iPhone movie and TV show downloads revealed in rogue ad?

While direct movie and TV show downloads on the iPhone certainly seems like a reasonable enough proposition (over WiFi, at least), we're not completely convinced that a rogue ad in the Twitterfon app is the first place such a feature would leak out. According to a report on Open Salon, however, that's just what has happened, and there's even a few not immediately dismissible pics to back it up. Of course, the ad in question is now seemingly nowhere to be found, but it supposedly did once point to some movie and TV show listings broken down by genre, and even to the individual, non-working titles that would apparently be available. Head on past the break for a glimpse of the ad itself, and feel free to let us know if you happened to see it yourself.

[Via Yahoo! Tech]

[Bogbot @ May 25th 2009 1:19AM]

Top Tens? Mentions? Hmm... nots?

[Julius @ May 25th 2009 1:26AM]

It's a great idea but won't it take a long time to download a movie file.

[Turd @ May 25th 2009 1:29AM]

This would obviously be a WiFi only affair. Besides, even if you could download it over 3G, would you really want to?

[Bryan Williams @ May 25th 2009 1:32AM]

You can use the AT&T service for your slingbox viewing yet you can do this? IDK. I would make the slingbox denial make more business "sense".

Alternatively maybe you can select titles for automatic download once you sync your ipod again? Or maybe send a request for your iTunes to download a title for you?

[Julius @ May 25th 2009 1:42AM]

Apple could have the file being download run in the background. Oh wait. Nevermind.

[Derry Quinn @ May 25th 2009 4:42AM]

File downloads do run in the background...

[jimmy @ May 25th 2009 8:17AM]

@Bryan... I think that's a great idea. Just request files over the phone, and your computer will start downloading. Just pop the phone in the cradle and sync. At least should be an option.

@Julius... Why never mind? Apple apps CAN and DO run in the background. It's just 3rd party apps that don't. If you buy a song or get a podcast, they download in the background.

That being said, I'd love to be able to download my shows over wifi. I use MoblieMe, so the only reason I sync is to swap music and video. If I could do it over wifi, I'd never have to plug in. (OK, once a week for backups, but that's fine...)

[Darwin Smith @ May 25th 2009 1:37AM]

It would be very, very very very very very nice even if it's WiFi only

[DarkXane @ May 25th 2009 1:44AM]

Steve Jobs@WWDC : And there's one more thing... iPhone Movie Rentals... Rent movies directly from your iPhone/iPod touch...

That would be boring -_- But hey! It's something new right? ( I own a MacBook! Ain't trolling around! Own a LG phone! I haz Windows 7! )

[holycow @ May 25th 2009 2:01AM]

Is Steve even going to be at WWDC?

[Tag @ May 25th 2009 2:12AM]

I caught this ad on a mobile version of Kotaku last week. I took some screengrabs of the iTunes store with the TV shows and movies being featured.

[SONYEDDIE @ May 25th 2009 2:51AM]

www.thepiratebay.org

[Michiel @ May 25th 2009 12:33PM]

what about it

[why not the LS2LS7? @ May 25th 2009 3:17AM]

For a company that is so secretive, Apple sure seems to have trouble keeping a secret.

[airmanchairman @ May 25th 2009 4:51AM]

May be fake, but the idea's only a matter of time, given the increases in capacity of the handset and the jumps in 3G network availability and speed.

[ScottishDan @ May 25th 2009 4:54AM]

Hmmm dubious at best..
Whats with the big gap to the left of the movie genres?

[jimmy @ May 25th 2009 8:18AM]

I'd guess (if this is real) that the gap is a placeholder for a graphic. All the lists in the music player portion of the iPod on the Touch/Phone have a graphic there, so it isn't too far a stretch...

[Abraham @ May 25th 2009 5:15AM]

"SURPRISE SURPRISE TO ALL THOSE WHO READ THIS SO LATE IN SOCAL AS I AM"

[Kspraydad @ May 25th 2009 7:30AM]

Movie rentals over WiFi are coming to PSP in the June-Sept timeframe so it really isn't a stretch that the iPod could do it too is it?

[dagamer43 @ May 25th 2009 11:30AM]

I could see movie downloading with the ability to stream as it's being downloaded, which I believe is a feature of iPhone OS 3.0, but having to actually wait for a TV show/movie to download would be murder for most people's internet connections (besides the fact that the iPhone's WiFi isn't too great).

[erickbauman @ May 25th 2009 11:33AM]

If you have a jailbroken phone you can already download movies directly over edge, 3g, or wifi using the app in Installer called MyCinema. Its pretty amazing an genius. it takes about 5 min+ to get 500mb movie formatted for the iphone. And the UI looks surprisingly similar to the one above.

[Josh @ May 25th 2009 12:03PM]

Yeah the ad is still there on Twitterfon. I just saw it today (May 25), when I click it iTunes opens up, but it says that the item that I requested is not available. I guess someone at Apple got the memo to take down the content in order to save someone's "One more thing" announcement.

[Jon Doe. @ May 25th 2009 1:41PM]

Dear Engadget. Fucking STOP. Seriously. You guys don't do this for any other handset manufacturer. Just Apple. Put this shit on TWAU. That is where this god damn rumor shit belongs. The fanbois who enjoy this can just as easily go to your sister site instead clogging up this site with every 1 out of 5 articles being Apple rumor based on some weird ass shit. And you never do this for MS either. Someone at Engadget needs to sack the Mactards and focus on _NEWS_. A product release sure. An OS being released to beta...oh wait Apple doesn't do that...never mind. Things like that. Instead you have this horseshit that makes Engadget look like a hardcore Mactard fansite.
PS if you want people to stop complaining put out a url like nomicrosoft.engadget.com or noapple.engadget.com or nophones.engadget.com, or etc. The process should be stupidly easy considering the tags you have on articles.

PS- Who the fuck gives a crap about something created on iPhone showing up on the new yorker. Seriously WTF does that have to do with a gadget?!? Damn fanbois. Even neowin isn't that overbearing with their MS news and that is saying something.

[sweet greggo @ May 25th 2009 2:38PM]

what he said.

[Turd @ May 25th 2009 6:15PM]

Is it really that big of a deal? Do you have to read everything on this site? There are a ton of posts here that I don't care about and guess what, instead of bitching about them I just skip them.

[Dillinger @ May 26th 2009 11:21AM]

Dear John Doe,

STFU, and refer to the 20+, HTC, Palm Pre, Blackberry posts on the first 3 pages of engadget. Seriously man, see with your fucking eyes and not your fucking MS blinders on. ITs like you arent even reading the same site. Did i mention STFU?

[TechNews @ May 26th 2009 4:31AM]

@ Jon Doe

Tech News:
MS Fanboi takes time out from popping whiteheads and slapping monkey to go on long winded anti-Apple rant over article nobody forced him to read. Frustrated over the article and the lack of anybody showing up at the Zune Social he had arranged with his friend Carl, Jon Doe flipped over the second iPhone article of the day causing his parents to promise him they will try to buy him an Apple product if he can keep his C average in P.E and try to meet some girls.