Twentieth Century Fox and Apple Announce Movie Downloads Deal

Movies buyers in the UK will be able to download movies to their computers and iPods in a new breakthrough deal between Twentieth Century Fox and Apple, it has been announced.

'Digital Copy' for iTunes will provide customers who buy a DVD with an additional disk ? or Digital Copy of the movie ? allowing them to download the film straight on to their iPod, iPhone, PC, Mac or any other portable video player.

The technology, which has been available in the US for almost a year, is now being launched for British movie buyers. One Digital Copy title has already been released, the comedy What Happens in Vegas, starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher.

Fans who buy the special edition sets of DVDs will be given the free extra disc allowing them to download the movie files straight on to their machine. Purchasers will not have unrestricted use of the files ? the number of times they can copy the film is strictly limited as each DVD will only transfer its iTunes Digital Copy to one iTunes library.

Although buying movies from online shops like Apple's iTunes has yet to take off in Britain, Hollywood studio are hoping the new venture will help to deter the public from downloading pirate films from the internet.

The Digital Copy technology was announced by Apple and Twentieth Century Fox by Steve Job, founder of Apple, at a conference address in January. Jim Gianopulos, chairman and chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment, said they expected to release more movie titles with a Digital copy.

"One of the most requested features DVD buyers have been asking for is the ability to get the movies they bought into their iTunes library," he said.

"We're thrilled to offer such an incredibly simple way for our customers to get even more out of their DVD purchase, and we look forward to releasing many more DVDs this year with iTunes Digital Copy."

Movie Download Sites Part Two

In my last article I spread the word a little about Vizumi, which for those who don?t know is a reputable UK film download site. In this piece I wanted to go a bit further and see how Vizumi works ? to investigate it for users before moving on to compare Vizumi against the competition ? Lovefilm, Blinkbox and the rest.

First of all ? the homepage. You?ll see if you visit often that Vizumi tend to move the homepage titles around ? so that they are regularly refreshed. While this works in the sense that they get to push titles that you might not otherwise hear about (eg. Fools Gold), it also means that you might not necessarily pick up at first glance the quantity of big films available to download here.

Let?s say for example you want to have a look for a Batman movie download.
You have two options

1. Type in movie actor, film into the search box,and you?ll get a list of the relevant films.
   
2. Category Search - But let?s say, like me, you prefer to browse by category until something catches your eye then the route to finding Batman is slightly less straightforward

Step One - Select your Category
I pick action, because I reckon that?s the right area. I then get the head of a list of nearly four hundred action movies available for download. This is both great and awkward. Great in the sense that you get to browse through other movies on your way to Batman which you might not otherwise have considered. Awkward in the sense that the list is not alphabetisable by letter category ? meaning you can?t pick all movies beginning with ?B?. Instead you have to trawl through the pages until you get to your film.

I found Batman on page 3 ? not too bad ? but if I?d been after Jarhead I would have had to navigate to page 13, and if I?d been really pedantic and wanted the Bourne film download I would have had to work my way through to page 25 (of a total of 37 at the time of writing). This is why we use the search facility. But Vizumi Movie Downloads is set-up is quite clever too in that it forces you to check out the prices and availability of other films if you decide to browse by category.

Step Two - The categories
This is where Vizumi really come into their own. Top of the column is a category called Screen Gems ? full of things you thought you?d forgotten about ? Diff?rent Strokes, Bewitched, Starsky and Hutch ? admittedly mostly American shows, but classics nonetheless and if you?re a diehard fan, here?s the place to pick up your back catalogue.

Beyond this area, you have TV classics (not much in here unless you like Birds of a Feather or can be bothered to go back to Baywatch), then perhaps the next best area is Collections. In here a further subdivision takes you to various fun areas, like Haunting Horrors, where you?ll find all kinds of frightening nights? entertainment, At the Oscars, where you?ll rediscover some films that won gongs where plenty better failed, and Hot and Steamy, with a bizarre inclusion of Gaspar Noe?s conceptual masterpiece Irreversible, which should not be regarded as erotic, but which might escape notice in a more relevant category like Cult Favourites.

Final Step
Finally, below the films by genre, which should be obvious and easy to follow according to taste, is one of Vizumi?s best attributes, which I commented on in the previous article. This is the part where you get to download films cheaply (for as little as 99p!). I

In here ? well franklyt as you might expect for such a cheap price tag ? is a fair amount of stuff you?ve never even heard of. But one that sticks out for me is the much overlooked Comedy duo ? Priorite a gauche. Fun pretend-French satire. Tommy Cooper. And lots of kids? stuff ? good material to download and take on holiday for rainy days when you can?t let them run around outside.

This wraps up my review for this week. Next week, we move on to comparing the other main players in the UK film download market. Until then, turn on, tune in, press download?.and good night!

