iTunes to Ultraviolet

[AZHemi]

...so if the studios want to entice people to switch from iTunes to Ultraviolet it is essential that they make Ultraviolet THE digital locker of choice. Having to switch between iTunes and Flixster to play movies on an iPad will just annoy customers. We want a CENTRAL APP to watch all of our movies.

Someone needs to step up here and allow any existing iTunes movies to be mirrored to Ultraviolet. D2D is a step in the right direction but if Apple manages to negotiate contracts allowing for iTunes Match to extend to movies it could dramatically negatively effect Ultraviolet's future.

How hard could it be to encode Flixster collections to scan the iTunes directory for iTunes purchased movies and then credit the users Ultraviolet account for those movies?

[sbuberl]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

...so if the studios want to entice people to switch from iTunes to Ultraviolet it is essential that they make Ultraviolet THE digital locker of choice. Having to switch between iTunes and Flixster to play movies on an iPad will just annoy customers. We want a CENTRAL APP to watch all of our movies.

Someone needs to step up here and allow any existing iTunes movies to be mirrored to Ultraviolet. D2D is a step in the right direction but if Apple manages to negotiate contracts allowing for iTunes Match to extend to movies it could dramatically negatively effect Ultraviolet's future.

How hard could it be to encode Flixster collections to scan the iTunes directory for iTunes purchased movies and then credit the users Ultraviolet account for those movies?

Apple uses its own DRM for iTunes movies which is not supported by UV. The only way you'll see a user have their iTunes movies being added to an UV account is if Apple joins UV. Which I'm not saying could never happen, but I wouldn't hold your breath either.

[AZHemi]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

Apple uses its own DRM for iTunes movies which is not supported by UV. The only way you'll see a user have their iTunes movies being added to an UV account is if Apple joins UV. Which I'm not saying could never happen, but I wouldn't hold your breath either.

My post may not have been as clear as I had intended...

If UV wants us to use their locker instead of iTunes they need to credit accounts so that they have UV copies available for use of movies previously purchased from iTunes...it was never my intention to imply that iTunes purchases be copied over (which I know won't work). But there is nothing that prevents participating UV studios from allowing us UV copies of iTunes purchases (mirroring) if their intention is to wean us away from iTunes. It costs them basically nothing and would consolidate users movie libraries into a single format.

Right now there a ALOT of Blu-Rays being sold that still contain iTunes redemption codes (purchased four just this week)...how does UV expect to win users over if they are still adding movies to their iTunes libraries?

Adding Vudu and D2D is a step in the right direction. It gives users a way to easily add to their UV collection and it is my understanding that they can purchase movies through Vudu and have some of them added to their UV libraries (which gives UV a much needed 'store front') and yet still my iTunes library is growing faster than my UV library.

UV is going to lose this battle unless they either work with Apple, Disney and other non-participants and progress towards a unified format that includes all the studios and providers and/or they will have to allow access to content obtained through other means to be utilized with UV somehow...and that may include giving UV copies of movies to users even if those movies were originally purchased somewhere else.

[sbuberl]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

But how is UV to verify ownership of an iTunes movie in order to credit you without Apple? For movies purchased from iTunes or digital copies backed by iCloud, are you going to email them your iTunes credentials to someone at UV so they can log into to your iTunes account and see what movies you have? Of course not. If there was somewhere to go and login to iTunes yourself to do so they can credit you, what retailer would volunteer to host this service if nothing in it for them?

Similar thing for iTunes digital copies not backed by iCloud. It's a just a file and the studios don't track that your iTunes account redeemed a digital copy. Same reason UV reason hasn't unveiled anything like that for the Windows Media Player digital copies.

As I said before, best chance is Apple joins UV. If that happens, at least all your iTunes purchases and digital copies backed by iCloud that UV-enabled titles will be retroactively added to your UV account (the same way Vudu did when it added UV support).

