Briefly: iTunes rentals; $100 off Office 2008; BlackBerry iPhone

[AppleInsider]

Even more evidence has turned up to suggest Apple is prepping an iTunes movie rental service. Meanwhile, a one-day only rebate from Microsoft effectively offers $100 off the upcoming Mac Office 2008. And BlackBerry maker RIM is said to be preparing a touchscreen-based iPhone competitor.

More iTunes rental clues

More evidence of an iTunes movie rental service has been discovered, this time inside the iPhone's filesystem software -- suggesting any such offering from Apple would be compatible with the mobile version of iTunes Store included with both the iPhone and iPod touch.

iPhone user "pumpkin" extracts the following rental references from the iPhone software:
pumpkin:~ pumpkin$ strings /usr/local/share/iphone-filesystem/usr/libexec/lockdownd | grep -i rental
trigger_rental_bag_verification: Could not retrieve FairPlayID
trigger_rental_bag_verification: Could not initialize FairPlay context
trigger_rental_bag_verification: Could not verify the rental bag response: %d
load_rental_bag_request: Could not retrieve FairPlayID
load_rental_bag_request: Could not initialize FairPlay context
load_rental_bag_request: Could not generate rental bag request
load_rental_bag_request: Could not create mutable dictionary
load_rental_bag_request: Could not create CFData from request message
load_rental_bag_request: Could not create CFArray
load_rental_bag_request: Could not create CFNumber from indice
RentalBagResponse
RentalBagRequest
Apple was previously rumored to have been in advanced talks with Hollywood’s largest movie studios about launching an online film rental service to challenge cable and satellite TV operators.

Save $100 on Office 2008 this Friday only

Meanwhile, Microsoft just informed us that its Mac Business Unit is kicking off the holiday shopping season by offering the "Best Friday Deal" on its Office productivity suite.

If you purchase a qualifying copy of Mac Office 2004 this Friday -- and this Friday only -- you are eligible for a $100 rebate. However, you're also automatically qualified for the company's existing Super Suite deal, which offers a free copy of the upcoming Office 2008 for Mac Special Edition for the cost of shipping and handling when you purchase Mac Office 2004 between November 1, 2007 and January 14, 2008. So, essentially, you're saving $100 off the cost of Office 2008 and getting a free copy of Office 2004 in the interim.



To take advantage of both these offers, simply purchase Office 2004 for Mac Standard Edition, Office 2004 for Mac Standard Edition Upgrade, or Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher Edition from an authorized reseller like Amazon.com on Friday. (Your receipt must be dated Friday, November 23, 2007.) Then print and complete the Super Suite Deal Redemption Form [pdf] and the Best Friday Deal $100 Rebate Form [pdf].

Those readers interested in Office 2008 for Mac may want to check out AppleInsider's recent Road to Mac Office 2008 series, installments of which are listed below in the order they were published.

Road to Mac Office 2008: an introduction
Road to Mac Office 2008: installation and interface
Road to Mac Office 2008: Word '08 vs Pages 3.0
Road to Mac Office 2008: Excel '08 vs Numbers 1.0
Road to Mac Office 2008: PowerPoint '08 vs Keynote 4.0
Road to Mac Office 2008: Entourage '08 vs Mail 3.0 and iCal 3.0

Next BlackBerry to follow in iPhone's steps?

The next generation of Research in Motion's BlackBerry phones may more resemble the iPhone than any of its current products, one analyst claims.

Expounding on earlier rumors, Carmi Levy of AR Communications argues that future 9000-series phones will detach completely from RIM's business roots, which are represented by the signature SureType keyboard on every current BlackBerry. This allows the phones' users to type much faster than they do on many competing devices. But, says Levi, "The 9000 is supposed to be a touchscreen device, very similar in form factor to the iPhone. Which means that it is not an enterprise-friendly device."

Levi speculates that while RIM wanted to have a 9000-series phone out by the end of 2007, one should still ship in the first quarter of next year. The company itself will only confirm that four or five new phones will be out in 2008, and Levi suggests that among these may be updated 8000-series phones such as a Curve with WiFi, or others with GPS tracking and still-sharper camera technology.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[smee]

Sweet! iTunes rentals

[MiMiC]

Originally Posted by smee

Sweet! iTunes rentals

YES! I want rentals also!!

