[Eug]

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2018

Rumours are:

1) iTunes Movie Store
2) New iPods
3) 23" iMac <-- Doesn't really fit with the title, cuz I doubt they'd release commercial HD movies on the iTunes Movie Store.

[turtle777]

We'll know Sept. 12.

Can't wait.

-t

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by Eug

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2018

Rumours are:

1) iTunes Movie Store
2) New iPods
3) 23" iMac <-- Doesn't really fit with the title, cuz I doubt they'd release commercial HD movies on the iTunes Movie Store.

The iTunes Movie Store will happen... it really is just a matter of when.

New iPods are also nearly a sure things... The 23" iMac sounds interesting, but it will all depend upon price.

[Landos Mustache]

All I want is a touchscreen video iPod and an iPod phone and I am happy for a looooong time.

With the title "it's showtime" makes it sound like a movie oriented event.

[KeyLimePi]

Well, since the invitation says "It's Showtime," with criss-crossing searchlights, should we assume that it will be movie-related announcement (i.e., the iTMS movie store)?

[turtle777]

Well, it is out of question that this is movie related. We've heard the rumor-mill for 6 months now, it's gotta happen sometime.

-t

[dale]

I would suspect new movie download service and new device to sit under the "telly".

I also suspect that this new device will work with PC's running a windows version of iTunes movie download software. If Apple wants to win the battle of the living room - it will have to be multi platform - just like with the ipod and iTunes. Version one might be MAc only though!

I recognise my expectations are high here. Either way, I hope Sept 12th does not disappoint, whatever it is that they plan to release.

With only 3 and a half months to go before Christmas, apple could have a blinding opportunity here if this is a multi platform device that promotes use of Mac over PC usage. Maybe have delivery of iPhoto content to the television as the Mac unique - Photos stored on the Mac in the study, viewed sitting in the lounge with your family with a front row interface)!

[Eug]

Originally Posted by KeyLimePi

Well, since the invitation says "It's Showtime," with criss-crossing searchlights, should we assume that it will be movie-related announcement (i.e., the iTMS movie store)?

Hey cool. When I posted this thread, there was basically nothing in the article. It was 2 lines long and just said the name was "It's Showtime". No pix or mention of what the event was for. Glad to see they have a bit more content now.



It seems they went a little overboard with the AI watermarks...

[SirCastor]

They're releasing "Beetlejuice" on iTMS... and that's it.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by Eug

It seems they went a little overboard with the AI watermarks...

That is so incredibly retarded it is hilarious. I mean they act like they got an exclusive image of Steve Jobs dry humping a Zune.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

That is so incredibly retarded it is hilarious. I mean they act like they got an exclusive image of Steve Job dry humping a Zune.

Now THAT would get them some attention from Apple

-t

[slugslugslug]

Gizmodo doesn't say anything at all about their source, but claim to have a list of the first batch of movies to be available. It's not so big, nor exciting.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by slugslugslug

Gizmodo doesn't say anything at all about their source, but claim to have a list of the first batch of movies to be available. It's not so big, nor exciting.

I think it is expensive also unless they are DAMN fine quality and can be shared.

[slugslugslug]

Actually, I just noticed that Gizmodo linked back to some site's story, which in turn linked back to another one at iPodHub.net, who don't really say anything about their source...

[Eug]

Schweet! AAPL is up 2% today.

Originally Posted by slugslugslug

Gizmodo doesn't say anything at all about their source, but claim to have a list of the first batch of movies to be available. It's not so big, nor exciting.

From Walt Disney Pictures:
James and the Giant Peach
Pocahontas
The Lion King
Aladdin
Chicken Little
Herbie: Fully Loaded
Sky High
Ice Princess
National Treasure
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

From Disney/Pixar:
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Toy Story 3 (?)
A Bug's Life
Monsters Inc.
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles
Cars

From Miramax:
Cold Mountain
The Hours
Chicago
Cinderella Man
Scary Movie 1,2,3 and 4

From Touchstone Pictures
The Royal Tenenbaums
Pearl Harbor
The Sixth Sense (with Hollywood Pictures)
Unbreakable
Gone in Sixty Seconds
Shanghai Noon
Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
King Arthur
Hidalgo
Open Range
Signs
Reign of Fire.

