Taking a somewhat delayed plunge into the 'Internet video streaming' arena, struggling video rental-chain Blockbuster Inc Tuesday announced its partnership with Samsung Electronics America Inc, which will allow streaming of movies and video on Samsung's televisions and electronics devices from Blockbuster's OnDemand service.

Blockbuster's agreement with Samsung marks the foray of the thus far 'brick-and mortar-movie rental store' into the market for digital distribution of video!

The Dallas-based Blockbuster's on-demand rental service for Samsung will be available on Samsung's next generation of high-definition (HD) TVs, having a built-in feature allowing users to rent the newest DVD releases from Blockbuster with a mere press of the remote control's button.

In addition, the rental video streaming service will also be accessible through software installed on Samsung's Blu-ray DVD players and home theater systems - the two Samsung devices that currently offer Internet streaming service by Blockbuster's rival Netflix Inc.

For the service - which is likely to be launched in the US in either September or October - the Blockbuster rentals would be priced from between $1.99 and $3.99 apiece for a 24-hour viewing opportunity.

Commenting on the prospects of the new deal, Kevin Lewis, Blockbuster's Senior VP of digital entertainment, said: "We believe that just as we are the leading offline rental company, we should be the leading online rental company."