Update – According to Gizmodo this software has been approved by the DVD Copy Control Association, so there will be no suing going by the movie studios. One other Gizmodo tidbit, apparently these ripped movies are only playable in Real’s own movie player and cannot be converted for use by your other devices, like iPods or phones. Fun.
[NYTimes] Real Networks will announce today software which a whole lot of iTunes users wish Apple would integrate into iTunes, software which will allow you to make a “legal” digital copy of an entire DVD. Legal meaning that this software adds additional DRM to the copies you make. This is how Real hopes to avoid any problems with the studios. (more…)
If there was one benefit I was looking forward to from Apple announcing that movies would be available same day as their DVD release was the release of the Indiana Jones Trilogy. Sure we could argue about the quality of the download, but hey, we were getting OG Indiana Jones on the 13th of May right? Apparently not.
“Apple® today announced that new movie releases from major film studios and premier independent studios are available for purchase on the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com) on the same day as their DVD release.”
That was a quote from Apple’s press release on same day movie releases. Notice how the quote states “new movie releases”. Could this be why we didn’t get Indiana Jones yesterday? Because it’s technically a catalog title? Just a little something to think about if you were expecting to see Indy in the iTunes Store yesterday.
Listed below are a few titles we might expect to be released as rentals this week. Seeing that The Kite Runner was just released for rental, and it was a March 25th DVD title, I would expect to see the rest of some or the March titles released this week.
On a side note, Spiderman 3 made a return to Apple TV, but this time as a purchase only title. Who’s taking bets on when we’ll see 300 return as a purchase only title.
March Titles
Bee Movie (3-11-08)
Love in the time of Cholera (3-18-08)
The Mist (3-25-08)
Possible April Titles
Sweeney Todd (4-1-08)
Unbreakable (4-1-08) Lions For Lambs (4-8-08)
Day of the Dead (4-8-08)
Resurrecting The Champ (4-8-08)
There will Be Blood (4-8-08)
Walk Hard (4-8-08)
AVP:Requiem (4-15-08)
Juno (4-15-08)
The New York Times online has an article about slowing Blu-Ray sales. Apparently upconverting standard DVD players are the problem. Do we see a crack opening for Apple TV. Read more.
According to the Hollywood Reporter Apple is expected to announce today that it has struck a deal with a wide array of major and mini studios to offer many new releases for purchase at its iTunes Store. “The move would allow a broad slate of top-shelf films to be offered day-and-date with home video releases, which risks cannibalizing DVD sale.”
There is no mention of titles being released in HD in the article. Obviously this is exactly what Apple has been preparing for all night with the release of the new titles. If the major studios are willing to risk cannibalizing DVD sales why not go all the way with HD content as well, considering that the HD market is that much smaller. At the very least we can only hope that at tthis will mean a more consistent release schedule for HD titles.
I want to say thanks to Aditya for the heads up about the article.
Apple Movie Junkie, formerly Apple TV Junkie, is the official blog of Cinemira. We provide a helpful service for users of the iTunes Movie Store and the Apple TV. AMJ was born out of a surprising shortcoming on the Apple TV after noticing that there was no easy way to find a list of all new HD & SD rental titles released on a daily basis. AMJ fills that niche with a daily list of new movies.
Update – According to Gizmodo this software has been approved by the DVD Copy Control Association, so there will be no suing going by the movie studios. One other Gizmodo tidbit, apparently these ripped movies are only playable in Real’s own movie player and cannot be converted for use by your other devices, like iPods or phones. Fun.