$100 off office?? $100 buys iWork. I like iWork '08 and will keep with that...

Rentals SOOOOOON please.

[11thIndian]

I hope so. Seeing as sales have been impossible to get off the ground here in Canada in the last couple of years, perhaps rentals will be a possibility. It would be a service I'd be much more inclined to use anyway- especially if they're available in HD.

Apple could definitely count on an AppleTV purchase from me if this was the case.

[Able-X]

i'd be happy if they'd make the iphone blackberry connect capable, now THAT would be awesomeness.

[Eduardo]

$100.00 off Office and I get a free upgrade (minus shipping)?

Hello Office for Mac '08.

[Berzerker]

Where do you get this rebate from? Amazon? Apple? Microsoft?

[filburt]

So I can buy Office 2004 Teacher & Student at Amazon for $124.99, get $100 mail-in-rebate and free upgrade to Office 2008 Media Edition for nominal S&H fee (around $7)?

[GregAlexander]

Originally Posted by 11thIndian

Apple could definitely count on an AppleTV purchase from me if this was the case.

Agreed. I suspect that Apple would announce new AppleTVs and Rentals simultaneously. But that may be VERY wishful thinking.

[addabox]

I'll be jazzed about rentals if and only if Apple ups the res/bit rate of their encodes. I don't want to pay Netflix prices for vastly inferior PQ, even with the convenience of downloads.

Optimistically, it would make sense to use the unveiling of a new rental service as the moment to also announce better quality.

Truly, I would be satisfied with DVD quality, although I know a lot of people want 720p at the very least.

My feeling is that the very limited uptake of high def DVD formats means Apple is competing with DVD rentals, and that that's the natural place to start. The ubiquity of iTunes plus the trade-off in file size and dl time that DVD represents vs. HD could make an iTunes movie rental business really take off, doing for online movie rentals what the iPod did for online music purchases.

That is, if Apple can get the major studios to stop being such utter douche-bags. My guess is that we would have seen rentals before now, but there is some heavy negotiating going on behind the scenes.

[crees!]

"The 9000 is supposed to be a touchscreen device, very similar in form factor to the iPhone. Which means that it is not an enterprise-friendly device."

So touch screen plus iPhone form factor equates to not being enterprise friendly?

[hybrid]

FYI, SureType is the designation for RIM's multiple-letters-per-key keypad that uses predictive text input. These keypads are found on the 7100 and 8100 (Pearl) series BlackBerry handhelds.

Even if the device includes a touch screen, i highly doubt RIM will abaondon the hardware keyboard that is at the core of its devices. The touch screen will likely be an alternate interface method for selecting and interacting with applications.

[GregAlexander]

Originally Posted by addabox

My feeling is that the very limited uptake of high def DVD formats means Apple is competing with DVD rentals, and that that's the natural place to start. The ubiquity of iTunes plus the trade-off in file size and dl time that DVD represents vs. HD could make an iTunes movie rental business really take off, doing for online movie rentals what the iPod did for online music purchases.

Although I agree that Apple is competing mainly with DVD for now (and the file size is smaller than 720p stuff!), AppleTVs only work with widescreen TVs, and probably has a disproportionate share of HD screens connected.

So while they compete with DVD, they could differentiate themselves significantly by offering 720p. Hell, the AppleTV could even tell the iTunes store what resolution the TV is set to (if connected via HDMI) and give an approximate broadband speed - in order to choose the best fit.

As long as we're not forced to download HD for everything.

[Corkurk]

Does anyone know if the Office 2008 offer will be a full install or just an upgrade disc? My parents have a G5 iMac, so I was thinking about buying and sending them Office 2004, then waiting a couple of months for the 2008 version to be sent to me to install on my MBP.

Would this work, or has Microsoft thought of a way to keep this offer workable on only one computer?

