iLounge

Apple today released iTunes 7, which, as widely expected, brings full-length movie downloads to the iTunes Store. (As noted earlier today, Apple has apparently dropped the word “Music” from the store’s name.) Apple is currently offering over 75 movies from Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films.

Movies will become available on the iTunes Store the same day they are released on DVD, with new releases priced at $12.99 when pre-ordered and during their first week of availability, and $14.99 thereafter, and library titles available for $9.99 every day. After purchased, movies can be watched on an iPod or computer, or on a TV with the company’s forthcoming “iTV” device. With iTunes 7, all videos purchased from the iTunes Store now come in “near-DVD quality” resolution of 640x480 (up from 320x240).

iTunes 7 also includes gapless music playback, expanded parental controls, an iTunes video playback window with on-screen controls, and new sorting features, including new album and Cover Flow views of music, TV shows and movies, “enabling users to quickly find titles in their library as well as casually browse through and re-discover titles they already own.”

Movies currently offered include “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “The Princess Diaries,” “The Incredibles,” “National Treasure,” “Toy Story,” “The Rock” and “The Rookie.” As previously noted, iTunes 7 also add video game downloads for fifth-generation iPods, including “Tetris,” “Mahjong” and “Mini Golf” from Electronic Arts; “Pac-Man” from Namco; “Cubis 2” from FreshGames; “Bejeweled” and “Zuma” from PopCap Games; and “Texas Hold’em” and “Vortex” developed by Apple, all available for $4.99 each.