Report: iTunes 9 to support DVD ripping, Facebook

[AppleInsider]

A report filed by a tipster claiming access to iTunes 9 says that it is "possible" the next version of Apple's media player will sport both DVD import and playback as well as Facebook integration, allowing users to advertise songs and playlists with their friends.

The report and screenshots were published by the Boy Genius Report, which earlier in the month wrote that iTunes 9 is expected to allow organization of iPhone apps and iPod games and indicated some sort of social media integration was in the cards.

The latest report includes screen shots that depict a Facebook category in the iTunes Source list, allowing users to advertise new song titles and playlists in their Facebook profile. Also included is a screen shot of how advertised tracks would appear on Facebook.

BGR also presents a screen shot of iTunes 9 that suggests the capability to sync music, video, podcast, and photo content to third party device, a Samsung YH-J70xx MP3 player. Apple has previously only signaled a disinterest in supporting sync with third party devices, actively halting the Palm Pre's attempts to identify itself as an iPod.

More interesting are the depiction of buttons in the lower right that allow for DVD playback and import, suggesting that iTunes could do for DVDs what it got started doing for CDs. Were Apple to negotiate the right to rip DVDs, it would radically change the home movie industry in ways the industry has not demonstrated any interest in exploring. However, the addition of a "DVD Playback" button suggests that the screen shots are more likely to be fakes, as iTunes already has a playback button: "play."

The studios have worked hard to thwart any commercial attempts to enable users to rip their own DVDs, recently filing an injunction against RealNetwork's DVD Ripper software and even opposing a home theater installer from allowing users to rip their own DVDs for digital playback, despite the system not even producing an easy to distribute copy.

At Macworld Expo 2008, Apple announced having worked out a compromise with Twentieth Century Fox called Digital Copy for iTunes, which puts a mobile version of the movie on the DVD for use with iPods, the iPhone, Apple TV, and other media devices. Many new DVDs now include a Digital Copy of the movie, which doesn't require any media ripping steps (transcoding and compression); instead, it simply initiates an iTunes download using a code included with the DVD.

Ripping an entire DVD (which includes defeating its copy protection and transcoding) would require Apple to obtain a special exemption from the DVD Forum license, something that hasn't happened before. Similarly, the current DVD license also means that adding DVD playback to iTunes would require Apple to disable screen shots while the app was running, indicating that the screen shots of what appears to be iTunes playing a DVD would also need to be the product of a very relaxed DVD license or simply an outright fake.

Rumors also indicate Apple is gearing up to support Blu-ray playback, something that Apple has shown no interest in doing despite being an early member of the Blu-ray Disc Association and remaining one of its 19 board members. Blu-ray discs compete directly against Apple's preferred model of selling and promoting digital downloads.

While Blu-ray offers major advantages for high end users in terms of audio quality and video resolution, Apple primarily sells devices that don't really benefit from Blu-ray's higher resolution, prompting Apple to leave the new disc technology to HDTV makers like Sony and LG to push.

Apple is expected to release a new update to its iPod lineup in its September 9 event, which will likely also include an updated version of iTunes and possibly the long anticipated Apple TV 3.0 update adding support for HTTP Live Streaming, which has already shipped as part of iPhone 3.0 and will be part of the new QuickTime X in Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

[Mystigo]

Macrumors is suggesting that the screenshots on which the rumors are based are fakes.

[hmurchison]

I don't think anyone knows what's in iTunes 9. It seems like someone "heard" some proposed features and let their mind wander.

iTunes needs a lot of work. It's a mess for an app that is supposed to organize my media.

Facebook gains you buzz compliancy for jaded Tech Analysts but frankly the majority of people I want see want answers as to how to deal with centralized library and multiple libraries.

The BGR report is likely true though because it is depicts iTunes as a pretty underwhelming product in my eyes. Perhaps losing Tony Fadell wasn't such a great
idea because iTunes has seen such little growth IMO.

