Samsung has launched a virtual store where punters can buy or rent movies and TV programs and download them to their mobiles.

Samsung Movies service will offer more than 500 films from studios such as Warner, Paramount, and Universal. It has been launched in Britain and Germany, but Samsung intends to open it up to other European markets later.

It costs £2.49 pounds, or £4.99 to buy a movie. Newer films such as "The Dark Knight" cost £16.99 to buy.

The outfit will only work with video-enabled Samsung phones later the plan is to stick it on notebooks, MP3 and MP4 portable music players, and Samsung TVs.