The Apple Showtime event is over and here are the highlights:
- 75 movies are available to download now from iTunes, at an initial cost of $12.99 for the first week and $14.99 after that. Preordered titles will be $12.99 and older movies will be $9.99.
- Future releases will be available the same day that DVDs are released.
- Dowloads will take about 30 minutes but can be watched during file transfer.
- Image resolution is 640 x 480.
- The movies will be available only in the US until 2007.
- DRM for movies is the same as it has been for iTunes TV shows.
- A wireless set top box for TV, tentatively called iTV, will launch in the first quarter of 2007. It will be half the size of a Mac Mini, it will include USB, ethernet, 802.11b/g, component video, optical audio and HDMI. It will be controlled by the Apple remote.
- iPod announcements included $4 games for the iPod, longer battery life and brighter screens and an 80GB model with prices starting at $249.
- The new Nanos will come in 5 new colors, have a 24 hour battery life and up to 8GB capacity.
- The Shuffle has been completely redesigned, now comes with an aluminum case and costs $79.
For more details check out CrunchGear’s live coverage of the event. Will Apple be able to add more movies to its iTunes store or will the studios continue to wrestle over the details? That’s one of the biggest questions that remains. The early history of video on demand is being formed as we speak.
Update: Michael Arrington’s photos from the event are here.