Walmart’s getting serious about its online video offerings.  The retailer announced today the launch of VUDU for the iPad. VUDU, a leading subscription-free, video-on-demand movie service acquired by Walmart, has optimized the navigation experience of VUDU.com to enable millions of iPad owners to rent or buy content and then stream it easily through any iPad browser.

Starting today, iPad owners can access Vudu’s library of 20,000 movies and TV episodes, which are available for rent or purchase.  Vudu isn’t releasing a new app, but instead going through an updated browser portal.  iPad users will access the Vudu.com site through a web browser and add a shortcut to their home screens.  Vudu has encoded its video with Apple’s Live Streaming protocol but avoids the 30 percent cut that Apple charges for revenue from apps downloaded from the iTunes store.

Vudu is hoping to make inroads against Netflix, the current runaway leader in online movies and TV shows, and could be seeing an opening after the DVD-by-mail and online video service upset that scared off some customers with a price hike. But while Walmart is betting on the future of online video, the company is throwing in the towel on its MP3 Music Downloads store. The retailer launched the online store in 2003, but it remained only a small blip in the shadow of Apple’s market dominating iTunes store.

Netflix knows that it may take a short-term hit after increasing prices, but the video streaming service is boosting its global reach.  There’s the Latin America catalog launch set for later this year, signing new licensing deals with Caracol Television and Telefe International. Netflix has also already signed a deal in Latin America with Grupo Televisa, the world’s largest Spanish-language broadcaster, giving it access to 3,000 hours of programming, including many popular telenovelas.  Netflix confirmed in July that it planned to expand its subscription-based film and TV streaming service into 43 countries across Latin Am and the Caribbean. In a recent letter to investors the company said it also plans to launch in another, as yet unnamed, international market in Q1 2012.  Last week, Deadline reported that the firm had tied with Lionsgate for a UK launch.

Meanwhile, Hulu makes its way into selected Panasonic TVs and Blu-ray players, spreading its reach over devices like iPhone, iPod touch, Android based smartphones, tablets, TVs, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes and gaming consoles. Hulu provides a variety of shows with a large catalog to choose from.

While the latest Apple TV update gave US owners the ability to stream any previously purchased TV show from the cloud, it seems arguments over rights have stopped the iTunes Replay plans in their tracks. Apple is reportedly struggling to get all the major movie studios on board and that doesn’t bode well for the UK.

CNET says multiple film industry sources have told them that Apple is yet to sign agreements with four of top six movie studios. Negotiations are ongoing but it says they could go on for months thanks to the so-called “HBO window.” The deal means that HBO has the US rights to exclusively stream movies from 20th Century Fox, Universal and Warner Bros for a period after their DVD release.