Apple's Movie Plans? Talks with Disney?

[MacRumors]

Macworld.co.uk provides a good summary of the recent rumors and speculation about Apple's possible expansion into the online movie market, building on the success of the iTunes Music Store and iPod.

The most recent tidbit is a Business 2.0 blog post which claims that according to an internal Disney memo, Steve Jobs has been in talks with Disney's President Bob Iger about how to license Disney content for a video iPod.

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was seeking to licesnse music videos to sell through the iTunes Music Store.

 

[MacH4X0r]

Who in the adult mac community really has any interest in...well...anything disney produces?
Unless there's something deeper here
the K-Pod!
A color iPod video for your kids!
Made of Uber-tanium, completely indestructable!

I dunno, I'd be more excited to hear them talking directly with studios for computer download services
I have no interest in watching a first run movie on a 2" LCD

It's like sitting in the back of a theater and watching another movie filmed from the back of the theater, and that movie is a movie of the back of a theater.

 

[MacsRgr8]

Let's hope Apple stays a computer company too.

 

[amac4me]

A video iPod is the next logical step for Apple. Current iPods have reached a saturation level in the market as evidenced by the current market share. Video iPods would make sense as Apple takes the next step toward becoming a mass market digital content provider and enabler in the consumer space.

Let's not forget Job's comment comments when he stated 2005 will be the year of HD. Also, we must not forget about the H.264 codec in Quicktime 7 that can serve content up to HD resolution. Apple will likely use the video iPod to mass market H.264 and provide the stepping stone to enter the consumer's living room at some later date with some sort of Digital Hub.

I would expect to see a Video iPod before the holiday shopping season.

 

[supergod]

If they make a deal with Disney, how would the deal relate to all the Disney Subsidiary companies? Disney still owns a fair amount of the film industry. Getting Disney is a given, because if an iPod Video were to be released than one of the main uses of it would be for kids on long car trips or flights.

 

[NinjaMonkey]

Who in the adult mac community really has any interest in...well...anything disney produces?

You have to remember that Disney owns ABC and ESPN in addition to movie studios. If Apple gets Disney on board others will follow. I'm pretty interested in video podcasts which iTunes 4.9 already supports.

 

[Policar]

I didn't know Disney owned NBC....in fact, I'm pretty sure it doesn't (it owns ABC, though.)

Considering my Athlon 64 can't decode h264 and the dual g5 at work struggles mightily with it, I doubt iPods will have much luck in that department, either. If iPods ever do video with h264, they will need new hardware. Very new hardware specifically designed for this function.

If the video store allowed for iPods not only to play video (on what I hope would be a much larger screen) but also to plug into tvs and play movies from there (in standard definition, of course--HD is just too big and processor intensive) then that would be sweet.

But that would probably be such an intense work out for the iPod's battery, processor (even if it had hardware decoding), and hard drive, that I doubt it will happen any time soon, if at all.

I can't see the appeal of paying to watch movies on a 2'' screen. Even if I were interested, I'd just get a PSP. The video quality and quality of its screen are AMAZING and Sony doesn't care about profit margins for those since they make money of the movies and games, so they can make a better product much cheaper. (Although I wouldn't use a PSP for music.)

 

[NinjaMonkey]

I didn't know Disney owned NBC....in fact, I'm pretty sure it doesn't (it owns ABC, though.)

You are right, typo, I changed it.

 

[broken_keyboard]

I like the idea of downloading movies from iTunes and watching them on my computer or streaming them to my TV, but I can't see myself putting them on my iPod.

 

[wilburpan]

I'm just waiting for Apple to file a lawsuit against Business 2.0 for leaking information.

I'm waiting for the lawsuit against Walt Mossberg, too.

 

[broken_keyboard]

Let's hope Apple stays a computer company too.

Even if they don't want to be, the Mac just keeps on gaining...

 

[AidenShaw]

not HD vPod, of course

Considering my Athlon 64 can't decode h264 and the dual g5 at work struggles mightily with it, I doubt iPods will have much luck in that department, either. If iPods ever do video with h264, they will need new hardware. Very new hardware specifically designed for this function.

http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/34846.html

Casanova explained the new codec's scaling features. "With H.264, authors can scale video without sacrificing quality from low-level bandwidth rates like 160 kilobits per second for handhelds and mobile phones , all the way up to HD at 8 megabits per second."

Your systems are struggling with 1080p content, I expect. The effort to decode a stream suitable for a handheld would be much less.

For example, the HP iPaq x4700 has a beautiful 4" VGA (480x640) screen (and it can switch between portrait and landscape at the push of a single button). Make that a 5" 480x720 slightly wider screen and you'd have a great handheld video unit. With its 624MHz Intel CPU, you should have enough power for a WVGA stream.

 

[rendezvouscp]

I'm just waiting for Apple to file a lawsuit against Business 2.0 for leaking information.

I'm waiting for the lawsuit against Walt Mossberg, too.

They love all of Walt's quotes, so I doubt they'd sue him.

