CNN Money has more fuel for the fire on the iTunes movie rental rumors popping up lately. They say Apple is in talks to get the rentals up and running with major Hollywood studios.

Supposedly the movies would be watchable on the iPod or iPhone, but could not be copied, and would not actually be purchased. You'd have a 30 day access period to the movie for $2.99, but CNN doesn't say whether that means you get to watch it once during the 30 days, or if it's yours for as many times as you want it during the period. The low price says just one viewing to me (since iTunes movie purchases are at least $9.99, if not more), but you never know.

Of course, the big question is: would you do it? If incorporated with the iTunes WiFi store, I think it could be huge-- be somewhere bored on your iPhone, click a few buttons, and be watching The Incredibles within minutes. But as usual, it all depends on what the studios want-- if the whole process is burdened with DRM, and I get error messages when I try to re-sync with iTunes, they can keep their rentals. I'll just make a note to put it in my Blockbuster queue.

[via Ars]

iPhone fever, have you caught it yet? It would seem that Hollywood has. The iPhone has set the cellphone market on fire (even though almost no one has used it yet) and Hollywood has taken notice. They are now scrambling to work out deals with a variety of companies to serve content to the iPhone (and other cellphones as well) according to the New York Times.

The movie industry has largely ignored the mobile phone market mostly because historically the only phones that would offer a pleasant viewing experience (i.e. sport a large screen) have been limited to phones targeted to the corporate market. Apple has the consumer in mind, and that is an audience that Hollywood knows, and wants to sell things to.

Even if the iPhone fails (which is a pretty big if, but possible) it will have lasting ramifications on the cellphone industry. People will expect more, and there are some companies out there that seem to finally be getting that.

I used the question mark because nothing is set in stone here, but TUAW reader Ann-CA tipped us off to a report at the DVD Newsroom that Hollywood might actually be close to lifting some of their over-the-top restrictions on DVD burning. This slightly loosened grip on their content could allow for things like DVD burning kiosks (it better be a darn fast burner), and it could also give the green light to vendors like the iTunes Music Store to allow burning of purchased videos.

The panel in charge of making and (finally) rewriting these rules is called the DVD Copy Control Association, according to DVD Newsroom. This DVDCCA is currently working on licensing the encryption technology (Content Scrambling System, or: CSS - nothing to do with web design) to digital distribution services, which is the key to allowing video burning.

No ETA is offered on when these rewritten rules could see the light of day, or when video burning could arrive in the iTMS. If Hollywood's reaction times of the past are any indication (and I genuinely hope they aren't), however, we might all be using 7th or 8th gen iPods before we can watch iTMS video on something besides Apple-branded devices.

The Washington Post has an interesting article about all the 'free' product placement Apple has apparently received in TV shows and movies in recent years. The article states that Apple doesn't pay for all that publicity, but the company won't discuss how their products end up helping CSIs track down their suspect or how the iPod helps employees of The Office land a punchline.

However, the article goes on to mention that product placement is often "arranged through some kind of barter in which the show provides exposure in exchange for products or services" - doesn't that mean the placement is still being paid for?

Semantics aside, let's hope the Hollywood writers and Apple's tech evangelist don't go too overboard; the producers of NBC's The Office "pride themselves on being real" and seem to understand proper placement: "Indeed, actors on the show's drab workplace set do not use snazzy Apple computers, but rather black, generic desktop PCs." Hooray for the real world.

[via Slashdot]

The iPod is being turned into everything from Halloween costumes to stethoscope training tools, and now it apparently is being used to help steal hundreds of millions of dollars - in Hollywood movies, that is (don't worry, this won't be a spoiler).

Apparently Harrison Ford uses an iPod to permanently borrow $100 million from his bank in the new Firewall flick. Rick Warner, over at Bloomberg, already critiqued it quite nicely: "I don't doubt that computerized banking is ripe for theft, but the way Ford does it [sic] seems as far-fetched as James Frey's resume."

While I think it's great that the iPod and Apple are receiving all this fantastic buzz, I'm having a hard time understanding how silly product placement like this benefits anyone, let alone who instigated it. How far is stuff like this going to go? Are we going to see exploding iPods hurled down hallways to destroy genetically modified monsters in a forthcoming sequel to Doom? Here's hoping Harrison doesn't have to decode an ancient culture's chant with nothing more than his 'trusty' iPod in Indiana Jones 4.

[via iLounge]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000088&sid=a4uL2l7YM5G8&refer=culture