“Apple introduced a new feature to its iTunes Store, iPod, and Apple TV ecosystem last week at Macworld ’08 that was a long time coming: movie rentals. Every major studio is on board for the debut, which starts with a 1,000 movie catalog (with 100 of those in HD [Apple TV only]) that is sure to expand if this early offering takes off as a success,” David Chartier reports for Ars Technica.
“The rentals work on the most recent iPods including the iPod classic, 3G iPod nano, iPod touch, and iPhone. And once the Apple TV ‘Take 2’ software update arrives in another week or so, iTunes Store movie rentals will also work on your living room TV. Now that I’ve had some time to play with this compelling new store feature, I have some thoughts on the pros and cons of renting popular films through the most popular digital download service on the ‘Net,” Chartier reports.
“Apple has answered the calls of consumers and critics with a slick, friendly movie rental section. After playing with it for a week, I’m still inclined to say that it’s off to a strong start. Though other services may have a superior catalogs (for now) or integration with other living room devices, none reach iTunes’ signature ease-of-use or integration with the world’s most popular digital media players,” Chartier reports.
“With a compelling refresh of the Apple TV on its way and a movie catalog that is sure to grow, Apple might finally have the features, hardware, and industry partnerships to bring digital video distribution into a lot more living rooms and pockets this year,” Chartier reports.
More in the full review here.
now, where’s that update?
“slick, friendly, and easy-to-use”
The same qualities that make up the perfect girlfriend.
I can’t wait to update my ATV! Bring it on!
I rented a movie last week and it was an awesome experience… actually kind of eerie, too. After decades of renting with physical media, watching a rental without anything physical at all was weird and cool all at once, like an actual miracle or something.
By the way, if any of you are renting on your computer and using video out and audio out to get the pic to tv and sound to speakers, make sure you take a moment to calibrate the tv’s picture through System Preferences > Displays. It took all of 25 seconds and made a HUGE difference.
ExtremeTech also gave it a good review, they gave it 8 out of 10. It’s at http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2250796,00.asp
I just hope that Apple is able to get enough content to make it worth it for me to cancel my netflix membership ASAP.
i’d venture to say that thier catalog is going to grow by leaps and bounds extremely fast..
now if they could shorten that 30 after DVD release i’d be loving it
also, give me some way to play DVD’s through my apple tv and totally dump that extra piece of equipment…some kind of clean looking attachment to the apple tv (be it blue ray of normal dvd player)
One thing I really like about netflicks is their queue — find a good movie, add it to my queue. Want to watch a movie, I always have movies in my queue.
So far it doesn’t appear that that works in iTunes. I tried to add a rental to a wishlist/queue, but it doesn’t work (buyable moveis can be added to a wishlist/queue, but for some reason, not rentals). Am I missing something?
@ Ampar
Gosh, you forgot the flat-top head and no teeth.
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I keep hearing about this new rental service, but the catalogue is the same old crap they have had forever. Am I missing something? Where is all the content from these new studios?
“flat-top head and no teeth”
Here in the South those are a given.
I’m getting sick of all thses DAMN Obama Ads!
I rented a movie last weekend for my kids. I connected my iBook to our LCD HDTV, let them choose the movie on iTunes, and began the download. I started the movie 30 seconds after I started to download it, and the movie played fantastically — without any glitches or hangups (we have 3mb/sec DSL).
The video quality was decent, even on the 37″ screen. I suppose that some videophiles would not like artifacts due to compression, but for instant gratification at $4.99 or less, it is a great deal.
I am very pleased with our test. It is much better than going down to Blockbuster, only to find that the movie you want to rent is not there, or waiting a day or two for your Netflix rental.
Yea, and I’m getting sick of all thses DAMN Pizza Hut Ads!
I rented Pirates of the Caribbean this week, and everything worked flawlessly; looked fine on my 22″ monitor.
I actually like MDN’s Obama ads. He has a lovely skin complexion. That alone should qualify him to be president.
@ Ampar
LOLZ!!
So last night we rented a movie from the iTunes store, “Team America: World Police” (2004). The experience was at once, simple and elegant, typically Apple. There was an initial learning curve to understanding the process, but once done, it was a real snap. I didn’t see any HD movies available for rent yet though. Maybe I just didn’t see the section on the page. The standard def of this film was perfectly fine to watch. However, the sound seemed low with the movie playing out of iTunes full screen on my MacBook. (Both iTunes and MacBook volume was at maximum.) External speakers would have helped. Not a problem until we missed a line from laughing too hard at the line before. Once into the flow of the film, the technology disappeared into the background (nice).
So, looking “under-the-hood” again, I saw how easy it was to transfer our rented movie from the MacBook to my iPhone or my wife’s iPod Touch. I’m puzzled though as to why there was no option to transfer the movie file to our Apple TV. I’ve sync’d plenty of video to the Apple TV from iTunes sources and others, no problem. Has any one else had this experience or is it possible to sync rented iTunes movies to Apple TV yet?
Tonight, after the 24 hours expires on the rental, I’ll see, as others have reported, if the film is still available to view. I stopped the movie before the credits ended, so technically its not finished playing the video file. We’ll see.
For the future, I’m looking WAY forward to when Apple ‘take 2’ is available. With out needing the computer to sync with, the technology disappears even more. The impulse loop shrinks down to the time it takes to decide which movie you want to watch, now.
(Yes, the revolution will be televised. THIS IS IT!)
r2:
LOL. You sound just like everyone else in the country. Good joke. Judging our political leaders on the basis of how they look and sound, not how qualified they are. Good joke.
…you were joking, right?
@Jazbo … are you serious? Your Netflix queue only exists so movies can be shipped WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE. If you rent from iTunes your movies are always available! On the day they are released or any day after you simply go to iTunes and rent the movie.
BTW: Can’t wait for my AppleTV Update!!
iWill: “HD content won’t be available until the new rental-enabled Apple TV software update is released; when it does appear, it will cost $4.99 to download new HD titles and $3.99 for older movies.”
(source: Macworld)
The queue thing from Netflix is very nice, just as having a shopping cart for music is nice on iTunes. When someone tells me about a movie I might like I add it to my Netflix queue. I suppose I can do a note on my iPhone for something to see if iTunes has for rent but a shopping cart for movies to rent in the future would be helpful.
You mean wait 30 days after they are released. I have NEVER had to wait even close to 30 days with blockbuster online. (I know boo-hiss, but I have a blockbuster store that is on the walk home from work. I average 10+ movies a month, 1 at a time, $9.99 month, in store trades.) The 30 wait period is the #1 reason why I am not getting an apple tv just yet.
@ Ampar: Thanks!
Would anyone hazard a guess as to why you can’t sync an iTunes rental to Apple TV just yet?
You know,
I’m getting sick of all these DAMN ADS!
iWill: I’m guessing it’s for the same reason. That is, “the new rental-enabled Apple TV software update.”