Introduced in late 2009 with iTunes 9, iTunes Extras have been billed as a way for movie studios to release additional features and functionalities with their iTunes Store video content, offering a way to compete with and even exceed bonus features found on DVD releases. But while widespread usage of iTunes Extras has yet to take off, paidContent.org notes that Sony Pictures has started to test some advanced bonus features on its iTunes releases that could begin to turn the tide.
In particular, three new iTunes Store releases from Sony, including the Will Ferrell-Mark Wahlberg film The Other Guys, Salt, and Resident Evil: Afterlife, include a trio of unadvertised features designed to enhance the viewer’s experience with interactivity and further iTunes integration.
Buy the Will Ferrell comedy The Other Guys and you’ll notice three extras that can’t be found on DVD or any other digital platform. A search button allows you to input a word, and any mention of it in the script will be retrieved along with a link to the exact moment in the movie in which the line was uttered. A “clip & share” function lets the viewer take select scenes and post them to social networks. There’s also a playlist with songs from the film, which are linked to to places on iTunes where those songs can be purchased.
The report notes that the features are available only for iTunes Store purchases, and not rentals of the titles where they are being trialled.
Despite the apparent efforts of movie studios like Sony to differentiate their iTunes Store content by offering such interactive features, Apple has yet to offer full support for iTunes Extras, with compatibility limited to viewing the additional content through iTunes on Mac or Windows or on a first-generation Apple TV. While Apple CEO Steve Jobs has promised support for iTunes Extras and the related iTunes LP format on the new Apple TV, Apple’s entire line of iOS-based devices remains incompatible with the bonus features at this time. The shortcoming has been viewed as a major hindrance to the adoption of the extended features, particularly given that the iPad with its larger screen appears to be particularly enticing for such capabilities.
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AT&T and ‘The Switch’ Join the iAd Rotation
Monday August 23, 2010 04:16 PM EST
Written by Eric Slivka
Silicon Alley Insider provides a walkthrough of two new iAds that have just gone live, featuring Apple’s U.S. iPhone partner AT&T and “The Switch”, a new movie with Jason Bateman and Jennifer Anniston that debuted this past weekend.
The AT&T ad focuses on the carrier’s new $15-per-month Data Plus plan, carrying the tag line “Now your entire family can afford the mobile internet.” The various ad panels outline the carrier’s Data Plus ($15/200 MB) and Data Pro ($25/2 GB) plans and offer estimates and tools to help users decide which plans would be right for them given their mobile activities. The company also pushes its Wi-Fi hotspots, available to its cellular data customers free of charge.
The iAd for “The Switch” offers a variety of features, including a tool for finding nearby theaters showing the film, trailers and commercials, a photo gallery, character bios, and a humorous “quiz” to help users decide whether they are ready to be parents. The ad also features a mini-game called “Build a Baby”, which lets users assemble various combinations of hair, eyes, and mouths to create unique “baby” faces. The resulting images can be saved to the users’ Camera Roll photo folders.
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