Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
The word is out and about that Apple is getting set to announce an iTunes movie rentals store. According to rumour site Think Secret, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will use his keynote address of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on August 7 to announce the movie rentals debut on iTunes.
Apple is said to have forged agreements with four major studios and is
in talks with the others. Studios on board so far include Walt Disney,
Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and Warner Bros.
Under the deal, consumers will be able to download a rented date stamped movie online, which will have a limited playback life.
Putting movies on iTunes as a rental only option was not the model that
Apple CEO Steve Jobs was seeking but, if true, it shows that the
combined might of the major Hollywood studios in resisting the US$9.99
movie purchases proposal was too much for him to fight.
As noted on iTWire last month, Jobs' attempt to equate the music
downloads model with movie downloads did not add up. Most consumers buy
music tracks to keep permanently. With movies, most consumers either
pay per view at cinemas or rent them.
If the announcement goes ahead, iTunes will be in direct competition
with video rental stores much like it is with music stores today. What
is still not clear, however, is if like video stores, iTunes will be
restricted to renting only movies that have finished their run on the
big screens. It is unlikely that Hollywood will risk compromising its
relationship with cinema chains.
Another thing that is not clear is how Apple intends to make money on
the movie rentals deal. The iTunes music is primarily used as a vehicle
for driving iPod sales and, despite its dominance, does not make much
money for Apple. In order to make the deal lucrative for Apple, the
company will not be able to stick with the ultra thin margins that it
does with the music store.
David Bass
| For the fourth year in a row, IDC has placed content security provider Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) at the top of the IDC Worldwide Web Security 2011 –…
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