The Week's New Content - Nov. 2, 2009
New content added to the site this week includes:
- Can I Give Away an iPod and Let the Recipient Have the Music On It?
- Third Generation Apple iPod touch Reviews
- iPhone Help - All the Articles at iPod.About.com
- Readers Respond: Is It OK to Share the Music on Your iPod?
- Readers Respond: What's the Best iPod FM Transmitter?
- Readers Respond: What's the Best iPod Car Kit?
- UPDATED: Fixing iPhone Program Crashes and Stability Issues
iPod Minis: TV Subscription, Music Movies, Chinese iPhone
I'm changing the name of these short news items (no more iEphemera). I like this name better - wish I'd thought of it a year ago.
- Reportedly, Apple is pitching a US$30/month subscription to TV through iTunes to media companies. Response from studios and networks is, reportedly, tepid so far.
- Despite being the world's biggest market and the iPhone being a new product there, China Unicom has reportedly seen disappointing sales of the iPhone. Perhaps the $1,000 price has something to do with it?
- Apple is launching a new section of the iTunes Store, focusing on music movies, with exclusive content and early release dates
- The App Store is now officially over the 100,000 app mark
Free at iTunes Store This Week
Music
Keep on Lovin', by Steel Magnolias (single of the week)
All For Love, by Serena Ryder
Mi Fantasia, by Ivan
Video
TiK ToK, by Ke$ha
Legend of the Seeker Starter Kit
Pilot, from Ally McBeal
Straight to the Core, from Celebrity Trainer
The Week's New Content - Oct. 26, 2009
New content added to the site this week includes:
Updates Abound: New iTunes, Remote, Apple TV Software
Apple released a bevy of related software updates last night. Driving the whole thing is Apple TV 3.0, the software that runs Apple's set-top box. The update adds support for iTunes LPs, iTunes Extras, Internet radio, and provides a new interface. The update is free. Here's how to download and install it.
In conjunction with that, Apple released iTunes 9.0.2, which adds support for Apple TV 3.0 (iTunes is how you get content from your computer to the Apple TV), and blocks syncing with the Palm Pre yet again. As usual, it's a free update. Update using Apple's software update tool built into iTunes or the Mac OS, depending on which you use.
Lastly, Apple released Remote 1.3.2, an iPhone/iPod touch app that serves as a remote control for iTunes and the Apple TV. You guessed it: the update makes Remote compatible with the new iTunes and Apple TV software. Update the free app through iTunes or the App Store.
iEphemera: Holiday Buying, App Store 100K
- Holiday shoppers and those on the cusp of a purchase can rest easy: Apple is not releasing any more new products this year. This news spurred me to get out my credit card and buy a MacBook Pro which I'd been holding off on in case a newer version was on deck.
- Unofficially speaking, the App Store's got 100,000 apps
- First-gen. iPhone and all iPod touch owners are out of luck when it comes to the Tom Tom GPS app; it only works with the iPhone 3G and 3GS
Free at iTunes Store This Week
Music
According to You, by Orianthi (single of the week)
Rollerskate, by Matias Aguayo (latin single of the week)
Forgotten, by Gatekeeper (discovery download)
Video
Whatcha Say, by Jason Derulo
Pilot, from White Collar
Bourbon, from Bartender Wars
In the Moonlight, from Modern Family
Welcome to Bad Boy, from I Want to Work for Diddy 2
Audiobooks
Witch & Wizard - Book One, by James Patterson
SuperFreakonomics, by Steven D. Leavitt and Stephen J. Dubner
I, Alex Cross, by James Patterson
Apple Pitching Tablet to Aussie Media?
A report in the Sydney Morning Herald suggest that Apple has been pitching its new tablet device to the Australian media.
According to the report, Apple is positioning the device as a distribution tool for media outlets that will allow them to charge for access to their content through the device (a similar feature, in-app transactions, is already available in a number of iPhone apps available at the App Store). Apple would keep 30% of the revenue from the sales, with the rest going to the media companies, according to the report.
This is interesting on a few levels. First, it lends credence to the idea that yesterday's NYT story wasn't based on speculation, but rather inside info (if Apple is pitching to Australian media, presumably it's already done the same in the U.S.). Second, it bolsters the rumor that LongBox, a digital comics platform, could be on the tablet at launch. Third, it could boost the sagging newspaper and magazine industries and perhaps give them some new hope.
Did NYT Leak News of the Apple Tablet?
In the grand tradition of journalism, newspapers are the ones supposed to be publishing leaks and breaking news, not creating them. But leaking info may be what New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller did recently when discussing "the impending Apple slate."
The reference to the widely expected Apple tablet computer, which may or may not be a sibling to the iPhone, came at a journalism conference last week. Keller's note about Apple comes at around the 8:20 mark of the linked video.
Now, in all fairness, Keller may not have leaked anything. Lots of folks are expecting this tablet to debut sometime next year, so he may just have been referring to the conventional wisdom. But maybe not. Either way, it gives the tablet hunters something to speculate about for the next few days, at least until some new tidbit crops up.
The Week's New Content - Oct. 19, 2009
New content added to the site this week includes: