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Warner Bros. to distribute movies as iOS applications

Categories: iOS / iPhone OS
By: , IntoMobile
Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 at 11:19 AM
The Dark Knight App edition
The Dark Knight App edition

Warner Bros. announced today that the studio was releasing select editions of movies as iOS applications. The new distribution method will kick off with the release of the app editions of The Dark Knight and Inception for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The movie apps will be available for free and include the first five minutes of a feature film as well as bonus content such as games, trivia and soundtrack information. If you like what you see, you can buy the full movie as an in-app purchase that lets you download the movie and stream it.

The apps will be available for free in 30 countries including China, Brazil and the Netherlands. With its international flavor, each app will feature customizable menus in 16 languages and subtitles in 34 languages. The apps are also socially aware and let you share movie quotes with friends on Facebook and Twitter as well as view a live-stream of chatter about the film that you are watching. Additional details on this novel distribution method is available on the second page.

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About The Author

Kelly Hodgkins

Kelly spent the last four years covering mobile technology at places like BGR, Gizmodo and The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Before writing, she spent a few years working with and teaching others how to use Adobe Flash and Macromedia Director. Even earlier than that, she spent several years as a Ph.D student in Microbiology. When she's not writing, she can be found fishing the lakes and hiking the mountains of Western Maine with her husband and tribe of children. You can follow her on Twitter @kellyhodgkins.

  • http://www.nitinalabur.com Nitin Alabur

    download and stream?

    I’d love this if I was able to download the whole movie, instead of just streaming it. I am guessing the article meant to say “you can download or stream, which ever is convenient”?

  • http://twitter.com/clonewar2 parrotcam

    this is actually a good idea. content creators can get super creative with this.

  • http://www.worldsbestinformation.org/ pettersmith

    i am using iphone 3G does it work in my mobile or i have to buy a new phone for this. and also this application is free of cost or this will be come in life time monthly bill with super saver scheme.

  • http://twitter.com/snidely1459 Rich Neville

    This is lkely to come with massive amounts of DRM preventing you from transferring your pseudo-purchase to DVD or other file formats. WB is also unlikely to simultaneously release in the theater and this app, so you’re still getting the movie months after it was released. A real innovation would be allowing you to download the movie the day it’s released in theaters, but Hollywood can’t break out of it’s old models of distribution, so we’re stuck with their crappy windowed-release system.