I think the best thing to happen has been music going DRM free. If Apple doesn't have a solution that I like by iTunes 10 I'm bouncing.

[ghostface147]

I am just wondering if OS 3.1 will show up then. It's been several weeks since a beta 3.

[tundraboy]

Syncing to the Samsung device, if it is true, is pretty intriguing. I predicted a couple of years ago that iTunes will be so dominant that other device manufacturers will be clamoring to play inside the iTunes walled garden. Is Samsung paying royalties to sync to iTunes? Is Apple allowing syncs for shuffle, nano and classic iPod competitors because those are sunset products for Apple and they are hoping to hook non-Apple DAP owners into iTunes and then later on upsell them to iPod Touch, iPhone and other future Apple products?

[Messiah]

I would LOVE to be able to rip my DVDs to my hard disk!!!

Yeah, I know I can do it right now with Handbrake etc. - but I would love to be able to do it through something as intuitive as iTunes.

I would be able to save so much space if I could bin the physical media and dump all the ripped files onto my Drobo.

[CU10]

Rename iTunes - it is no longer for music only.

DVD ripping? No way. Will not happen ever. Even CD ripping isn't legally clear-cut.

[cmf2]

If only this were true...

Importing DVD's and Blu-ray should be as simple as clicking an import button in iTunes. It would be great if Apple were to take a stand on video DRM like they did with audio. Since the government is in the RIAA/MPAA's back pocket, we can only hope that another large company chooses to look out for the consumer

The whole rent and rip arguement that I have heard so many times is stupid too. Rental DVD's do not have to be the same as retail DVD's. They could keep their encyrption and let the retail version be DRM free. Then Apple wouldn't have to break any (dumb) laws to import DVD's in iTunes as they wouldn't be cicumventing encryption.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by CU10

Rename iTunes - it is no longer for music only.

If it didn't happen at this stage, it may never happen. Names don't have to make sense really, you just need to know what the name is referring to and you're good. In the end it's all just marketing.

Importing DVD's would be genuinely huge news. If it was really Apple-easy to do I'd start doing it. In the end, even if it's true or not, not having the right to rip a DVD you already own, to your own computer for personal use is ridiculous when you think about it. Not being able to RIP your own DVD is a crime if you ask me.

[geofflee21]

The facebook thing looks awfully fake. It shows up as a note. Maybe it's just me, but don't you think it would be a little bit more than just that? I do believe they are gonna implement Facebook and what not, but whether that is proof I believe is highly debatable

[charlituna]

Originally Posted by Mystigo

Macrumors is suggesting that the screenshots on which the rumors are based are fakes.

not a shock.

after what has happened with Palm, I can't see them letting someone else legally sync.

the whole court thing over RealDVD (or whatever it's called) makes the ripping unlikely

as for what I think is likely.

being able to easily share playlists and mixes to facebook etc (which would then have links to the itunes store to encourage purchases) I can believe.

dumping DVD Player as a stand alone and having the DVD playback in Itunes I can believe

organizing apps I can believe.

Originally Posted by CU10

Rename iTunes - it is no longer for music only.

I am waiting for that also. 'Also given that iTunes is not longer just about music, we have renamed it iMedia.'

[Magic_Al]

I doubt Hollywood will ever allow DVD ripping. It would confuse their public stance that copying DVDs under the DMCA is always illegal. They feel entitled to make you buy the same movie multiple times to make up for piracy of other movies.

"Digital copy", including an iTunes-ready file on the DVD in addition to the regular DVD data, is not a great deal for video quality because you have two copies of the movie on the DVD which means the bitrates must be lower than if there was one. Unfortunately only videophiles and technical purists would whine about that, as proven by the market's indifference to "superbit" DVDs that eschew bonus features in favor of using the full disc capacity for the feature film at maximum quality.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by CU10

Rename iTunes - it is no longer for music only.

