NBC Universal said yesterday that it would soon permit consumers to download many of NBC’s most popular programs free to personal computers and other devices for one week immediately after their broadcasts.

The service, which is set to start in November after a test period in October, comes less than three weeks after NBC Universal said it was pulling its programs out of the highly successful iTunes service of Apple Inc. That partnership fell apart because of a dispute over Apple’s iTunes pricing policies and what NBC executives said were concerns about lack of piracy protection.

The files, which would be downloaded overnight to home computers, would contain commercials that viewers would not be able to skip through. And the file would not be transferable to a disk or to another computer.

In a second phase of the NBC rollout, customers would pay a fee for downloads of episodes that they would then own, and the files would be transferable to other devices. NBC hopes to offer this service by mid-2008, depending on how quickly the company can put in place the secure software necessary to allow payment by credit card.

The latter system is what is already available through iTunes.

Labels: Digital media, iTunes

The iPhone is a closed system, like the iPods before it, so third parties can only develop software for it if they are EXTREMELY close to Apple. This is an incredibly frightening trend. As Apple gets more and more of its revenue from non-Mac devices, they are also getting more and more of their revenue from devices that simply exclude third parties.

On iPods, Airports, Apple TVs, and now iPhones, Apple wants every app perfect. Which is nice, in theory. In practice, it means innovation only happens at Apple's pace. The marketplace of ideas is much smaller, and the devices are much poorer because of it. (Example: Why can't I stream music from my iPhone or iPod touch to my Airport Express?)

[With] the latest iPods Apple [have] gone a step further, and disabled some docking stations that don't have a special chip in them provided by Apple; forcing customers to use only Apple-approved accessories. Apple's emulating the most pernicious qualities of Nintendo and the Microsoft XBox -- you pay us a tax or you don't work with our systems.

Apple's "approval" just comes from Apple getting a cut. It's a measure of greed, not quality. We're not talking about THX-certification here, we're talking about extortion. This kind of lock-in seems very appealing for the company doing the locking early on, but it always, ALWAYS ends up biting the company in the butt.

Then we come to ringtones. Every phone I've owned in the last ten years has allowed to make my own ringtones. But since Apple is so close to the record companies, and they are already so grumpy with Apple, Apple did a deal that benefits record companies and Apple. Not artists, certainly not consumers.

A million customers don't get to do something cool with their iPhones. Because of greed.

Now we see that iPod owners who upgrade to a newer iPod must re-buy the games they've already bought, because the new iPods are incompatible with the old. No credit given for having already bought an identical game.

Steve ... give up on trying to control everything. It's only going to keep hurting Apple, more and more, to control content and hardware and software. It's going to make them into the kind of mega-monopoly that we always, ALWAYS end up hating. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. 100% of the time.

Apple should license FairPlay, or allow iPods to play PlaysForSure music. Either one. Basically, Apple should allow other music stores to sell DRM'ed music that works on iPods and iPhones.

Faced with the choice between doing what’s right for customers or charging them money for something they shouldn’t need to pay for, Apple chose the latter. There is no middle ground. And any business that hinges on your customers “not knowing any better” is a bad business.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes

Apple President Steve Jobs reiterated his commitment to charging the same price for iTunes downloads across Europe as his lawyers defended the company on Wednesday against allegations its prices are not uniform.

"We think prices should be the same. We think anybody in Europe should buy off any store," Jobs told a press conference in Berlin, which he visited in connection with an iPhone deal.

At the same time, Apple officials were defending the company in Brussels.

The Commission charged in April that Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group and Warner Music Group were forcing Apple to curtail cross-border access to iTunes.

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes

Forbes takes a look at a product Apple seems to have all but ignored since it was first released last year:

iTV is a flat-out iFlop. Renamed Apple TV upon launch, the ballyhooed box has sold perhaps 250,000 units--far behind the 1 million sold for the iPhone, which was priced twice as high and has been on the market less than half as long. Apple ... provides detailed sales data for the iPod and other digital wonders but won't reveal any numbers for Apple TV; apparently the truth is too humiliating.

