Apple Launches Movie Service at Showtime

But, surprisingly, it only contains movies from The Walt Disney Co., where Steve Jobs is a board member. Contrast this to Amazon which launched it’s service with 7 studios, but not Disney. Jobs also introduced a device to help people watch movies downloaded online to a connected tv set. It’s called the iTV, who would’ve guessed, and it will cost $299.

At a media event Tuesday, Jobs also showed off a compact gadget, dubbed iTV, that will allow consumers to watch movies purchased online — as well as other digital content stored on a computer — on a connected television set. It will sell for $299 and be available early next year.

He said more than 75 films will be available from Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax. New releases will be priced at $12.99, when pre-ordered and during the first week of sale, or $14.99 afterward. Library titles will be sold for $9.99 each.

Jobs also announced a new iPod nano with a 24-hour battery life and new games for the portable media player. The new iPods will come in five colors, and will sell for between $149 and $249. Source: Yahoo

Lots of stuff on techmeme concerning Apple, some of the announcements at the Apple Showtime event include:

Games like Zuma, Texas Holden, Mini Golf, Cubis 2, PacMan, Tetris!, More Tetris! Mah-jong, Bejeweled are going to be available for $4.99 and are made to use the wheel, so they are much better.

Better longer lasting iPods, 30GB, 7,500 songs, 40 hrs video, $249. 80GB, 20,000 songs, 100 hrs video, $349. Today, we’re going to introduce an all new nano. It’s made out of aluminum, and it’s even thinner than the previous ipod nano. Maybe the most obvious feature is we’re bringing back colors: Blue, Pink, Green, Silver, and Black. Battery life: 24 hours.

The iPod shuffle will be the worlds smallest MP3 player for only $79 for the 1GB version.

iTunes is adding the NFL network. They’re bringing the whole 2006 NFL season highlights to iTunes today. $1.99 per game or $24.99 for a season pass.

More info and comments at Engadget.

Posted by Jimmy Daniels Posted in: Apple, iTV, iTunes No Comments » September 2006