By Peter Covino
Lifestyles Editor

They call it UltraViolet, but after struggling with the new move streaming format it was more like a little bit of the old ultra-violence from A Clockwork Orange. I really felt like smashing things.

But UltraViolet has the potential to be something very cool.

You may have heard of it.  Backed by dozens of entertainment and technology companies (Fox, Universal, Best Buy, Toshiba, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Microsoft etc.) when a DVD purchase has an UltraViolet designation, not only do you usually get a digital copy, but you also get an authorization code that gives you a copy of your movie purchase in the cloud. That means you can stream it to your tablet  and smartphone anytime you have an Internet connection. Yes, that also means you don't have to use your valuable and limited device storage space on movies. If you have redeemed digital copies via iTunes to view later on your phone, you know how quickly that storage space disappears.

As I said, it is a very cool and welcome idea. But this is relatively new technology.

Let's start with Cowboys & Aliens, one of the very first Universal Home Entertainment films to be available with the “all-new Ultraviolet” system as it says on the activation sheet that came enclosed with the Blu-ray/DVD combo edition of the film.

“Just  3 easy steps!” it promises and you will be watching your film on your phone or tablet.

For Cowboys & Aliens you are instructed to go to the Universaldigital.com website and follow the instructions to get both your UltraViolet and digital copy.

That requires typing in a series of numbers and letters and it is case sensitive (if there is a capital A you have to type a capital A). It took me several minutes just to get past these 3 easy steps but part of it was my fault that it wouldn't accept my redemption code. I had the codes for two different movies in hand, and was I typing in the wrong code and it was only by about the second or third expletive that I realized I was being a techno-idiot.

Finally, success. The code was accepted.  But what they don't tell you is it is not “just 3 easy steps.”

You also have to register at the Universal Digital Copy site with a user name and password.

Okay, fine.

But then you also need to register at the UltraViolet site and then, following the instructions, you need to link the Universal site and the UltraViolet site to watch your movie on your home computer or laptop.

But wait, you want to watch your new film on your phone?

Well over at the UltraViolet site, as you are following all the easy steps, it lets you know that “coming soon” is the availability of streaming your film to your portable device.

More ultra-violence. But before you fling your phone, your tablet and your DVD against the wall, there is hope.

They also tell you that with a Flixster account (one of those online movie download services) you can watch your new film by downloading the Flixster application to your phone. Flixster is free and you can watch movie trailers, see movie times, buy tickets and it also links with the Rottentomatoes website so you can see reviews of films and even rate films you have seen. You can also purchase movies, of course.

So, I am thinking I am home-free. I will be watching Cowboys & Aliens in seconds. But not so fast my droogs (another A Clockwork Orange reference). After establishing yet another user name and password (plus profile) on my laptop for Flixster, I download the app on my phone, and let me sign in, please.

Nope. It doesn't recognize the password. So I change the password back on the laptop and try again, thinking maybe it is still in some way, my fault. Nope again.

Back on my phone, I notice that i can also sign in to Flixster via my Facebook account. That seems like an easy enough alternative and I sign in. But now it wants to link Facebook and Flixster and the email I used for Flixster is not the same as the email account for Facebook, so they won't link.

So now I have to go back to the laptop, and change the email preference for Facebook to match the Flixster email account. And finally, success.

There is my movie on the phone and I click on it and yes, the cowboys are finally fighting the aliens.

I added a second film without a hitch, now that everything was linked and it says there are two films in My Collection. (Note: I have since added two more UltraViolet movies to My Collection using Flixster directly and it worked easily).

And there is a bit of good news if you use Flixster. For a limited time, you get a free Ultraviolet movie to add to your collection and there are something like nine films to choose from including Dog Day Afternoon, Matchstick Men, one of the Austin Powers films and...well you will have to check out the site to see what else there is. It is a no strings deal, so go and get a free movie.

I am still playing around with UltraViolet, and now that all of the steps are in place (phew) it should be a breeze adding films. All I need to do now is go to Flixster and type in a redemption code and the latest addition should be show up immediately in My Collection. You might even try going to Flixster first when you get your first Ultraviolet film and try redeeming the code there. It might save a lot of wear and tear and stress. It would be so much easier if it works that way.

A few other good points about Ultraviolet.  You can can watch your film on up to a dozen (don't quote me here, but I think it is a dozen) different devices. And you can share your account with several household members, each one having their own account. There are even privacy controls if you don't want  little Mortimer watching an R rated film that is part of your collection. You have the master account and determine who sees what. That makes you a regular Louis B. Mayer or something like it.

Ultraviolet is still in its infancy. The only movie studios currently using the process are Warner, Sony and Universal, but this looks like it has the approval of just about every technology giant so the possibilities would appear to be endless.

Look for me in the cloud via Flixster.  I will be adding and rating more  movies in the coming days and weeks. Or you can send a tweet my way at @ICmovies at Twitter.