So much for the iTunes Music Store . Now that Apple ’s iTunes - based department store of digital entertainment take not only music , music videos , myopic films , and TV show , butactual characteristic - distance movies , the companionship has in the end admitted what the rest of us have known for a while — iTunes is n’t just about music any longer .
Aside from simplifying the store ’s name , though , Apple ’s announcement that it would be deal motion picture downloads has ramifications for Mac drug user , iPod fans , and couch white potato alike . Here ’s a guide to Apple ’s new picture show - download Robert William Service — what we bed so far , what we ’re learning , and what might be coming down the pike .
Where do the movies make out from ?
presently , only flick studio own by Disney — Miramax Films , Pixar Animation , Touchstone Pictures , and Walt Disney Pictures — offer their wares at the iTunes Store . ( Disney was also the first amusement ship’s company to make its telly shows uncommitted for sale at the iTunes Store , and its largest private shareholder just materialise to be Apple chief executive officer Steve Jobs , who also has a seat on Disney ’s Board of Directors . )
How many pic does iTunes offer ?
As of September 20 , 2006 , the avail had 86 feature - length film available for purchase . As with its TV offerings , Apple plan to continue bring movies — not only Modern films on the same day they ’re released on DVD , but also films from studio other than Disney once those studios sign up on to iTunes . Expect the issue of available movies to increase rapidly once that occur .
Well , when will those studios come on board ?
We wish we knew . All we know is that Apple is adamant that you ’ll be capable to grease one’s palms film from a studio not own by Disney one of these days . And the onus just is n’t on Apple here — rival movie - makers are likely to be unwilling to concede an entire possible source of gross to Disney . The timing may be up in the air , but we can state with great self-assurance that other studios are go to jump at the chance to sell moving picture via iTunes .
What kind of movies does Apple offer ?
The iTunes Store has a mix of novel releases and what it pertain to as “ Library ” titles — older movies that have been out of the theaters for a while .
So how much does Apple charge for these movies ?
Unlike with TV show and music videos , there ’s no laid Leontyne Price for movies . Apple has announce that new films are $ 12.99 if you pre - order them before they ’re unloosen — aComing Soon pageat the iTunes Store name all the movies you may pre - order . New film also cost $ 12.99 if you them during first week after their liberation ; later , the price rises to $ 14.99 . The older film that make up the iTunes Store ’s Library offerings sell for $ 9.99 . But we ’ve notice some already been some inconsistency in pricing — some of whichappears to have been fixed — so be trusted to take a look at the price of a particular film before you assume anything .
At this point , no . But as Apple ramps up its movie offerings , you’re able to bet the company will want to pass such information to customers in as many ways as it can .
Are motion picture available on all iTunes Stores around the world ?
Currently , only U.S. customers can buy movies . But Apple plans to take the iTunes Store ’s movie pick international sometime during 2007 .
These are probably going to take up a caboodle of hard parkway space — how big are the movies ?
picture show roam from between about 750 MB to around 1.75 GB , depending on the length of the movie . The 2 - hour - and-38 - minute filmThe Insider , for exercise , takes up 1.76 GB , while the 1 - hour - and-10 - minuteBambiweighs in at only 755 M .
Wo n’t that take a prospicient meter to download ?
When compared to music or even TV display , yes . When announcing the service to the media , Steve Jobs tell that it would take a exploiter with a 5 - Mbps cyberspace connection — a faster - than - usual broadband speed that ’s becoming more common but is still far from universally usable — about 30 minutes to download a whole moving-picture show . But realistically , it will take most citizenry more like and hr to download a film . In fact , it lease us precisely an minute to download M. Night Shyamalan ’s “ Signs ” ( a 1 GB file with a 107 - hour run time ) on a base DSL line .
But what if I do n’t have that much metre on my hired hand ?
iTunes 7adds a download manager , which makes it easy for you to shake up your download rescript , as well as pause a download to resume afterward . This could be particularly useful if you ’re browse the iTunes Store at a wireless hot spot and determine to buy a movie , but desire to waitress until you get home to download it . And you’re able to watch the flick even while it ’s download — just three-fold - press the picture show and it ’ll begin to play . On most broadband connections the sentence to download the movie will be much less than the moving-picture show ’s run sentence , so by the time you get to the end , the entire thing will have been downloaded .
I bought a TV show on iTunes and it was n’t great in terms of picture caliber . Is that going to be true of these movies , too ?
Prior to the addition of movies , all video content on the iTunes Store was encoded using the H.264 codec at a size of 320 - by-240 pixels . That search unspoiled on an iPod , but was very small for a high-pitched - resolution computing machine sieve , not to mention a tv set . moving-picture show use the same video codec , but are now available in 640 - by-480 - pixel resolution—“near - DVD quality , ” according to Apple — or four time the number of picture element you ’ll find in a 320 - by-240 video . ( by the bye , 640 - by-480 is now also the resolving for telly show useable for download through iTunes ; Apple went back and re - encoded older fabric to the larger frame size . ) For a widescreen movie , the width is always 640 pixel , but the height will be less than 480 pixels ( and vary depending on the face proportion used for the original motion-picture show ) .
