movie rentals
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Apple introduces iTunes movie rentals, HD rentals
Apple has officially announced movie rentals for iTunes. Studios involved include Touchstone, MGM, Miramax, Lions Gate, Fox, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney, Paramount, Universal, and Sony, just to name a few. The new feature will launch today with 1,000 available films by the end of February -- prices will come in at $2.99 for a regular rental, and $3.99 for new releases. You'll be able to begin watching your movie in 30 seconds, and will have the rental for up to 24 hours, during which time you can transfer the file to an iPod or iPhone and take it on the go. Additionally, you'll be able to nab HD rentals for just $1 more, respectively.
Apple to pay higher wholesale movie price reports Ars
Over at infinite Loop, Former TUAW heavyweight David Chartier posts that Apple will soon be paying a $15 per movie wholesale price to the movie studios. David sees this as Apple caving into Hollywood after a tense face-off. Me? I see this another way. I don't believe the movie sales over at the iTunes store have been all that hugely successful. With competition from Walmart and weak consumer interest, I think Apple is changing its direction. Instead of movie sales, I'm thinking movie rentals. We've seen evidence for this both on the Mac in the iTunes binary (thanks Evan DiBiase) and on the iPhone (thanks Pumpkin). Rentals could do a lot for Apple's bottom line. It would re-energize the lagging Apple TV as a platform, it would expand the iPhone's reach as a portable media device, especially for travelers, and it would basically give up on iTunes-distributed buy-to-own movies as an unprofitable but fully explored avenue. So what do you think? Evil MPAA? Weak Apple? Or a new paradigm on the horizon?
iTunes Store slip-up reveals future rental movie options?
Movie rentals could be coming to the iTunes Store, if an apparent slip-up by Apple is any indication. Mac developer David Watanabe uploaded a screenshot depicting an iTunes problem reporting system which has options for requesting a refund due to non-delivery of rental movies. The other options for reporting issues with the as yet unannounced -- but rumored -- rental movie options on the iTunes Store include accidental purchase, poor content quality, duplicate purchase, wrong version, bad metadata, and "other." The same possible complaints are available for every other content type on iTunes. We verified that these options are still viewable on a US iTunes Store account: see for yourself by viewing your account purchase history, clicking report problem, and then clicking on an individual purchase. [Thanks, Josh]
Sprint brings full-length movies to your phone
The war against your eyesight is on. Sprint is busting out a new pay-per-view movie service that streams full-length flicks to your tiny screen. They've already got 45 titles lined up for the service, including popular titles like National Treasure, Spider-Man 2 and Scarface. The new Sprint Movies service is in addition to Sprint's current mSpot movie service, which offers an all-you-can-eat selection of video content for 7 bucks a month. Sprint Movies can be controlled much like a DVD, with the ability to skip between chapters and resume the flick where it gets left off. Movies cost between $4 and $6 each, with rental periods ranging from 24 hours and one week, and 24 hour extensions are available for a buck. Check the read link for the full movie selection -- we're totally all over that Kindergarten Cop action.
