A rumor’s been getting passed around the grapevine lately, and it goes like this: Apple is going to start a movie rental service because various users have found code in iTunes that references movie rentals. Well, it now looks like the rumor’s going to become a fact.

The Financial Times reports the information comes from a source “familiar with the situation,” so the info could be false if the source got it wrong. With that said, enjoy the following table appropriately titled “The Apple and Fox Deal”:

• Apple signed a deal with 20th Century Fox for the new online video-on-demand service.
• Users may download a complete copy of any available movie, which will expire after a set amount of time.
• Fox gets something out of it too: Fox DVDs will now come with a copy protected version of the movie that can be uploaded to a PC or Mac.
• That copy protected version of the movie may be watched in iTunes and transfered to an iPod or iPhone.

You can call us pessimists, but we’re sure this will suck unless:

• High definition versions of the movies are downloadable and playable on a computer and an Apple TV.
• Prices are low. Keep in mind that Apple now has to compete with Netflix, which can easily deliver 25-30 Blu-ray discs a month for fourteen dollars (comes out to about $ 0.50 per movie).
• Apple also has to compete with Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which already does hi-def video on demand very well. It’s also in the countless homes and apartments of gamers around the country.

Perhaps the Apple TV will finally be worth buying. Otherwise, Mrs. PS3 and Mr. Netflix will continue to fill the high definition movie hole in my life.

Related:

iTunes breezes by Best Buy to become the number two music retailer in the US

Macworld: Will Apple go Blu-ray?

iPhone ringtone hack still exists in iTunes 7.4.1

iPod will keep Netflix alive, won’t kill Blockbuster!

The new U2 iPod

Entry was posted on Wednesday, December 26th, 2007 at 10:58 pm under Apple, Internet.  Print This Post

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