Apple posts iTunes 7.6.1, promises weekly 99-cent rentals

[AppleInsider]

Apple on Thursday released a minor update to iTunes and also vowed to offer Apple TV and iTunes users the treat of a low-cost movie rental each week.

Available only through Apple's automatic update feature as of press time, iTunes 7.6.1 addresses several unnamed bugs with the music software.

The fix also improves compatibility between iTunes and a networked Apple TV running the version 2.0 upgrade, Apple says.

Separately, Apple has also begun informing subscribers to its e-mail newsletters that it will offer a selected movie title each week at a 99-cent price, or a third of the price of a back catalog, standard-definition title. The first title is The Hours.

The movie's special pricing takes effect each Thursday and lasts until the following Monday, giving customers the opportunity to finish downloading and playing the movie before the weekend ends.

Apple has regularly offered discounts on music with its free weekly tracks, but until now has not supplied a regular discount on videos.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

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[SpamSandwich]

Oh, dear. These are desperation moves. Not good times ahead for Apple (short to mid term anyway).

Once customers get used to discount pricing, it's impossible to go back.

[minderbinder]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Oh, dear. These are desperation moves. Not good times ahead for Apple (short to mid term anyway).

Once customers get used to discount pricing, it's impossible to go back.

Sorry, I don't agree, especially when they're only discounting ONE movie a week. Seems like a really good idea to get people to take the plunge and try the service out.

Apple has had free and discounted music tracks for years, doesn't seem to hurt the business any.

[btitusjr]

Originally Posted by minderbinder

Sorry, I don't agree, especially when they're only discounting ONE movie a week. Seems like a really good idea to get people to take the plunge and try the service out.

Apple has had free and discounted music tracks for years, doesn't seem to hurt the business any.

I agree. This is a great idea. A great way to get poeple to try it out and see how easy it is to rent a movie.

[nothowie]

Good idea to have 99 cent specials...you'd think the owners of old movies would cooperate and reduce prices on some of their old titles that otherwise wouldn't command much attention.

As for not being able to go back, nonsense, itunes regularly offers a free song of the week or a free video or tv show, sometimes great sometimes not so great, but it hasn't stopped them from sell 4 billion songs.

[razorpit]

I hoope one of the "bug fixes" will finally allow me to sync iCal to my 3G Nano.

[pstone83]

This is exactly how I became addicted to itunes. You have to have an account to be able to get the free songs and once you get past that initial barrier it is so easy to continue purchasing media through itunes.

*oh, and you have to keep your account paid off to get the free/discounted media (obvious I know but found this out by accident one time)

[Ireland]

The movie's special pricing takes effect each Thursday and lasts until the following Monday, giving customers the opportunity to finish downloading and playing the movie before the weekend ends.

They would only have to download it before Monday, they could start watching it weeks later if they wished.

[mdotdubz]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Oh, dear. These are desperation moves. Not good times ahead for Apple (short to mid term anyway).

Once customers get used to discount pricing, it's impossible to go back.

Dude, whatever crack you have been smokin, you need to gimme you supplies # quick! ...it must be some gooooooood shit!

[theapplegenius]

I wonder if they'll fix the issue so I can connect my iPod touch without seeing the thing asking about applications so i can't access my iPod.

Absolute bullshit.

[walshbj]

Doesn't look desperate to me. It's a great idea. What a great traffic driver, pulling people in just to see what the movie is each week. Very smart.

As long as I'm here: I don't think Apple is in a desperate situation in any way, shape, or form. I expect the stock to be back to the $200 neighborhood by Christmas.

I've been buying since it hit $30, all the way up to $170. I have various lots, my biggest purchased at $60. And there's one thing that makes me think the stock has legs: People are switching to Mac at a phenomenal rate. People who I never could have imagined asking me about a Mac are switching. The rate is going to increase exponentially as the world realizes all their photos and Word docs work on a Mac.

Every switcher is another iLife buyer down the road. Another OS X buyer. Another Applecare...

[backtomac]

Originally Posted by theapplegenius

I wonder if they'll fix the issue so I can connect my iPod touch without seeing the thing asking about applications so i can't access my iPod.

Absolute bullshit.

I've that problem with my daughter's touch and its very annoying.

[westonalan]

I've been without sound for music videos until just now, glad that's finally fixed!

it's still a bit jerky tho, scrolling up and down freezes up. resizing it results in some freezing issues, at least on a PC.

just installed it on 2 pc's and 1 macbook. It took a lot less time to install on the Mac.

[amac4me]

I like the idea of 99 cent movies as it's a great compliment to the free song downloads. At a minimum, it will get people to log on every week to see what the 99 cent movie is.

Nice move Apple.

[t.o.m]

It'll be even better when the movie rentals don't hang my iTunes so I can actually watch them.