From Lion's Gate Entertainment:
American Psycho
Dogma
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Pi
Requiem for a Dream
Open Water
Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights
The Punisher
Fahrenheit 9/11
Crash
Alone in the Dark
Hostel
Saw 1 and 2

-----

Meh. Nothing interesting. Well, it might be interesting to see Toy Story 3, if such a movie exists.



And I hope they're not 320x240.

[starman]

I don't give a rat's ass about buying movies through the iTMS. So long as I can rip MY OWN DVDs that I ripped on it, fine. I'll buy it in a heartbeat.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

I think it is expensive also unless they are DAMN fine quality

Define DAMN fine.

DVD quality, or HD ?

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

and can be shared.

Dream on. Hollywood would not agree to those terms.
Maybe it's like with music, 5 registered computers can play it.
I doubt it goes beyond that.

-t

[jokell82]

You're all wrong - it's an event to announce the release of iMovie HD 2. Duh.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Define DAMN fine.

DVD quality, or HD ?

DVD quality would be fine for me, but the price seems a bit high. Unfortunately, right now iTunes shows are less than 1/4 DVD rez. Pathetic.

Dream on. Hollywood would not agree to those terms.
Maybe it's like with music, 5 registered computers can play it.
I doubt it goes beyond that.

-t

5 computers/set top devices plus unlimited iPods might be OK.


P.S. Now AAPL is up over US$70 again. Nice.

[slugslugslug]

I'd be really surprised if they let you burn DVDs given all the effort the movie industry's put into trying to prevent DVD duplication. I suppose maybe they'd let you burn the thing once, put CSS and Macrovision on it, then hope the relative obscurity of DVD ripping solutions works on their behalf.

Actually, prohibiting DVD rips would be a boon for Apple as well, if this Video Airport Express is real. Then, assuming you don't have a living room computer, you may as well by one of these things from Apple to watch iTMS movies on your TV.

[Stecchino]

New iTunes Media/Movie Store will feature
All DVD-quality movies $9.99 downloads via iTunes new built-in bittorrent feature
All HD-quality movies $14.99 downloads via iTunes new built-in bittorrent feature

Optional and separate movie "rental" service for $14.99/month. Features some fancy pants dynamic DRM which allows 3 movies available for download at a time. When you're done watching you delete it and it frees up the next personalized DRM code.

Daydreaming is fun.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by slugslugslug

I'd be really surprised if they let you burn DVDs given all the effort the movie industry's put into trying to prevent DVD duplication. I suppose maybe they'd let you burn the thing once, put CSS and Macrovision on it, then hope the relative obscurity of DVD ripping solutions works on their behalf.

Actually, prohibiting DVD rips would be a boon for Apple as well, if this Video Airport Express is real. Then, assuming you don't have a living room computer, you may as well by one of these things from Apple to watch iTMS movies on your TV.

Yup. Just like Apple would lock out 3rd player media players, Apple would lock out 3rd player video players, but would happily sell you their Mac minis or else a set top box or a Video Airport Express.

P.S. A Video Airport Express is actually feasible, over 802.11g. They could limit movies to H.264 at under 2.5 Mbps and still approach DVD quality. Coupled with robust buffering, it could work quite well without having to resort to 802.11n solutions.

[slugslugslug]

Originally Posted by Eug

P.S. A Video Airport Express is actually feasible, over 802.11g. They could limit movies to H.264 at under 2.5 Mbps and still approach DVD quality. Coupled with robust buffering, it could work quite well without having to resort to 802.11n solutions.

Sweet. I would buy one of those if a) the store had movies I cared about or b) it'd play back any ol' QuickTime-playable movie I had, regardless of option a).

I imagine you might have to manage movies in iTunes for b) to work, which'd be fine with me if I could totally sandbox my media so that videos and video podcasts don't show up in my song list.

[Eug]

P.S. Actually 802.11g can support up to 20+ Mbps real-life, but I think even 10 Mbps would be a recipe for support calls. 2.5 Mbps (or perhaps a bit higher, for video, plus extra for audio) seems like a much safer target for less than ideal 802.11g networks, especially ones with other traffic on them.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Define DAMN fine.

DVD quality, or HD ?


