Apple may add movies to its new cloud-streaming service, joining the fray of an already crowded video streaming turf-war.
CNET, to allow Apple to stream movies its customers own through Apple's iCloud streaming service, which will be unveiled next week at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference.Streaming movies would work the same way as streaming music. With a user's permission, the iCloud would search through an iTunes library for previously owned movies, and then enable those movies to stream wirelessly. For example, a customer who owns "The King's Speech" on their desktop or laptop computer would get the store's permission before being able to stream that movie from the cloud on any device.
For that to happen, though, Apple must reach an agreement with the film's studio.
Apple has many hurdles to jump before arriving at a deal between Warner Bros. Pictures, 20th Century Fox and NBC Universal and HBO. For one thing, HBO currently prevents any digital distributor or cable network from showing a movie that is currently being shown on the paid cable network.
Many companies, including Time Warner, the parent company of both HBO and Warner Bros., feel there is a difference between selling a movie that's on HBO and allowing a person to stream a movie they already own. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, who has stated he is a fan of cloud media, is currently working on coming to an agreement between both parties.
If Apple is successful in landing movie companies, they may emerge as major competition to the industry leader, Netflix. The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company has seen its figures skyrocket in the last year, thanks to the introduction of its streaming-only plan which gives customers the option of forgoing movies by mail in favor of only having access to digital movies.
The company added nearly seven million subscribers over the past year, and currently accounts for nearly 25 percent of all Internet traffic.
Along with Netflix, other sites like Hulu and YouTube have also entered into streaming and renting of movies. Like Netflix, Hulu offers both free and paid services, with the paid service offering more content of both movies and television shows. YouTube does not have a monthly fee, but rather charges by the rental.
Social network giant Facebook has also begun renting movies on its site as well, rounding out an early list of players in which will likely become a booming market.
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