All signs are pointing to an announcement of iTunes movie rentals at Tuesday's Macworld Expo; that's the conclusion drawn after a Bloomberg report quoted "people familiar" with Apple's upcoming addition to the media download service.  Newcomers Warner Bros. and Fox will join existing studio partners Paramount, Walt Disney Co. and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. in making their films available for temporary download, priced at $3.99 for 24hrs.

Both new and vintage titles will apparently be available, and analysts believe the upgrade will be used to springboard higher sales of the Apple TV set-top box.  In fact, some predict an upgrade to that device too; Bear Stearns & Co. analyst Andrew Neff suggested that the Cupertino-based firm would announce the next-gen software version for the unit, which streams media from networked Macs to display on a connected TV.

The news comes as Apple has been pressured into reducing the price of UK iTunes music downloads, to ensure parity with European prices.

[via Engadget]