If movies and boob tube shows are add up in at 640 - by-480 , do I have to do anything special to make them toy on my iPod ?
No . Apple has increased the size limit for video that can play on telecasting - capable iPod — you just download and sync , and you ’ll be watching movie and declamatory idiot box display in no fourth dimension .
And these picture are compatible withallfifth - generation iPods , correct ? And not justthe newfangled modelsApple denote on September 12 ?
That ’s right . But for older 5 G iPods , you ’ll need to upgrade your iPod ’s software to variant 1.2 ( the first time you secure in your iPod after update to iTunes 7 — which is required for picture downloading — you should be motivate to set up the new package on your iPod ) .
Do I have to advance any computer software on my Mac or PC so as to download and watch movies ?
Yes . You ’ve got to kick upstairs iTunes to version 7 or undecomposed , and QuickTime to version 7.1.3 or better .
Are there any confinement to what I can do with my flick ? Can I fire a videodisk from one ?
Just as with anything else purchased from the iTunes Store , some limitation apply . For pic , that means you’re able to follow them on up to five computers ( Macs or PC ) that are authorized with your iTunes account , and you’re able to transfer them to as many iPods as you have — just as with TV shows . But in another similarity to the DRM restrictions with idiot box show , you ca n’t sting pic to a blank DVD that will play on a determined top DVD thespian . ( You , can , however , burn down the movie file cabinet to a information DVD as a patronage or for moving it from one computing gadget to another ) .
Is n’t there an easier way to move my movies to another estimator ?
Why yes , in fact , there is . Another new feature film in iTunes 7 is that it now lets you put content on your iPod , plug that iPod into another authorized Mac , and transfer those files flat to the second computer . In the past tense , Apple offered no way to extract files from the iPod , but did n’t specifically disable it — many third - party utilities could do the trick . But mark that Apple ’s method acting only works with movies , music , and TV shows purchased from the iTunes Store .
Well , what about my television lot ? How can I watch a motion picture there if I ca n’t combust it to a videodisc ?
Currently , the one path to watch an iTunes movie on a TV is to relate your Mac or iPod directly to the TV using an adapter cable . But Apple has also announced a Modern ware — scheduled to embark during the first twenty-five percent of 2007 — codification - identify iTV . The small $ 299 box will link up to a tv set and let you wirelessly pour your film , TV display , music , and photograph from a computer running iTunes 7 to the television .
Even so , why would I want to buy a movie from iTunes instead of buying a videodisc ?
That ’s a good question , and is alike to one people asked when Apple first started selling music : “ Why buy compressed music when I can corrupt a compact disc — complete with a skillful brochure — for roughly the same amount ? ” The answer are somewhat alike as well . Unlike DVDs ( or CDs , for that thing ) , files do n’t get scratch ; you may have digital motion picture ( or vocal ) in many places at once ( several computing machine and iPods ) ; and you do n’t have to forget the comfort of your base to bribe them . At the same prison term , the quality of even current videodisk is good than what Apple offers , “ near - videodisc quality ” or not ; DVDs include extra features , including commentaries , captions , featurettes , and multi - channel audio ; Apple ’s moving picture do n’t necessarily cost any less ; and Apple ’s offerings are very limited right now .
But just as Apple sell more than one million songs in the first week of the iTunes Music Store , and has sold more than 1.5 billion in the retiring three - and - a - one-half years , Disney CEO Robert Iger says his company hassold 125,000 moving picture on the iTunes Store in the first week . So people are clearly concerned in what Apple is attempt to do .
OK , but I commonly only watch pic once or double — why does n’t Apple lease movies instead of selling them ?
Again , that ’s a inquiry only Apple can reply . But we feel pretty confident summing up Apple ’s rationale . Since it first started selling digital euphony in 2003 , Apple ’s mantra has been that people need to own their content , not pull it — a swipe at subscription - based services such as Napster . While iTunes ’ market portion has showed that people mostly agree when it come to medicine , movies are a different animate being . Very few people watch flick in the same mode they hear to medicine — that is , many time over and over again — which is why services such as Netflix ( not to refer your local Blockbuster or Hollywood Video ) are so popular . Yet if DVD sales are any indication , masses do revel buying movies . Amazon ’s newUnbox Video Downloadsoffers both sales and rentals , although neither specially well . Apparently , Apple thinks sale are the way to go — but that does n’t signify things wo n’t change in the future .
You mentioned Amazon.com . How does its Unbox serving compare to what iTunes offer ?
We already remark that you may rent film as well as buy them at Unbox . Amazon ’s service also offer more movies from more studios out of the gate , though we can see iTunes gain ground in this regard . Like iTunes , Amazon.com offer varying pricing for movies , though its prices drift from $ 7.99 to $ 14.99 .
Oh , and one other all-important difference , at least to Mac users : Unbox wo n’t shape with Macs and its movie downloads are n’t compatible with iPod .
