iTunes to offer movie downloads in two weeks?

[roma_turok]

Apple may take the wraps off its online movie download service in just a couple of weeks, if sources quoted by BusinessWeek are right. The sources say in mid-September, Apple will begin selling movies via the iTunes store. Despite Apple CEO Steve Jobs' reported push for a flat $9.99 pricing scheme, however, the movies will supposedly be priced at $14.99 for new releases and $9.99 for older films. Perhaps not coincidentally, multiple sources quoted by Mac Rumors say Apple will hold a "special press event" in San Francisco on Tuesday, September 12. The date clashes with the Apple Expo in Paris, France, but Apple has stated that no keynote will be held there—possibly as a protest against France's newly passed "iPod law."
http://techreport.com/onearticle.x/10688

[yoda313]

Will they finally come around and offer a 16:9 ipod video player??? What a waste when they knew 16:9 was big.

But oh well I'm not buying one so it doesn't matter to me.

Now will they offer a burn to dvd option? I doubt it.....

[roma_turok]

DVD option?
It will be High Definition QuickTime file 1920 x 816
3 GB size for each episode of Deep Space Nine!

[TwistedLincoln]

I'm a bit confused as to why anyone would pay $9.99 to $14.99 for a downloaded movie that uses Apples DRM (and as yoda313 suggests, will almost certainly not be able to be burnt to a DVD).

It seems to me that most people would just pay the $19 to $25 in a store for an actual DVD. Now if the download was only $5 or so, I could see it being popular (not that I would condone it).

And since most people almost can drive to a video store and rent a DVD for $3 as fast than they can download a 400mb to 1gb file, I can't see the convenience of the download really being an issue.

[ViRaL1]

I'm a bit confused as to why anyone would pay $9.99 to $14.99 for a downloaded movie that uses Apples DRM (and as yoda313 suggests, will almost certainly not be able to be burnt to a DVD).

It seems to me that most people would just pay the $19 to $25 in a store for an actual DVD. Now if the download was only $5 or so, I could see it being popular (not that I would condone it).

And since most people almost can drive to a video store and rent a DVD for $3 as fast than they can download a 400mb to 1gb file, I can't see the convenience of the download really being an issue.

DVDs don't fit well into an iPod, (I STILL can't find the slot ) and as far as rentals, well that's just downright illegal. This doesn't even require a DVD computer drive, just a PC ad iPod and an broadband connection. 100% legit.

Editing....Please wait...

I misread you about the DVD rental. The problem with both suggestions is that it's still a DVD, larger, plastic, scratchable, more prone to skips. Come to think of it, it's really the same benefit as downloading songs / entire albums versus just buying the CD. Sure you can carry a portable DVD player, but it doesn't do all that an iPod does.

[RLT69]

It's not just Apple:

Amazon, Apple click pix
Pair prep a digital duel
http://www.variety.com/VR1117949519.html

From the Article:

"Amazon.com's digital download prices are expected to range from $9.99 to $19.99 -- about the same as those for other online retailers such as CinemaNow, Movielink and AOL."

$14.99 is looking pretty good compared to $19.99. Remember pricing pressure is coming from the Movie Studios. Apple wanted to set one price, as they did for music downloads. The movie excecs did not want that.

[jntaylor63]

This market is for people who don't know anthing about DVD conversions. Even if it was 15.00, that will almost pay for a full DVD and then I use my FREE TOOLS to convert to AVI and playback on my Cowon A2. Videos for the Ipod can only be 480x480, 2.5 mbit video, 160 kbit audio. Plus, the Ipod can only play 2.5 hours of video with its base battery.

Now I MIGHT buy it if was:

1.) True DVD quality. (720x480, subs and 5.1 AC3)
2.) Able to Burn to disk
3.) 10.00

[ViRaL1]

This market is for people who don't know anthing about DVD conversions. Even if it was 15.00, that will almost pay for a full DVD and then I use my FREE TOOLS to convert to AVI and playback on my Cowon A2. Videos for the Ipod can only be 480x480, 2.5 mbit video, 160 kbit audio. Plus, the Ipod can only play 2.5 hours of video with its base battery.

Now I MIGHT buy it if was:

1.) True DVD quality. (720x480, subs and 5.1 AC3)
2.) Able to Burn to disk
3.) 10.00

With the bandwidth requirements and DRM not to mention complications associated with 'burn-to-disk' issues e.g. incompatibility with some players, you might as well find a good deal on the DVD online, order it, rip it yourself and use it on whatever multimedia device you can transcode it for.

[canadateck]

Where did anyone read about the DVD OPTION?

EDIT: Thought you said they would.



Will never Happen

[oldandinthe way]

Ho hum

[canadateck]

Even if they did like everyone else,the price is to high.

[mike909]

Plus, the Ipod can only play 2.5 hours of video with its base battery.

Is that true? A full ipod battery lasts only 2.5 hours w/ video playback? Was considering buying one, but thats terrible.