• MyFlavia UK
  Office Coffee Machine

Movie Download Sites Part One

Downloads are the way forward, especially movie downloads. If you?ve nothing to do for the night, get a movie. If you can?t be bothered to leave the sofa, download. If you feel like you?re unwilling to part with cash for something so ephemeral, remember that nowadays you can OWN downloads.

Until recently, I was a movie-through-the-post DVD subscriber. It was brilliant ? you could browse and add titles at will, collect pools of favourite directors and actors and wade through them methodically. I did it with Godard, Bergman, and Haneke. I?ve been doing it with Bale, Crowe and Grant.

Until recently, it hadn?t grated that the rental service were also offering downloads ? it seemed silly to pay for downloads when I was getting 3 movies at once through the post as often as I could watch them for only £15 a month. But then it occurred to me that my £15 was a waste. I was throwing money at the rental firm, and they were reaping the rewards.

Sometimes the discs came through scratched. Sometimes I forgot to send them back for a few days, maybe even a week or two. Sometimes I wanted to lend them to a friend. A growing sensation emerged that I was being robbed.

Then I discovered the concept of the movie download. Fast, efficient, unscratchable, and best of all, permanently yours. So I went looking for download sites. There are plenty around ? but before you mention Torrent and PirateBay, I should say that I like to watch my movies in QUALITY, and I don?t believe in piracy, it just means the smaller films don?t get so much money coming in, and they?re the ones a movie junkie like me hates to lose.

First on the list is Vizumi. For me, this is the best movie download site. Its best attribute is it?s easy to navigate. Its second is that it has all the movies you could ever want. Its third best is that it has bargains too ? there?s a 99p bargain bucket bin, as well as one for £2.99 ? and before you turn your nose up and snootily dismiss it, the list may have clangers, but it also contains classics like Lars von Trier?s Dogville, the Coward/Lean essential In Which We Serve, and modern but fascinating pieces like James Longley?s Iraq in Fragments.

Vizumi is also king of the big hitters. I prefer watching big films in the cinema, probably like most people, but I?ve so little time, and often I miss blockbusters simply because I?m too knackered to get it together to go on a weeknight and I don?t want to sit in an auditorium full of noisy kids at the weekend.

So for me the Harry Potter film download, or the Bourne Film download, or the Batman film download are vital but easy companions with none of the stress of going out and being forced to listen to someone?s else?s popcorn mastication and heavy petting. Vizumi has a few other aces up its sleeve ? there?s a Rambo download, a No Country for Old Men download (yes, I still haven?t seen the bit where he kills him in the jail), and the one I?m really dying to see, the Assassination of Jesse James download, on the list tonight? More in part 2 on other movie download sites.

Check out other great movie download opportunities and bargains at Vizumi. For the Harry Potter Film download, all the way back to the Lethal Weapon download, or a range of other great movies, visit the Vizumi website today!

Comcast 'Fancast' Movie Downloads

Comcast has added a movie download store to its Fancast online video site. Up until now, Fancast featured free streaming movies from sites like Hulu and CBS video. Now you can pay to rent or purchase the same TV shows and movies, plus a wider selection of new releases and older videos. In other words, the Fancast Store is a bit like Amazon Unbox.


What?s funny is that while Fancast started out as a movie streaming service and moved into downloads, it?s starting to look like Amazon might be moving in the other direction. What?s even funnier is that Comcast recently announced plans to limit the amount of bandwidth the company?s internet service customers can use each month.

If Comcast really wants you to spend $3.99 to $20 to download movies which can be several gigabytes large, the company might want to rethink that whole bandwidth cap thing.

Nokia Movie Downloads Service Rumours

Apparently not content with just being the biggest cell phone company in the world, Nokia is now reportedly working on a movie download service that would deliver fresh flicks directly to your multimedia phone.

The Nokia Music Store has already launched in a few select markets and it hasn?t exactly been met with a huge level of success, but the Finnish phonemaker is hoping that video will be the key to our hearts (and our wallets).

The Nokia Movie Store (yet to be named) will allow you to stream movies directly from their server onto your Nokia mobile phone. You pay a flat monthly fee and then the videos can be sent you in a stream of QVGA H.264 goodness. The audio would come by way of AAC stereo 96kbps. While it is perfectly possible to watch these videos on your phone, you may also be able to enjoy them on a bigger screen with the TV-out feature.

Interestingly, if you find that you are really enjoying the movie and want to buy a copy of your own, you can click on the purchase button in the middle of playing and the movie ?will then be dispatched overnight to your address on file from a Nokia-partnered DVD retailer.?

No, it?s not as tech forward as a set top box solution but it is a pretty cool way to integrate mobiles into Nokia?s offering.

• Post Office
  Buy cheap travel insurance from Post Office®; single trip and annual multi trip travel insurance offering you comprehensive cover with a range of additional options.