Movies now showing in NZ and Australian iTunes stores
They may be first to see the sun, but they’ve been waiting quite a while for movie rentals and purchases from the iTunes store — now that patience has paid off, as movies have now arrived in a land down under. Aussie and Kiwi iTunes users can purchase and rent movies to their hearts’ content. New releases on DVD will premiere day-and-date on the iTunes store at the same time as they’re on sale in physical form in the two new countries of service.
iTunes movie purchases in Australia will kick off the price tier at A$9.99 for catalog titles, A$17.99 for recent releases and A$24.99 for new
releases; rentals will be A$3.99 for library title rentals and A$5.99 for new releases. iTunes movies in New Zealand start at NZ$9.99 for catalog title purchases, NZ$17.99 for recent releases and NZ$24.99 for new releases, rentals are NZ$4.99 for library titles / NZ$6.99 for new releases. As in the US store, getting the high-def version costs an additional dollar. Rentals can be held for 30 days before you start watching and then you have 48 hours to finish (a whole day longer than US customers? Must be the International Date Line). Thanks to everyone who sent this in
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Second Australian Apple Store is ready
Apple certainly took their time in establishing a retail presence in Australia, but now they’re set to open a second store, this time in Chatswood.
Apple Store Chatswood Chase will open on Satruday, August 9th at 9:00 AM. The store is located at Chatswood Chase Shopping Centre, Victoria Avenue, Chatswood. You can get full travel directions here.
As usual, we’re asking any Apple operatives who visit this weekend to send us stories and photos. Good luck, have fun and we’re hoping you score a T-shirt! Thanks, Bryce! [Apple]
Popularity: 4% [?]
Pope Benedict XVI texting out messages of encouragement
Don’t act like you didn’t know that Pope Benedict XVI was down with modern technology. As part of World Youth Day, the man himself will begin sending out texts of encouragement to pilgrims who have signed up through Telstra to receive them. A total of four gigantic “prayer walls” have been erected at the Sydney Opera House, the Domain, Darling Harbour and Randwick Racecourse in Australia, where folks will actually be able to send their own messages for all to presumably see. The first message sent out? “Young friend, God and his people expect much from u because u have within you the Fathers supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus - BXVI.” Hllujh, amn brtha.
[Thanks, zedster]
Popularity: 8% [?]
iPhone 3G unboxing pics: black and white edition
Ameo.com has posted some great unboxing pictures of the iPhone 3G (both the white and the black iPhone 3G gets unboxed). I’m sure the web will soon be flooded with unboxing pictures as people around the world excitedly rip their new phones open, but Ameo’s pictures are some of the best unboxing pictures I have ever seen. Head on over to check out what you’ll get in the box (note that the pictures are of the Australian iPhone, so the power adapter might look different than what you’re used to) and to see a black iPhone 3G compared to a white one.[Read]
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Australian iPhone pricing announced
Optus has released information on iPhone plan pricing for Australia. There are two options: post-paid and pre-paid.
The post-paid option includes what they’re calling a “Cap Plan” and a “Yes Plan.” The Cap Plan (all prices are Australian dollars) starts at $19 and offers 100MB of mobile internet data and $50 of calls and text, and maxes out at 1GB of data and $1500 of calls for $179.
All Cap Plans include free 20-minute voice calls to other Optus GSM mobiles in Australia (within hourly restrictions), and free 5-minute voice calls to phones on the same account, 24/7.
The Yes Plans start at $19 for 100MB of data and $14 of calls, and maxes out at 1GB of data and $144 of calls for $149. There are several text and rollover options for both.
The pre-paid options offer an 8GB iPhone for $729 and a 16GB phone for $849. These phones can be unlocked free of charge after six months, or for a $60 fee any time before then (including the time of purchase). So, totally unlocked iPhone 3G will be sold in Australia for $789 (the 8GB model) or $929 (16GB). Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Popularity: 4% [?]