[Booga]

More importantly, though, iTMS has put up the fabulous Renaldo Lapuz singing "Best Friends Forever" to Simon Cowell... for FREE! If that doesn't draw in the viewers I don't know what will.

[krankerz]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Separately, Apple has also begun informing subscribers to its e-mail newsletters that it will offer a selected movie title each week at a 99-cent price, or a third of the price of a back catalog, standard-definition title. The first title is The Hours.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[ Digg this story ]

Actually the first title was last week, Breakfast at Tiffany's.

[mdotdubz]

Originally Posted by krankerz

Actually the first title was last week, Breakfast at Tiffany's.

So im guessing its just gonna be older titles (however the one for this week is from 2002), not brande new ones?

99 cents is still a great deal!

edit: how will we keep track of which movies are 99 cents? iTunes doesn't seem to advertise it too well..

[Catman4d2]

they should all be 99 cents! after all its a non physical rental...

thats my 0.2 cents

[ratay1]

i'm one of what appear to be MANY itunes users that have seen the app debilitated by the move to 7.6...

none of my music files actually play anymore and you can't plug an ipod in for an update, b/c the whole thing crashes. ...and let me restate, the AAPL support discussion threads are littered with hundreds of folks experiencing the same thing. and those are the folks willing to take the time to publish their experience...

looks like it was related to movie rentals and itunes needing to repeatedly catalog your video library. the fix AAPL suggested was to set up separate libraries...one for audio and one for video. don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like an elegant solution & not one many folks will put up with for long... hopefully this update obviates the need for such a workaround.

[ckelly]

Originally Posted by krankerz

Actually the first title was last week, Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Still too expensive for George Kastanza!

[ecking]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Oh, dear. These are desperation moves. Not good times ahead for Apple (short to mid term anyway).

Once customers get used to discount pricing, it's impossible to go back.

I disagree this is a great way to get people that otherwise would not have rented to try it out, same way people have tested the quality of music by checking out a the weekly free track.

[freakboy]

99 cents for a movie rental is a fair price. I might actually use it at that price. What ludicrious price do they charge normally?

[shamino]

Hopefully, one of the unnamed bugs is the one that makes iTunes hang between tracks during CD playback when error-correction is turned on. I reported this one to Apple a few months ago.

I'll have to run some tests when I get home tonight, and find out.

[minderbinder]

Originally Posted by Catman4d2

they should all be 99 cents! after all its a non physical rental...

thats my 0.2 cents

Except that the studios probably want more than that in a royalty per rent.

Originally Posted by freakboy

99 cents for a movie rental is a fair price. I might actually use it at that price. What ludicrious price do they charge normally?

The same price as every other download and pay-per-view service. Until the studios drop *their* fee, nobody will be charging less for a download.

[JeffDM]

I can't say I expect much from it. It's probably a good idea, but I expect it would only be used for movies that I won't even want to sit through. Most of the iTunes music freebies tended to be like that too, I couldn't stand to finish them, never mind get me interested in buying the album, to the point that I quit grabbing them. It's hardly a good way to promote new artists.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by minderbinder

Sorry, I don't agree, especially when they're only discounting ONE movie a week. Seems like a really good idea to get people to take the plunge and try the service out.

Apple has had free and discounted music tracks for years, doesn't seem to hurt the business any.

It appears the traders aren't listening to your positive assertions. AAPL is down big this morning... ouch.

[success]

Originally Posted by krankerz

Actually the first title was last week, Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Originally Posted by ckelly

Still too expensive for George Kastanza!

lol He ate their popcorn too.

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

It appears the traders aren't listening to your positive assertions. AAPL is down big this morning... ouch.

I'm waiting for APPL @ $99 to match its iTunes .99 cent numerical face value It will happen, you watch.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

It appears the traders aren't listening to your positive assertions. AAPL is down big this morning... ouch.

Most sectors are down today, so I wouldn't read that much into it.

http://finance.google.com/finance (lower right corner, Sector Summary)

But it looks like Apple's been hit a little harder than most.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

Most sectors are down today, so I wouldn't read that much into it.

http://finance.google.com/finance (lower right corner, Sector Summary)

But it looks like Apple's been hit a little harder than most.

It's odd. AAPL has been getting severely punished over... what? I just don't know.

Other than this report from yesterday...

Apple Cuts Flash Chip Order Forecast, ISuppli Says (Update3)
By Tim Culpan

Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc., the world's largest buyer of flash memory chips, slashed its projected orders for the semiconductor this year, which may lead some suppliers to post losses this quarter, research firm iSuppli Corp. said.

Global sales of so-called NAND flash chips will rise ``marginally'' this year, instead of the 27 percent increase forecast earlier, the El Segundo, California-based researcher said in a statement yesterday. NAND chips store data in devices such as Apple's iPod media players and iPhones.

