Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Google puts iTunes in its sights

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes | August 30, 2010, 6:51am PDT

Google is in talks with Hollywood executives to bring movie rentals to YouTube, according to the Financial Times (subscription needed). This move puts the search giant on a collision course with Apple.

The idea is simple. People are familiar with YouTube, and are happy to while away the hours watching a cat ride a Roomba or a panda sneezing. YouTube is also everywhere - desktops, notebooks, and critically, on mobile devices such as the iPhone. YouTube has enormous reach. Now Google wants to leverage this reach, hoping that people will pay for the privilege of being entertained.

Now, the question isn’t whether people are willing to pay to be entertained, rather will they pay Google/YouTube to be entertained when a) there’s so much free stuff on YouTube. and b) they’re used to paying other companies to be entertained.

One thing that’s interesting here is the Google/Apple link. YouTube was one of the first third-parties to see an app on the iPhone, and a built-in one at that, but thanks to evolving web standards, you can how view YouTube videos through the browser, thus taking a lot of power away from Apple. Google used Apple to attract a new breed of viewer to YouTube, and is now in a position where it doesn’t need to rely on Apple for those users to continue to consume YouTube content.

Add rentals to the mix, and all of a sudden Google and Apple, rather than being allies, are on a collision course. Not only that, but if these pay-per-view services actually work in a mobile sense, Google will then be able to offer iPhone users something that Apple itself cannot. Never underestimate the power and appeal of instant gratification.

Oh, and remember Chrome OS and those cheap mobile devices that Google’s been talking about? Starting to make more sense now, isn’t is?

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Google Inc., Apple iTunes, Digital Music, Digital Media, Personal Technology, Consumer Electronics, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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chrome os is going to be a joke

Jimster480 31st Aug 2010

A OS that is nothing but a browser is lame. If you really want something like that. Then you might as well load arch Linux or another super lightweight distro and go from there.Android is owning the market because it is very nice. It has many features, is extremely easy to use and is very fast. Heck I'm writing this from my evo while sitting in a class that I have to take about database management. And guess what software they teach you how to take advantage of? Ms Excel.

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People are really under estimating ChromeOS. Paired with multi-core Arm

DonnieBoy Updated - 30th Aug 2010

processors, 2 gig of memory, fast graphics, you will be able to buy a web box that runs circles around Windows 7 boxes for a small fraction of the price. Sure, you can't run MS Office. Big whooopi.

And, a much, much, more intuitive interface. Sam understands this:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/google-fans-are-the-new-mac-elite-the-users-who-get-it/38560

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Big Whoopi?

Cylon Centurion 30th Aug 2010

@DonnieBoy

You do realize that MS Office is still king with office productivity? I'm sitting here right now in class where the professor uses nothing but.
ChromeOS will gain no more of a following than Linux does now. It is a poor excuse of an OS.

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Better, MS Office is still king of killing office productivity.

DonnieBoy 30th Aug 2010

All of those hours of formatting for printing on 8.5x11 paper, all of the baroque features that are not needed anymore, etc, etc.

But, even with that argument, for consumers, for that extra computer where they can watch videos, check email, share photos, Facebook, create documents and spreadsheets to share, etc, etc, have about zero need for a bloated office suite from the last century.

And, Google is not doing too bad with OSes right now. Seems like Android is beating the stuffing out of Microsoft's offering in the mobile space. All of Windows OSes for mobile are as you say "are a poor excuse of an OS".

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Because we HAVE to print?

Cylon Centurion 30th Aug 2010

@NStalnecker

Printing is still needed Donnie. And Office is far from bloated.

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Consumers have very little need for printing, and NO need for detailed

DonnieBoy 30th Aug 2010

formatting. And, MS Office IS very bloated and packed with baroque features from the last century.

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Aight.

Cylon Centurion 30th Aug 2010

Whatever you say. This is getting old.

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Yes, it really is getting old, all of the people still thinking we must

DonnieBoy 30th Aug 2010

print on 8.5x11. All of the baroque feature in MS Office are looking more stupid every day.

Consumers have moved on though and print almost nothing. There are more and more homes without even one printer!!

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In this case, I have to agree with DonnieBoy.

Letophoro 30th Aug 2010

@NStalnecker

Very few people still need to print anything at home. By way of anecdotal evidence, I have a laser printer that is still using a 7 or 8 year old toner cartridge due to the lack of printing done by my family. The last time my wife turned the printer on was two months ago to print out an online coupon for a product at a local store. I don't even remember the last time that I turned the printer on. My daughter doesn't even print out book reports and the like. Those are emailed straight to the teacher.

The only reason I have the laser printer is because my ink-jet rocked up from disuse and I still had some need to print out documents back then.

