What's New
By Henning Molbaek
FIRST ONLINE Jan 15, 2008
LAST UPDATED Jan 15, 2008
UPDATED: Full press release.
By Henning Molbaek
FIRST ONLINE Jan 15, 2008
LAST UPDATED Jan 15, 2008
UPDATED: Full press release.
Tools:
CEO of Apple Steve Jobs just announced Movie rentals for their iTunes store.
Every major movie studio will support iTunes Movie Rentals including Disney, Sony, Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal and Lionsgate.
$2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new titles. New titles will be available 30 days after their DVD counterparts.
HD titles will also be available with Dolby Digital 5.1. They will cost $4.99.
Press Release:
MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO—January 15, 2008—Apple® today announced iTunes® Movie Rentals featuring movies from all the major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate and New Line Cinema. Users can rent movies for as low as $2.99 and watch them on their Macs or PCs, all current generation iPods*, iPhone™ and Apple TV®. iTunes Movie Rentals launches today and will offer over 1,000 titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound which users can rent directly from their widescreen TV using Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals are priced at $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 and new releases at $4.99.
"iTunes Movie Rentals instantly brings great movies from all the major studios directly to your iPod, iPhone, TV or computer—without having to drive to the video store or wait for DVDs to arrive in the mail," said Steve Jobs, Apple´s CEO. "Movie lovers can now discover and enjoy movies as simply and easily as music lovers discover and enjoy music today on iTunes."
"Apple has created an incredibly easy and innovative way to rent and enjoy movies," said Jim Gianopulos, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment. "Millions of movie lovers will be able to watch wonderful movies from Fox and the other major studios whenever and wherever they want, be it on their computer, TV, iPod or iPhone."
iTunes Movie Rentals feature iTunes´ legendary ease of use, which makes discovering and enjoying movie rentals as simple and easy as buying music on iTunes has always been. Once a movie is rented, it starts downloading from the iTunes Store directly to iTunes or Apple TV, and users with a fast Internet connection can start viewing the movie in seconds. Customers have up to 30 days to start watching it, and once a movie has been started customers have 24 hours to finish it—or watch it multiple times.
The all new Apple TV software delivers an entirely new user experience centered around iTunes Movie Rentals, allowing movie fans to rent and watch movies right from their widescreen TV, with no computer required. Users can also view photos from their computers, Flickr and .Mac Web Galleries on their widescreen TV as slideshows or screen savers, and anytime photos are updated on Flickr or .Mac they are automatically updated on Apple TV. Apple TV users can now browse and enjoy the iTunes Store podcast directory of over 125,000 video and audio podcasts, view over 50 million originally created videos from YouTube, or choose from a selection of six million songs, over 600 TV shows and 10,000 music videos to purchase directly from their Apple TV. Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to iTunes on the user´s computer for enjoyment on their computer, iPod® or iPhone.
Apple TV easily connects to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed AirPort® 802.11 wireless networking, Apple TV now automatically plays all of your iTunes content without setup or management**.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Member since:
January 2008
January 2008
If anyone can do this right it's Apple.
This is the real competition to Blu-ray.
This is the real competition to Blu-ray.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Member since:
January 2008
January 2008
These are rentals only though, so if you want to own HD movies, these do not compete directly with Blu-ray. DD 5.1 audio only is also somewhat of a limitation against lossless audio and potential 7.1 mixes available on Blu-ray (although you need a sound system capable of letting you hear the difference for this to matter). It also isn't clear what HD resolution is being used for the iTunes rentals or how heavy the compression will be. Finally, the 30 day window on new titles will likely keep these from taking over the market.
It's definitely a first step though and if Apple can prove to the studios that the entire population of the world are not thieves, perhaps they will inch their way towards the modern world and poke their bleary eyes out into the light :p
It's definitely a first step though and if Apple can prove to the studios that the entire population of the world are not thieves, perhaps they will inch their way towards the modern world and poke their bleary eyes out into the light :p
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Member since:
January 2008
January 2008
I'm really surprised that no one has brought up the issue of COST. This is a great idea, but I get, for 12.99 or whatever about 17-24 movies a month from Blockbuster.com
They're not paying for physical disks so why the hell aren't all the rentals 1$? It's a rental.
They're not paying for physical disks so why the hell aren't all the rentals 1$? It's a rental.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Member since:
September 2007
September 2007
good point guys. i agree with the 2 previous msgs
- Samsung: "Blu-ray only has five years left..."
- Blu-ray Disc Association: DISC Still Rules!
- Halloween 30th Anniversary Commemorative Box Set DVD/BD (Oct 14)
- Sony ready with $2000 Blu-ray player
- Panasonic intros fourth generation Blu-ray players
- Now official - XBOX 360 for $199
- Space Chimps on DVD & Blu-ray (Nov 25)
- Meet Dave on DVD & Blu-ray (Nov 25)
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951): SE on DVD (Dec 2)
- Waterworld (Extended Edition) on DVD (Nov 4) (Updated Story)
- Pink Panther Ultimate Collection on DVD (Nov 25)
- Ultimate Collector's Edition of "I Am Legend" (Dec 9)
- New $2200 Elite Blu-ray Player from Pioneer
- Samsung: "Blu-ray only has five years left..."
- Toshiba XD-E500 review coming soon
- Sony ready with $2000 Blu-ray player
- Waterworld (Extended Edition) on DVD (Nov 4)
- Ultimate Collector's Edition of "I Am Legend" (Dec 9)