Apple Announcements: iTunes Movie Rentals, Apple TV2

As many tech pundits predicted, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs announced an upgrade to his company's Apple TV device. (See photo, left, from the MacWorld Expo by Gizmodo staff.) The new Apple TV allows users to rent movies from the iTunes store and play them directly on their TV screens. You don't have to stream them from a computer, you don't have to have a computer at all. The biggest surprise in the announcement is that all the major movie studios are participating.

Apple has a video guided tour on its web site now. And Macworld has a brief summary of features.

The implications of this device for the entertainment industry are potentially huge. In BusinessWeek magazine, the WGAw's Assistant Executive Director Chuck Slocum said "It could validate everything that we've been saying. ... If [Steve Jobs] also announces that it will be in high-definition and you can order from the TV, it will mean the creation of a whole new market." Well, Steve did, and it probably does. (HD content is rolling out already.)

Much as the iPod has changed the music business, Apple TV and devices like it promise to radically alter the home video market. As tech website Gizmodo puts it, "Netflix is screwed." That's debatable certainly, given Netflix's massive selection of titles and all-you-can-watch subscription model. But the company has made some defensive moves recently including allowing its subscribers to watch unlimited streaming movies on their computers and announcing a streaming set top box with manufacturing partner LG.

And as Apple TV (and NetFlix and TiVo) build this market for direct-to-TV streaming, don't think the cable companies will sit idly by. All of these new Internet-based services are variations on pay-per-view, something every cable company has been trying to promote for years. The cable companies are certain to redouble their efforts... and their boxes are already in our homes.

So however you define it, a market for "new media" distribution of Hollywood content is here and it is growing. This is not a theoretical construct, this is not a fad. It's time for the big media conglomerates to make a fair deal with the people who create the content that streams into homes and drives the bottom line. They can make that offer to the WGA or they can make it to the DGA if that will make them feel better. But the time to make that offer is now.

Tech Jetsam: Prelude to MacWorld

Our technology column Tech Jetsam is written by WGAw memberDavid Simkins. -JA

A lot of interesting bits have washed up in this installment of Tech Jetsam.

Did you know that a Blu-Ray player bought today won't truly play Blu-Ray DVDs? Players other than the PlayStation 3 won't be able to access future capabilities of the format according to Blu-Ray developers.

When asked why current players were released to the market when in such a primitive state, manufacturers blamed the release of HD DVD and said it forced them to come to market too soon. "We should have waited another year to introduce Blu-ray to the public, but the format war changed the situation."

Meanwwhile, the plain vanilla DVD is starting to get the cold shoulder. USA Today reports sales of DVDs slipped last year for the first time since they were introduced.

Oh well, we can always watch 3,000 hours of TV on Comcast's new website Fancast. I wonder how much "traffic shaping" they'll be doing with this little venture. (The FCC is investigating allegations that Comcast interfers with certain kinds of Internet traffic such as the BitTorrent file-sharing system.)

Are you familiar with Apple TV, EyeTV or Slingbox? All three are devices that allow you to content shift programs from their original sources and replay them on other devices. Are you ready to stream TV to your iPhone?

The Macworld conference is upon us in San Francisco. Expect a lot of announcements regarding new hardware and new media deals. More studios are lining up to allow the renting of their product via iTunes. No wonder. Too bad there's no money in it.

Finally, if you own an iPhone and you're a Bank of America customer you can now use your iPhone to see exactly how much Nick Counter is contributing to your bottom line (or not contributing).

I'll be posting more after the Macworld dust settles. There's a rumor that Apple TV is up for a major upgrade. Could it be a game changer?

Introducing Tech Jetsam: UH's Technology Column

Technology is changing Hollywood forever. The Writers Guild of America was forced on strike by the conglomerates' refusal to seriously negotiate payment rates for work distributed over the Internet. And if you doubt that the Internet is going to be the dominant force in content distribution, take a look at the news coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. The LA Times wrote a great article about why CES should matter to content creators. Several WGA members and a cadre of fans have been leafleting selected locations. According the Washington Post, security guards have kept them on the move. But it's having an impact. Robert J. Elisberg dashed off this email to us:

"I spent a LOT of time talking to people and press at CES -- my message was always very simple. The AMPTP walked away, the AMPTP says there's no profit in the Internet, the AMPTP is offering to pay zero. People to a person are always aghast."

To keep you informed about the fast-moving world of technology, we're inaugurating a new column, "Tech Jetsam" by WGA member David Simkins.

-JA

Welcome to Tech Jetsam, a feature intended to keep you in the loop of tech and how it may affect you now and in the future. Full disclosure: I'm a hardcore Mac user. If sources are looking a bit Apple-centric that's why. I'll do my best to not be too obnoxious about it. Obnoxious Side Note: If you're looking to get a Mac or upgrade, wait until after MacWorld in San Francisco. On January 15th Steve Jobs will be announcing new gear. Prices will drop on the old (still great) stuff.

First, get yourself over to Gizmodo or Engadget to get an ongoing peek at what's happening at CES. That's hours of surfing and drooling right there.

A quick review of the big events as 2008 began must include the Blu-Ray dust-up. Sony scored a major victory with Warners Bros.' announcement. It was strongly rumored that Paramount was also ditching HD DVD. However, Bloomberg.com has Paramount's denial of defection.

This week Gizmodo has a quick interview with a VP at Samsung (they of the dual HD format players). His take on the Blu-Ray domination issue is worth a look.

Netflix is making a move toward ditching the red envelopes. It will be strictly a Windows XP/Vista deal. No Mac support because of copyright issues. The New York Times covers the move as well.

And Apple is also heading into the downloaded rentals arena.

This blog post from Evan Williams has some bearing on the current talk concerning writers moving toward new and creative methods of distribution. Blather or helpful guideposts?

And if you are writing on a Mac you owe it to yourself to check out Scrivener. I can't begin to describe its geeky beauty.

And while we're talking software, nothing jazzes up a script's title page like a good font. I especially like comicbookfonts.com's "Deadline" font. Grim and unyielding. I hope I get to blow past a deadline again soon.

Tangentially-related: Have you noticed that movie trailers and posters all use the same one? This guy noticed.

More links later...
-David Simkins