According to the Wall Street Journal and plenty of other news sites today, Apple and Microsoft are in talks with movie studios about offering downloadable movies for portable devices. Details are unclear whether Apple is planning to implement this as part of iTunes specifically for iPod Video devices or if it may be part of a future version of Front Row, but what is known is that Steve Jobs is pushing for the constant $9.99 price tag for each movie. Not so much is known on the Microsoft end, but there are already quite a number of online movie download services available for Windows Media “Plays for Sure” compatible media players. Services such as Vongo, Movielink, and Cinemanow offer both movie rentals and downloadable movie purchasing.
I tend to agree with the IT wire article that says the majority of people don’t purchase movies to keep. We rent them, or watch them on TV, or go to the movie theaters. Prices for older less popular movies are cheaper for a reason. Some movies are available on Cinemanow for free they’re so bad!
I hope Microsoft’s “talks” with movie studios are about improving on-demand downloading through Windows Media Center. I have never once been able to sit through an entire full length movie on a small-screened handheld device.
What do you think? Are downloadable movies for portable devices the next big thing or would you rather have better Media Center PC integration?
Originally published on Pocketnow on June 20, 2006. More Smartphone News articles from the Pocketnow archive.