I won't weigh in on the MS Office vs Open Office debate since I haven't used MS Office in the last 3 or 4 years.

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At home, I rarely print

Cylon Centurion 30th Aug 2010

In fact, I never print. Never owned a printer in my life, but at school and at work that is a totally different story. I'm required to print homework assignments and term papers, and at work, well let's just say, we kill more trees than we should need to. Printing isn't going away soon, I'm afraid.

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HOURS formatting for 8.5 x 11" paper..? WTF...

Wolfie2K3 30th Aug 2010

@DonnieBoy
Most word processing apps automatically default to that or A4 paper - depending on your region.

Dude... This IS 2010.. not 1980.

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

Ziyan-Junaideen 30th Aug 2010

@NStalnecker : Your friend DonnieBoy seems to be more like a DonnieEmbryo to me, who doesn't know Microsoft Office.

I run a Winodws 7, I have 2GB ram and Office is not the only software I run. And it runs really good.

There are people who judge quality by company name.

@Donnie : You play with toys, we will work with real stuff. By the way, I heard Oracle giving a nice treat to Google at courts... happy

My name is Deen, I am PC and I run Windows 7 (and I don't use Google)

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I Loved Office.... but rarely use it now!

i2fun@... 30th Aug 2010

@NStalnecker As long as people have access to the Cloud, whether it be Azure, IBM or Google the average person is increasingly going paperless. I now pay all bills except water utility that way and if they'd move into this century, I'd be paying it paperless too! ...one less reason to go to the mailbox to collect more junk to fill the trash can!

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html

Next year when 4G comes to my home as well as my mobile phone, it'll be time to burn all the hardwires and cables into my house (except power naturally). I've used VOIP as primary home phone for 10yrs and this house has never seen a phone wire connected to it while getting superior service.

We ditched cable TV ages ago too, and now more web video and TV content is provided by YouTube. I'll take content I can control with choice over fixed broadcasts that are only available at certain times over a cable wire any day. I'm already watching full length movies on YouTube, Boxee and Hulu!

Oh...... ink cartridges always seem to dry up before they need replacing. So here if there's anything that needs printing, it can be printed at work, school for the kids or my neighbors to keep his printer ink from drying up as well! wink

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

Pete "athynz" Athens 30th Aug 2010

@DonnieBoy All that speed for what exactly? Web surfing, some office-type apps? Chrome OS is NOT a gaming OS by any means and until that happens Chrome OS might as well not even exist for me.

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The things we do with browsers requires more CPU and memory all the time.

DonnieBoy 30th Aug 2010

We need high performance graphics as well. Browsers will soon be supporting GPU accleration.

All of this will be a lot cheaper to deliver with ARM.

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Google might be a bit late to the game

Ken_z 30th Aug 2010

If they had tried this a few years ago their chances would have been better.

Today Apple is going strong with their iOS devices added to iPods and iTunes (Mac & Win). That's a lot of devices using iTunes.

Now Google will be better off following Apple, with features like the AppStore, but I see a lot of challenges ahead in trying to actually beat Apple.

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They really do not have to "beat" Apple, just coexist and get a part of the

DonnieBoy 30th Aug 2010

market. For consumers, we need multiple competitors to foster innovation and drive down prices.

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

Droid101 30th Aug 2010

@Ken_z
I will never install the bloated malware iTunes on any computer I own. So yes, a web app has a way better chance of gaining traction in my household.

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

jeff.fostermedia@... 30th Aug 2010

I have used iTunes on several mac and windows systems for Ipods, Iphones and my iPad with no problems. I have had a few Androids that gave me great headaches because of the deliver system. Wifi is not great for moving content yet! iTunes or some desktop equivalent makes for a more stable setup on your mobile device. iPad is the first device I've had that almost stands alone, but its dependance on iTunes makes it possible to keep my OS clean and running smoothly. The cloud based delivery system is enevitable and Apple and Google are both working on it, but Google is a fish out of water because they have have never put an OS on the market. What they have is a web portal that depends on connectivity, browser and system resources to stay productive. iTunes media can only get better and iOS is already better!

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installing itunes bloatware

TG2 30th Aug 2010

@Droid101 Just curious (seriously) what you use for PodCasts. The only thing I see Itunes doing better than anyone else so far, is in podcast collection, subscription, and managment. As soon as Winamp can handle it decently (and yes I consider what it has now, as crude as sticks and rocks in a gun battle) ... as soon as Winamp handles Podcasting efficiently, cleanly, nicely, I will ditch itunes. Until that time its the only thing that seems to work well..

SO.. what do you use? (seriously looking for recommendations)

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Google has a history of dismal failures

iPad-awan 30th Aug 2010

and this will be no different. In five years Google will be irrelevant all because it decided to take on a superior company.