[AZHemi]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

But how is UV to verify ownership of an iTunes movie in order to credit you without Apple? For movies purchased from iTunes or digital copies backed by iCloud, are you going to email them your iTunes credentials to someone at UV so they can log into to your iTunes account and see what movies you have? Of course not. If there was somewhere to go and login to iTunes yourself to do so they can credit you, what retailer would volunteer to host this service if nothing in it for them?

Similar thing for iTunes digital copies not backed by iCloud. It's a just a file and the studios don't track that your iTunes account redeemed a digital copy. Same reason UV reason hasn't unveiled anything like that for the Windows Media Player digital copies.

As I said before, best chance is Apple joins UV. If that happens, at least all your iTunes purchases and digital copies backed by iCloud that UV-enabled titles will be retroactively added to your UV account (the same way Vudu did when it added UV support).

iTunes match scans all your music local files and determines which ones are available "in the cloud" and matches them remotely...all for $25/yr...all Flixster Collections would need to do is scan the iTunes/Movies directory for iTunes DRM'd movie files...seems like it should be possible but as I'm not an authority on this particular issue perhaps I am mistaken about what is possible.

As far as what is in it for the studios? ...I guess that would depend on how badly they want to break consumers dependency on iTunes for their digital movie content.

I had no intention of starting an argument...just throwing out ideas based on what I believe is technologically possible and would be a positive direction for UV to head. Most consumers aren't going to switch back and forth between different providers and applications just to have access to content that they have paid for. If UV isn't prepared to offer consumers a discernible advantage to utilizing their service over iTunes it is doomed as a platform. I haven't exactly seen huge lines at the Wal-mart photo counters to take advantage of D2D...UV needs to take steps to encourage use of their platform and as it stands right not there are more detractors that there are supporters for the UV platform.

As it stands right now I can take iTunes purchased movies, load them on my Seagate Satellite drive and have access to a few hundred movies that can be streamed or downloaded to my iPad all without connecting to iTunes. I can not however load UV movies onto my Seagate Satellite and play those movies back in the Flixster app at this time and there is no guarantee that UV will support that feature (Android users can load a Seagate Satellite drive with non-iTunes files). As a consumer it's about convenience, access, usability, inter-interoperability etc...

For convenience's sake and to breed competition into the marketplace I'd like to see UV success, but knowing how the studios generally conduct themselves (looking at you here Sony), I have no expectations that they will do anything besides what they always seem to do...act in their own selfish self-interest regardless of the ultimate consequences.

[sbuberl]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

iTunes match scans all your music local files and determines which ones are available "in the cloud" and matches them remotely...all for $25/yr...all Flixster Collections would need to do is scan the iTunes/Movies directory for iTunes DRM'd movie files...seems like it should be possible but as I'm not an authority on this particular issue perhaps I am mistaken about what is possible.

As I said in first post, Apple has own DRM for iTunes movie files so the Flixster application could not verify who the movie belongs to.

I had no intention of starting an argument...just throwing out ideas based on what I believe is technologically possible and would be a positive direction for UV to head. Most consumers aren't going to switch back and forth between different providers and applications just to have access to content that they have paid for. If UV isn't prepared to offer consumers a discernible advantage to utilizing their service over iTunes it is doomed as a platform. I haven't exactly seen huge lines at the Wal-mart photo counters to take advantage of D2D...UV needs to take steps to encourage use of their platform and as it stands right not there are more detractors that there are supporters for the UV platform.

I'm not trying to start an argument either. Just trying to point even if UV wanted to try something like you're suggesting, they would have a lot of trouble doing this and verifying ownership without Apple's help. I agree that more needs to be done to get more people to use UV and D2D. Hopefully when CFF arrrives, Flixster adds support for HD, and the D2D service that consumers can do from home arrive this year, it will pull in more users. Or whenever Amazon Instant decides to launch their UV trial might help too.

