September 11, 2006 2:59 PM PDT
Apple taking iTunes to the movies?
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If the analysts and enthusiasts are on target, the iTunes store and client software will soon offer the option of movie downloads, expanding its offerings from
As usual, an Apple representative declined to comment on the plans for Tuesday's event at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Most of Apple's public events and press conferences this year have focused on the Mac, as the
The new Nanos should come with more flash memory for increased storage capacity, and a few new color choices, thinks Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray. If Apple's really thinking about increasing its already-dominant share of the portable music player market, it will probably have a model or two with wireless capabilities, he said.
Microsoft is planning to
But the
PC companies have mostly flamed out trying to bring digital content into the living room via the PC. Lots of desktop PCs now come with
Apple could have an advantage in its iTunes software, which is available on somewhere between 50 million to 70 million clients, and its relationships with content distributors, Baker said. But what the company hasn't done is come up with a product that connects the Mac or PC to a digital television. The Airport Express product can stream music to wireless receivers around the house, but hasn't been updated for video streaming as yet.
"At some point, they've got to start coming to the table with a real digital entertainment strategy. They've got to have something that ties the iPods and music and movie stores to the rest of your home entertainment," Baker said. That could be a new version of Airport Express that is designed for video streaming, or it could be more video-friendly Macs like the
As always, with Apple events there's never a total consensus among the fan base on exactly what to expect. An updated video iPod with a slightly larger screen gets frequently mentioned as a nice combination with the iTunes movie store. Some enthusiast sites are pointing to the introduction of the long-rumored iPhone, but analysts don't think that product is quite ready for prime time. Another possibility would be new MacBook Pros based on Intel's new Core 2 Duo chip for notebooks, formerly code-named Merom.
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iTMS.
Let's hope they don't make the same mistake they did with TV
shows and make them only available in America.
Remember: Internet - no geographical boundaries. :-)
United States are frustrated that they can't buy the same TV
shows on iTunes that Americans can, the issue is NOT that
Apple does not want to sell the content. The internet does not
magically remove legal impediments to selling content across
borders.
Apple does not have the right to sell content unless the parties
that own the content agree to sell it. Deals have to be
negotiated to make this happen. With respect to music, deals
had to be negotiated country-by-country and record company
by record company. It's a huge hassle that takes a lot of time.
internationally... I only buy DVD's so I can listen to the original
audio channels. I don't like dubbed movies...
Let Steve annouce it and then we can talk about it. What you think?
Let Steve annouce it and then we can talk about it. What you think?
Tonight, my friend called up and asked for a suggestion for a music jukebox for his Macbook. I was lost. Are there any?
He, like myself, don't hate the iTunes/iPod eco (in fact, we like it a lot), but we'd like a bit of options. He's more about the music and doesn't want an iPod; I'd actually like to get videos online and use my iPod still.
Any suggestions of a good service???
P.S. I did see a handful of music players Mac-compatible, but they didn't seem very up-to-date.
departments mandated it. It got where it is because it's the best
system out there. The user experience is better. It's easier and
more consistent from iTunes through iPod. It just works, and it
is around the same price as it's competition. In a free market,
the best product/service wins, and alternatives that can't
compete on anything more than price are doomed to extinction.
Even more importantly, asking for more options requires that
you buy into those options, but who's going to do that? Now that
MS is about to attack its 'Plays for Sure' partners, who wants to
put their money into a product that's sure to be not just out
dated, but completely obsolete in the very near future?
http://phobos.apple.com/showtime/showtime.html
The message on the page says:
"It's Showtime
The iTunes Store is being updated"
I wonder what the people at Amazon are doing right now...
Hence, support outside the US is limited.