Jobs' own ambivalence about the iFlop, however, is evident. At a tech conference in May Jobs took the stage and casually dismissed Apple TV as merely "a hobby." In briefing Wall Street on quarterly earnings on July 25, Apple execs ignored the video product.

Jobs confined Apple TV to handling only the content you could get through Apple's own iTunes. This parochial and proprietary approach, in an increasingly open, Internet-infused world, had relegated the company's Macintosh line to a narrow slice of sales. Yet it also had let the iPod dominate online music, which may be why Jobs believed he could pull off the same thing in video. Wrong.

So here's the thing. In the days leading up to the Apple TV's release, I bemoaned the fact that it lacked DVR capabilities and thus could never be real competition for Microsoft's excellent Media Center software (available since 2002) and Media Center Extender hardware (available since 2004). That's still true today, and as I noted in my review of the Apple TV, the device is really just "an iPod designed for your living room instead of your pocket. It is simply yet another way to consume content purchased from Apple's nearly-ubiquitous iTunes Store." I award the thing 3 out of 5 stars and declared that it is "big on hype but short on functionality."

But is it a flop?

Maybe. I do like the idea of the Apple TV, though again, it's hugely diminished without DVR functionality. If you've completely bought into the Apple digital media ecosystem, it works pretty well. But even then there are limitations: You still can't buy any HD content on iTunes, relegating the box's 720p display capabilities moot. And if you rip your own DVDs to MPEG-4 or H.264 you have some choices to make, as the Apple TV can play back 640 x whatever movies aimed at the iPod, but the reverse isn't true of the slightly higher-resolution movies the Apple TV supports, but the iPod does not. The whole thing is kind of a mess. Technologically, the Apple TV is a mixed bag.

If these sales figures are to be believed, the Apple TV is a sales flop as well. If this were Microsoft, we'd all knowingly nod our heads at the notion that the company would simply issue a few upgrades and eventually get it right. But this is Apple, which tends to bolt from defeats, especially the high profile ones, as quickly as possible.And that's a shame, because the Apple TV could have turned into a cool product. For me, the most damning evidence that this will never happen is Jobs himself and his comments about it being "a hobby". It's just too bad.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes

Labels: iPhone, iTunes

Labels: iPhone, iTunes

Labels: iPhone, iTunes

Let me get this straight: Steve Jobs insists that songs on iTunes cost 99 cents and television episodes cost $1.99 because consumers crave simple pricing.

Except, of course, when it comes to Apple’s own products.

There were wrinkles created by all the dynamic pricing. Customers who paid $599 when the iPhone came out two months ago saw their status drop from early adopter to, well, sucker, after Mr. Jobs cut the price of the device by a third. After Mr. Jobs was crucified for playing it too cute on the so-called “Jesus phone,” he issued a non-apology apology and a $100 store credit to help those early buyers salvage some dignity.

A pricing error? Absolutely. And when you think about it, the media companies Mr. Jobs is fighting with want the opportunity to make the same mistake.

Apple saying it would not carry television shows from the coming NBC season because the network wanted double the $1.99 price and NBC saying that was not true.

“Apple is not telling the truth. We never asked to double the wholesale price of our shows," said Cory Shields, a spokesman for NBC Universal. “Our negotiations were centered on our request for flexibility in wholesale pricing, including the ability to package shows together in ways that could make our content even more attractive for consumers.”

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPhone, iPod, iTunes

There are apps that age gracefully, staying functional and relevant for months or years with no changes at all... and then there's iTunes. We had only hours to get used to a new version with support for all the iPods coming down the pike, and then in don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it fashion, 7.4 was gone and 7.4.1 was here. Wheel in the sky, keep on turning.

Apple hasn't listed specific changes between 7.4 and 7.4.1...

