Pictures Home Entertainment