DVD ripping? No way. Will not happen ever. Even CD ripping isn't legally clear-cut.

That's not exactly true anymore. In April 2009 in the UK, for example, a new law was introduced to allow people to RIP CD's for personal use. Mark my words the same will be done for DVD's one of these days.

[geofflee21]

the only problem with that is that companies like blockbuster usually sell the rented movies. Plus, it has to be compatible with every DVD player currently on the market.

[charlituna]

Originally Posted by Magic_Al

"Digital copy", including an iTunes-ready file on the DVD in addition to the regular DVD data, is not a great deal for video quality because you have two copies of the movie on the DVD which means the bitrates must be lower than if there was one.

but that isn't what it is. Digital copy is done one of two ways
1. a second disk that has the device friendly version
2. a download code for itunes

the second is the more common

Originally Posted by Ireland

That's not exactly true anymore. In April 2009 in the UK, for example, a new law was introduced to allow people to RIP CD's for personal use.

that law has existed in the US for years. pretty much since things like ipods were first released. the way the law is written you are supposed to own the CD and if you trash it, sell it, give it away, you delete the digital copy (no one ever does). and no allowing others to just copy your digital copy. which of course many folks do.

Mark my words the same will be done for DVD's one of these days.

perhaps but not until the days that blu-ray is bigger than DVDs so who would want to pirate a DVD.

[LighteningKid]

Does anyone know where we can go to see these supposed screenshots?

[astrosmash]

Fake and stupid. Stop posting this crap.

[Jensonb]

Originally Posted by charlituna

I am waiting for that also. 'Also given that iTunes is not longer just about music, we have renamed it iMedia.'

Do you know why that's never going to happen? Because that's a dumb name. Almost every replacement name people come up with for iTunes is not as good as iTunes, and most are retarded (iHub is a popular one which is equally stupid). Even if you got a name as good as iTunes, it wouldn't be good enough, because iTunes already has brand recognition. Brand recognition is worth a lot - it cuts down on marketing.

[cmf2]

Originally Posted by geofflee21

the only problem with that is that companies like blockbuster usually sell the rented movies. Plus, it has to be compatible with every DVD player currently on the market.

I'm assuming you were reffering to my comment about removing DRM from retail DVD's and Blu-ray disks, while potentially leaving it for rental versions of the disk. DVD players can play DVD's with or without encyrption, so compatibility wouldn't be a problem. Simplest example would be current dvd's with enycryption (which would become rental only) and home DVD burned with iDVD or something similar (which don't encrypt your disk). Both will play just fine in any modern DVD player.

I don't see a big problem with reselling rental DVD's either as long as it was very clear that they they had DRM and you would have trouble importing them through traditional means. My major concern is that you shouldn't be restricted on how you watch a movie that you purchased for full value. Obviously no DRM at all would be better.

[alexfischer]

I hope iTunes 9 is 64-bit. At least for SL.

I also agree that all this information seems false.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Ireland

In the end, even if it's true or not, not having the right to rip a DVD you already own, to your own computer for personal use is ridiculous when you think about it. Not being able to RIP your own DVD is a crime if you ask me.

A crime? Pffft.
At least you can play a DVD in any other DVD player whereas not so with music purchased at iTunes.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by astrosmash

Fake and stupid. Stop posting this crap.

Really- I totally agree- just stirs up a bunch of Pollyanna fantasies and what-ifs.

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

Not only is this irresponsible reporting--far too many *major* problems with those 'screenshots' have already been discovered, not to mention obvious issues with things like DVD ripping--the title is also misleading. Very disappointing content, AppleInsider.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by charlituna

perhaps but not until the days that blu-ray is bigger than DVDs so who would want to pirate a DVD.

The movie studios yield a lot more weight than the music industry. It will never happen.

[Logisticaldron]

Originally Posted by Magic_Al

I doubt Hollywood will ever allow DVD ripping. It would confuse their public stance that copying DVDs under the DMCA is always illegal. They feel entitled to make you buy the same movie multiple times to make up for piracy of other movies.