What puzzles me about the whole thing is the resolution. If there was a digital movie store, I'd want it to be incredibly fast for downloading (hopefully based of Bittorrent if possible) and I'd want it in HD resolutions. However, I obviously wouldn't be able to play full HD on my iPod, so it'd need to be scaled down specifically for the iPod. Therein lies my question: how is Apple going to deliver their content?
-Chase

 

[7on]

He could just be trying to get Pixar movies from Disney. Disney still owns the distribution rights for Pixar's backcatalog of movies

 

[SiliconAddict]

OK if they are doing full blown movies instead of just clips I HAVE to believe that there is about to be a fundamental redesign of the iPod. IMHO Jobs would never allow a 2" screen on a video iPod. Conversely I don't think he would want something as bulky as one of those Window Media players....Seriously. I really think this thing will be modular. iPod, iPod Mini, iPod photo....meet your big brother.... iPod Video. Maybe vPod? Naaa that just sounds hokey.

 

[mainstreetmark]

FINALLY, a rumor about iPods.

I was getting fed up with these constant flood of rumors of new computers. I'm perfectly happy with my 2 year old, top of the line, PowerBook.

 

[modernpixel]

Questionable value of video.

I think this one is a hard call. While I think Apple is going to be pretty much forced into offering video on the iPod, because of the coming ubiquity of it being available on cellphones, I don't know that they should market it as a BIG NEW THING.

It's kind of like how the iPod photo flopped. People just didn't need or want to carry around and look at their photos on it, it was just a gimmick. Apple should just add video as a new function but not make an iPod Video per se.

What would be incredible is if Apple got into the movie download business and built a home theater box iPod Home, if you will, that sat by your TV and allowed storage of the movies (and, if small enough, portability so you can bring it to a friends house to watch movies as well.) It would be even more incredible if it was a Tivo killer (long rumored, and tedious, I know) with an awesome interface. And furthermore, it would be even MORE incredible if it housed and played all of your music, syncing up with your Mac/PC/iPod.

My point being, people like watching movies on TVs - movies to-go will be fun for a week and then erased from the iPod because they'll eat up too much storage space.

Joe

 

[mattthemutt]

This is terrible of me to say, and yes its biased, but I shudder at the thought of a possible partnership between Apple and Disney.

 

[SiliconAddict]

http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/34846.html


Your systems are struggling with 1080p content, I expect. The effort to decode a stream suitable for a handheld would be much less.

For example, the HP iPaq x4700 has a beautiful 4" VGA (480x640) screen (and it can switch between portrait and landscape at the push of a single button). Make that a 5" 480x720 slightly wider screen and you'd have a great handheld video unit. With its 624MHz Intel CPU, you should have enough power for a WVGA stream.

I already do that. I've had the 4700 iPaq since last xmas. The screen is a wonder to behold and CAN do video without breaking a sweat. (I've been doing video on my PPC since fall of 2000. Nothing new here.) The deal isn't so much that is can do video. Its the battery life. I only can get through a movie to a movie and a half on a single standard battery. If Apple created such a beast it would have to have a LARGE battery in it to allow iPod like run times.

You ARE correct on higher resolution streams. My iPaq burps on content with high bitrates and higher resolutions however it’s running an older generation GPU. The Dell v50 series has a newer GPU which can even do video out to an outside source at 800 x 600 without breaking a sweat. Obviously this isn’t even in the ballpark of your average HD content but its getting there. Again though its all about battery life. The afore mentioned Dell PDA only gets a couple hours of playback because of the GPU it has. It’s a workhorse but you pay a price for such a beast.

 

[cr2sh]

A video iPod is the next logical step for Apple..

Based on who's logic? The folks I know who have an ipod workout, ride the bus, fly frequently....

How exactly does a portable tv fit into that lifestyle? And what will they watch? Where will they store it? How will they transfer it?

I think a video ipod is one of those little *great* products that they could make, and might make... but with fail because WHO WILL USE IT?

I can put the earbuds in, leave it on play.. and do other things. A video ipod will destroy my productivity.

 

[Abstract]

The video iPod idea would work only if they don't sell full-length movies, and sell videos of all sorts instead, say music videos.

 

[SiliconAddict]

This is terrible of me to say, and yes its biased, but I shudder at the thought of a possible partnership between Apple and Disney.

Yah we'll just ignore the fact that Jobs has been dealing with Disney for years through Pixar. Disney isn’t the problem. Michael Eisner IS. Fortunately it looks as if the ***hat is on the way out.

 

[Stella]

FINALLY, a rumor about iPods.

I was getting fed up with these constant flood of rumors of new computers. I'm perfectly happy with my 2 year old, top of the line, PowerBook.

ROTFL.

( and I know you weren't being serious).

 

[broken_keyboard]

I don't know that they should market it as a BIG NEW THING.

Good post...

I agree about the iPod Photo. In retrospect they should have just marketed it as a color iPod and let people discover the photo features for themselves. A low key sort of thing.

 

[dizastor]

FINALLY, a rumor about iPods.

I was getting fed up with these constant flood of rumors of new computers. I'm perfectly happy with my 2 year old, top of the line, PowerBook.

Wow. my sarcasm-ometer is off the charts!

I've been waiting for a video iPod for quite a while. I think it'd be a great thing to have at the gym to occupy your mind while doing an hour of cardio. Don't limit yourselves to just thinking about movies either, there is plenty of TV content that I'm sure companies would love to make some extra cash off of. I'd pay a few bucks for an episode of CSI, Six Feet Under, or The Sopranos.

I think a 5" widescreen in a 0.5" thick case would be just about the sweet spot for portability and quality. No buttons on front of course, all screen.