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Pre-Macworld rumors are flying with CNet reporting that Apple has finally succeeded in getting Big Music to allow iTunes to sell DRM-free (non-copy protected) music, something long ago granted to competitors like Amazon MP3.

The cost? Variable pricing. Apple has tried to hold the line at a consistent $0.99 per song pricing (briefly flirting with a premium $1.29 for iTunes Plus’ higher bit-rate, DRM-free music before dropping it back down to $0.99 as well). Now, the same rumor holds that Apple will let Big Music sell the latest, hottest hits at a much higher rater, and older, catalog titles at a reduced $0.80 price point.

The best news for iPhone owners? The iTunes Store App currently only allows music downloads via WiFi, but that might also be changing — to direct downloads via EDGE or 3G.

Would you be willing to pay more for the Top Tens and less for the oldies? Or did they have you at iPhone 3G downloads?

Tekzilla co-host Veronica Belmont explains the step-by-step process of converting an iTunes song into a ringtone… right in iTunes.

Check out the video for all the details, and Tekzilla Daily for many more helpful how-to’s. Text highlights after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this week, Macworld cried foul over some movies that appeared to be disappearing from the iTunes Store. There was no apparent pattern as the movies were all released by different studios. I checked a few of them in the Canadian Store, and they were still there…

So what was up?

CNet did some investigating, and it turns out we — once again — have big media to thank for our poor user experience:

Normally, release windows don’t affect retailers or video-rental services after they’ve begun selling or renting films. Warner Bros. doesn’t go into Best Buy and pull DVDs off the shelf when Comcast airs Casablanca. The corner Mom and Pop video store doesn’t surrender copies of Gladiator to Universal Studios when the film appears on ABC. But Internet stores are being treated differently. What this means for iTunes and Netflix customers is that movies will pop in and out of the services.

CNet notes that DVDs, of course, aren’t yanked off the shelves when TV wants to air a movie, so why are online stores like iTunes treated differently?

The answer, of course, is because broadcasters say they are.

Is that reasonable? Is the internet different than the brick-and-mortar? Should movies be yanked down from iTunes but still be for sale on a DVD at Walmart? Or have we evolved past those differences, and content should be available for us to buy when and how we want to buy it?

Apple has put up a special iTunes page showing off the top free and top paid apps of 2008. In addition to the overall standings, Apps are also broken out according to categories like Games, Entertainment, Music, Utilities, and Social Networks.

Koi Pond leads the paid apps while Facebook owns the free. To see the complete list, head on over to iTunes.

For more, also check out Top Music, Movies, Podcasts, and Audiobooks for iTunes 2008. (And while you’re at it, consider adding Phone different and iPhone Live! to your feeds for 2009 )

(via Macworld)

Harbinger of things to come? Or just coincidence? You decide. But while you’re deciding, head on over to Apple Software Update and grab yourself a copy of iTunes 8.0.2 and its quality, connectivity, and accessibility fixes.

(Though if you’ve jailbroken, or intend to Unlock when it becomes available, AVOID as we’ve already seen that the new MacBook lineups have jailbreak unfriendly iTunes builds, and this could be more of the same).

Got it? Gotten it? Let us know if you find any tantalizing iPhone hints!

According to CNet (via Apple Insider), Apple is in talks with the remaining 3 out of the Big 4 record labels who still refuse to allow iTunes to sell DRM-free music.

Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony BMG currently provide DRM-free music to rival services like Amazon MP3 as a way to promote competition to iTunes, though the lack of availability of these services outside the US, along with iTunes continued (and growing) dominance in digital music, may be causing them to rethink that position.

EMI, of course, has been offering DRM-free music via Apple’s iTunes Plus service since it launched, and at double the bit rate (quality) of the regular music.

Hopefully we’ll soon see the day that big music decides to stop treating their customers as de facto thieves and realizes offering quality goods at fair market prizes is the only real way to stop piracy. Or am I the crazy one?

Technically motor vehicles, we suppose, as people who can still afford to fill up the honking huge gas tanks on trucks and the like get their fair share of iPhone/iPod love as well, as Ars Technica reports that integration has now hit a majority level of 58%.

Proprietary dock port notwithstanding, Apple’s dominance of the music player — and now music phone — market has no doubt driven (ha!) the adaption. More egalitarian-ly, USB integration has hit 33%, with an even higher rate of increase. Says Jeff Smykll:

When my significant other bought her new Scion XD earlier in the year, one of the things she was really excited about was the iPod integration that came standard. The unit is pretty slick: the iPod can be controlled from the steering wheel, the information about the currently-playing song is available on the head unit, and the iPod’s playlists can be traversed using the stereo’s knobs.

Pretty slick. Now we have to decide if we’re going to spend our recession-dwindled savings on a car with iPhone integration… or similarly priced Macbook Air. Oh, why do you test us so, Apple?!

Ha! No iPhone news indeed! We knew Steve Jobs wouldn’t abandon us completely, not his baby, not his “third-leg” love child! Jason Snell, putting the new MacBooks under the microscope for Macworld, discovers (via Daring Fireball):

Yes, it’s true — these new MacBooks work with your iPhone headphones. If you click the button on your iPhone headphones, iTunes pauses. Click again, and the music resumes. A double-click advances one track, and a triple-click moves back a track—just like on the iPhone. What’s more, the headphones’ built-in microphone appears as the input device “Microphone port” in the Sound preference pane.

How awesome — and completely Apple-like is that?

(But is it enough to make you order a new MacBook?)

Continuing the (very welcome) trend of rapid, bug-fix (including the nasty HD overwrite Dieter wrote about a while back!) and stability themed product updates, Apple has released its first minor bump to iTunes 8 (see our feature overview), the aptly numbered 8.0.1. The list of changes, voluminous by Apple’s standards, include (via Macrumors):

Head on over to Apple Software Update to get the latest — and hopefully greatest version for your iPhone. Then come back here and let us know how it’s working for you, and… er.. whether it breaks anything else… Read the rest of this entry »