"Digital copy", including an iTunes-ready file on the DVD in addition to the regular DVD data, is not a great deal for video quality because you have two copies of the movie on the DVD which means the bitrates must be lower than if there was one. Unfortunately only videophiles and technical purists would whine about that, as proven by the market's indifference to "superbit" DVDs that eschew bonus features in favor of using the full disc capacity for the feature film at maximum quality.

Yeah, the only way I can see this happening in iTunes is if it encodes the file for use on iPhones/iPods and if the conversion and removal of the DVD CSS also requires an iTunes account because it applies FairPlay to the file so it can't be freely distributed and played.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by teckstud

A crime? Pffft.
At least you can play a DVD in any other DVD player whereas not so with music purchased at iTunes.

What's DRM?

[nicuk]

Firstly i do not work for Apple, i recieved this copy of iTunes 9 from a source i cannot and will not name.

The version of iTunes the screenshots regard are from an internal build of beta software used by Apple developers. It is not the final version and therefore some of the featurews I am going to describe could or have changed since I began using this copy.

The version I have installed is running on the upcoming Snow Leopard. I do not know if the version is 32 or 64 bit.

I live in the UK therefore some features may differ just like they currently do in the present version of iTunes with features such as 'Ringtones' being avilable to US but not UK customers.

Initially I was unable to use the iTunes store when i began using the version of iTunes some weeks ago. The version number states: 9.0b15 (12).

First if all, when connecting a third party device to my mac it did not open iTunes automatically. Upon opening iTunes it was diaplyed in the devices menu. I was unable to sync certain content such as apps, games and contacts but perhaps more importantly 'old' DRM protected songs and some video files.

When inserting a DVD both iTunes and iDVD opened. Upon closing iDVD the DVD I had inserted 'The Simpsons Movie' was displayed in the devices section. The main play button at the top was only clickable when a certain clip was selected. The entire contents of the DVD was shown and not just the main movie or individual chapters. This included dvd extras and thise small videos you get at the start of films theat advertise trailers or show the studiops logo who mad ethe film. Using the 'Preview Selected' button I was able to preview a selected clip of the DVD before choosing which parts to import by clicking the 'Import DVD' button.

Automatically iTunes selected the longest file (the actual) film and so i imported the movie. No options were diaplyed for what type of import I wanted. However the main film did imprt into my libary around 900MB in size. During playback I could voiew and skip chapters as well as select what audio I wanted to hear such as stereo, mono, comintary etc.

At the present time there is no laws in the UK which prevent UK residents to import DVDs for their own use and pleasure. This may be (should Aple keep it) a UK only feature. The DVD i used is a UK copy of 'The Simpsons Movie' and therefore differs in content from that of other countires coppies.

I was also able to share songs and playlists to my Facebook profile. Entire playlists were diaplyed as notes in the 'Notes' section of Facebook then diaplyed on my 'Wall' as something I had recently added. SHaring individual songs simply came up as a link on my 'Wall'. This sharing feature can be turned off and playlists/songs are only shared when I manually wished them to be.

There were no changes as of yet to the layout or how how I viewed my iPhone apps.

I was able to use the store as normal for a few days but recently I again have been unable to use the store. The playlists and songs i shared to Facebook have also been removed.

I am unlikely to recive another copy of a beta iTunes 9. I bleive the copy I have is several weeks if not months old.

I have experienced many good improvements and features to iTunes 9 but as expected experiences random crashing and errors.

Thanks, thats all I know and can say... so far.

Nicuk

[RichL]

If iTunes 9 has the ability to import DVDs (decent quality for Apple TV playback), I will die a very happy man.

If true, this is the best news since Apple implemented gapless playback.

[Logisticaldron]

Originally Posted by nicuk

The version I have installed is running on the upcoming Snow Leopard. I do not know if the version is 32 or 64 bit.

