The Hollywood writers' strike might have shortened the television season, but iTunes customers will get some compensation for their losses.
iLounge noticed that Apple has started sending notices to iTunes Store season pass subscribers with good news: they'll be getting a two-episode credit from Apple to make up for the writers' strike.
Apple is also promising to provide partial refunds for shows that won't be delivered as a result of the strike. For example, if 20 episodes were promised when the season pass was purchased, but only 17 wind up getting made this year, it sounds like Apple will issue a credit for the missing three episodes. It's not clear whether the two-episode credit applies to that difference.
The Writers Guild of America went out on strike for about four months in hopes of negotiating a better compensation package for Internet downloads of writers' works. That forced the television-watching public to miss its daily dose of digitally delivered drugs and watch reruns and reality TV instead. The strike ended last month.
Buying a season pass to a particular show over the Internet is a relatively new way to watch TV, and this is a relatively interesting way of dealing with the strike. So far, my cable company has not offered me anything back for forcing everyone to watch The Moment of Truth.
TakeTV offers a cheaper, easier alternative to streaming videos from a PC.
(Credit: SanDisk)It was first shown at January's Consumer Electronics Show--and then leaked on Buy.com just days ago--but the Sansa TakeTV is now official. It's not the first device designed to put PC-based digital videos on the TV, but what sets SanDisk's TakeTV apart is its simplicity: just drag and drop videos to the flash drive from your PC, and then plug it into the included video dock to watch them on your TV. The straightforward operation is a notable counterpoint to most other PC-to-TV digital video alternatives, which involve either cumbersome direct hook-ups (video and audio runs from a PC to a TV); installing digital media adapters (such as the Apple TV or Xbox 360), which require some knowledge of home networking; or burning video files to disc for playback on compatible DVD players.
Concurrent with the TakeTV launch, SanDisk is also debuting Fanfare, a premium video download service. TakeTV is the first device that can play back Fanfare content, but SanDisk is aiming to expand compatibility to other products in its Sansa line. Currently in beta, Fanfare is little more than a proof of concept, but the addition of content partners beyond CBS and Showtime could certainly position it as a worthwhile alternative to Apple's iTunes Store.
For a more in-depth look at the SanDisk Sansa TakeTV--including a first look at the Fanfare service--check out CNET's complete hands-on review and the accompanying photo gallery.
College football is back, and so is fall television. If you're looking to pick up some free TV shows (legally), the Internet is your friend and is a great place to go for digital versions of TV shows, sans a TV or the need for a VCR or DVR to watch shows when you want to. Note that several of these sites are walking a fine line of what's legal and what's not, which was outlined in yesterday's post about legal suicide for start-ups. We don't condone piracy or encourage it; this guide is for entertainment purposes only.
Free (and paid-for) downloads:
iTunes. iTunes is worth mentioning here because you can often get the first and last episode of any show for free. You can then put it on your iPod, iPhone, or watch it full-screen on your computer. While the iTunes Store is now lacking shows like The Office, because of NBC pulling out of its renewal deal, you can still find shows from ABC, CBS, and Fox--which incidentally is offering free pilots of all of their series, which you can find here (link opens up in iTunes).
Editor's Pick: Kitchen Nightmares--it's like Dinner Impossible, but with more volatility and endive.
Amazon Unbox. While we may not have had the best experience using this service in the past, if you're looking for legal digital copies of NBC's newest shows, you're stuck with Unbox until Hulu launches next month. Like the iTunes Store, you'll find all the big players here, although keep in mind that you can't watch these shows on any portable media players, which makes the $1.99 price tag a little harder to swallow.
Editor's Pick: MythBusters
Joost. There is an absolute ton of content on Joost, including entire seasons of the original Transformers from the 80s. The only catch? You've gotta download and install the client, and get a private beta token, which these days is about as easy to get as it was to get a Gmail invite a few years back.
Click the "read more" link below to continue reading, and find out about free, streaming options.
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One of the first things you'll need to do with your new iPhone is register with the iTunes Store in order to activate the handset.
If you want the iPhone, you'll need to sign up with the iTunes Store.
(Credit: Apple)Apple revealed the requirement in an e-mail sent Tuesday to those who had registered to receive e-mail updates on the TMHGIH (The Most Hyped Gadget In History). Presumably, most of the iPhone early adopters will be Apple devotees with current iTunes Store accounts, but for those who don't have an account already, have your credit card ready during the iPhone setup process.
Why would Apple do this? For one thing, iTunes is the application that will handle e-mail syncing between the iPhone and a Mac or PC, so registering the device with the iTunes Store might make it possible to wirelessly sync e-mail. But it also gives Apple a way to promote iTunes in front of iPhone users who might also sign up for a Media Max account from AT&T, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone. Usually the carrier controls the services available on a phone, but Apple appears to want that software and services relationship all to itself.
Apple has added MGM's films to the list of movies available through the iTunes Store, which now has over 500 movies.
MGM's famous Leo the Lion has graced the opening of thousands of movies since the dawn of the motion picture industry. Apple doesn't plan to offer all those movies right away, but is starting off with classics like Rocky and Dances With Wolves. (How long will that take to download?)
Movies on iTunes cost between $9.99 and $14.99. Apple plans to add additional titles from MGM's library over the next few weeks. In announcing the MGM deal, Apple said it has now sold over 2 million movies since last September.
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