Dream on. Hollywood would not agree to those terms.
Maybe it's like with music, 5 registered computers can play it.
I doubt it goes beyond that.

-t

Damn fine means at least DVD quality and not that **** for the iPod video they sell now.

Sharing, 5 is fine.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

Damn fine means at least DVD quality and not that **** for the iPod video they sell now.

Are you talking about DVD resolution, or DVD quality (number of artefacts etc...) ?

I can see Apple providing high-res, but the quality of a DVD will most likely not be matched.

-t

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Are you talking about DVD resolution, or DVD quality (number of artefacts etc...) ?

I can see Apple providing high-res, but the quality of a DVD will most likely not be matched.

-t

I don't care what you call it as long as the quality is no worse overall than a DVD.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by Eug

And I hope they're not 320x240.

This is what I fear most. It's a joke to offer a 320x240 version of a movie for a real TV, but I'm sure they want the movie to play on the iPod... so there is the "gotcha"

I would be satisfied with DVD quality, but to be honest, it's almost too little too late. HD content is just around the corner (~2 years) and I'm not investing good money on content that's going to look like a joke in a few years.

I think the movie thing will be a bomb in some respects. The bar is VERY high IMHO.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh

This is what I fear most. It's a joke to offer a 320x240 version of a movie for a real TV, but I'm sure they want the movie to play on the iPod... so there is the "gotcha"

Unless each movie includes two versions, one for iPod, one for everything else.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Are you talking about DVD resolution, or DVD quality (number of artefacts etc...) ?

I can see Apple providing high-res, but the quality of a DVD will most likely not be matched.

-t

With MPEG4, they should be able to get the exact same quality as a DVD, but in a smaller package (~1GB). With a professional codec, I think the quality would be high, and the size small.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh

With MPEG4, they should be able to get the exact same quality as a DVD, but in a smaller package (~1GB). With a professional codec, I think the quality would be high, and the size small.

How good hardware do you need to decode it though?

[Eug]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh

With MPEG4, they should be able to get the exact same quality as a DVD, but in a smaller package (~1GB). With a professional codec, I think the quality would be high, and the size small.

Well, if you mean the standard MPEG4 that Apple used to promote, I can guarantee you they won't use it. They will use H.264.

Ballparking... With H.264, you can get pretty good quality at under 2 Mbps. With 4 Mbps, it would be superior to SuperBit DVD quality I'm guessing on average. I'll do some testing at 2.5 Mbps (with a consumer grade encoder) and see what I get. Unfortunately, I don't have much good quality HD sources.

Anyways, that would mean 1 GB for say a 100 minute movie is pushing it. I'm guessing it's probably more like 2 GB if you want close to DVD quality.

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

How good hardware do you need to decode it though?

For H.264 at DVD quality, any recent Mac would be fine. An iPod would not be fine though.

For 852x480 (480p) video at 24 frames per second:

QuickTime 7 for Mac OS X:
1.25 GHz PowerMac G4 or faster Macintosh computer
At least 128MB of RAM <-- Too low
64MB or greater video card <-- Not necessary

QuickTime 7 for Windows:
2.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or faster processor
At least 512MB of RAM
64MB or greater video card
Windows 2000 or XP

--

However, I get this ominous feeling that it will be the same 320x240 crap as before.

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

I want a new iPod and no "i"s droped from the name of the iPod and iMac

[dale]

Maybe the pricing is

$9.99 - download now, burn one copy for keeps
$14.99 - download and watch now - physical copy through the post

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Eug

Pi
Crash

At least there're 2 movies I could watch. It hurts seeing how many bad movies there've been in the past few years. Ugh.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by C.A.T.S. CEO

I want a new iPod and no "i"s droped from the name of the iPod and iMac

Pod?

the iPod name is here for good. It is like sony renaming the Walkman to walkperson 5 years after it is drilled into everyones head.

[Chuckit]

What? There's only National Treasure, Pearl Harbor, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Shanghai Noon, Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, King Arthur, Hidalgo, Signs, Reign of Fire, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, The Punisher and Alone in the Dark.

[Obi Wan's Ghost]

Originally Posted by slugslugslug

Actually, I just noticed that Gizmodo linked back to some site's story, which in turn linked back to another one at iPodHub.net, who don't really say anything about their source...