[GregAlexander]

Originally Posted by Corkurk

I was thinking about buying and sending them Office 2004, then waiting a couple of months for the 2008 version to be sent to me to install on my MBP.

I don't know if they'd protect against that.

But I'm wondering... $100 off the STUDENT version makes it $50. And it gives a free upgrade to the full version next year... Why not do that? (or am I missing something?)

(ps. Does Australia get these discounts?)

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by GregAlexander

Although I agree that Apple is competing mainly with DVD for now (and the file size is smaller than 720p stuff!), AppleTVs only work with widescreen TVs, and probably has a disproportionate share of HD screens connected.

So while they compete with DVD, they could differentiate themselves significantly by offering 720p. Hell, the AppleTV could even tell the iTunes store what resolution the TV is set to (if connected via HDMI) and give an approximate broadband speed - in order to choose the best fit.

As long as we're not forced to download HD for everything.

These may some of the logistical issues why the iTunes Stores have been delayed.
• Do you just offer movies as rentals or TV Shows too? How much do you charge for TV Shows if an episode is only $1.99?
• If it's 720p then no iPod can play them as they only support 640x480 (i.e.: 480p). I see 4 possible resolutions: Apple could up the capabilities of their portable devices but this would tax the CPU thereby limiting the playback time, you could have an option to purchase different qualities but this goes against the ease-of-use model, or your iTunes could downgrade for playback on iPods but this would take a long time.
• How do the studios feel about moving rentals around over multiple devices or would it be for only iTunes and AppleTV?
• Can Apple assure the studios that DRM and expiration data won't be purged from the media easily?

These are few question that come to mind. I would love for this to happen, and as a frequent traveler I'd love to see iTunes Store kiosks in airports where I purchase and rent audio and video easily, but i'm not holding my breath.

Note: You don't have to use an HDTV. Apple says that to help ensure that the monitor has HDMI or component inputs to make connecting to the AppleTV simpler.

[SpamSandwich]

Meh. Unless it's on-demand movie viewing I'm sticking with Netflix. No desire to bog down my Mac with gigantic movie files.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Meh. Unless it's on-demand movie viewing I'm sticking with Netflix. No desire to bog down my Mac with gigantic movie files.

iTunes Store video purchases are On Demand as you can watch them while it's Downloading. I don't see why rentals would be any different.

[11thIndian]

I think the issue of rental resolution will be an interesting one. Quite honestly, they only need to offer two options- SD or HD. Since the time of the rental is up in the air (1 day? 3 days?) I don't think it's unfair for Apple to assume you know how you're going to watch what you're renting. If you're going to be viewing on an iPod, download the SD version, and HD for AppleTV if you have an HD set. If someone wants to downconvert to HD from SD so that their kid can watch it during the same rental period on their iPod, so be it. I don't think there's a universal option once they start offering in content HD.

As far as circumventing the DRM, I think you'd be dealing with a small minority of renters who would work to get around the DRM, and these are the same people who could get the move off torrent sites if they really want to. Piracy is always going to be a problem, but it's an extreme minority share of the market (I think).

[GregAlexander]

Good points solipsism.

Originally Posted by solipsism

• Do you just offer movies as rentals or TV Shows too?

I'd hope they don't differentiate... but that'll come down to individual negotiations with every studio right?

• If it's 720p then no iPod can play them as they only support 640x480 (i.e.: 480p). Three resolutions: Apple could up the capabilities but this would tax the CPU thereby limiting the playback time, You could have an option to purchase different qualities but this goes against the simple solution model, or your iTunes could downgrade for playback on iPods but this would take a long time.

There are a few options for keeping simple... but it is a difficult issue. Basically, unless you have an AppleTV (or Mac) connected to a HDTV, they can presume iPod resolutions.

But what about people with HDTV and iPods? I'd go for download the HD version and WHILE downloading convert it to an iPod resolution. On that note - there was a rumour about 3 months ago, where someone said they'd gone to an Apple media presentation and the presenter had said that the new Apple Pro codec (whatever it's called) was going to be used in new devices. This codec has FAR too large files for that to be true... however... in that Pro codec Apple has designed a way to have a single HD file from which lower res could be simply extracted. That feature would be perfect for this IF Apple could apply it to h264 files.

