rental
Entertainment
Apple to Sell Movies on DVD Release Day, Confirmed
10:44PM Jesus Diaz | It’s confirmed. Apple will release all new movies from 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios on the same day as their DVD release, for US$14.99. Full press release after the jump. More »
Entertainment
iTunes to Carry Movies on DVD-Release Date
6:00PM Addy Dugdale | It seems that Apple is about to go nose-to-nose with Walmart in the playground. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the company is poised to announce a deal with a bunch of studios to sell new releases on iTunes the same day as the movies’ release on DVD. More »
Entertainment
Blockbuster Gets With the Program, Rolls Out Blu-Ray Nationwide
12:15AM Addy Dugdale | So, here’s the thing. In February, HD-DVD breathed its last. In March, Netflix announced that it was quadrupling its Blu-ray selection. And now! Mid April! Blockbuster announces it is rolling out Blu-ray throughout its 4,000 stores in the US, as well as over the border in Canada, after a successful trial run in 1,700 of its outlets. *clapclapclapclapclap* [Blockbuster via Home Theater] More »
Games
Hotel Rent Wiis For $50+ HOURLY
1:51AM Mark Wilson | The Westin chain of hotels has recently announced that they’ll be offering Wii rentals in their 150 locations. How much will they charge? We’re not sure yet. But if Manhattan’s Le Parker Meridien is any indication, it will be a lot. They charge US$50 an hour just to rent the $400 machine. And if you want the full experience projected onto a wall with a personal trainer, look to pay US$120 an hour. I think that I speak for everyone here when I say, if I pay someone US$120 to play Wii Sports with me, the service had better induce some serious tennis elbow on their part. [usatoday via kotaku] More »
Entertainment
Apple Falls 601 Movies Short of February Promise
9:31AM Mark Wilson | Macworld did some follow-up on a promise made by Apple in a press release from January’s keynote. In it, the company claimed: iTunes Movie Rentals launches today and will offer over 1,000 titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound which users can rent directly from their widescreen TV using Apple TV. Now that February is over, a “Power Search” on iTunes reveals that only 399 rentals are available. More »
Online
Amazon Unbox HD Rentals Coming Soon?
11:30AM Matt Buchanan | Amazon’s Unbox service might finally get some HD action. This screencap is from a survey sent out to their customer panel—notice the US$4.99 pricepoint to rent an HD movie is the same as iTunes. Where’s the “cheaper, plz” option? They also asked whether there’s interest in subscriptions—like to “hit movies,” or say, indie flicks. What say ye? [Thanks Michael!] More »
Online
US$0.99 Pick-O’-the-Week Comes To iTunes Rental Store
1:55AM Benny Goldman | The iTunes rental store now offers weekend specials, just like your local RST Video. Thursday through Monday each week, one movie will rent for US$0.99, or US$3 less than usual. If we keep heading down this path, the next update of iTunes will bring streaming video of a crushtached geek who snickers at you when you bring You’ve Got Mail to the checkout. This week’s special is The Hours. AU: One day, fellow Australian Gizmodians. One day… [MacRumors] More »
Entertainment
Apple Lets You Keep iTunes Video Rentals Longer Than 24 Hours, No Hacks Required
11:20AM Matt Buchanan | Okay, so we tried basically every way we could think of to warp, twist and otherwise hack the laws of iTunes rentals time and space in order to give you guys more than 24 hours to finish a flick. Turns out, no black magic is needed. Apple knows an exact, single day just isn’t enough (Hollywood’s a bitch), and they’ve actually built in an extension—at least on an iPod nano. More »
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Blockbuster Gimps Total Access Plan, Now Only 5 Free Exchanges a Month, $1.99 Each After
3:45AM jenneth | One of the main selling points of Blockbuster online vs. Netflix is the fact that you can take your online mailers into brick and mortar Blockbuster stores and exchange them for in-store movies. In fact, that’s the reason we give when we recommend people choose Blockbuster over Netflix. It’s too bad that they’re now totally cutting the plan off at the knees and limiting $17.99 plan to only FIVE free in-store exchanges a month, and charging $1.99 per exchange after that. More »
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