``Apple has slashed its 2008 NAND order forecast significantly and has informed suppliers that its demand growth will slow in 2008,'' iSuppli said in the statement, without elaborating on specific figures. ``In light of these factors, NAND suppliers are likely to go into the red in the first quarter, and are not likely to recover in the second.''

Jill Tan, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Apple, declined to comment on the report today. Apple, down 39 percent this year, fell $2.28 to $121.54 at 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.

Sales of the chips grew 12.5 percent last year to $13.9 billion as consumers bought more music players, digital cameras and advanced mobile phones, which require larger storage capacity, iSuppli said. Apple bought 13 percent of the world's NAND flash memory in 2007, according to the statement.

Samsung Electronics Co., based in Suwon, South Korea, maintained its lead as the world's largest maker of the chips with 40 percent share in the fourth quarter, the researcher said. Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp. was second with 27 percent, followed by Ichon, Korea-based Hynix Semiconductor Inc.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 21, 2008 16:30 EST

[Shogun]

Another very positive thing about $.99 rentals is that it causes you to make a mental note:

"NOTE TO SELF -- Must check iTunes every week to get the cheap rental!"

That's a great plus for Apple... to have you constantly thinking about them and their product... That's huge.

And what happens if you don't like the rental for the week? "Well, I've already gotten two at $.99 so why not go for a $2.99 this week. I'm still ahead..."

And that's how this business goes interstellar in the span of about 3 months.

[Shogun]

AAPL is down because no one senses the stock to be on its way up. You tell me -- do you have a deep gut feeling that 140 is right around the corner? If not, and if you got in around 70 or 80 or 110, why not sell and make some cash? Then when you think it's turning buy some more.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by Shogun

AAPL is down because no one senses the stock to be on its way up. You tell me -- do you have a deep gut feeling that 140 is right around the corner? If not, and if you got in around 70 or 80 or 110, why not sell and make some cash? Then when you think it's turning buy some more.

I give AAPL maybe a year to get back to up around $200. Gene Munster is off his rocker if he thinks it's headed back to $225-$250 any time soon. Then again, momentum may be against Apple... with the possibility of an Obama presidency...Obama would raise rates on capital gains to about 25 percent... things could get VERY depressed in the stock market.

[Delfoniq]

Originally Posted by krankerz

Actually the first title was last week, Breakfast at Tiffany's.

"The Hours is about three women of different generations and times whose lives are interconnected by Virginia Woolf's novel, Mrs Dalloway!"

Come on Apple, who wants to watch that?

[rain]

If any of you have the problem with iTunes where the audio cuts out when you mouse over a menu, most noticeably in Safari, Or, if iTunes is stuttering on songs. I figured out it's the 'internet playback' thing.
1. Trash your preferences User/preferences/iTunes stuff
2. When it asks if you want to set iTunes for internet playback, say no.

I did this after zapping the pram... everything works great now. It was annoying surfing in safari trying to listen to online radio and having the audio cut out every time I opened a menu or bookmark stack.

Just throwing that out there...

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

It's odd. AAPL has been getting severely punished over... what? I just don't know.

Other than this report from yesterday...

I suppose that report was made a bit late in the day for it to taken effect yesterday.

Edit: Actually a lot of it did take effect yesterday, there was already a $4 hit taken from Bloomberg's article to the end of the day, a $3 drop in 2 hours.

[mstone]

Originally Posted by Delfoniq

"The Hours is about three women of different generations and times whose lives are interconnected by Virginia Woolf's novel, Mrs Dalloway!"

Come on Apple, who wants to watch that?

Come on you know you love a good chick flick.

Actually it's smart marketing on Apple's part. Get the women hooked on iTunes rentals. Around this house at least, the movies rented and watched are chosen pretty much entirely by females, one in particular. They'll watch the same movie 2 or 3 times in one weekend, go figure.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

I suppose that report was made a bit late in the day for it to taken effect yesterday.

Edit: Actually a lot of it did take effect yesterday, there was already a $4 hit taken from Bloomberg's article to the end of the day, a $3 drop in 2 hours.

AAPL losing nearly 1/2 of it's valuation in a matter of 2 months is pretty disconcerting... I'm getting very nervous, even as a long time investor.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Then again, momentum may be against Apple... with the possibility of an Obama presidency...Obama would raise rates on capital gains to about 25 percent... things could get VERY depressed in the stock market.

(For the record, this has nothing to do with whether I am against or for Obama.) Where did you see/hear that Obama will increase cap gains rate to 25%?

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

(For the record, this has nothing to do with whether I am against or for Obama.) Where did you see/hear that Obama will increase cap gains rate to 25%?

As far as I can see, Obama didn't say it directly, his economics adviser is claiming that's what he'll do.

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB...lenews_barrons