• How do the studios feel about moving rentals around over multiple devices or it just for iTunes and AppleTV?
• Can Apple assure that DRM and expiration data won't be purged from the media easily?

It'll be interesting to see what they do. They could certainly sync with iPod/iPhone/AppleTV with a time limit.

The challenge SHOULD be to make it very simple for people to get the shows, yet difficult enough for people to remove DRM that they don't bother.

I mean, there are 3 scenarios for the studios:
1) People rent a show online, no pirating
2) People rent a show online, and pirate it
3) People download a pirate of a show (as they do now)

I think that most people likely to do #2, are already doing #3.
If they get moved to #2, at least the studio is making some money from them.

I'd love to see iTunes Store kiosks in airports where I purchase and rent audio and video easily, but i'm not holding my breath.

Yes that would be interesting. Even if you could browse online at home and create a "favorites list", which you can then download from airports or starbucks, etc.

[SDW2001]

Originally Posted by filburt

So I can buy Office 2004 Teacher & Student at Amazon for $124.99, get $100 mail-in-rebate and free upgrade to Office 2008 Media Edition for nominal S&H fee (around $7)?

Yeah I saw that. I don't like Office 2008, but for $32.00? Hmmm.

[teckstud]

I'm laughing how all y'all are just dying to buy Microsoft software!

[pmoeser]

You DO NOT need MS for anything anymore!
..and why is it that MS can find a way to complicate all of their products..
buy the old one now (but only on a particular day) to get a discount
and you can then buy a special edition of a product we may release in January as opposed to the standard edition...
Just download NeoOffice
I'm sure someone will point out Exchange server blah blah etc etc
Change jobs!

[Galley]

It's very possible that current generation iPods could support 720p content. All they need is a firmware update.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by pmoeser

You DO NOT need MS for anything anymore!
..and why is it that MS can find a way to complicate all of their products..
buy the old one now (but only on a particular day) to get a discount
and you can then buy a special edition of a product we may release in January as opposed to the standard edition...
Just download NeoOffice
I'm sure someone will point out Exchange server blah blah etc etc
Change jobs!

You were making adecent argument against MS' foolish complexities, but thinking people should change jobs because of Exchange server is foolish at best.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Galley

It's very possible that current generation iPods could support 720p content. All they need is a firmware update.

They could support 1080p via a software update too. But anything more than the screen's native resolution requires extra work for the processor. Since video is already the weakest link in regards to battery life severely cutting it down even more is not a very good plan.

[GregAlexander]

Originally Posted by solipsism

video is already the weakest link in regards to battery life severely cutting it down even more is not a very good plan.

I agree, better avoiding high res on iPods unless there's a decent advantage.

Even processing 480 lines instead of 240 significantly reduces the battery life on 5G ipods (not sure about the classics). With files 4 times bigger, the iPod has to spin up the hard disk 4 times as often to read them. Displaying on TV provides all those lines of course, but watching on iPod does not.

[Eduardo]

Originally Posted by filburt

So I can buy Office 2004 Teacher & Student at Amazon for $124.99, get $100 mail-in-rebate and free upgrade to Office 2008 Media Edition for nominal S&H fee (around $7)?

That about sums it up.

[Eduardo]

Originally Posted by teckstud

I'm laughing how all y'all are just dying to buy Microsoft software!

Get over your smugness.

[Eduardo]

Originally Posted by Corkurk

Does anyone know if the Office 2008 offer will be a full install or just an upgrade disc? My parents have a G5 iMac, so I was thinking about buying and sending them Office 2004, then waiting a couple of months for the 2008 version to be sent to me to install on my MBP.

Would this work, or has Microsoft thought of a way to keep this offer workable on only one computer?

If you follow the links to the article you will see you have two options: one for a one-computer Office license and the other for a five-computer Office license. Download the .pdf rebate coupon for the specifics.

[doemel]

Originally Posted by Eduardo

Get over your smugness.

