Apple to push digital downloads?

[zacman]

According to macrumors.com Apple will make two announcements at Macworld on Jan 15th:

1) Warner, Paramount, Disney, Fox, Lions Gate will join iTunes Rentals

2) Fox DVDs (physical discs) will include a digital copy (H.264) so they can be played on all ipods and iphones without ripping them first. This will be a feature of itunes 7.6 which is said to be released at Macworld.

"Warner, Paramount, Disney, Fox, Lions Gate to Join iTunes Rentals

Bloomberg reports that Warner Brothers, Paramount, Walt Disney Co., Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, and Fox will begin renting movies through Apple's iTunes Store in an announcement scheduled for January 15th at Macworld.

Bloomberg states that both new releases and older titles will rent for $3.99 for 24 hours, consistent with recent rumors. Fox was the first studio to have signed onto the iTunes rental deal.

Steve Jobs is expected to make these announcements at his keynote address at Macworld San Francisco 2008. MacRumors.com will provide live keynote coverage with web, sms, and iPhone-compatible updates."

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/09/...tunes-rentals/

"MacRumors reader mr echo received an early copy of a Family Guy DVD intended for release January 15th and discovered an included iTunes/iPod compatible digital copy. Also reported on TUAW.

Previously, digital copies included with DVDs were encoded in protected Windows Media format, making them incompatible with the iPod or iPhone. However, indications are that both WMV and H.264 (iPod/iPhone compatible) digital copies will be distributed.

Including a digital copy on the DVD makes ripping the DVD for use with portable media players largely unnecessary, although the files are likely to contain digital rights management.

The H.264 copies reportedly require iTunes 7.6, which isn't yet available. However, we had previously heard that iTunes and QuickTime updates would be coming by Macworld."

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/01/08/...igital-copies/

[AltonDarwin]

I love this idea. As a Machead, ripping DVDs for ipod has been pretty easy. BDs are another story. Here's hoping I can copy the file off my PS3, validate it on my Mac and load it onto my iPod. That's all I need for a portable, pirate-free solution.

Now make it happen...

[B.Greenway]

Not sure why theres a (?) in the title of your post.

[better]

thats great news....