San Francisco–September 12, 2006–Apple today announced iTunes 7,
the most significant enhancement to the world’s most popular music
jukebox and online music and video store since it debuted in 2001.
iTunes 7 delivers stunning new features such as the new album and
Cover Flow views of music, TV shows and movies, enabling users to
quickly find titles in their library as well as casually browse
through and re-discover titles they already own. In addition, the
iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) is now offering over 75 movies from
Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films,
that customers can purchase and download to watch on their computers
and iPods, and soon on their flat screen televisions with Apple’s
upcoming iTV* player. Movies will become available on the iTunes
Store the same day they are released on DVD, with new releases priced
at $12.99 when pre-ordered and during their first week of
availability, and $14.99 thereafter, and library titles available for
just $9.99 every day.
“Here we go again! First music, then TV shows, and now movies,” said
Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “In less than one year we’ve grown from
offering just five TV shows to offering over 220 TV shows, and we
hope to do the same with movies. iTunes is selling over one million
videos a week, and we hope to match this with movies in less than a
year.”
“ABC and Disney Channel were the first networks to offer television
programming on iTunes, and we’re once again breaking new ground as
The Walt Disney Studios becomes the first to debut feature films on
the iTunes platform,” said Robert Iger, president and CEO, The Walt
Disney Company. “Disney is committed to providing innovative ways for
audiences to enjoy their favorite entertainment content, and our
association with Apple is yet another example of how we continue to
reach consumers on their terms, regardless the time, location or
device.”
“Steve Jobs and Apple have consistently demonstrated that they have
their finger on the pulse of today’s audience with regard to legal
downloads of music and television shows, and our presence on iTunes
will now allow us to deliver Disney’s films in this popular and
convenient format,” said Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney
Studios. “Not only are we proud to be expanding our association with
Apple, but we feel that this new venture meets a growing demand for
movie viewing that will ultimately expand the market for our films.”
The iTunes Store has quickly become the world’s most popular video
download store, selling over one million videos per week. The iTunes
Store began selling TV shows with five shows from ABC/Disney less
than a year ago, in October 2005, and rapidly expanded its library to
over 220 television shows from over 40 networks today. The iTunes
Store also features the world’s largest catalog of online music with
over 3.5 million songs and has sold a stunning 1.5 billion songs,
making it the world’s most popular digital music store.
The iTunes Store now features great new releases and library titles
from Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax
Films, such as “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black
Pearl,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “The Princess Diaries,” “The
Incredibles,” “National Treasure,” “Toy Story,” “The Rock” and “The
Rookie.” Customers can purchase and download movies from iTunes the
same day they become available on DVD, or pre-order upcoming movies
which are automatically downloaded when they become available.
Customers get the same great one-click download experience for movies
that they enjoy with music and TV shows.
With iTunes 7, all videos purchased from the iTunes Store are
downloaded in near-DVD quality at a resolution of 640×480 (up to 480,
depending on the aspect ratio), which is four times higher than
before. Downloaded videos can be played on computers and iPods.
iTunes 7 also includes new features to better organize and enjoy
digital music and video, including expanded parental controls, an
iTunes video playback window with on-screen controls, and the new
Cover Flow view that lets you visually browse your entire video
collection by cover artwork.
The iTunes Store now also offers downloads of popular video games for
fifth generation iPods, including “Tetris,” “Mahjong” and “Mini Golf”
from Electronic Arts Inc.; “Pac-Man” from Namco Networks America
Inc.; “Cubis 2” from FreshGames, LLC; “Bejeweled” and “Zuma” from
PopCap Games, Inc.; “Texas Hold’em” and “Vortex” developed by Apple,
all available beginning today for $4.99 each.
With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as
integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, seamless
integration with iPod and groundbreaking personal use rights, the
iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally
discover, purchase and download music and video online.
Pricing & Availability
iTunes 7 for Mac and Windows includes the iTunes Store and is
available as a free download immediately from www.itunes.com.
Purchase and download of content from the iTunes Store for Mac or
Windows requires a valid credit card with a billing address in the
country of purchase. Television shows and feature films are available
in the US only, and video availability varies by country. Games are
available for download in the 21 countries in which iTunes operates
and play on the fifth generation iPod. New release feature films are
$14.99 (US) each and other feature-length films are $9.99 (US) each,
television shows are $1.99 (US) per episode, music videos and short
films are $1.99 (US) each and games are $4.99 (US) each.
* iTV is the project’s internal code name and will not be the final
product name.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the
Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the
Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation
with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating
system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also
spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable
music players and iTunes online music store.