Possibly attempting to steal some thunder from Apple’ Wednesday announcement of 99-cent TV episode rentals, rival Amazon.com launched episodes for sale at 99-cents each. The Internet bookseller and Kindle maker said it would offer shows from ABC, Fox and the BBC “to own.”
While Amazon’s Video on Demand service streams such shows as “Glee,” “Bones” and “Lost” to Macs, as well as PCs and set-top boxes, the Seattle-based company noted the shows downloaded “cannot be transferred to iPods.”
Today’s Apple music event met with a decidedly chilly reception. The new iPod shuffle was an acknowledgment that its previous generation was a flop. The new AppleTV doesn’t support app development and has few advantages beyond a Roku box. New iOS updates are coming slower than anyone would hope.
And all of that discontent isn’t even factoring in that Apple has removed video from the iPod nano line.
What’s that? You didn’t notice? Join the club. Steve went out of his way to extoll the great features of the new nano (like a screen you can’t see when it’s clipped to your body) while carefully avoiding any discussion of the fact that its screen is too small to play video on.
But it’s true. Like the original iPod nano, the new model is for photos and music only. Check out the tech specs page. Lots of discussion of audio playback. No mention whatsoever of video. I hope I’m wrong. But I’m pretty sure I’m not.
Still — looks great as a wristwatch, yeah?
Wow — that was quite a show from Steve Jobs. A brand new line up of iPods (except the Classic); a hot new AppleTV that costs just $99; and a potential Myspace killer in Ping, iTune’s social network for music.
But which announcement was the big one long term?
Will a FaceTime-enabled iPod allow Apple to route around AT&T and other wireless carriers? Or will the new, inexpensive AppleTV be the product that finally takes settop boxes mainstream, and Apple’s next big hit? Or is the new multitouch nano a glimpse at the future of multitouch personal electronics (think nifty iWatches)?
[polldaddy poll=3704292]
With the new iPod hardware out of the way, Apple turns to iTunes, and after a brief bit about the statistics we already know are impressive… Apple unveils iTunes 10, complete with a new and simplified logo.
First the stats. “People have downloaded over 11.7 billion songs from iTunes, and we’re just about to cross 12b. Over 450 million TV episodes, 100 million movies, 35 million books, and over 160 million accounts with credit cards and 1-click shopping in 23 countries,” says Jobs.
Those stats are relevant to the logo change. “Since iTunes is about to bypass CDs in sales, we thought it was appropriate to ditch the CD,” quips Jobs.
[Image via GDGT]
ABC Disney and Fox have given Apple a ‘go’ signal on a plan to sell 99-cent episodes via iTunes. However, the agreement is limited and is being labeled as “experimental.” The limited agreement is expected to be announced Wednesday, alongside a redesigned $99 Apple TV as part of a media event called by the Cupertino, Calif. company.
The Wall Street Journal, citing “people familiar with the matter,” reports Fox has agreed to offer Apple shows it “both produces and airs,” including series such as “Bones” and “Glee.” The limitation is in light of concern some networks have expressed that the 99-cent pact could hurt lucrative re-run agreements.
Startled by the rumors that Apple intends to launch its own streaming television today the rest of the industry is already reacting: Sony intends on launching its own music and video subscription service tonight.
According to a report by the Financial Times, Sony’s new service will launch on its PlayStation 3 video game console at first, and then gradually creep out to other Sony-brand, internet-connected devices like Sony Walkman players, Vaio computers, Bravia TVs and even Sony Ericsson mobile phones.
Sony’s not the only one setting up shop with a streaming media subscription service: Amazon is also apparently inking some deals right now to allow it to stream television shows and movies, speaking with NBC Universal, Time Warner, News Corp and Viacom.
It certainly seems like other companies think Apple’s got a big announcement up their sleeves for later today, and are scrambling to catch up.
[via 9to5Mac]
Apple is live streaming Wednesday’s iPod event as a test of its massive new data center, we’ve been informed by a source.
Apple’s first live video broadcast in years is a test of the server farm’s ability to stream a future version of iTunes for iOS devices, our tipster says.
“The goal is to monitor traffic load and quality,” says our tipster, who asked to remain anonymous to preserve their connections at Apple.
The Apple universe is all a twitter on the day before the Cupertino company makes its holiday product announcements. The folks at bookmaker.com are wagering that we’re most likely to see an iPhone 4 revision and a bigger, better iPod Nano. (Yep, that’s over 100%. For once, the fuzzy math isn’t mine, that’s how betting odds work).
These outcomes are slightly different from what CoM and most of you readers believe, if our reader poll is at all trustworthy — most expect the iPod but also something new for Apple TV and iWork.
Anybody willing to put their money where their mouth is?
Fox Network – led by News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch – reportedly is the lone hold-out in what one report characterizes as nearly unanimous opposition to Apple’s proposition of selling TV episodes for 99 cents each. Murdoch, who also owns several high-profile newspapers – including the Wall Street Journal – apparently sees CEO Steve Jobs’ iPad as a way to save the floundering print news industry.
Murdoch, although he owns the Fox Network, has ink in his blood. He is pushing for a news network oriented toward the iPad and other tablet devices. “That makes the iPad a keystone in Murdoch’s ambition to launch a digital national news product this year,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Ever since the first rumors creeped out that Apple intended on reinventing its “hobby” AppleTV platform to a $99, iOS-driven streaming media device, people have been assuming that the device would have to support multitouch through some sort of Magic Trackpad-esque remote. Now Dan Wiseman has come along and mocked up what he expects the new iTV remote to look like.
It’s an attractive render, but I’m going to say, “No way.” There are numerous problems with this approach, the least of which is knowing where your fingers are resting on the displayless remote in relation to the elements on the television half a room way. The only way that could work is if the iTV overlay mice-like pointers on your display to show where your fingers were in relation to the trackpad… a clumsy and decidedly un-Apple-like solution.
Then there’s the cost: if the iTV costs $99, and the Magic Trackpad costs $69, how could Apple afford to give one of these away for free with every iTV sold? They can’t. End of story.
If I had to guess, I’d say that the iTV, even if it is iOS-driven, will eschew multitouch as an input method in favor of the tried and true Apple remote. The only possibility I see is the possible ability to pair an iTV to your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to directly interact with the iTV display elements… but surely we would have seen an inkling of that functionality in the iOS betas by now if that was planned, and we haven’t. The iTV may be iOS-driven, but I wouldn’t bet on multitouch.
[via Daring Fireball]