Labels: iTunes

Labels: Digital media, iTunes, Zune

Labels: Digital media, iTunes

Labels: Digital media, iTunes

Apple today announced that it will not be selling NBC television shows for the upcoming television season on its online iTunes Store (www.itunes.com). The move follows NBC’s decision to not renew its agreement with iTunes after Apple declined to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode, which would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current $1.99. ABC, CBS, FOX and The CW, along with more than 50 cable networks, are signed up to sell TV shows from their upcoming season on iTunes at $1.99 per episode.

“We are disappointed to see NBC leave iTunes because we would not agree to their dramatic price increase,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We hope they will change their minds and offer their TV shows to the tens of millions of iTunes customers.”

Apple’s agreement with NBC ends in December. Since NBC would withdraw their shows in the middle of the television season, Apple has decided to not offer NBC TV shows for the upcoming television season beginning in September. NBC supplied iTunes with three of its 10 best selling TV shows last season, accounting for 30 percent of iTunes TV show sales.

Labels: Apple, iTunes

NBC Universal has decided not to renew its contract to sell television shows on iTunes, becoming the second major media company to challenge Apple Inc's dominance in digital entertainment.

NBC Universal had demanded more control over pricing for digital downloads of its shows, which include "Battlestar Gallactica" and "Heroes," said a source familiar with the matter on Friday, confirming a New York Times report.

A spokeswoman for NBC Universal confirmed it will not renew the contract and declined to elaborate. NBC Universal is the No. 1 supplier of digital video to the online store, accounting for about 40 percent of downloads.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iTunes

Acknowledging its proprietary audio technology was a marketplace flop, Sony Corp. is shuttering its Connect digital music store and will open its portable media players to other formats.

The moves were announced Thursday at a Berlin consumer electronics trade fair as the Japanese electronics pioneer unveiled a pair of new digital Walkmans that can play the Windows Media Audio, MP3 and AAC audio formats.

Sony said it would phase out operations of its struggling Connect online store, which sold songs in the company's proprietary ATRAC format.

"This gives customers greater flexibility in their music software approach," the company said in a statement. "As a result, Sony will be phasing out the Connect Music Services based on Sony's ATRAC audio format in North America and Europe."

Labels: Digital media, iTunes, Zune

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has begun selling some of its online music catalog without anticopying software, stepping up its competition with Apple Inc.'s iTunes store.

Wal-Mart will sell songs without the software -- known as digital rights management, or DRM -- through its walmart.com site for 94 cents a track, or $9.22 an album. The No. 1 seller of recorded music said it will launch the service with songs from two major record labels, Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group and EMI Group PLC.

Labels: Digital media, iTunes

The artificial audio of MP3s is quickly becoming the primary way people listen to music. Apple already has sold 100 million iPods, and more than a billion MP3 files are traded every month through the Internet.

But the music contained in these computer files represents less than 10 percent of the original music on the CDs. In its journey from CD to MP3 player, the music has been compressed by eliminating data that computer analysis deems redundant, squeezed down until it fits through the Internet pipeline.

When even the full files on the CDs contain less than half the information stored to studio hard drives during recording, these compressed MP3s represent a minuscule fraction of the actual recording. For purists, it's the dark ages of recorded sound.

How much the audio quality is affected by the MP3 process depends on the compression strategy, the encoder used, the playback equipment, computer speed and many other steps along the way. Experts agree, however, that the audio quality of most MP3s is somewhere around FM radio. The best digital audio, even with increased sampling rates and higher bit rates, still falls short of the natural quality of now-obsolete analog tape recording.

How good MP3s sound obviously also depends greatly on the playback system. But most MP3s are heard through cheap computer speakers, plastic iPod docking stations or, worse yet, those audio abominations called earbuds.

Labels: Digital media, iPod, iTunes, Zune

Apple today announced that more than three billion songs have been purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store. iTunes is the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store featuring a catalog of over five million songs, 550 television shows and 500 movies. iTunes recently surpassed Amazon and Target to become the third largest music retailer in the US.

