Apple and Fox plan movie rental deal: reports
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Apple Inc and Twentieth Century Fox  are set to announce a deal that will allow consumers to rent  Fox movies through Apple's digital iTunes Store, according to  media reports on Thursday.
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A deal between Facebook and either  Google Inc  or Microsoft Corp  is expected to  be announced in the next 24 to 48 hours, The New York Post  reported on its Web site on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.
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(InfoWorld) - Talk about the coming iPhone and AppleTV deviceÂ dominated the discussion with the chief financial officer of AppleÂ at an investment conference in San Francisco Tuesday. Peter Oppenheimer, appearing at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference, declined to give specific unit sales forecasts for the new products but anticipated they will be strong. IDG News Service monitored the event via Webcast. "AppleTV will change the way people gather and purchase their digital content," said Oppenheimer of the $299 AppleTV, due out later this month. It is a set-top box that delivers digital content stored on a computer, including video purchased from Apple's iTunes online store, to a TV. However, the usefulness of the AppleTV may be tied to the amount of video content available on iTunes. Today, he said, 400 movies and 350 TV programs are available for downloads, with more added all the time. He said Apple recently reached agreements with film distributors Paramount Pictures and Lion's Gate Entertainment to sell downloads of their movies on iTunes. The much-anticipated Apple iPhone is scheduled to hit the market in June. The iPhone, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced at Macworld in January, features anÂ innovative touch-screen interfaceÂ on a combination phone, iPod, and e-mail and Internet access device. It will sell for $499 or $599 depending on storage capacity, and will require a two-yearÂ contract with Cingular Wireless, the mobile division of AT&T. He declined to comment specifically on a March 1 report from Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty, who interviewed him at the conference, in which she raised her forecast for 2007 iPhone sales to 8 million from an earlier forecast of 6 million, based on a survey of 2,500 U.S. customers. "Half the demand is coming from the traditional high-end handset market and half from Apple's customer base," Huberty said. While not commenting on the forecast, Oppenheimer said the iPhone will be a "breakthrough product." "Though Apple is new to the mobile phone market, we believe the addressable market will grow quickly," he said. In itsÂ last quarterly earnings reportÂ on Jan. 17, Apple posted net income of $1 billion, or $1.14 per share, on revenue of $7.1 billion for the three months ended Dec. 30, 2006. Analysts forecast Apple to earn $0.62 per share on revenue of $5.16 billion in the current quarter, according to a consensus estimate produced by Thomson Financial. In a 40-minute conversation with Huberty, including questions from other analysts in the audience, Oppenheimer did not discuss theÂ stock options scandal at Apple. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco are investigating whether Apple improperly accounted for and disclosed the backdating of options. No charges have been filed. Â
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Appleâs sputtering efforts to be a major purveyor of video downloads may get a boost in 2008 from an agreement with 20th Century Fox for digital movie rentals.
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(InfoWorld) - Apple will show off new MacBook Pro notebooks along with a full demonstration of the next operating system, Mac OS X 10.5 (a.k.a. Leopard), at next month's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), a Wall Street analyst predicted Wednesday. PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster rejected rumors that Apple will tout its iPhone at the conference, which opens June 14 in San Francisco. Instead, Apple will launch the new cellular phone in late June. At WWDC, Munster wrote in a note to investors, CEO Steve Jobs and crew will flesh out the remaining undisclosed features of Leopard, announce updated or new MacBook Pro models, and perhaps unveil a revamped iMac desktop lineup. "We believe the Street would react positively to such product announcements," he said. Munster's forecast didn't exactly come from left field. Apple has already promised that Leopard, once scheduled for a spring release but now shooting forÂ October,Â would be feature-complete by WWDC. Developers, in fact, are to receiveÂ beta copiesÂ of the new operating system at the conference. Nor is the MacBook call a long shot. Just last week the Cupertino, Calif. computer makerÂ tweakedÂ the MacBooks by boosting hard disk capacity and bumping up processor speeds, clearing the way for an upgrade to the pricier Pro models. Analysts, pundits, and bloggers have for weeks been hyping the idea ofÂ LED-backlitÂ MacBook Pros using the new Intel Santa Rosa chip set. Although neither Apple or AT&TÂ have spilled an iPhone launch date, Munster figures it will come after WWDC. That means there's little chance sales will boost Apple's bottom line for the quarter ending June 30. However, during the next three months, Munster predicted Apple would sell approximately one million iPhones at an average price of $550 each. But because Apple plans to account for iPhone revenues over the life of each phone's contract, the company will see only $27.5 million in recognized revenues for the quarter. Munster also pegged the September quarter as the time frame for a widescreen iPod -- essentially a stripped iPhone. "Expect Apple to launch new widescreen iPods with the iPhone's multi-touch technology at a price-point below the iPhone's $499," said Munster. "Like $399." PiperJaffray maintained its Outperform rating for Apple shares, with a price target of $140. On Wednesday, Apple closed $112.89, down 65 cents or 0.57 percent, for the day.
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Rumor has it that Apple will announce a super-slim laptop and online movie rentals at its Macworld conference next week.
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Apple is set to unveil at MacWorld San Francisco a groundbreaking deal with News Corp.'s Fox movie studio to rent movies through Apple's iTunes store, news reports revealed Thursday. If true, the news could impact the landscape for on-demand movie rentals dramatically.
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Apple is reportedly in talks to bring movie rentals to its iTunes store, with the company reportedly planning to offer rentals for $2.99 USD for 30 days.
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Apple Computer Inc. may soon  launch a service that allows users to download feature-length  films, boosting its presence in the digital home, analysts said  on Tuesday.
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Apple's iTunes Store dominates the digital music retail scene--can it do the same with online movie rentals?
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Shares of Blockbuster Inc. plunged nearly 17 percent on Tuesday after a new threat emerged to the world's largest chain of movie-rental stores: Apple Inc. announced it now offers movie downloads via iTunes.
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Sony Corp. has reportedly reached a tentative deal to buy Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. shortly after media giant Time Warner Inc.
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Reports of a deal with Fox signal a fresh push from Apple into digital video.
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Apple and News Corp. have signed an agreement to offer Twentieth Century Fox movies for rent through the iTunes...
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Available as a free automatic download later this month, the new software announced today lets movie fans rent movies on the iTunes Store directly from their widescreen TV. With iTunes Movie Rentals and Apple TVâand with no computer requiredâcustomers can effortlessly rent movies just by clicking a button on their remote. By the end of February, theyâll be able to choose from a catalog of more than 1,000 titles, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. DVD-quality iTunes Movie Rentals cost just $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases. High-definition versions are just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 and new releases at $4.99.
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Blockbuster Inc. is in talks to buy movie download service Movielink, including long-term contracts with Hollywood's major studios to supply films and TV shows, for under $50 million in cash and stock, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday.
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With iTunes movie rentals now available, Don Reisinger thinks Steve Jobs pulled a fast one on the online rental industry. Is he right?