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Well, Microsoft is already irrelevant in the mobile space. And Google has

DonnieBoy 30th Aug 2010

been doing very well in the last 10 years, comparable to Apple. But, great to have two fierce competitors duking it out. This will foster innovation and keep prices down.

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

dfl274 30th Aug 2010

Google can't compete with Apple because they are completely different companies. Google is basically the Microsoft of the internet. Its primarily a software provider.

Apple has diversified itself so much that they even dropped the word Computer from their name. Its a multi-media company now. Software, Hardware and Content are all being manufactured by them. Google can't compete with that. Google and Microsoft are very similar. That should be the real comparison. Not with Apple.

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dfl274: Yes, Apple is a great innovator. But, just one example, Android is

DonnieBoy 30th Aug 2010

now outselling iPhone. Google has taken huge share in email, and came out with 1 gigabyte free when everybody else was offering 10 megabytes. ChromeOS is coming . . . . .

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

Pete "athynz" Athens 30th Aug 2010

@DonnieBoy now outselling iPhone. Google has taken huge share in email, and came out with 1 gigabyte free when everybody else was offering 10 megabytes. ChromeOS is coming . . . . .

Android is outselling the iPhone for two specific reasons... first is that Android is everywhere, at every single carrier where the iPhone (in the US) is available at ONE. Two There are around 20+ smartphones that run Android and 1 that runs the iOS... so yeah given the saturation I would hope that Android devices would outsell iPhone.

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athynz: Looks like Google's strategy has paid off. iPhone on Verizon IS

DonnieBoy 30th Aug 2010

coming though!! I would not be suprised to see Apple jump past Google again when that happens. Verizon is using Android to force Apple to deal. I love the competition!!!

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They Challenge the world

quentinjs 30th Aug 2010

@iPad-awan
Yes not every thing they create has been a sucess, but they take risks, they learn from them and they provide even better products from that. Making blanket statements that are false and stating them as fact has no value. In fact Google has brought out hundreds of great products or extensions to their existing products.

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Mobile users are using Apps now.

dave95. Updated - 30th Aug 2010

If you haven't noticed for some strange reason, users are turning to Apps more and more rather than relying on some web browser for all their entertainment. This is in direct conflict with Google (search/adds) and companies like Adobe (Flash) that want's us to stay reliant on a web browser for all entertainment. From small mobile screen devices to Google TV across the room, we must first load up a web browser, type in a http web address, weed through all the Flash banner ads slowing down the browser as you search for good content from Hollywood. Or you could load an App on your device and in a millisecond you're enjoying your content.

Just take a look at Hulu Plus premium service for example and its early success. It has an App based service for iPad, PC/Mac, televisions like the one from Samsung and XBox. I don't even think this service is offered in the web browser.

iTunes is a beast for Apple but if the rumored iOS based "iTV" is released. Look for that to give Google headaches in the living room.

A good read from Wired on this topic about Apps vs Web:
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_webrip/all/1

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Misspellings

knoxbury 30th Aug 2010

"Google puts iTunes it its sights" should read "Google puts iTunes in its sights" and "you can how view YouTube videos through the browser" should read "you can now view YouTube videos through the browser."

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

rhonin 30th Aug 2010

Think this is a great idea!!!!

Rent a movie via YouTube.
- start watching on pc.
-- have to run out - pause movie
- continue watching on mobile device - tablet or phone

This has got decent potential.

Sign me up.

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Which is exactly why ...

use_what_works_4_U 30th Aug 2010

@zenwalker
I hope that the NetFlix app trickles down from just iPad to the iPhone as well. I can start a NetFlix stream on my Wii, stop it, start it on my laptop in the bedroom - at the point I stopped it - stop it again, and continue it the following day on a completely unrelated PC later on. It's already out there, just not yet for enough devices.

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I'd love to escape from iTunes' grasp.

roystonlodge 30th Aug 2010

If Google was to offer real competition to iTunes, I'd have mucho incentive to permanently switch from OSX to Linux on my home entertainment computer.

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Fix the Title Please

levinson Updated - 31st Aug 2010

It Its? Please! Added: Thanks, it's fixed in the title. But it's not on this page: http://www.zdnet.com/tb/1-87372?tag=mantle_skin;content. Self-propogating?

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what's wrong it it?

i8thecat 30th Aug 2010

@levinson

You think Google should put this blog it its sights???
LOL

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

anto31 30th Aug 2010

Well ,I expect Apple don?t put Youtube out of their app store as they did with Grooveshark.