As it stands right now I can take iTunes purchased movies, load them on my Seagate Satellite drive and have access to a few hundred movies that can be streamed or downloaded to my iPad all without connecting to iTunes. I can not however load UV movies onto my Seagate Satellite and play those movies back in the Flixster app at this time and there is no guarantee that UV will support that feature (Android users can load a Seagate Satellite drive with non-iTunes files). As a consumer it's about convenience, access, usability, inter-interoperability etc...

When UV adds support for its CFF (Common File Format) sometime this year, it will be possible to download a movie from UV, copy it between devices and to shared drives, and play it on UV apps (I imagine Flixster would first to support it).

[iwubuv]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

I believe the winner would be is who ever has the most app available through devices.

itunes can play on apple products like Apple TV and all other apple products, not sure what else.

Versus

Vudu, which is WallMart brand and countless devices they sell is VUDU enabled from internet TV's, Blu-ray, Ps3, xbox, boxee and more. oh and apples ipad lol

Honestly, just having an app with Playstation and XBOX is huge because most household owns one of these great consoles.

[echopulse]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

I would also like to be able to take normal digital copies and transfer them to my ultaviolet account. There are a lot of DVDs coming out in the next few months that only come with iTunes digital copies but not ultra-violet copies. I am starting to wonder if the studios are really going to support it strongly, or if this will be short lived. I. Would really like to see it succeed, but if they keep pushing iTunes digital copies, UV will never take root.

[Starkenator]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

I would also like to be able to take normal digital copies and transfer them to my ultaviolet account. There are a lot of DVDs coming out in the next few months that only come with iTunes digital copies but not ultra-violet copies. I am starting to wonder if the studios are really going to support it strongly, or if this will be short lived. I. Would really like to see it succeed, but if they keep pushing iTunes digital copies, UV will never take root.

Basically the only major studios that will only be offering only iTunes digital copies over the next few months are Fox, Disney, and Lionsgate. Of those Fox will start giving Ultraviolet copies in the Fall and Lionsgate will follow eventually I'm sure because they are an Ultraviolet member. I also believe Disney will join before long because interoperability among the studios is important for digital distribution and they keep pushing keychest back. As far as converting digital copies to UV, I doubt it will happen unless Apple joins UV but there will always be the disc to digital option for those movies.

[iwubuv]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

Basically the only major studios that will only be offering only iTunes digital copies over the next few months are Fox, Disney, and Lionsgate. Of those Fox will start giving Ultraviolet copies in the Fall and Lionsgate will follow eventually I'm sure because they are an Ultraviolet member. I also believe Disney will join before long because interoperability among the studios is important for digital distribution and they keep pushing keychest back. As far as converting digital copies to UV, I doubt it will happen unless Apple joins UV but there will always be the disc to digital option for those movies.

I defintely agree with you. There are some 20th Century Fox movies that we can D2D atm. 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate are members of the Ultraviolet consortium. I've read two reason why 20th Century havent release UV movies yet. One is some complication with HBO company why they can't release UV movies yet and the other is they are waiting for the right time when there is more UV enabled devices.

As far as Lionsgate, I hope your right that they will release soon because I've read Lionsgate acquired Summit Entertainment who has the Twilight series, Step up, tropic thunder and many more titles.

[hamilton77]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

I wholeheartedly agree that we need to have a solution for existing iTunes purchases. The contraints to doing so that are listed in this thread are valid so I don't know how that could happen unless Apple plays ball. I wouldn't be willing to provide logon credentials but would be willing to provide receipts. I've purchased over 60 iTunes movies and numerous TV shows. If I had to repurchase the TV Shows i bought in iTunes it would be nearly $1000 so there's no way I could switch to VUDU full time for everything.

Thanks to the Disc to Digital program though, I've been able to add about 50 movies so far cheaply and upgraded my DVD's to HDX that were eligible. The HDX movies are simply the best digital movies I have seen, especially when used on a PS3 and a motion flow (120hz) television. I love the fact that I can still have the disc and simply add a couple bucks for cloud streaming. You get the best of both worlds.

