snapshot 6/11/07

Apple's video rental service coming this fall
http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/06/10/apple.in.video.rent.talks/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118152397413230778.html?mod=rss_whats_news_technology
Apple is in the later stages of negotiating an online rental service for feature-length movies on iTunes, according to at least one senior Hollywood executive. The service, which is currently slated for a fall release, would reportedly use a version of Apple's FairPlay copy protection to let customers rent movies for a full 30 days at $2.99 per title, automatically rendering the video file inert and preventing unauthorized copies while still allowing the file's transfer to at least one extra device, such as an iPhone.


Zune fire sale sees reductions of up to sixty bucks
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/10/zune-fire-sale-sees-reductions-of-up-to-sixty-bucks/
The Zune appears to be in the middle of a sale at the moment, as several US retailers have put the price of the portable media player down with reductions being above 20% in the case of Staples's $60-off promotion. We all know how fickle retailers are when it comes to pricing -- if one does it, they all do it -- but surely it's not a great sign for the Zune to get such significant discounts under a year after its launch. This could be an indication of an impending announcement of a successor for the Zune (in which case this price cut is doubleplusgood), but it's not like you know who ever had to lower prices to raise interest in their outgoing PMP models.


iPhone Details Leaked From Sales Training Manual
http://crunchgear.com/2007/06/09/iphone-details-leaked-from-sales-training-manual/#more-8099
The Good
· If you choose to answer the call, the video will pause and resume once the call ends.
· iPhone lets you carry on a phone conversation while you simultaneously browse the Internet or send an email.
· There is a vibrate mode.
· All videos play in landscape mode
· If you prefer your widescreen content to take up the entire screen, you can double tap the video and iPhone will automatically scale the video to take up the entire screen.
· Media Net, MobiTV, or Cellular Video are not available on iPhone.
· Double tap an object to make it fill the screen, and double tap to zoom out
· Can have multiple websites open at once and switch between them

The Bad
· iPhone will not support the TeleNav solutions currently offered by other AT&T devices
· GPS is not part of the iPhone feature set.
· iPhone users will not be able to conduct IM conversations with instant messaging users.
· Does not support MMS messaging for photos or videos.


Federal Trade Commission Calls Burnlounge A Pyramid Scheme
http://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/2007/06/federal_trade_c.html
The Federal Trade Commission filed suit last week alleging that Burnlounge is a pyramid scheme and that some of its largest retailers have misrepresented the income investors made with the company. One had claimed that by last summer he had made almost $300,000.


Review: RealPlayer 11
http://www.last100.com/2007/06/11/review-realplayer-11/
While it will be hard for RealPlayer to shake off its poor reputation, there’s much to like about version 11. The new interface and jukebox functionality has been appropriately borrowed from iTunes, and the ability to download and save videos from the web, not only works well, but should prove popular with users who want to build their own personal video collection. Having said that, it seems a bit old-hat to only give the option to burn media to a CD or DVD and not covert it for transfer to a portable media player such as an iPod.


Audible Magic’s copyright filtering technology not working
http://venturebeat.com/2007/06/08/audible-magics-copyright-filtering-technology-not-working/
Audible Magic, the Los Gatos company that protects music and other content publishers from piracy by scanning files posted around the Web, is having problems. NewTeeVee tested the so-called finger-printing technology across multiple sites, including Microsoft’s video site, and even enlisted that company’s help when it didn’t work. But time and again, despite posting a copyrighted file to Microsoft’s site, it wasn’t flagged, and the file was posted for free viewing.


TECHNOLOGY; Movie studios fear the sequel to iPod; They see risk that new Apple TV signals effort to control distribution.
http://www.contentagenda.com/articleXml/LN625044200.html?nid=3038
But despite Apple TV's promise, some of the biggest movie studios won't sell their films through Apple's iTunes store. They fear that the Cupertino, Calif., company will come to dominate online distribution of movies as it now controls more than 70% of the digital-music market in the United States.
The studios fear Apple is using a similar strategy with movies: Sell them for cut-rate prices so people buy more hardware. Senior studio executives say Apple could turn movies into a commodity.

One reason other studios have yet to sign on: Apple offers less for newly released films than rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Apple buys new movie downloads for $14 to $14.50, then sells them for $14.99. In contrast, Wal-Mart pays the studio $15 to $18 for DVDs, which it sells in the stores for slightly more. The studios fear that offering new releases through iTunes will cause Wal-Mart to retaliate by slashing DVD prices.


Gnarls Barkley's Label & Engadget's Founder Launch Label 2.0
http://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/2007/06/gnarls_barkley_.html
Downtown Records and internet entrepreneur Peter Rojas are launching an online-only record label that will offer free music and generate revenue only via ads and sponsorships, according to the NY Post. RCRD LBL which will launch this fall, aims to merge free music with niche blogs to offer advertisers very targeted sponsorships. The label will attempt to combine Downtown's proven ability to identify hit and niche acts - the label's roster includes Gnarls Barkley and Cold War Kids - with the Rojas' web experience (he founded such hugely successful blogs as Engadget, Gizmodo and others) to create Record Label 2.0.


Scholastic, Disney opening the e-book
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/services/2007-06-11-scholastic-disney-ebooks_N.htm?csp=34
Scholastic is officially launching BookFlix, an educational website pairing short films based on popular picture books along with non-fiction e-books that allow early readers to follow the text online.

Meanwhile, the Disney Publishing Group plans a similar project later this year, making favorites such as The Jungle Book and Cinderella available online. While Scholastic, for now, is sticking to the school and library market, Disney will offer books to general consumers, charging a fee, still to be determined, for downloads.