[GMaq]

Hi,
I would welcome the opportunity to purchase legit movies online, I makes me laugh that this site is very upfront about legal copying etc. but when someone whether it's CinemaNow or Apple makes an attempt at the very expensive proposition of making Legal downloading a reality they get flamed, The truth is if these ventures can get off the ground and attract a buying public the movies prices will go down, I don't think $9.99 is an outrageous price for a legal movie with quality comparable to a decent avi (DivX) movie. Why do people want to burn it to DVD? If you are doing the iTunes thing in the first place presumably you have an iPod of some description to put the media onto, I bought an iPod Video for the very reason of not having to burn DVD's all the time and having a house full of "watch once" movies on DVD. Now I can watch and flush and have 25 or more movies in my pocket at any time, not to mention music, photos and music videos. To say the video has to be 480x480 is misleading, The video can not exceed the total number of pixels of 480x480, the frame resolution can be whatever you like as long as it agrees with whatever codec you are using and doesn't exceed 230400 pixels in total, As far as bitrate goes a limit of 2500kbps is ludicrously high for MPEG-4 anyway so quality is not an issue if you know what you can shoot for. As far as widescreen goes the current iPod Video will output to TV in widescreen even if the screen on the unit itself is not. When using TV Out you can easily get 4-5 hours on a full battery, what other portable video device (including laptops & PDA's) can do much better than that on a single charge?? My only concern will be what choice of MPEG-4 quality customers will have, The H.264 constraints on the iPod don't make for great TV Out viewing quality, but if the movies are available in larger regular MPEG-4 resolutions and bitrates that will be worth looking forward to!!

[Seeker47]

Don't want to stray too far off-topic of this thread, and I hesitated to ask because I was afraid it would set ROF to hyperventillating, but I see that he appears to have been banished to video Siberia, so here goes.

Someone recently asked me, 'How can I get a copy of "Show X" that aired yesterday, but I missed it ?' Well, I don't watch that show, so I couldn't help out. (If I happened to have it on my DVR's hard drive, I would have been glad to oblige.) The next option that occurred to me was iTunes, which in fact had entered into a deal with _____ network to offer a bunch of their shows for paid download. But the show in question wasn't one of those, unfortunately. Some shows are being made available by their networks for FREE online stream-view after the fact -- usually for just a brief period -- though it seems only when they are in the struggling stages and desperate to build viewership. (That doesn't apply in this case.) So, where does this leave it ? Are there any other options, or are we cast inescapably into the (risky & illegal) P2P wastelands ? I'm sure there must be all sorts of places where these things are traded. I'm not asking for any 'How To's', as that would exceed the rules here, but are there any URLs I should know about ? If this is too hot a potato, you can PM me. Thanks.

[ViRaL1]

ROF?

There's no ROF here.

Although in the end, I'd still have to say if you really want to see it that bad you should have something in place be it VCR, DVR or just being home when it comes on. If you don't / can't then it's probably not that important. Most shows come on the same day / time every week.

[terryj]

I'm a bit confused as to why anyone would pay $9.99 to $14.99 for a downloaded movie that uses Apples DRM (and as yoda313 suggests, will almost certainly not be able to be burnt to a DVD).

It seems to me that most people would just pay the $19 to $25 in a store for an actual DVD. Now if the download was only $5 or so, I could see it being popular (not that I would condone it).

And since most people almost can drive to a video store and rent a DVD for $3 as fast than they can download a 400mb to 1gb file, I can't see the convenience of the download really being an issue.

I've been actually making lists of things I want and Placing them into
two categories:

1. Must buy ( often VERY short)
2. Like to watch. ( HUGE)

Option one I usually pick up the movie:
A. as a PVT ( remember those?) for $4-6 bucks, vs. paying Walmarts
"new Tuesday" $14.88 price, either in a 4 for $20 or buy 2, get 1 free
sale at my local BB, Hollywood, Hastings, Movie Gallery, etc.

B. Buy it, on "new tuesday" if it is with a Gift Card, reward bucks, etc,
recieved for xmas, bdays, incentive bonus, etc.

Option 2 I usually:
rent on Sundays...we have a local grocery chain that rents all movies
on Sundays, on DVD, for 89¢. WE also have another corner store grocerer
that rents mon-wed ( and some fri) for 99¢ a disc.

The Online Rental/Download has a long way to go before "maturing"
for the average consumer.

[BJ_M]

anyone know where i can download/buy HDTV movies online ? (legal)

[yoda313]

I think cinemanow offers hd divx. Don't know the specs but its large file size with digital surround sound.

[BJ_M]

not much is shown - people at pioneer claim you can rent movies on line all over (in HD) ... their new Elite series plasmas (including the new true 1080p models with 1920x1080 res.!!) all support on-line movie watching (via a pc somewhere in the house) as they are all networked with built in mpeg and wmv decoding ...

[dzjrq]

See Best Buy DVD to iPod Converter Software from Best Buy Reviews:
SPAM

[Conquest10]

Now I MIGHT buy it if was:

1.) True DVD quality. (720x480, subs and 5.1 AC3)

Why would you want DVD resolution on a 2 inch 320x240 screen? And 5.1 for use on headphones?