iPod To Become Video, Game Savvy?
In yet another transformation of the omnipresent iPod, it looks like Apple fans might see an iPod capable of not only playing digital music, but possibly videos and video games.
A TechWeb report cited ThinkSecret.com as the cause behind this week’s buzz that Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs will unveil a movie rental service through the iTunes Music Store at the company’s upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on August 7.
“Apple has a history of launching products with services, and it would seem strange that the movie download service would launch without having the new larger display hard drive-based iPod ready to go,” said Chris Crotty, senior analyst for consumer electronics at research firm iSuppli Corp in the TechWeb report.
A video iPod that has a larger display screen is set to launch in between October and December. An earlier development according to Crotty is an iPod Nano update, a flash-based successor that supports video.
For months, reports have been circulating Apple has been trying to sweet talk movie studios including Paramount Pictures, The Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. and Universal Studios, that the rental model can work at sites other than Movielink, CinemaNow, and Starz Entertainment-owned Vongo. TechWeb speculates the downloadable files will have digital rights management (DRM) code attached to each movie where the movie can be watched for approximately three days and then “self destruct.”
According to the L.A. Times, several studio executives Tuesday confirmed that “they were holding talks with Apple but did not want to be named because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.”
“Coupled with the CinemaNow agreement, an Apple deal would cement the Internet as a viable film distribution vehicle. Although studios have offered online movies since 2002, fears over piracy have kept the films locked to computer hard drives or to discs that play only on a PC. That restriction has kept the market for legal movie downloads relatively limited.”
“Burning is important to consumers,” Universal Pictures Vice Chairman Rick Finkelstein said to the newspaper.
As with record labels’ reluctant steps into online distribution a few years ago, the major studios are “not embracing it with both arms yet,” said David Card, vice president of Jupiter Research.
Apple has so far declined to comment.
And this brings up the larger question, if you rent or burn a movie, would you rather watch it on your television or play it on your iPod? Analysts are torn on this matter, saying it might be too early for the movies being offered since technology to support them isn’t coming until later in the year.
But Apple is gearing up for the movie offerings. EETimes reports American Technology Research market watcher Satya Chillara told clients “Nvidia has beaten Broadcom to provide video chips for the video iPod” this week. But the contract is not finalized at this point.
“Broadcom’s part already delivers H.264 playback, but Nvidia’s offering adds 3D graphics to the mix,” he said. In a parallel move, Apple recently ditched PortalPlayer in favor of Samsung as the supplier of the key controller chip for future iPods, so some think doing the same with its media chip provider is not unlikely.
The claim made by an anonymous MacRumors source earlier this week that upcoming iPods will play old Nintendo games makes the news even more interesting. More speculation continues that Microsoft is planning to offer a handheld media player with Xbox-branded gaming on board, and it would be Apple’s style to go head-to-head with its competition.
EETimes thinks the downside is a dilution of the iPod brand. But for some, this has been a logical evolution of the iPod.
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Comments
If I rent or burn a movie I would most likely watch it on a/my TV if available, and if no big screen was available I most likely would not want to watch it. But then there might be a whole different demographic out there.
Is it normal for Apple to announce consumer products/services at the developer-targeted WWDC?
Is it normal for Apple to announce consumer products/services at the developer-targeted WWDC? It seems to be like that, maybe we’ll have iTunes and PowerMac announcements.
the downloadable files will have digital rights management (DRM) code attached to each movie where the movie can be watched for approximately three days and then “self destruct.” -Darcy
I will not be the first one in line for something like this. Any DRM that destroys local files are possible structural security threat. A good system hacker would know how to take advantage of this and use the privilege inherited by the DRM for his/her own use.
What Apple needs to do is for the DRM to auto-down convert the resolution of the media to be watchable but not great with a TV (CIF resolution of 320x200) or a big HD panel. This way, Apple can entice the same folks again to purchase the same movie at higher price - say $9.95 for an SD version, $15.95 for an HD version.
I believe that is more plausible action than “destroying” rented movies. I just don’t like that ability of iTunes.