SYSTEM PROFILER and ACTIVITY MONITOR will both tell you if it's 64-bit.


PS: It's odd that iDVD opened up and not DVD Player.

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by charlituna

but that isn't what it is. Digital copy is done one of two ways
1. a second disk that has the device friendly version
2. a download code for itunes

the second is the more common. ...

And both of them suck.

I've bought a few discs with digital copies now and almost all are just stupid marketing ploys that force you to go to the website of the media company that's ripping you off for the disc in the first place.

<sarcasm> Sure, I *love* to pay 40 or 50 bucks for something that's only worth ten and then be forced to watch advertisements before I watch the movie and then be forced to go to a website to view more advertisements and promotions before I get my digital copy. </sarcasm>

Even one of the ones I bought that had a second disk with the digital copy on it also required me to go to some stupid website to "authorise." The one movie I bought that had a plain old digital copy on the disc with no fussing around gave me a file that had no better quality than the average torrent download, but was at least twice the size of the average torrent download, and it wasn't even HD. It also stuttered when it played.

I think the so-called digital copy thing is just a marketing game the studios are playing with us. It's pretty obvious that they haven't actually thought much about what the end user actually wants.

What most people want in a digital copy is just to be able to buy a good quality movie at a reasonable price and to be able to own it free of DRM. What most people want in terms of a physical disc is the ability to move the movie off the disc onto their computer for archiving and their portable devices or TVs for watching, also without DRM.

[Eriamjh]

Ripping DVDs in iTunes is a great feature. It means no more 3rd party apps and kludging to do what one should have been able to do from day one.

Will it allow ripping to Apple TV? Probably not.

Will it rip all DVDs? Probably not. Probably only so-called "digital copy" disks that don't actually have a digital copy. No more downloading.

I'd rather see a blue-ray drive and an HDMI output port on new Macs, but this is an iTunes thread, not a Mac thread.

[floccus]

Just what we need, something else to clutter up and further degrade facebook. I really don't care what my friends are listening to, and if I did I could simply ask them. Facebook was so much better before the era of constant status updates and all those damn quizzes and apps.

As for these iTunes 9 features, DVD ripping will not be allowed, playback is possible (although I don't see why you'd want to use iTunes to do so). Support for other MP3 players is a v. small possibility. You can tell by how crappy the main tab for that Samsung player is that iTunes doesn't support native sync. I could however see Apple capitulating a bit and licensing the ability to sync to Palm and others, b/c then it just gives Apple one more thing to make fun of Palm for (Palm is so lame that they have to use OUR music management software!) Blu-ray support is pointless if no Macs have factory installed Blu-ray drives, although supporting burning Blu-ray discs could be a first step.

[anonymouse]

Originally Posted by Jensonb

Do you know why that's never going to happen? Because that's a dumb name. Almost every replacement name people come up with for iTunes is not as good as iTunes, and most are retarded (iHub is a popular one which is equally stupid). Even if you got a name as good as iTunes, it wouldn't be good enough, because iTunes already has brand recognition. Brand recognition is worth a lot - it cuts down on marketing.

Besides, in a few years, the meaning of "tunes" will change to include all the things people keep in iTunes. So, just give the language time to catch up and it will all make sense again.

And, iMedia already doesn't make sense -- Apps aren't really media -- so the only thing left is iStuff, which is probably overly inclusive.

[Logisticaldron]

Originally Posted by anonymouse

Besides, in a few years, the meaning of "tunes" will change to include all the things people keep in iTunes. So, just give the language time to catch up and it will all make sense again.

And, iMedia already doesn't make sense -- Apps aren't really media -- so the only thing left is iStuff, which is probably overly inclusive.

