Summary: News: The new iPad: everything you need to know http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/7/2852312/new-ipad-third-generation-specs-features Walmart to offer in-store 'disc-to-digital' conversions, powered by Vudu and UltraViolet: $2 for SD, $5 for HD The rumors are true: Walmart has just announced that it is launching an in-store "disc-to-digital" service powered by its existing Vudu on-demand solution, powered by UltraViolet. Walmart has partnered with five studios: Fox, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Warner Brothers. Adding a standard definition copy of a DVD or HD copy of a Blu-ray will cost two dollars, while upgrading DVDs to HD will cost five dollars. Walmart is also claiming that any movies that customers have acquired through other UltraViolet sources (like the UltraViolet digital copies that come with some Blu-ray purchases) will be playable through Vudu, as well. We've heard promises like this before, but UltraViolet integration has been rather fragmented up to this point, so we'll see how it works in practice. This program will roll out in Walmart stores on April 16th. Walmart stressed that users would keep their discs, but it isn't clear yet what Walmart will do to keep multiple users from buying digital copies from the same DVD or Blu-ray. Executives from the five movie studios joined Walmart executive VP John Aden on stage for this event, and the consistent message is that this will be a "seamless" way for customers to move their physical movies to the digital realm and that this will be a coming out party for UltraViolet to help it gain mass awareness and adoption amongst consumers (something that's definitely been a problem thus far). There's also a massive marketing campaign planned that is "on the scale of a blockbuster film launch," so we'll definitely be hearing about this program over the course of the year. The major strength of this program sounds like the use of Vudu — this service is already available on the PS3, Xbox 360, and a variety of Blu-ray players and Smart TVs, so users will be able to easily bring their new digital copies to the living room. If users are truly able to play UltraViolet movies from other solutions like Flixster and Paramount side-by-side with Vudu, UltraViolet might finally gain some traction amongst consumers. http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/13/2867843/walmart-ultraviolet-disc-to-digital-official iTunes Digital Copies of movies can now be served up by iCloud A digital version of a movie now available to stream from iCloud on an Apple TV Digital copies of certain movies can now by synced to and downloaded from iCloud, Tech of the Hub noted Friday. Customers who have iTunes Digital Copies of movies loaded on their iTunes will find that those movies are now also available from iCloud on their other devices for streaming. iTunes Digital Copies have been sold inside DVD and Blu-ray movies for some time—the author of the original post used his 2009 copy of Star Trek as an example. The copies were originally meant for customers to add the movie to iTunes to play on their computers or synced to other devices. With the recent upgrades to iTunes, the program checks those digital copies against movies available in the iTunes Store. If the movie is indeed available through iTunes, iCloud makes the movie available for streaming on any devices linked to the owner's iTunes account, just as it has been doing with music using iTunes in the Cloud. By extension, this means your digital-copy movies can be streamed on an updated Apple TV without needing a host computer to feed the stream. If you're looking to stream a digital copy you own from your own iCloud, check out the Purchased tab in the iTunes app and hit the button with the cloud icon. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2012/03/your-digital-movies-can-now-be-served-up-by-icloud.ars Bethesda's Todd Howard on Skyrim's biggest development hurdle, fan-made mods, and what happens next