Eh… Won’t work in a rental aspect. But imagine buying your DVD’s through iTunes. Albeit not DVD sized files by more of the .MP4 size. Getting an entire copy of “Pirates of Silicon Valley” for $3.99 in a tight 699mb .MP4 file that I can burn onto a VCD or DVD as well as get into my iPod would be the way to go.
No it won’t have digital quality like a DVD but my antique 320pixel TV can’t support HD DVD anyways. I’ll get a 320px quality movie for $3.99 that I can get at home, never leaving my house or waiting for netflix to send me my next movie… Get the picture? It’s cheaper, albeit not better quality and I don’t get the bonus features but I paid $3.99 for a movie that won’t need relicensed and I can make a backup to play on my DVD player, sweep over to my iPod, or simply watch it on my 23” cinema screen.
Running it that way would not only increase sales for Aple but also for the movie studios and with blips of advertisements for the DVD bonus features, or simply the reduced cost of not producing the DVD the studios make more profits because there is a 95% reduction in production costs after the big screen debut. It’s pure profit and they don’t have to worry about stores keeping inventory, shipping, production, creation, etc… Just send a copy to Apple and they’ll take care of the rest.
Oh how the movie industry can have short-term memory. Don’t they remember DIVX (Digital Video Express and not the codec!!!?
If the rumours are correct, the iTunes movie store is exactly a virtual representation of the then-ill fated DVD rental format.
It will not work! I am a believer of “owning” my content and will migrate to the next Netflix model if I can own the content with minimum amount of fuss.
Getting an entire copy of “Pirates of Silicon Valley” for $3.99 in a tight 699mb .MP4 file that I can burn onto a VCD or DVD as well as get into my iPod would be the way to go.
I think 3.99 is unrealistically optimistic. Look for 9.99 at the minimum. And at 699 MB, you could probably get your Netflix DVD before you finished downloading that 320x240 file.
I’m all for every distribution model there is, but this will be a slow implementation for downloadable content. It will be riddled, and I mean riddled, with DRM whether you’re buying it or renting. It will be slow. And frankly, I’m not really crazy about the iPod/iTune$ lock-in the way we’re locked in with music.
When I buy a used DVD from Netflix or Blockbuster, it’s about the same price, it arrives at about the same time, it’s much better quality, and I can play it anywhere on any DVD device I’ve got.
Renting is such a great idea. I simply don’t watch most films many times - if I can watch a movie on a set-top box for the same price as renting a DVD, then great. That means new releases would be more expensive and be 24hrs, weekly rentals of older stuff for a smaller cost.
For some films, buying the download (for the same price as buying a DVD) would be worthwhile.
Since I prefer to own my movies, I go to Blockbusters or Hollywood to purchase those “5-for-$30” DVDs that I’ve missed in the theaters. Great movies I’ve lined-up for are also good candidates for re-purchase just for keepsake.
That is the word: KEEPSAKE. Most people want to own their downloads - music and now, movies. Some people can care less of owning their movies and I don’t mind. That is why Netflix is thriving ain’t it? I am on the camp of the Keepsakers. When I buy that iPod HD (that would be a good name)next year, I want to build my virtual movie library in it. That is the whole point of owning an iPod to begin with. The portability and the very essence of your entertainment center defined inside a device about the size of a pack of cigarettes.
Even if Apple offers some kind of a rental or subscription service, I want to have the option of downloading that content to keep (an added fee, I suppose) or burn to a DVD-R/RW. Even if that DVD content can only be accessible via the iTunes player, it is still mine. I doubt Apple will be so careless as to allow unfettered DVD burning from iTunes that is playable on any DVD player. That would be a great feature though since iTunes already gives you an option of burning a CD from a playlist.
What Apple about to offer is much more than a basic rental where the content “expires” at a certain number of use. Keep in mind they have built Front Row onto newer iMacs and Mac minis. And what about the mini remote? .Mac? Massive modern data centers? See, all the virtual plumbing is in place to support a buffered streams of content that you’ve purchased, of course. The only thing missing is the “DVR” function of Front Row and iTunes. This is just a software solution that Apple excels in creating so I would not be surprised if this is announced soon.