Repeat after me: We don't need Microsoft Office. We only think we need it in fear of losing compatibility. In 2007 we have enough alternatives. Sure, the die hard MS Office users are going to miss one or two features but hey, we're an intelligent species, you know, adaptable and stuff. Right?

[Unicron]

Originally Posted by Corkurk

Does anyone know if the Office 2008 offer will be a full install or just an upgrade disc? My parents have a G5 iMac, so I was thinking about buying and sending them Office 2004, then waiting a couple of months for the 2008 version to be sent to me to install on my MBP.

Would this work, or has Microsoft thought of a way to keep this offer workable on only one computer?

You are violating the terms of your license. Upgrades are just that... new versions of your current licensed softwarte. It doesn't make your previous version a sudden freebie for you to give away or sell. Similar to ripping all your CDs to MP3 and then selling your CDs. You need to keep the original full license copy of Office in order to use buy/use/install the 08 upgrade.

[pmoeser]

Originally Posted by solipsism

You were making adecent argument against MS' foolish complexities, but thinking people should change jobs because of Exchange server is foolish at best.

Me thinks thou dost takest my resignation encouragement a little too seriously...

Get an iLife, or rather an iWork

[Ste]

So, has it definitely been confirmed that online purchases, such as from Amazon -- made on 11/23, but not received until a week later -- still qualify for this offer?

Microsoft's language on the PDF makes me nervous. Although they do not discount online purchases directly, the wording seems to assume a brick-and-mortar purchase.

Has anyone called the 800 number and asked?

[pt123]

Originally Posted by pmoeser

You DO NOT need MS for anything anymore!
..and why is it that MS can find a way to complicate all of their products..
buy the old one now (but only on a particular day) to get a discount
and you can then buy a special edition of a product we may release in January as opposed to the standard edition...
Just download NeoOffice
I'm sure someone will point out Exchange server blah blah etc etc
Change jobs!

Yeah, get a job at Starbucks and you don't even need a computer, Mac or PC. Woo hoo.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by solipsism

iTunes Store video purchases are On Demand as you can watch them while it's Downloading. I don't see why rentals would be any different.

By "on-demand" I meant streaming video.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by 11thIndian

I think the issue of rental resolution will be an interesting one. Quite honestly, they only need to offer two options- SD or HD. Since the time of the rental is up in the air (1 day? 3 days?) I don't think it's unfair for Apple to assume you know how you're going to watch what you're renting. If you're going to be viewing on an iPod, download the SD version, and HD for AppleTV if you have an HD set. If someone wants to downconvert to HD from SD so that their kid can watch it during the same rental period on their iPod, so be it. I don't think there's a universal option once they start offering in content HD.

As far as circumventing the DRM, I think you'd be dealing with a small minority of renters who would work to get around the DRM, and these are the same people who could get the move off torrent sites if they really want to. Piracy is always going to be a problem, but it's an extreme minority share of the market (I think).

Might not Apple want to encode content in their new ProRes HD format?

[jabohn]

Office rebate only available in the U.S.
That sucks!

[Corkurk]

Originally Posted by Eduardo

If you follow the links to the article you will see you have two options: one for a one-computer Office license and the other for a five-computer Office license. Download the .pdf rebate coupon for the specifics.

Thanks for the heads up - I hadn't checked out the pdf yet. Glad to see they're keeping the "3 installations for Student and Teachers Edition" offer around. I work in Higher Ed, so I can actually pick that version up legitimately.

[adjei7]

I can get a copy of mac office for students for about $99 at my student union. I fill in the rebate and get $100 back, and get a copy of office 2008 in january (will be getting the full 1 license one)... I basically get it for free. More than free, as they give me $1 for it. (not including the postage and handling $7)

Why not?

To be honest I wouldnt do it if i had to pay for it... well I may have payed for the $125 amazon one, which would have made it $25. Still cheap.

And you seriously cant compare neo office with mac office! Dont get me wrong, I use neo office and love it, but for all the faults of microsoft, i would still pay $25 for 2004, and 2008. (wouldnt pay more than that though) Come on, who wouldnt go for it?



(here comes the list of those who wouldnt...)