Gee, big old Gizmodo not giving credit to little Claire Hill's hard work and connections.....

Claire Hill (I)

She works in the business or worked. That's all I know.

Her sister writes too. I think this is her. Acted with Denzel it seems

Bridgette Hill

[Adam Betts]

Just something to ponder about:

Apple and Nintendo Conferences next week. Planning something together?

Showtime / Hollywood / Broadway
(hollywood and broadway are names for Wii)

Someone posted those possible ideas in other forum:

Next gen iPod to Wii/Wii-mote wireless connectivity
-Listen to music through wii-mote speaker
-Transfer data wirelessly to and from iPod and Wii

Virtual Console and iTunes integration
-Buy VC games on iTunes, transfer data to Wii
-Play certain VC games on next-gen iPod

DS - iTunes integration
-Play movies and mp3s on DS through power of iTunes

[Obi Wan's Ghost]

Originally Posted by Adam Betts

Just something to ponder about:

Apple and Nintendo Conferences next week. Planning something together?

Showtime / Hollywood / Broadway
(hollywood and broadway are names for Wii)

Someone posted those possible ideas in other forum:

That would be crazy, Adam. It would sell so many more iPods etc

Problemo number one is that Apple was looking to employ game developers for some iPod in the future weren't they, like few months ago or something?

[Obi Wan's Ghost]

Originally Posted by slugslugslug

Gizmodo doesn't say anything at all about their source, but claim to have a list of the first batch of movies to be available. It's not so big, nor exciting.

Except that when these people quoted Claire Hill they failed to note she did not say ALL those movies would be available at the start.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by dale

$14.99 - download and watch now - physical copy through the post

physical copy through the post ?

NEVAR !

-t

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

Originally Posted by Obi Wan's Ghost

That would be crazy, Adam. It would sell so many more iPods etc

Problemo number one is that Apple was looking to employ game developers for some iPod in the future weren't they, like few months ago or something?

What if Apple made a iPod that could run DS games. It would be called iPod DS. that would be badass!

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by C.A.T.S. CEO

What if Apple made a iPod that could run DS games. It would be called iPod DS. that would be badass!

Apple/Nintendo merger.

Actually, I was hoping for a Dark Castle port to iPod.

[Kerrigan]

Apple is not very interested in products not made by Apple. This Nintendo business is just wishful thinking.

An Apple/Nintendo merger would be the worst thing since AOL Timewarner.

[F*ckDell]

I say f*ck Nintendo, Apple should make their own line and sell them on iTunes (which at that point probably wouldn't be called iTunes).

Now how about 1080p movies on iTunes? Why would Apple release another upgrade to their airport line without N??

If the Mac Mini can be used with a 1080p HDTV, why wouldn't Apple want to grab the market by the throat and be the biggest supplier of HD movies? Like Nintendo, I say F*ck Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, just download them from iTunes and play them through your Core 2 Duo, HDMI equiped Mac Mini................... only if my last name was Job$.


p.s. I'm with you kerrigan, I'd be able to get Apple stock for $6 a share again!

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

Apple is not very interested in products not made by Apple. This Nintendo business is just wishful thinking.

An Apple/Nintendo merger would be the worst thing since AOL Timewarner.

Totally. I mean what do they have to offer each other other than... Nintendo copies Apples hardware design... Nintendo is a kiddy and "not enough games" image... Apple has a "not enough games" image...Steve might be looking for a new CEO... Nintendo has Mario. Sounds like a match made in heaven.

[Nodnarb]

Still don't buy the concept of an Apple/Nintendo merger. It just ain't gonna happen.

However, I am extremely excited for the 12th, it seems as if every big thing rumored for the past year or so (iPod/iTunes-wise, Macs have all just recently been updated) is about to happen. The first half (or more) of this year was all about the mac, and the entire line is running intel. Now the second part of the year is focusing on new ipods, iTMS for movies, (possible) cell-phone, however it seems as if the video iPod is not coming. Still awesome.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Nodnarb

Macs have all just recently been updated

Eight months ago.

[Nodnarb]

7 months ago for the iMac (first mac to make the transition), 11 months ago since the iPod and a full year since the nano.