YOUTUBE LAUNCHING STREAMING WITH OVER 3,000 MOVIES FROM ALL MAJOR STUDIOS

In the midst of a blog post welcoming us to "the future of video" head of YouTube Salar Kamangar confirms that starting today it will add around 3,000 new movie titles for rental in the US, along with reviews and behind the scenes extras.

NBC Universal, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. are the new studios YouTube is partnering with to add the 3,000 new and catalog releases, doubling the amount previously available. The pricing is $2.99/$3.99 for movies viewable via PC or Google TV (no other devices support mentioned) and the FAQ notes that YouTube supports resolutions up to 4K but "most" of the new additions are sadly in SD, which is up to its partners.

BLOCKBUSTER HAS TO WAIT 28 DAYS

It was only a couple of weeks ago that BlockBuster and Warner Bros were trialling the release of DVD titles into the former company's rental kiosks on their day of commercial release, but it seems like that's a future we're not going to see any more of. The pair have now announced a partnership whereby BlockBuster will offer WB's new DVD titles for rent 28 days after launch, matching Redbox and Netflix who are also subject to a four-week delay. This follows similar deals being concluded by BlockBuster with Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox, with the major benefits being lower acquisition costs and a direct relationship with the studio. We just wonder if those savings will be worth losing the one big differentiator BlockBuster had working in its favor. [Engadget]

iMOVIE BLOCKS STUDIO NAMES IN TRAILERS

Want to make it look like your movie is from Warner Bros. or Paramont using iMovie '11's trailer maker?  Well you can't.  Apple blocks the ability to use common studio names in their upcoming software.  Instead of the name, dashes appear.  This is understandable, but at the same time a bit odd considering iMovie rips off the video used by the studios, ie Paramont's mountain and stars. [Engadget]