Transfer ultraviolet digital copy dvd to iTunes, not Flixster?

Meet Steve Jobs about 22 years ago at COMDEX. Back then he was anti-DRM and that was before it existed.

@wleger:

Commanding us to go back in time doesn't really solve anything...

what e-mail address did you used to get the code, I sent an email thru the contact us link and they say it cannot be done and I can only watch my movie thru flixter.

I've e-mailed them about two different movies and I've gotten a similar response whereby they say something along the lines of, "we don't have any iTunes codes to give out."

I'm going to make an effort to not buy movies with Ultraviolet unless they also offer an iTunes digital copy, like Ted. They have a Blu-ray/DVD set also comes with iTunes AND Ultraviolet copies. Now that's awesome, since that gives us consumers all the choices possible.

Like mrbofus I'm at the point where I want to avoid buyng anything with UltraViolet only... but I just noticed it's now not only WB who are stickig to UV only, I wanted to get Total Recall and noted that's UV only and from Sony. In those cases I'd be much happier to "vote with my feet" so to speak and just but the digital copy direct via iTunes but then you notice that the Blu Ray, for £1 extra here in the UK, comes with special features AND both theatrical and extended cuts which iTunes doesn't. Trouble is, if I buy a pack with a digital copy I want it to be in a format that I can use... and as I've previously mentioned I don't want to be forced to use UV (not least of which because of my Apple TV's). If they'd ship a version without any digital copy I'd be more than happy to buy that and would just to make my point!

@bailey#70:

Yup, it looks like here in the US, in the iTunes Store we can choose between a Director's Cut or the theatrical release, but not both. However, it looks like both come with iTunes Extras, which seem to list a couple of featurettes and behind-the-scenes videos.

From what I've read, the Director's Cut doesn't seem to add anything of any note or interest, so I'd say the theatrical release should be fine. Does the UK iTunes Store offer the iTunes Extras with either edition?

I think it is time that everyone here stops moaning about trying to get iTunes codes for UV Movies. They only gave away those codes in the VERY BEGINING when UV first came out because there was an issue with Flixster then and the UV service in general. As the service was new then, it is to be expected that there might be an issue...anyone remember iTunes when it came out?

There is nothing wrong with Flixster other than the fact that it is not available (yet?) on Apple TV. Instead of banging on the "screw the studios" drum, maybe you should all focus your atention where it REALLY BELONGS...on Apple. WHY DON'T THEY ADD FLIXSTER TO APPLE TV?

Face it, the studios are going to get behind whatever works best for them and that means UV, not iTunes. They have more control over UV and it is cheaper for them to use. They also have the ability to reach a LARGER audience with UV since they are not tied to iTunes which is horrible on a PC and non-existant on an Android device.

So SICK of Ultravilet wanting me to download Warner Brothers "download manager", Sony and Paramount the same thing....I don't like downloading any third party to my MacBook Pro and then still can't get the movie into Itunes. I search for the movie title in my FINDER search window and I find it in a folder that won't install the movie on my MAC. SUGGEST ALL PEOPLE ****** OFF WITH THIS ULTRAVIOLET / FLIXTER CRAP WRITE A STERN LETTER TO THE HEADS OF ALL THE MAJOR STUDIOS THAT PARTICIPATE IN FLIXSTER/ULTRAVIOLET AND THREATEN TO STOP BUYING ANY AND ALL DIGITAL COPY MOVIES. It simply does not work with Itunes.

I won't buy any movies that offer UV as the only digital format. It's wrong for the studios to take away the consumers choice. Why they can't all offer UV and the regular digital copy is beyond me.

I have a Facebook page on the go at the moment in order to try and get a voice for those of us against UV - it's at www.facebook.com/SayNoToUV - feel free to add your own comments.

In the meantime, for anyone in the UK, Tesco's have an interesting thing going on. They run a digital movie service called Blinkbox where you can rent or buy digital movies and then either stream them or download them in WMV format. The interesting bit however, is that if you buy a physical film from Tesco (either a store or online) and use a Clubcard, then they will give you the WMV digital copy for free, so even if the movie only comes with UV, you can still get an alternative digital format at no extra cost.