Labels: Apple, iTunes

Movie website CinemaNow has released an update to its Media Manager software that enhances the software's capability in two significant ways. Xbox 360 owners who've networked the system to a PC with Media Manager installed can now download movies to the PC and watch them on their televisions by using the XBox 360 as a pass-through device. Also available in the update is new support for the CinemaNow Burn-to-DVD feature in Windows Vista.

The company's current plan seems to be to extend its playback abilities to as many various devices and systems as possible, with support for Portable Media Players (PMPs) from Archos and built-in support for HP's upcoming line of MediaSmart LCD televisions.

Labels: Digital media, iTunes

Labels: Apple, iPhone, iTunes

Wirelessly share digital photos from any computer in your home with Apple TV

Labels: Apple TV, iPhone, iTunes

iPhone goes on sale at 6:00 p.m. (local time) on Friday, June 29 and will be sold in the US through Apple’s retail and online stores and AT&T retail stores. All iPhone monthly service plans are ... based on a new two-year service agreement with AT&T. Individual plans are priced at $59.99 for 450 minutes, $79.99 for 900 minutes and $99.99 for 1,350 minutes. All plans include unlimited data (email and web), Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile and a one-time activation fee of $36.

Apple and AT&T today announced that iPhone users will be able to activate their new iPhones using Apple’s popular iTunes software running on a PC or Mac computer in the comfort and privacy of their own home or office, without having to wait in a store while their phone is activated. Activating iPhone takes only minutes as iTunes guides the user through simple steps to choose their service plan, authorize their credit and activate their iPhone. Once iPhone is activated, users can then easily sync all of their phone numbers and other contact information, calendars, email accounts, web browser bookmarks, music, photos, podcasts, TV shows and movies just like they do when they sync their iPods with iTunes.

Labels: Apple, iPhone, iTunes

Apple Inc.'s digital music store iTunes is now the third-largest music retailer in the United States with 10 percent market share, overtaking Amazon.com in the first quarter, according to a survey released Friday.

The NPD Group report highlights the growing strength of digital music in the U.S. market as physical sales of compact discs continue to slide.

Apple's iTunes is third behind market leader Wal-Mart Stores Inc. with a 15.8 percent share, and Best Buy Co Inc. with a 13.8 percent share, according to the survey of 40,000 people aged 13 and older.

Both of those retailers mostly sell music in the CD format.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iTunes

Apple Inc. is in talks with the Hollywood studios to make new movies available for rental for its iTunes service, according to two studio executives familiar with the matter.

The rental service is being pitched aggressively by Apple, with titles to rent for $2.99 for a set number of days before expiring, these people said. It is unclear which studios might participate, with Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures currently in favor and General Electric Co.'s Universal Studios Inc. currently opposed, for example. The service is far from a certainty with several details to iron out, said a person close to the situation.

For Apple, such a deal would represent a departure from a long-term strategy. Mr. Jobs has many times dismissed the consumer appeal of rental-like "subscription" music services, which allow users to listen to as much music as they like for a flat monthly fee, without giving them permanent ownership of the songs. He has been less vocal about the appeal of movie rentals on the Web. Unlike music, movies rented on physical media like DVDs are a well-established category

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iTunes

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes, Mac

Hymn, short for Hear Your Music aNywhere has a link to an updated version of QTFairUse6 (version 2.5) that can remove the DRM from music purchased from the iTunes Store.

QTFairUse6, created by IgorSK, is the only working solution for decrypting iTunes music. The software is useful for people that have purchased DRM'd music from the iTunes Store that want to play it on another brand of music player.

Labels: Digital media, iTunes

A new music lyrics service launched by Yahoo illustrates the potential and the challenges of integrating lyrics into digital music products today.

At Yahoo and elsewhere, lyrics remain a notable omission from digital music files either purchased or acquired through subscription models. Not only do consumers not receive song lyrics with their download, they can't search for songs by lyrics within Yahoo Music Unlimited or any other digital music service including iTunes.

Labels: Digital media, iTunes, Zune

When we first went to talk to these record companies ... we said: None of this technology that you're talking about's gonna work. We have Ph.D.'s here, that know the stuff cold, and we don't believe it's possible to protect digital content.