Another side factor here in order for VUDU to succeed imo is a music solution. The PS3, for example, needs to encourage Amazon to release their cloud player app for music. The current Sony solution is laughable and playing local music is a disaster. It doesn't even support gapless playback. With an Apple TV box, you can easily navigate your cloud music through iTunes Match and stream all of your TV shows and movies. The PS3 VUDU app can do the video part so hopefully Amazon will not only release their cloud music player but also buy into ultraviolet for movies/tv shows. The PS3 already has the prime player app, which is like Netflix, and has worked great for me so far.

Last, if anyone from VUDU is listening, please please please start sorting movies by the title name. The more titles I add, the harder it is to find movies. This should be the simplest thing in the world to at least give the option to sort by name.

[hamilton77]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

I wholeheartedly agree that we need to have a solution for existing iTunes purchases. The contraints to doing so that are listed in this thread are valid so I don't know how that could happen unless Apple plays ball. I wouldn't be willing to provide logon credentials but would be willing to provide receipts. I've purchased over 60 iTunes movies and numerous TV shows. If I had to repurchase the TV Shows i bought in iTunes it would be nearly $1000 so there's no way I could switch to VUDU full time for everything.

Thanks to the Disc to Digital program though, I've been able to add about 50 movies so far cheaply and upgraded my DVD's to HDX that were eligible. The HDX movies are simply the best digital movies I have seen, especially when used on a PS3 and a motion flow (120hz) television. I love the fact that I can still have the disc and simply add a couple bucks for cloud streaming. You get the best of both worlds.

Another side factor here in order for VUDU to succeed imo is a music solution. The PS3, for example, needs to encourage Amazon to release their cloud player app for music. The current Sony solution is laughable and playing local music is a disaster. It doesn't even support gapless playback. With an Apple TV box, you can easily navigate your cloud music through iTunes Match and stream all of your TV shows and movies. The PS3 VUDU app can do the video part so hopefully Amazon will not only release their cloud music player but also buy into ultraviolet for movies/tv shows. The PS3 already has the prime player app, which is like Netflix, and has worked great for me so far.

Last, if anyone from VUDU is listening, please please please start sorting movies by the title name. The more titles I add, the harder it is to find movies. This should be the simplest thing in the world to at least give the option to sort by name.

[NWRushing]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

More Devices? Get that android app up and don't forget one for kindle then Vudu and UV become the iTunes nemesis in the exact same fashion that Android is the iPhone/Ipad nemesis.

[EFAWHS]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

More Devices? Get that android app up and don't forget one for kindle then Vudu and UV become the iTunes nemesis in the exact same fashion that Android is the iPhone/Ipad nemesis.

I, personally, despise iTunes. They started out as a good thing then became exceptionally proprietary and stupid expensive. Apple has gone from being every man's electronics to only the richer man's electronics. They do this with all their materials now. Outrageously high in cost. Even iTunes has become stilted with their inflexibility. If they want to win this race they have to give up some of their greed and learn to be flexible.

[JackFreedomcis]

Re: iTunes to Ultraviolet

To make this legal, they would need you to login to Apple ITunes (through some legal agreement) and then it would scan your purchased library. This is needed because what if one person copied someone else entire collection of iTunes movies to their machine. How would VUDU determine which copy belongs to that person. So a person could get tons of movies for free if they did it the lazy way and just scan the directory for the name. Having them to log into their account would help Studios prevent millions in theft. Now if they combine with each other, that be nice. Having both collections read by both parties. It be the best customer satisfaction. After all if that is what they want, then they should do this. Also what would be nice if they let WMP (Windows Media Player) also play from both using the same (login to your account) method. That way you could have your playlist playing your videos and not have to manually play each one after the movie was over. So you could watch lets say all X-Men movies in one sitting and not have to move off the sofa until using the bathroom or getting more soda and popcorn.