• January 16, 2008

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs announced during the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco an alliance with the six major movie studios that will enable the company to offer first-run movie rentals online.

The service launched Tuesday in the United States and will roll out internationally later this year. There will be more than 1,000 movies for online rental through iTunes by the end of February, with prices of $2.99 for older movies and $3.99 for new releases. Users can watch instantly over a broadband Internet connection, or download and keep the movie for 30 days while having 24 hours to finish the movie once they begin watching.

Jobs also unveiled new features for the iPhone, including a GPS/mapping system. Also unveiled was new software for the iPod Touch music player. New models will be able to process e-mail and perform new mapping functions.

--Tanya Irwin