These [music subscription] services that are out there now are going to fail.Here's why: People don't want to buy their music as a subscription. They bought 45's; then they bought LP's; then they bought cassettes; then they bought 8-tracks; then they bought CD's. They're going to want to buy downloads. People want to own their music. You don't want to rent your music -- and then, one day, if you stop paying, all your music goes away.

And, you know, at 10 bucks a month, that's $120 a year. That's $1,200 a decade. That's a lot of money for me to listen to the songs I love. It's cheaper to buy, and that's what they're gonna want to do.

There are approximately 800 million CD's sold in the U.S. a year, I believe. That's about 10 billion tracks, right? About 10 billion tracks in the U.S. -- sold legally. Our next milestones are to get up to 100 million tracks a year, then a quarter a billion, and then half a billion, and then a billion. And that's gonna take a little bit of time.

Movies are very different than music. First of all, they're a hundred times larger. There's only been one way to buy your music -- that's on a CD. Look at the ways there are to legally buy a movie -- you can see it at the theater, you can buy it on home video, you can buy on DVD. But you can also rent it at Blockbuster or Netflix. You can watch it on pay-per-view. You can also watch it on cable or network TV. There are a lot of ways to legally get a movie. There was only one way to legally get music. That's a really big difference. The distribution is much more highly evolved in the movie industry than it ever was in the music industry

People who just make the leap that movies are next are wrong.

There are a lot of examples of people offering services, Internet-based services, that have done quite well [against Microsoft].

One of the reasons Apple was able to do what we did was because we are perceived by the music industry as the most creative technology company. And now we've created this music store, which I think is nontrivial to copy. I mean, to say that Microsoft can just decide to copy it, and copy it in six months -- that's a big statement. It may not be so easy.

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes

Lost amid the hoopla over last week's EMI announcement regarding their decision to sell digital music without digital rights management (DRM) restrictions was the fact that Apple was only the first digital music reseller to sign on for the new offerings. This week, Microsoft admitted that it, too, would offer music without DRM.

"The EMI announcement is not exclusive to Apple," a Microsoft spokesperson says. "Consumers have made it clear that unprotected music is something they want. We plan on offering it to them as soon as our label partners are comfortable with it." Microsoft says it has been working with EMI and other record labels for quite some time, and will offer DRM-free music via the Zune Marketplace, its online service for the Zune portable device, as soon as possible.

Labels: Digital media, iTunes, Zune

Apple today announced that the 100 millionth iPod has been sold, making the iPod the fastest selling music player in history. The first iPod was sold five and a half years ago, in November 2001, and since then Apple has introduced more than 10 new iPod models, including five generations of iPod, two generations of iPod mini, two generations of iPod nano and two generations of iPod shuffle. Along with iTunes and the iTunes online music store, the iPod has transformed how tens of millions of music lovers acquire, manage and listen to their music.

The iPod has also sparked an unprecedented ecosystem of over 4,000 accessories made specifically for the iPod that range from fashionable cases to speaker systems, and more than 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles currently offer iPod connectivity.

Every iPod features seamless integration with iTunes 7. The iTunes Store features the world’s largest catalog with over five million songs, 350 television shows and over 400 movies. The iTunes Store has sold over 2.5 billion songs, 50 million TV shows and over 1.3 million movies, making it the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes

The Thompson site says you pay 2% of revenues from a service - or $0.02/song - to use mp3 in a service. The last time I saw a content distribution fee, it was on mpeg-4 part 2, and it pretty much killed that standard. Thankfully, in h.264 mpeg dropped that requirement for free distribution.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes, Microsoft

A day after revealing that it had sent a statement of objections to Apple and the four largest record companies, European Union (EU) antitrust regulators said that the recording industry was the real target of its charges. The EU has alleged that the recording industry and Apple are engaged in unfair pricing of songs sold via Apple's iTunes Store.

