As had been speculated earlier in the month, News Corp (NYSE: NWS). and its studio Twentieth Century Fox have signed a deal with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) to allow users to rent the latest Fox DVD releases by downloading a digital copy from Apple’s iTunes platform for a limited time, reports FT, citing sources. No pricing info in the story, though an earlier report in June pegged it at around $2.99 per rental.

SEE ALSO: Apple Slip-Up A Further Hint At Imminent iTunes Movie Rental Offering?

Disney (NYSE: DIS) is the only major studio with full catalog within iTunes for now, while Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM have partial catalog deals, though all of these are download-to-own, not download-to-rent. Rival online movie services like CinemaNow and Movielink have had these download-to-rent options since the beginning, and neither of them have had any significant traction among online users till now.

The new deal will likely be announced at the Macworld show on January 14, and FT portrays it as a deal that “has the potential to transform film distribution.” I am not so sure the consumer market is ready yet…also, download speeds and time, usually on the higher side for movie files, still matter. Also, the Disney movie downloads on iTunes haven’t burned the charts yet in any meaningful way.

One interesting twist that will help, though: Besides the online rental deal, a digital file protected by Apple’s DRM scheme FairPlay will be included in new Fox DVD releases, enabling film content to ripped to a PC and video iPod. DVD content can already be moved to an iPod but this requires a bit of an effort.

Sony (NYSE: SNE), Paramount and Warner Bros, the remaining major studios, are also in talks on similar lines, the story says.

Couple of additional points: I would expect Disney to come on board for rental as well as DVD ripping as well. Also, it might be that an upgrade to Apple TV would be announced, which would help push these rental movies to the TV, as well as improve on the experience overall, hopefully.