Those with 3.0: Have you tried the iTunes movie/TV downloading yet?

[sseelman]

Hi: I was wondering if anyone could relate their early experiences with the new ability to download movies/TV shows via the iPhone version of iTunes? A few questions:

* Do the videos play prior to full download?
* Do they seem to download pretty quickly?
* If the download is aborted, does it continue as soon as a connection is restored?
* Does it just work on wi-fi or can you use 3G?
* Anything else that you have seen that is cool/interesting?
* Does this function work for the iPod touch also (obviously wi-fi)

Thanks in advance......

 

[razorianfly]

As far as I can tell, Apple have disabled this ability until June 19th onwards.
Although the UI is there, in the new iTunes Music Store, previewing a movie
before purchasing results in a 'This movie format is not compatible'.

However, I haven't yet tried downloading a move as I personally think 10.99
is extortionate.

R-Fly

 

[sseelman]

As far as I can tell, Apple have disabled this ability until June 19th onwards.
Although the UI is there, in the new iTunes Music Store, previewing a movie
before purchasing results in a 'This movie format is not compatible'.

However, I haven't yet tried downloading a move as I personally think 10.99
is extortionate.

R-Fly

Thanks for the response. Yes, the movie purchase prices are ridiculous - just like DVD's. The rental pricing is not horrible, but the US store still only allows a 24 hour viewing period. Not enough time (IMO).

 

[msmyth]

I just tried a preview for a tv show, house to be exact, and it played fine, just not willing to pay to test it out

 

[skwoytek]

Hi: I was wondering if anyone could relate their early experiences with the new ability to download movies/TV shows via the iPhone version of iTunes? A few questions:

* Do the videos play prior to full download?
* Do they seem to download pretty quickly?
* If the download is aborted, does it continue as soon as a connection is restored?
* Does it just work on wi-fi or can you use 3G?
* Anything else that you have seen that is cool/interesting?
* Does this function work for the iPod touch also (obviously wi-fi)

Thanks in advance......

I downloaded a Pixar short yesterday as a test.

- The videos do not play until they are completely downloaded. In fact, you can't even see them in the iPod application until they are complete. In the iTunes applications on the device your only option is a pause button to pause the download.
- They seem to download as fast as they would on my Mac. It looks to depend strictly on what your connection speed is. I have cable modem with speed boost and the 75MB file went pretty fast, didn't time it though.
- I didn't try to interrupt it, but I'm pretty sure it picks back up.
- If you can find a video under 10MB you can use 3G. The video downloads are still limited by the same 10MB limit that applies to applications and music.
- I didn't notice anything outside of buying video.
- I didn't test an iPod touch but I'm sure it works.

 

[sseelman]

I downloaded a Pixar short yesterday as a test.

- The videos do not play until they are completely downloaded. In fact, you can't even see them in the iPod application until they are complete. In the iTunes applications on the device your only option is a pause button to pause the download.
- They seem to download as fast as they would on my Mac. It looks to depend strictly on what your connection speed is. I have cable modem with speed boost and the 75MB file went pretty fast, didn't time it though.
- I didn't try to interrupt it, but I'm pretty sure it picks back up.
- If you can find a video under 10MB you can use 3G. The video downloads are still limited by the same 10MB limit that applies to applications and music.
- I didn't notice anything outside of buying video.
- I didn't test an iPod touch but I'm sure it works.

Thanks for the response. This was really helpful. I was kind of hoping to be able to watch as it downloaded (e.g. as it buffered on the iPhone). I believe this is possible on the "real" iTunes on my PC.

 

[Goona]

That makes it pretty useless then , they should make it able to play while its downloading.

 

[sseelman]

That makes it pretty useless then , they should make it able to play while its downloading.

Maybe not useless, but certainly not as useful. Having to wait for the full download prior to playing the video will most likely reduce some impulse buying.

The other question I have is if they will allow us to re-download something we already purchased? for example, I bought the first three seasons of a tv show - then I watched them and deleted. Now, maybe I want to go back and watch an episode. I wonder if it will continue to charge me (as it does on the PC version of iTunes)?