Apple, films, home entertainment, itunes, movie industry, movies, wal-mart

iTunes to Carry Movies on DVD-Release Date

It seems that Apple is about to go nose-to-nose with Walmart in the playground. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the company is poised to announce a deal with a bunch of studios to sell new releases on iTunes the same day as the movies' release on DVD.

The studios thought to have signed on Apple's dotted line include Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate and New Line—all of whom have a rental deal with iTunes. Smaller houses, such as Magnolia and Image Entertainment are included, but MGM is out of the picture.

Most at risk from the news is, undoubtedly, Wal-Mart. Apple has already usurped the retail giant this year as the number one seller of music. Amazon and Microsoft, with their respective operations, Unbox and XBox Live Marketplace, are also expected to be affected. [Yahoo!]

4:00 AM on Thu May 1 2008
By Addy Dugdale
1,536 views
16 comments

Comments

lucky_you at 04:08 AM on 05/01/08
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Now sell the Apple TV at Walmart as a final kick in the crotch!
lucky_you at 04:10 AM on 05/01/08
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Actually, I take that back.
No one should step foot in Walmart in general.
legacye at 04:15 AM on 05/01/08
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This news means absolutely nothing to me unless the quality of those movies is (at the very least) on par with DVD. If I want a movie release with sub-optimal quality I'm just going to download it a month before it hits the shelves - simple as that. I will however pay for the DVD which offers:

1. A back-up
2. Higher-resolution
3. Extras
4. Animated menu's

because at the end of the day, who wants to pay a similar price for sub-standard crap?.
taoprophet420 at 05:06 AM on 05/01/08
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But they do have apple tv's at Walmart [www.walmart.com]
Saeid at 05:15 AM on 05/01/08
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Online rental's is the Blu-ray destroyer and there is no way to stop it. Majority of people will always choose convenience (availability/no returning worries/no late charges) to quality (720P vs 1080P the average joe can't tell the difference with more than 10 feet distance between the tv).
Saeid at 05:16 AM on 05/01/08
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there are a few typo's, its 2:15am... i think that's a good enough excuse :)
iEddie at 05:41 AM on 05/01/08
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Didn't know Xbox Live had its own "Marketplacem."
odnet at 06:26 AM on 05/01/08
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@legacye:

how does a "DVD" have higher resolution than an itunes movie download? I could understand if you were buying a BlueRay dvd. or a 5 dollar HDDVD. but a regular DVD will not have higher resolution than an itunes download.
Sleeper_Service at 07:21 AM on 05/01/08
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@Saeid:

Actually, torrents will always be first choice for the casual viewer and hard format for the collector.
legacye at 07:21 AM on 05/01/08
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@odnet:

As far as I'm aware (correct me If I'm wrong) iTunes (not AppleTV) carry movies at a lower resolution than DVD (ie. 640x480) According to this page www.apple.com/itunes/store/.

At a price of between $10-$15, I don't think it's worth it unless this price includes a retail copy of the movie.
Kaiser-Machead at 07:21 AM on 05/01/08
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iTunes movie purchases are not on par with DVD's, mainly because they must still operate on iPods. iTunes rentals, however, are just as good as DVD's or better.
legacye at 07:23 AM on 05/01/08
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@Saeid:

I completely agree with you on rentals (they're obviously more convenient and someone who wants to watch something once isn't really going to care). I would however say that people who like to own their own movies would opt for a hard-copy as opposed to an online purchase of a lower-res digital alternative.
legacye at 07:24 AM on 05/01/08
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@Kaiser-Machead:

Thanks for clearing that up ;)
bms at 08:28 AM on 05/01/08
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Who needs optical media anymore? No more DVDs.
8026mn at 09:16 AM on 05/01/08
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I agree wverything should be in Digital Format to put on a Hard Drive to Stream or copy to your TV/Phone etc.etc..
genius74 at 10:25 AM on 05/01/08
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@8026mn:

Im cool with that, so long as it gets earmarked that I bought it and NEVER have to purchaase it again.. EVER..