Having taken the music world by storm, Apple now tackles the Online Movie business

Big news for movie and video buffs this week. We will take a look at what's happening in the "on-line" movie and video entertainment space.

When it comes to being famous for lifestyle-changing online gadgets, Apple and its iPods have to be one of the most outstanding examples ever. So much so that they have now decided to add movies to their online iTunes Music Store.

Having taken over the "ears" of at least a couple of generations, it seems Apple is now attempting to take over the world's living rooms, integrating home computers, iPods and TV screens with music, videos, TV programs, podcasts and, now, movies and games.

It's suggested that as soon as new movies are released, they will then be available on iTunes at exactly the same time they are released on DVD.

Apple says full-length feature film blockbusters such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Cars, The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love have all been released for download from the iTunes Music Store. Perhaps best of all, the movies are said to be at least four times higher resolution, that means better quality, than previous video downloads.

Well, yes and no. The system has been released in the United States only at the moment, but the good news is Apple co-founder and chief executive Steve Jobs said that he hoped the service would be available internationally early next year.

Apparently the launch of the service outside the US depends on complex negotiations between Apple, Disney and other studios over regional licensing agreements. The usual legal wrangling it would seem.

If this seems that the selection maybe somewhat limited, Disney says they expect other studios to rush to join iTunes. This seems to be supported by Steve Jobs assertion that when iTunes first began to sell television programs it only had five shows and one TV network. By way of comparison, it now offers 220 shows from 40 networks in the US.

Nonetheless movie downloads are, for now, limited to Disney-owned studios only and are unavailable in Australia.

There are a number of other online movie services that already exist but unfortunately haven't managed to attract many customers. Apple, however, is already being cast as a leading competitor with its entry.

Other companies - such as Amazon.com in the US and Reeltime, an Australian company that recently launched a local movie download service - offer feature films over the internet, but none seem to have the integrated hardware, software and content in music, TV, music videos, podcasts, games and of course now movies to match Apple.

You certainly need a "high bandwidth" connection such as ADSL to deliver movies and music to your computer.

In fact the very prospect of these types of new services adds to the pressure on Australian telecommunications companies such as Telstra and Optus to improve the standard of broadband across the country.

It would seem that in most cases an average-length movie can be downloaded in the US in around 30 minutes. Some places in Australia have been known to take three to four hours, and in reasonable Internet network conditions.

Interestingly Apple previewed a device that will let users load digital video, music and photos wirelessly from their computer straight to their TV. Apple described the gadget as "the missing piece" for letting people watch on their TV screens video downloaded from the internet.

Known tentatively as the "iTV", it will be available early next year. It is equipped with WiFi wireless networking and a remote control, and connects to a TV to let users browse and play their digital entertainment, delivering it wirelessly from computers.

Now you can download content from iTunes, view it on your computer, iPod or big-screen television all in the comfort of your own home.

That's not to say that similar media appliances that are designed to link a PC to a television don't already exist, they do but none have gained much traction so far. Good news too if you are an iPod junkie, Apple also announced cheaper, more powerful iPods would soon be on the market.

Well if you download movies from the Australian company Reeltime you are looking at about $6 each and they expire within 24 hours, pretty much in line with video store rentals. In comparison Apple says that "everything you buy, you own forever".

Movie prices for iTunes movies in the US range between $US12.99 ($A17) for new releases and about $US9.99 for titles already in video stores.

The new iTV devices are expected to sell for about US for $US299. Whilst Australian pricing has not yet been confirmed it is expected to be about $450.

Arthur Hissey
Computer Research & Technology
www.crt.net.au