"This is an arrangement imposed on Apple by the record companies," an EU spokesperson said Tuesday, agreeing with comments made by Apple spokespeople a day earlier. "The main focus of our attention is the major record companies."

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes

Today, the European Union (EU) announced it was investigating Apple for antitrust violations related to the pricing of music sold via its iTunes Store service. The European Commission (EC) has sent a statement of objections to Apple, spelling out how the company and the four major recording companies who supply it with music are violating EU antitrust laws.

At issue is the way Apple charges different prices in iTunes Store for the same content in different countries. This, the EU says, unfairly penalizes those consumers in countries where the content is more expensive.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes

Thought I'd lay out some fundamental facts about a few audio formats - some comments show some common misperceptions.

* Mp3 – the jpeg of digital music. Supported by everyone, everywhere. Mediocre compression efficiency, but utterly dominant in personal libraries because users can simply rip to a higher bitrate. Licensable by anyone for a low fee. Universal compatibility is mp3’s key feature.

* AAC – designed for MPEG, by MPEG. Largely associated with Apple at this point, AAC was designed by a licensing body, complete with patent pool, etc.. Licensable by anyone for a (relatively pricey) fee from MPEG-LA. High compression efficiency. Compatibility is fine – as long as you buy Apple products.

* WMA – Microsoft’s audio format. Adopted by most mp3 player skus (but not by most mp3 player units, thanks to the iPod..). Freely licensable for a low fee. Also associated with WMDRM, which is supported by playsforsure devices. High compression efficiency, good compatibility story, but not as good as mp3’s.

* Ogg, FLAC, etc… - Open source codecs. Generally good compression efficiency, but very low support from services and devices. To use these is to enter untested legal waters, but they’re very interesting, and nobody is asking for money for them...yet.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes, Microsoft, Zune

Music giant EMI this morning announced that it would be releasing its entire catalog without digital rights management (DRM) restrictions, the first of the four largest music companies to do so. In addition, EMI announced that Apple's iTunes would be the first online music service to sell these unrestricted files starting in May.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Monday that the DRM-free versions of individual songs will offer twice the quality of the DRM-restricted versions, meaning that they will be encoded using the 256 Kbps AAC audio format, compared to 128 Kbps for the original versions. (In a bit of showmanship, Jobs claimed that the 128 Kbps files already offered "the best audio quality" offered by any mainstream digital music service, which is demonstrably untrue: All Windows Media-based online services already offer dramatically higher quality music files than does Apple.) The new songs will cost $1.29 in the US, compared to 99 cents for the restricted versions.

In a nice nod toward users, Apple will also allow its customers to upgrade any existing EMI song purchases to the new unrestricted format for 30 cents per song.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes

In a major break with the music industry's longstanding antipiracy strategy, EMI Group PLC announced today that it plans to sell significant amounts of its catalog without anticopying software.

The London music company made its announcement with Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs. EMI is to sell songs without the software -- known as digital rights management -- through Apple's iTunes Store and possibly through other online outlets.

EMI's move comes after months of private discussions and public advocacy by Internet and technology-industry executives, including Mr. Jobs, aimed at encouraging the music industry to change its approach to licensing music for sale online. In February, Mr. Jobs took the unusual step of posting an 1,800-word essay on Apple's Web site urging major recording companies to consider dropping their insistence that music be sold over the Internet with DRM software.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iTunes

We thought it was too good to be true. Mysterious goings-on have put an end to happy hackers' tinkering with Apple TV.

Just days after intrepid telly addicts ripped open Apple TV's innards to install larger drives and extra file support, the guys at Tutorial Ninjas a reporting they've had their boxes remotely reset to remove any additional features they've shoehorned in.

According to their website, the Ninja's awoke to find their freshly hacked TV boxes had several features disabled overnight ... Apple TV is repairing itself overnight using a scheduled reset tool, known as a 'chronjob.'

