20th Century Fox bringing movie downloads to Android in October

By Jeff Hughes July 21, 2011

android-robots — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Google’s Android is getting a welcomed addition to its media offerings this Fall. Twentieth Century Fox has announced a new service that will bring Fox movie downloads to Android devices. This marks a first for film studios offering content on Android.

The service won’t exactly allow movies to be downloaded directly to phones. Customers will need to initially buy a physical Blu-ray disc of a Fox movie. Afterward, they will be allowed to download a digital Android-friendly copy of the movie from Fox’s website to a computer, which can then be side loaded onto the Android device.

Android users can expect to see the service beginning in October—Fox is starting the service off with X-Men: First Class. The download service will hit the US first along with the UK, France and Germany.

This can be significant. The Google OS has faced a severe poverty in movie services. Only recently has Google integrated eBooks and the new Youtube Movies service for all Android 2.2+ phones; services which allow books and movies to be rented directly from the market storefront. Netflix has also introduced an Android app, but only recently doubled its compatible list to 24 devices.

The reason why Android has been sulking while the iPhone basks in the convenience of the iTunes music and video store is due to the lack of playback and copy-protection technologies. However, Google has since acquired Widevine, a rights-management company with technology that addresses those issues. After taking out Symbian, Android’s growth may equip it well enough to start taking on Apple’s dominance in the field.

Fox will further be developing a new app for smartphones and tablets that will be used while watching movies on the TV, enhancing entertainment. Twentieth Century Fox’s senior VP Vincent Marcais told Financial Times, “Given its strong growth as a mobile operating system, the support for Android is an important move for us.”

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

I'm a SF Bay Area-based writer/ninja that loves anything geek, tech, comic, social media or gaming-related.

Mobile

Best tablet deals: iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Fire, and more

Front face of Samsung Galaxy Tab S8.

Whether for work, play, or anything in between, a new tablet can make a nice addition to your tech lineup. They’re perfect for kids and professionals, and most brands have something at a price point for everyone. Tablets also make some great tech for some savings, as even the best tablets often see a discount. There are a lot of tablet deals out there, and among them are some of the best Samsung tablet deals, best iPad deals, and best Surface Laptop and Surface Pro deals we’ve seen. Below you’ll find what we feel are the best tablet deals to shop right now, as well as some information on why each might best suit your tablet needs.
Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite (32GB) -- $90, was $160

If you need an Android tablet for simple tasks like browsing the internet and watching streaming shows, the affordable Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite may be enough for you. Its 8.7-inch screen is decent with WXGA+ resolution, while maintaining portability so you can easily hold the tablet in one hand. Its internal storage is limited at 32GB, but you can expand it by up to 1TB using a microSD card. For the clumsy ones, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is perfect for you because it's protected by a sturdy metal frame.

Mobile

Best cell phone plan deals: T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Mint Mobile and more

Woman

One of the best phones deserves one of the best cell phone plans, and whether you’re shopping for yourself or you’re looking to add a line to your plan for a family member, there are more options out there than many people think. With larger carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile you can often find some great phone deals, but if you’re simply shopping for a cell phone plan, we’ve got all of the information you need to get yourself one of the best cell plan deals. Reading onward you’ll find the best cell phone plan deals to shop right now, and while these are general plans offered by each provider, they do include some of the best cell phone plans out there.
Mint Mobile: Get any 3-month plan for $15 per month
For a limited time, Mint Mobile has dropped the three-month price for all of its plans to just $15 per month. That means, the Unlimited plan, normally $30 per month, or $90 for three months, is no just $15 per month or $45 for three months. The base 5GB of data per month plan is $15 per month, and the 15GB per month plan is $15 per month, or $45 for three months. That is an incredible deal. All Mint Mobile plans include unlimited talk and text, access to 5GB high-speed data, free calling to Mexico and Canada, free mobile hotspot access, and WiFi calling support. You can't beat that!

U.S. Mobile: Pre-pay $23 per line per month
Prepaid wireless plans are a great option for light users, kids, and anyone else who won’t be consuming a lot of data on a daily basis. U.S. Mobile is one of the best prepaid service providers available today, allowing you to build your own custom plan, so you’re only paying for as many minutes, texts, and gigabytes of data as you want to. As just one example, its Unlimited Starter plan is just $15 per line, or $276 for 12 months -- saving you $72 per year. You get unlimited talk, text, and data, 10GB of hotspot data, international calling and texting, and more. If you're adding multiple lines to a plan, you can also unlock free extras like Disney+ and Netflix.

Mobile

Are you having iPhone alarm problems? A fix is coming soon

A person holding the Apple iPhone 15 Plus.

If you’ve slept through an important meeting or missed your alarm lately, it may not be entirely your fault if you’re an iPhone user. For weeks now, iPhone users have been reporting on social media that their devices are no longer ringing.

Today, The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern finally confirmed this. According to Stern, Apple has confirmed that it’s aware of the issue causing some alarms not to play a sound and is working on a fix.
iPhone alarm issues explained
The iPhone alarm problem seems to be tied to Apple’s Attention Aware features. For those unfamiliar, it’s a feature that lowers the volume sound of your alerts and alarms if you’re looking at your device and avoids dimming the screen, similar to how Samsung phones keep the screen on if they see you looking at your screen.