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Rumour: Fox to include iTunes files with DVDs starting 15th Jan

by Nik Fletcher Jan 8th 2008 at 12:00PM

We heard a while back that Apple and the movie studios were in negotiations over movie rentals, and there were mentions of iPod compatible movie files being shipped with DVDs. Of course, to be able to legitimately import DVDs (without resorting to Handbrake) has been a pipe dream for consumers. But not for much longer, it would appear -- that is, if you're a buyer of a particular Fox TV animated series on DVD.

Tipster Stewart sent us a note saying he'd received a Family Guy (Blue Harvest) DVD ahead of the January 15th release (coincidence?) and that an iPod-compatible version, branded as a "Fox Digital Copy file," was included on the disc. The only downside was that the disc "requires iTunes version 7.6." We were both sceptical and interested, naturally, and he was gracious enough to send over two shots of the offending article, possibly lifting the lid on some of the iTunes news we can expect next Tuesday.

Check the shots out after the jump, keeping your eyes peeled for the (over-zealous) "serial number" that appears to be required to access this digital copy as with existing Fox titles.

Thanks Stewart!



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We heard a while back that Apple and the movie studios were in negotiations over movie rentals, and there were mentions of iPod compatible...
 

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Peter Griffin

That 'Che' your talking about is a spoof. Either Peter Griffin (cause I know thats out there) or judging by the swirly black stuff on the right side of the pic, a Darth Stewie.

January 10 2008 at 11:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Beau

Yes - not currently compatible with the Zune or PSP.

Joy!

January 08 2008 at 8:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

I guess most of you guys are American, the European (or in my case Danish) the buying of videos has not been enabled in iTunes yet.. so the mere thought of RENTING videos is going to be in a distant future.
But looking forward to it though..

January 08 2008 at 5:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
LD

Is that a Che wallpaper in the background? Looks like it to me.

Some people are morons.

January 08 2008 at 3:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to LD's comment
Andrew

What? You were expecting a naked Bush? Or Dick Cheney?

Indeed, some people really are morons.

January 08 2008 at 8:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
LD

Andrew, that's the most ridiculous response.

Understanding who Che was and what he has done has not one thing to do with Bush or Cheney or Halliburton or whatever other buzzword your feeble, sheeple mind is told to think.

Think for yourself.

January 08 2008 at 9:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
h0mi

Put this on bluray. Put this on bluray. Put this on bluray.

January 08 2008 at 2:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Miguel

Did he click the "Update" button?
Just to see what happens :P

January 08 2008 at 2:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ryanasimov

iTunes 7.6 = most likely no new iPod news at MacWorld. Such an incremental bump leads me to suspect this; just a hunch. That's a plus if you hope for a Mac-heavy show (unlike last year's iPhone dominance).

January 08 2008 at 1:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to ryanasimov's comment
punkassjim

Perhaps, but I'd say iTunes 7.6 could herald quite a bit of iPod/iPhone news, particularly since rentals are pretty much imminent. I mean, the likelihood of introducing new iPods is nil, but I think we all knew that. The time of year for that is pretty well defined: pre-holidays. And iMacs were completely re-designed recently. I'd say the highest likelihood is some portable lovin' or maybe Mini / tv news.

January 08 2008 at 1:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Beau

I'm guessing it'll include support for the third-party iPod Touch/iPhone apps too. :-)

January 08 2008 at 8:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Galley

That's a great idea. Sony will be doing the same thing with its Blu-ray Discs, but those files will only transfer to a PSP.

January 08 2008 at 1:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mabhatter

looking at the link it would seem Fox would have to "give" quite a bit on terms.

First the transfer to only 1 PC and 1 device is unacceptable... If I'm keyed to iTunes, I want my 5 computers and unlimited iPods. The current terms are highly unacceptable. Hopefully Steve will stick to that one point hard.

Second, Fox needs to open up to the rental market. On the site it allows only 1 serial key.. if they use iTunes, they could sell 3-4 copies of the movie off 1 DVD. Hopefully they are not too selfish to catch that revenue model.. They could make $5 extra off every rented copy if people want to keep it!! Good news for everybody, they just have to be creative.

January 08 2008 at 1:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alex

Scott your getting it for free with the DVD anyways so whats the big deal, it says right on the box 1.5mbps H.264 so you know its only near DVD quality, and its probably optimized for the resolution of the iPod touch and not the 720 x whatever of the original dvd.
I wish they'd do the same with blurays, albeit with an iPod track and an HD track for playing back on my computer or HD TV. I fear if they don't annouce HD movies on the 15th...I guess most people still don't have HDTV's, but if you do, well, I just wish I could download my movies and watch em in high def on my TV and comes with an iPod file too...I'd never have to buy another bluray! I'm guessing they could get an HD download to about 5gig...

January 08 2008 at 12:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Alex's comment
Scott

I guess the problem with this is that it's branded as an iTunes file, not necessarily an iPod file. If I'm watching a movie on an iPod, of course the resolution can be much less. If it's supposed to be an iTunes file in general, it's meant to be watched in different places, one of which being an AppleTV attached to a nice television set. In that case, I want it to be at least DVD quality.

January 08 2008 at 1:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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