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes

After arguing for years that the success of its iTunes Store rests on low, standardized pricing, Apple on Wednesday unveiled a new feature of the online service, called Complete My Album, that was directly requested by the music industry. Users who purchase individual songs on iTunes can now buy the rest of the album via the service for a discounted price.

Previously, iTunes customers who purchased individual tracks from an album were not credited for those purchases if they later went back and purchased the entire album, meaning they were effectively charged for certain songs twice. Now, customers will receive a 99 cent credit for each song they purchased from an album when they later go back and purchase the full album.

The industry is straining to shore up the album as long as possible, in part by prodding listeners who buy one song to purchase the rest of a collection. Apple, in consultation with several labels, has been planning to offer iTunes users credit for songs they have already purchased if they then choose to buy the associated album in a certain period of time, according to people involved in the negotiations. (Under Apple’s current practice, customers who buy a song and then the related album effectively pay for the song twice).

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes

Here it is, a step by step tutorial on upgrading your Apple TV harddrive.

You can do this via the terminal, or by using some applications (which add $100 to the cost of the process).

What you need:

Hex-bit screwdriver
2.5? hard drive (we used a Western Digital 120 GB WD1200VE drive)
Wiebetech Forensic DriveDock (optional, but recommended) or any 2.5? to Firewire bridge
Subrosasoft’s CopyCatX ($49), or be comfy with the terminal
Coriolis’s iPartition ($45), or use the Apple Factory Restore

[and an Intel-based Mac].

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes

Now Paul, you are just being naughty - the retail price of the XBOX is 100 bucks more for the version without the hard drive ($399) and a good 200 bucks more for the version with the 20 gig drive ($499).

Also as a media centre the XBOX is an enormous PC with big BOY connections and is as loud as can be imagined.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes

Apple TV is another way to enjoy the content you manage by iTunes, and a natural evolution of the work Apple has done with the iPod. It's not the first to utilize a TV--you can easily connect most modern iPods to your TV with an optional dock and set of cables (and, incidentally, duplicate almost everything the Apple TV does at a lower cost)--but it is the first Apple device designed specifically and exclusively for the living room. And while it is missing some very key functionality that would make this device far more compelling, it's not a horrible first attempt.

I'm a huge fan and regular user of iTunes and various iPods, but the Apple TV is lacking that special something that those solutions have in spades. It is neither best of breed nor even in the running. It is, in short, simply OK. And I know Apple can do better than this.

And if you are thinking about an Apple TV, consider this: You can do virtually everything the Apple TV does with the iPod you probably already own, a $39 dock, and a $19 set of cables, albeit at standard definition resolutions. Is the Apple TV really worth the $300? At this point, the answer, for most people, is no.

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, iTunes

Hello Paul Thurrott,

We wanted to let you know that your order has shipped. If you ordered multiple items, you may receive separate shipments with no additional shipping charges. All shipments except those delivered by the U.S. Postal Service require a signature on receipt. Visit Order Status to track or pre-sign for your shipment. If you'd like to request a return, print an invoice or view your account history, please log in to Your Account.

Best regards,
The Apple Store Team

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes

In an undisclosed and largely unnoticed update to its QuickTime video playback and conversion software, Apple has quietly added an “Export to Apple TV” feature capable of creating high-definition videos viewable on the Apple TV accessory. Unlike Export to iPod, which currently creates sub-DVD-quality 640 by 480 videos, Export to Apple TV creates not only full DVD-quality 720 by 404 videos, but also 1280 by 720 videos. These videos are viewable in iTunes, but cannot be transferred directly via iTunes to an fifth-generation iPod.

The 1280 by 720 pixel resolution, also known as 720P, is one of several high-definition video formats supported by current televisions. Using the H.264 video compression codec, Apple TV supports 720P playback at 24 frames per second - the frame rate used by movies, not TV shows - at substantially higher bit rates than prior iPod- and iTunes-created videos. A 2.5-minute 720P sample we converted with QuickTime yielded a 4214kbps, 76-Megabyte file from a 5708kbps, 102-Megabyte original, suggesting that feature-length, 90-minute HD movies formatted for Apple TV will require around 3 Gigabytes of hard disk space.