Coke no longer contains cocaine but we aren't rallying to change it's name. Diet, caffiene-free Pepsi has no sugar or caffiene to give you pep but you don't cry for that to be under a new name. It's silly to think that the name requires a change. The only reason to change the name of a product or company is if it fails and needs to be repackaged. Some examples are Play4Sure, Vista, .Mac.

[wobegon]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Apple is expected to release a new update to its iPod lineup in its September 9 event, which will likely also include an updated version of iTunes and possibly the long anticipated Apple TV 3.0 update adding support for HTTP Live Streaming, which has already shipped as part of iPhone 3.0 and will be part of the new QuickTime X in Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

That is what I'm most interested in: Apple TV announcements.

I certainly look forward to seeing what changes have been made to iTunes (namely the store itself; feels like it's in need of a facelift/speed up and the commenting system, especially for apps, is archaic) and iPods, but that's just it, those are all but guaranteed to receive attention.

The Apple TV could use another revamp.

- I want that wiimote-like pointer remote detailed in one of their patents for intuitive point-and-click menu browsing, web browsing, and perhaps manipulation of...third party Apple TV apps and games.

- HTTP Live Streaming would be great for watching live (probably ad-supported) content of ANY kind, be it cable news, sports, or live video podcasts.

- Hulu and/or Netflix InstantWatch integration would not only be big draws but they could also drive down movie and TV show pricing on iTunes.

- Top it all off with playback of external, USB-tethered or Wi-Fi accessible DVD drives so users could watch their DVD collections through the Apple TV's slick, intuitive interface.

[Chris_CA]

Originally Posted by cmf2

If only this were true...

Importing DVD's and Blu-ray should be as simple as clicking an import button in iTunes. It would be great if Apple were to take a stand on video DRM like they did with audio. Since the government is in the RIAA/MPAA's back pocket, we can only hope that another large company chooses to look out for the consumer

Since audio CDs did not (and still don't) have DRM, it is a different animal.

[blue2kdave]

There is always the possibility that iTunes could rip DVDs and still keep the DRM. Everyone is assuming that the ripping would leave a DRM free file, but there's no reason Apple couldn't keep either the original copy protection or add in a Fairplay key. Its not like videos are DRM free right now.

Also, I think iTunes should be renamed Jukebox.

[webraider]

Originally Posted by Logisticaldron

Yeah, the only way I can see this happening in iTunes is if it encodes the file for use on iPhones/iPods and if the conversion and removal of the DVD CSS also requires an iTunes account because it applies FairPlay to the file so it can't be freely distributed and played.

In other words.. ripping a DVD in iTunes creates an iTunes Protected mp4 file! I'm thinking that ripping will occur for normal DVD's, and ripping for BluRay will be supported when BluRay ships those Discs that will support "1 legal copy". Who knows.. maybe BluRay Ripping will occur with the Protected MP4 file. This really isn't hard for apple to negotiate as they already sell hollywood movies that way.

[Dueces]

Originally Posted by Messiah

I would LOVE to be able to rip my DVDs to my hard disk!!!

Yeah, I know I can do it right now with Handbrake etc. - but I would love to be able to do it through something as intuitive as iTunes.

I would be able to save so much space if I could bin the physical media and dump all the ripped files onto my Drobo.

There is actually something much more intuitive than itunes that does this. Its called CloneDVD/AnyDVD. Yea you have to do it in Windows, but its head and shoulders above anything else out there.

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by webraider

In other words.. ripping a DVD in iTunes creates an iTunes Protected mp4 file! I'm thinking that ripping will occur for normal DVD's, and ripping for BluRay will be supported when BluRay ships those Discs that will support "1 legal copy". Who knows.. maybe BluRay Ripping will occur with the Protected MP4 file. This really isn't hard for apple to negotiate as they already sell hollywood movies that way.

About time y'all caught up.

"Apple can't support ripping commercial DVDs due to the DRM (although maybe they could make a deal with the studios to allow ripping if they then wrapped the resulting file in FairPlay)."

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showp...5&postcount=78