On a final note, I wish that Apple/iTunes would do their own Disc-to-Digital service for those of us who want digital but NOT in UV format (similar to Walmart, Flixster etc...)

2wongfoo wrote:

SUGGEST ALL PEOPLE ****** OFF WITH THIS ULTRAVIOLET / FLIXTER CRAP WRITE A STERN LETTER TO THE HEADS OF ALL THE MAJOR STUDIOS THAT PARTICIPATE IN FLIXSTER/ULTRAVIOLET AND THREATEN TO STOP BUYING ANY AND ALL DIGITAL COPY MOVIES..

You mean UV digital copy only.

I agree. I would love to do a trade in program. I personallly would like all digital an no more phyiscal. It is so much easier than pulling out the blu

Blinkbox is no different to UV in many respects, the main ones being that I can't download a copy to keep in iTunes and can't watch it on my Apple TV.

I'll be heading to that Facebook page though!

I agree that Blinkbox is similar - BUT you DO get a WMV format film that you can convert to an iTunes compatible format AND if it's a Sony movie, then the digital copy that you download and convert from Blinkbox (unlike ripping the Blu-Ray or DVD) will NOT have the Cinavia audio watermark in it, so if you wanted to, you would be able to stream it to a Cinavia aware device such as a PS3, and you won't lose audio.

I'm actually warming to UV mainly because you can use it with so many different services and devices (my Apple TV being the notable exception). I think the main problem in the UK is that we can only access our UV films through Flixster who are improving but still aren't great. I already use a dns service called unblock-us to acces Hulu plus and US Netflix and recently discovered I can also use that service to access Vudu and stream/download my UV collection through them instead.

The difference in the experience I've had with vudu compared to flixster is phenomenal. The movies stream and download flawlessly on my iphone, ipad and pc. I still can't use my Apple TV so in the living room I use vudu to stream to my xbox. Their HDX format is very high quality, close to Blu ray IMO, so the movies look great on my big screen.

Vudu gave me 10 free SD movies (not an amazing selection but worth the zero pounds i paid for them) for creating a new account and linking it with my existing UV account and $5.99 store credit for using their xbox app.

I used the the store credit to rent an HDX quality film and was again impressed. Lastly, I was able to try their in-home disc to digital service which is currently in beta. I stuck my Pulp Fiction DVD in my PC, gave vudu $5 and they added an HDX copy of Pulp Fiction to my UV account.

I really WISH iTunes would support UV but I don't see that happening so for everyone else not enjoying UV with flixster I recommend trying Vudu.

Ps Vudu aren't paying me for this post, honest!

Roy Bridge wrote:

It's wrong for the studios to take away the consumers choice. Why they can't all offer UV and the regular digital copy is beyond me.

Nobody took your choice away from you...either buy it or don't, your CHOICE.

Why they don't offer it is because it is price prohibitive for them to offer you both. Your idea would mean that they would have to charge MORE to the consumer to offset the cost.

The studios want to reach as wide a market as they can and that means they need to ditch iTunes which does not work on Android devices whereas Flixster does. And before anyone goes off an a tangent about how they hate Android or why they think iOS devices are better, remember that Flixster works on all platforms, Mac, PC, iOS & Android. The only ones who are left in the cold are the Apple TV users and they are a small market compared to everyone else.

Instead of being SELFISH and creating some lame facebook page against the studios, why not put the pressure where it belongs? Push Flixster & Apple to get Flixster working on Apple TV. You have a MUCH BETTER chance of getting 2 companies to figure this out vs MULTIPLE STUDIOS who don't always agree on things...remember the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD wars?

AtomXL wrote:

I'm actually warming to UV mainly because you can use it with so many different services and devices (my Apple TV being the notable exception).

Bravo for you AtomXL! Someone who is ACTUALLY BRAVE enough to TRY something non Apple.