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes

Apple has released a new version of iTunes that addresses a number of compatibility issues with Windows Vista. iTunes 7.1.1 is recommended for use with most editions of Windows Vista, however, Apple is actively working with Microsoft to resolve a few remaining known issues. This document will be updated as more information becomes available.

Labels: iTunes, Vista

iTunes 7.1.1 addresses a stability issue and minor compatibility problems in iTunes 7.1.

Labels: iTunes

The European Union's consumer chief has downplayed her views on Apple, backing off the line that its iTunes online music store must become more compatible with other formats.

Meglena Kuneva said during a news conference Tuesday that there is no reason to talk about legal action against the U.S. computer and technology company and that she merely wanted to raise questions.

"I would like, really, to start this debate. What is best to develop this market and to have more consumers enjoying this really very important, very modern way of downloading and enjoying the music?" she said of Apple's iTunes software.

"Somebody drew the comparison with Microsoft," which received a big antitrust blow from the EU a few years ago, Kuneva said. "No, this is not the case because the share of the market of Apple is really not a big one."

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes

Labels: Apple, iTunes

European Union consumer chief Meglena Kuneva has hit out at Apple Inc.'s bundling of its popular iPod music players and its iTunes online music store, according to German weekly magazine Focus.

"Do you think it's fine that a CD plays in all CD players but that an iTunes song only plays in an iPod? I don't. Something has to change," EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Kuneva was quoted as saying in a preview of an interview to be published on Monday.

Norway, a European country that is not in the EU, is battling Apple for the same reason. In January, it said the computer and software giant must liberalise its music download system by Oct. 1 or face legal action.

Pressure on Apple has been building, with consumer rights organisations from Germany, France, Finland and Norway recently agreeing a joint position in their battles against iTunes.

They argue that Apple uses digital rights technology to limit consumers' free use of songs bought on iTunes, including the ability to copy and transfer songs to other users and other MP3 devices besides the Apple iPod.

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes

Every day, the roughly one million people who visit the iTunes Store home page are presented with several dozen albums, TV shows and movie downloads to consider buying -- out of the four million such goods the Apple site offers. This prime promotion is analogous to a CD being displayed at the checkout stands of all 940 Best Buy stores or featured on the front page of Target's ad circular.

How do bands get these boosts? Who decides whether Arcade Fire is plugged at the top of the iTunes site -- or whether Nickelback gets no mention?

Apple has jettisoned some of the conventions of traditional music retailing -- notably, the practice of selling prime promotional spots to recording companies willing to pay for better visibility for their acts. But behind the scenes there's plenty of horse-trading going on that influences which songs are seen and purchased by iTunes customers.

Labels: Apple, iPod, iTunes

Labels: Apple, iTunes

Apple has released a new version of iTunes that addresses a number of compatibility issues with Windows Vista. iTunes 7.1 is recommended for use with most editions of Windows Vista, however, Apple is actively working with Microsoft to resolve a few remaining known issues.

Labels: Apple, iTunes, Vista

Labels: Digital media, iTunes, Vista

A technology that allows movies to be downloaded and burned to blank DVDs using the same content-protection system as commercial discs received official approval on Thursday.

CSS Managed Recording was approved at a meeting of the DVD Forum in Tokyo.

The technology will require discs that are slightly different from the conventional DVD-Rs found in shops today. The burned discs will be compatible with the vast majority of consumer DVD players.

Labels: Digital media, iTunes

Movie-rental giant Blockbuster Inc. is in advanced talks to acquire Movielink LLC, an online movie-downloading company owned by the major Hollywood studios, according to people familiar with the matter.

While the proposed deal is small -- the price is said to be less than $50 million in cash and stock -- it has important strategic implications. For Blockbuster, it represents a quick way into the online download business. Movielink has quietly peddled films online since 2002, with little success. In the past year or so, the nascent field has begun to pick up momentum, with big players like Apple Inc.'s.