Apple Announces Total Studio Support for Rental Downloads Highlights from Macworld

[gijoela]

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Itunes 4 billion songs sold as of last week
20 million songs sold in one day on Christmas day. New one-day record

125 million TV shows sold. 7 million movies. Both are way above competitors, but did not meet expectations

iTunes Movie Rentals from Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, Lionsgate, Newline, FOx, WB, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Sony all on board

Over 1000 movies (available 30 days after DVD release)

Watch anywhere (Macs, PCs, all current iPods and iPhone

Watch instantly (30 seconds with modern broadband)

Rules: 30 days to start watching. 24 hours to finish

Library titles: $2.99, New Releases: $3.99

iTunes Movie Rentals launches today in the U.S. International will launch later this year. Software updates for iPods and iTunes will be forthcoming

And now..HD

Apple TV Take 2. No computer required. Rent movies on Apple TV. DVD quality AND HD + Dolby 5.1

HD rentals are $4.99. 100 titles today

Steve demoed starting a movie just after having rented it. Note he has an extremely fast connection. The movie was downloading at 1% per second.

Music can be bought from within Apple TV

The new Apple TV is a free software update.

Apple TV price drop. Entry price drops from $299 to $229

New software will be out in 2 weeks

20th Century Fox was the first studio to sign up for movie rentals. Jim Gianopulos, Chairman and CEO of Fox is taking the stage

Gianopulos: Fox wanted to make great movies, and get it into as many people's hands as possible. Consumers wanted the same thing

Gianopulos: Video rentals aren't a new thing, but Apple is doing it in an intuitive, insightful, etc way. This will be a transformative version of the rental model.

Gianopulos: Of course, DVDs will still be with us for a while. Digital Copies will be on disks going forward. The first iteration is the Family Guy: Blue Harvest DVD, which contains an iTunes compatible digital copy

And, now, the new Macbook..

As you know, Apple makes the best notebooks in the industry. Today, we are introducing a third kind of notebook. It's called the MacBook Air

"The World's Thinnest Notebook"

Jobs :Most people think of Sony TZ series when they think of thin notebooks. Competition specs: 3 lbs, .8-1.2 inches, 11 or 12" display, miniature keyboard, and slower processor.

"We thought 3 lbs is a good target weight, but there was too much compromise with the other features"

MacBook Air is 0.16" to 0.76". The thickest part of the MacBook Air is thinner than the thinnest part of the Sony. It fits inside a envelope.

Magnetic latch, 13.3" widescreen display

display is LED backlit. iSight is built-in. MacBook-like keyboard, but with an ambient light sensor, Multi-touch trackpad

1.8" Hard Drive

80 GB hard disk standard, 64 GB SSD as an option. "they're pricy, but they're fast"

1.6 GHz Standard, 1.8 GHz Option -- Intel Core 2 Duo

Other features: 45 Watt MagSafe, 1 USB 2.0 port, Micro-DVI, Audio Out

802.11n + Bluetooth 2.1/EDR

And..No optical drive, but a Superdrive accessory is available for $99. Also, software comes with the MacBook Air that allows you to "borrow" a Mac or PCs optical drive.

5 hours of Battery Life, 2 GB Memory standard

$1799 Ships in two weeks.

Environmental highlights: fully aluminum case (good for recycling), first fully mercury and lead free display, circuit boards are BFR free, retail packaging are 56% less volume than MacBook.

Jobs: In just the first 2 weeks of 2008, we have updated the Mac Pro, introduced Time Capsule, software updates for iPhone and iPod Touch, Movie Rentals for iTunes, Apple TV software updates, and MacBook Air.

Everything announced so far has now been updated at apple.com

[chocobomog]

Nice.
What does this have to do with High Def movies?

EDIT: looks like he edited his initial post as the keynote speech was updated. It didn't include HD when he first wrote this.

Wouldn't this be better served in the "HD Downloads" forum?

[kowhite]

Good for them, but maybe you didn't notice this place is called "hidefdigest"?

[bowl-o-rama]

Good if you're into renting.

[Phane]

Originally Posted by chocobomog

Nice.
What does this have to do with High Def movies?

It's what all the industry people are saying will eventually trump Blu-ray... even though the overwhelming majority of consumers seem to hate it.

[chocobomog]

Originally Posted by bowl-o-rama

Good if you're into renting.

...and portable quality video. Have you ever tried to watch a iTunes downed movie on an HDTV? Its terrible.

[cooper1010]

dvd has total studio support, too...

[mitchl]

Not a lot of interest in that. I have a kid, and most movies I start watching at home I don't get through in 24 hours.

HD Rentals are $5? That is insane! Lets see, even with my limited ability to view movies within 24 hours, I still churn through about 7-8 movies with Blockbuster online, sometimes more. I think $20 is the better deal and I get the movie one day after I order it anyway.

[jrstinkfish]

Originally Posted by chocobomog

Nice.
What does this have to do with High Def movies?

And now..HD

Apple TV Take 2. No computer required. Rent movies on Apple TV. DVD quality AND HD + Dolby 5.1

HD rentals are $4.99. 100 titles today

I still don't buy that HD movie downloads will catch on in my lifetime, but I just figured I'd answer your question

[ack_bak]

Apple announced HD rentals priced at $4.99 and there are 100 titles available. Not much to see here. I think Blu-Ray is looking like it is clearly the way to go (especially with Netflix or Blockbuster).

[B.Greenway]

Originally Posted by chocobomog

Nice.
What does this have to do with High Def movies?

What does High Def movies have to do with High Def movies?

[kalim1998]

Originally Posted by mitchl

Not a lot of interest in that. I have a kid, and most movies I start watching at home I don't get through in 24 hours.

HD Rentals are $5? That is insane! Lets see, even with my limited ability to view movies within 24 hours, I still churn through about 7-8 movies with Blockbuster online, sometimes more. I think $20 is the better deal and I get the movie one day after I order it anyway.

Not to mention i can go to the local pathmark and rent a new movie on DVD for $1 for 24 hours at the dvdexpress kiosk.

[bowl-o-rama]

Who cares. Why don't they just announce the new macbook already. That's what everyone is waiting for.

[Nomen Luni]

Originally Posted by ack_bak

Apple announced HD rentals priced at $4.99 and there are 100 titles available. Not much to see here. I think Blu-Ray is looking like it is clearly the way to go (especially with Netflix or Blockbuster).

I think HD downloads are going to be a long way off for me until I upgrade to something a lot faster than my current 2Mb/s, and to an ISP that doesn't have Draconian traffic management. I suspect I'll need to upgrade the home network from 802.11g to something else, too. (Running Cat 5 around the house is not a preferred option.)

[jrstinkfish]

Originally Posted by bowl-o-rama

Who cares. Why don't they just announce the new macbook already. That's what everyone is waiting for.

Showmanship.