In anticipation of today's announcement, the Apple iTunes Store is down for maintenance. The event is scheduled to take place at 12 pm EST. Normally, the Apple Store will close at the time of the event if there are new products.

If Apple is indeed launching movie downloads, then it makes perfect sense for the iTunes Store to be offline to add new content. Given the relationship between Steve Jobs, Pixar and Disney, it's expected that Disney movies will take center stage in today's announcement. Only time will tell as to what other major movie companies are on board for this new service. Movie downloads represent a new revenue stream, but companies are concerned about cannibalization of DVD sales and rental profits.

Discuss the Showtime event in our iPhone forums.