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

nanotm 30th Aug 2010

its hardley a case of putting in its sights, crapple doesnt deliver streaming content it delivers malware disguised as usefull apps, and then closes your account when you complain. google wont be doing that, there going ot tie there offering to google checkout and allow people to payperview, and just like various cable operators theres everychance they will indeed get a contract to provide that service, however the movie moguls are going to want it streamed and that means its going to cost google a lot in infrastructure develpoment and even more in the netnutrality fight, after all nobody wants ot stream something that buffers every few seconds, they want it instantly on in HD, i hope it works, it will cut down on piracy, and even better it will make it easier and hopefully cheaper to watch movies, what with satelite/cable tv offering the same service, nolonger will prices be ever climbing happy

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Cus Google really has the best service...

i8thecat 30th Aug 2010

@nanotm

All those customer service awards that Apple has dominated over the past decade are a total farce.. All survey takers all worship the messiah, Steve Jobs... Apple must have paid them all off with all those billions they have been stealing from mindless masses of people with nothing better to do in a recession but to throw thier money away by buying stuff they want... How dare those moron buy stuff they like!!! Don't they know they are getting ripped off blindly by crapple!!! Sure they claim to enjoy Apple products way more than anyone else, but you and I both know who is behind those claims of enjoyment... It's the same servey people who claim Apple has smoked everyone else in customer service by a country mile for the last decade!!! They are all liers and thiefs and cheats cus there is no way people like Apple and no way they like iTunes!!! They are all brainwashed mindless followers and sheep.. yeah... sheep.. they are all sheeple, I tell you.... What??? Um.... What Meds???

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I hate what itunes did

opcom 30th Aug 2010

I won't use it. It decided to 'take over' and rename all the media files to obscure gibberish. Removing it almost took a crowbar and a complete erasure and reloading of the media files. rude. After that, I'd not be getting in line to play it with youtube or anyone else. Do without instead, it's really not that important of an amusement.

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

bagh11@... 30th Aug 2010

Did you write this article while being extremely sleep depraved or drunk out of your mind? So many spelling mistakes (starting with the subject line and ending with the last sentence)? Anyone editing these articles?

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

mart5.1 30th Aug 2010

@bagh11@...
Did you write this article while being extremely sleep depraved or drunk out of your mind? So many spelling mistakes (starting with the subject line and ending with the last sentence)? Anyone editing these articles?

Did you mean sleep deprived?

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Google's Android

bmacshara@... 30th Aug 2010

Android will be the future of the mobile OS. It will drive 75% of the tablets in business and home mobile systems. Desktops will be secondary with the cloud coming for storage and online applications used by tablets.

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That's because it's soooooo secure...

i8thecat 30th Aug 2010

@bmacshara@...

And Google personally checks each app for quality and malicious content... Yup... Google protects all the Roid users and therefore, enterprise will embrace the Roid... They will love the Roid.. They will kiss the roid with their lips... Roid will rule everything... Don't you know that Roid is outselling Apple.. They are.. Cus there are tons of Roids out there... Buy on get one free, and all sorts of deals so people get to choose to settle for roids and avoid AT&T... And they get the most secure and best quality apps out there... And with Roid you don't have any pain in the butt updates to worry about. Google will only make you do that once a year, and because of all the roids out there, they may not include all the roid models, so you might get lucky and get to go 2 years without having to update... Wait... what??? Google isn't doing any quality control of apps??? None??? zero??? And Roid doesn't have any security at all??? And google accepts zero responsibility for anything and doesn't do any quality control? And the providers are preloading shovelware on them and not allowing that to be uninstalled??? Awwww Mannn!!!!!

Fine... In that case... Microsoft windows phone 7 will be the future of the mobile OS. It will drive 75% of the tablets in business and home mobile systems. Desktops will be secondary with the cloud coming for storage and online applications used by tablets.... Blah Blah Blah... LOL

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RE: Google puts iTunes it its sights

ssc@... 30th Aug 2010

Can I ask a question that seems to have been overlooked?

Why on earth would anyone pay for a full length movie in flash? Or html5 for that matter? Am I missing something here? Even when I find a youtube video I'd like to watch, more often than not I can download and reformat it before it even finishes rendering. And those are just ten minute videos.

If I had to try and watch a two hour movie on youtube, it's very likely I would have a destroyed PC. With all the stopping and stuttering, a two hour movie would take a good three hours to watch. Why would anyone do that?

Or am I missing something?

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What IS the "Average User" anyway?

tangentjohn@... 30th Aug 2010

Make it easy, make it work right (smooth fast and crystal clear), make it inexpensive. That's all that counts. Then Market the hell out of it! The only thing that Apple has going for it is all three of those requirements (especially the last). Google is no slouch! I'm confident that when they present their finished product it'll give Apple a real run for it's money!