Apple to unveil rentals from even more studios at Macworld?

You know it's close to Macworld when even the New York Times is slinging rumors with the best of 'em, and the Gray Lady is reporting today that Apple has deals in place with several studios for iTunes rentals -- not just Fox, like we'd been hearing. Of course, it wouldn't be an Apple rumor unless it somehow managed to make something as mundane as renting a movie sound like a super-classified state secret, and the NYT says that while it got the info from people "familiar with the negotiations," they weren't "authorized" to name the companies involved. We'd obviously expect Disney to have an interest, since Steve's on the board -- but as with all these rumors, only time will tell.

[Stosh @ Dec 28th 2007 4:58PM]

If this is true and at the right price, I would go out and buy an Apple TV just for this service. No more Blockbuster video for me.

[Zak @ Dec 28th 2007 5:01PM]

I'd also want HD movies, but yeah, rentals would make the ATV more useful.

[Curtis @ Dec 28th 2007 5:07PM]

I want choice. I got an AppleTV bascially to listen to music in a more "control" manner than what I was doing with AitTures with Airport Express, but I was expecting more video content a lot sooner. So that has been a slight disappointment... Give us movies. HD and Standard Def. Give us lots of movies. I really want to see C.H.U.D. again!

[ECminiman @ Dec 28th 2007 9:25PM]

Already have my Apple TV... I knew Steve would not let a great device whither on the tree.. ( what do all the critics of Apple TV have to say now ? )

[Killer1 @ Dec 28th 2007 5:15PM]

This is gonna be like "Time Warner Cable In Demand". You will try to select a movie and you may see a few of these messages pop up.
"The System Is Busy, Try Later"
"Error: Data may be Damaged, Try Reseting the Console"
"......."
"............."
"..............................."
"Error: Movie Timed Out"
"The Movie You Selected is not Available at this Time"
"OFFLINE, Reset Your System?"
"Sorry: 445,800,949 i TV Users are trying to access the same movie, Maybe try after Christmas"

[Leonard Nimrod @ Dec 28th 2007 5:25PM]

No, no it won't. The On-Demand system from cable companies doesn't fucntion anything like the system Apple has setup with iTunes. This will work identical to their current system except that the video will probably time-out have a certain timeframe (unless they go to a slot-based system like Netflix).

[Neeko @ Dec 28th 2007 5:17PM]

Unless their HD movies who really cares.

[Constable Odo @ Dec 28th 2007 5:20PM]

iTunes Movie Rental FTW. No errors. No delays. Just pure, perfect Apple TV for the multitudes.

It doesn't include me, though. Premium-quality newsservers offer more choices.

[aaron @ Dec 28th 2007 5:30PM]

Great. Now let me rent from my AppleTV.

[Tony @ Dec 28th 2007 6:06PM]

I am not getting it, why would you rent from Itunes when you can rent a DVD from netflix or blockbuster (unlimited rentals) for about $14-17 an month rip then to your hard disk and watch them and if you dont mind breaking the law you can keep them forever and you get to watch a full DVD on a real TV as well as iphone or ipod as well.
Am I missing something ?

[Bloobie @ Dec 28th 2007 6:19PM]

It's called (nearly) instantaneous availability of that rental as opposed to waiting for the mail to come as is the case with Netflix and Blockbuster. You also avoid having to possess the tools necessary to (illegally) rip that DVD, if it did not arrive cracked and unplayable, and then either burn it back to disc or encode it for iTunes, then sync to your iPhone or iPod. It's all about time and convenience.

[crescentdavid @ Dec 28th 2007 6:35PM]

Oh yeah ... there's nothing like the thrill of watching big screen movies in 320x240 resolution. How cutting edge 90's. A regular retro moment.

[crescentdavid @ Dec 28th 2007 6:18PM]

Yes. You're missing the fact known as fan boys. FB's worship a corporation. They feel like they belong to this family. Everything about this family is good. Including for-shite video resolution. Even though this is another fact, FB's can look the other way. After all, you're talking about their "daddy." And that's just ... a fact.

[Neeko @ Dec 28th 2007 6:48PM]

very true very very TRUE.

[Seth Porter @ Dec 28th 2007 6:51PM]

I do have to agree with you that Apple's resolution is sub-par with DVD's, but you are wrong about their resolution. It is no longer 320x240, it is now 640x480. Again, it looks terrible on an HDTV, but it's great on a computer screen or an ipod/iphone.

[Seth Porter @ Dec 28th 2007 6:54PM]

I do hope that they come out with a vongo like subscription movie service. The only problem with vongo is that it has very limited portable device support and their selection sucks. If you combine Apple's movie selection and their penetration in the portable movie device market, they'll have a huge hit. Unfortunetaly, I don't see Apple doing this, mainly because they haven't done it with their music like many other services have such as Yahoo and Napster. They make it really difficult to go legal.

[crescentdavid @ Dec 28th 2007 7:02PM]

Well, I'm happy to be proven wrong ... but I have a question: the iPod Classic plays video at 640x480 resolution on a screen that's 320x240. This makes my head hurt. How do these separate resolutions co-exist?

In search of enlightenment ... or at least a clue.

Thanks in advance.

[Leonard Nimrod @ Dec 28th 2007 8:01PM]

As usual, idiots like you make comments about how this or that sucks without having any clue of the facts. It would take you under 10 seconds to complete a Google search to locate the answer and perhaps start to get a grasp on the topic before you post your FUD.

NTSC (that means USA):
DVD = 720 × 480
Laser Disc/ SuperVHS = 566 × 480
VHS = 320 × 480

And yet your PC's display can play DVDs and your SD and HD TVs are able to play video as well.

[crescentdavid @ Dec 29th 2007 3:47AM]

nimrod is about right. You didn't answer my question. Thanks for the primer on NTSC though. If I ever feel the need for an explanation, I'll be happy to re-read your off-target, caustic remarks. It gives me that warm, fuzzy, fanboi experience ... arrogant ignorance. Such a heady combo.

[Seth Porter @ Dec 28th 2007 7:25PM]

It natively supports playback of video encoded at that resolution of 640x480, you don't need to downconvert it. The ipod does that for you. It also supports video output to a TV at 640x480 res.

[mushy @ Dec 28th 2007 8:12PM]

I'm beginning to think that I am the only person that doesn't use iTunes.

[roole @ Dec 28th 2007 11:08PM]

I guess you stumbled into the wrong story...... move on, move on..... (although, it makes me wonder why you posted: you typed stuff, you entered a password, clicked on 'add your comments,' etc).

[SQUID @ Dec 28th 2007 9:15PM]

I'll wait for the official announcement, but I am excited about the potential for this. I've looked at both Block Buster and Net Flix, but I'm not sold on either. For me it's more of a what do I want to watch right NOW as opposed to whats in my que that happens to show up. The questions on resolution are valid, I'm more interested in weather or not I'll have to get an appleT.V. to play back media or can I pick up the av adapter for my macbook pro and use that?

Torrents=ignore

just not my thing.

[m-arx @ Dec 29th 2007 11:10AM]

You know what i would also like to see? a bit of "global village" @ Apple - they give you all this great hardware, but sometimes the more software part goes wrong.

me, for example, am living in Germany, having (of course) a german credit card. with that i cannot shop in the u.s. ITMS and (still) cannot download TV Shows from the ITMS. The worst thing is, that i can (having to fly several times over the ditch for business) go in to any dog-gone music store and buy my (released earlier) american CDs. Why can't i buy those songs in the u.s. ITMS? argh!