Apple’s new iPod shuffle 4GB with VoiceOver comes with a little something else: the requirement for iTunes 8.1, which is yet to be released. However, in somewhat uncharacteristic style for Apple, their iTunes product page already has a teaser up for just what we can expect in the (presumably immanent?) new version:
- Speed improvements: iTunes gets a speed boost. Now when it comes to loading large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, and syncing your devices, iTunes responds faster than before.
- Genius sidebar for movies and TV shows: In addition to music, the Genius sidebar now introduces you to movies and TV shows you might also enjoy.
- Import as iTunes Plus: Automatically import music from your CDs as higher quality, 256-Kbps iTunes Plus files. Watch a tutorial to find out how to
Looks like only tangential love at best for the iPhone — not even any Genius for Apps feature! Anyone find anything particularly compelling?
Apple has teamed up with EMI, which was the first record label to join the DRM-free iTunes Plus program when it was announced, to provide the new “iTunes Pass” system. Says EMI (via MacRumors):
The first iTunes Pass debuts today in conjunction with Depeche Mode’s forthcoming 12th studio album, Sounds of the Universe, to be released on April 21 in the US. Fans who sign up starting today get the alternative/dance pioneers’ new single, Wrong, as well as the Black Light Odyssey Dub Remix of the new track Oh Well. They will also receive the new album on its street date plus great music and video exclusives before and after the album’s release over the next fifteen weeks. The Depeche Mode iTunes Pass can be purchased starting today for $18.99.
Still all iTunes Plus format, and they promise you’ll get your fair market value out of the service, though you have to get all you fun in before the 90-day deadline expires.
Personally, I like iTunes’ ability to let me pick and choose singles, and almost never buy complete albums (the recording industry nightmare, of course), so this holds very little appeal to me. Am I missing out on something? Anyone here going to give it a try?
Even if we get a 32GB iPhone this year, that will still limit the amount of big, blobby iTunes movie content we can carry around with us. Sure, maybe 20 movies at 1GB each is doable, but as video and sound quality increase towards the HD, and collections grow and grow, the ability to stream content to mobile devices becomes key.
So it’s not too surprising Apple Insider reports iTunes Replay is looking to provide just such a streaming service:
iTunes Replay would arrive on the heels of last month’s report that Apple has shifted its online content delivery strategy to include a provider in Limelight Networks, joining longtime Apple partner Akamai Technologies. Having two different providers could help greatly optimize the delivery of streaming content to the millions of customers who use iTunes.
Personally, while I’d enjoy the ability to stream iTunes to my iPhone, I’d never buy anything that I couldn’t also store locally as a backup. Too many online media services have gone offline over the years, effectively stealing back the content their users had legally paid for. However, it’s definitely an option I’d like on-the-go. What I’d like even more? The ability to use a Back to My Mac-like connection to stream my own content to my iPhone, you know… like SlingMedia Player.
Anyone psyched for this?
Listen up, true believers! TUAW is reporting that Marvel Comics, home to the X-Men, Avengers, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and Spider-Man has announced at the New York Comic Con:
their intention to sell “In-Motion” comic books through the iTunes Store. According to Marvel, the In-Motion comics go beyond the paperback books with animated panels and voice-over work from popular actors. Sounds like something that could be a lot of fun on an iPod touch or iPhone.
New stuff? Old stuff? In between? Will we be getting the heights of the Phoenix Saga and Astonishing X-Men or the dregs of Secret Invasion and Ultimatum? The tears of the Boy Who Collected Spider-Man, the cheers of Nextwave, or the jeers of Hulk Red?
Grab your Extremis kit, pop your admantium claws, sling some webs (any size!), and let us know just how exactly Marvel needs to SMASH! it up in iTunes!
iXcelsior!
So today I had a bit of a scare. I went to sync my iPhone 3G with my Macbook and noticed when I’d plug in the phone it would say it is syncing while iTunes simply showed nothing — no kind of response whatsoever. Yes, everything is up to date on my Macbook so that was not the problem. After a few reboots of the Macbook and iPhone the same behavior still continued like clockwork.
Next step was to do some research online and send off an email to Rene for some more ideas. To our surprise this seems to be a bigger than we thought with many people seeing the same issue. I decided it could not hurt to give Apple a call about this and as I was on hold I figured I’d try one more time and shockingly it worked. I had to do a double take at my screens but it worked. To make sure it was not a fluke I unplugged everything and rebooted both Macbook and iPhone, still worked!
This issue seems to be completely random and Apple claims to be looking into it. So, if this happens to you, keep trying to sync, chances are you may get lucky. I’d say avoid doing a complete restore to your phone because if it does lock up during the restore you will be left with a empty iPhone. That’s not good.
Hope Apple updates iTunes fast to prevent this from happening to any of our readers. In the meantime, have any of you had this misfortune?
Let us know!
[Thanks to @Rene for the backup!]
It’s been an interesting road since Apple launched iTunes Plus, originally only offering DRM-free music for EMI and independent labels. Now everyone is on board — or will be by the end of April — and Apple has righted the wrong of requiring every track to be updated all at once. So what else is going on?
Seems like Apple accidentally charged some upgraders $9.99 to take their albums to iTunes Plus, but Macworld says Apple is making it right:
Your request is flagged for follow-up and I will contact you once I can fully refund your order. Please note that processing can take up to five business days from the date of purchase. I also issued 5 courtesy song credits for any inconvenience this issue may have caused you.
The move to iTunes Plus has also helped get Norway to put its anti-competitive hammer away, according to Ars:
The DRM-free tracks (iTunes Plus) are now compatible with any music player that can play AAC files and are therefore free of the restrictive iPod tie-in that has annoyed so many customers. “We have no reason to pursue them anymore,” Norway’s consumer mediator Bjoern Erik Thon told AFP.
Norway should have, of course, being going after the record labels instead of Apple, but we’ll let bygones be bygones now, won’t we?
We’ve heard rumors about this before, but now the New York Times (via MacRumors) is pretty much coming right out and saying it. Apple was ready to give up their uniform pricing model ($0.99 per song) over a year ago but they wanted not only DRM-free licensing in return, but over-the-air (cellular) iPhone downloads. It seems many, including Apple and the music industry, think that’s the Next Big Thing.
Still, things were tense down to the last few moments before the big Macworld 2009 announcement:
All the labels agreed except Sony Music. Its chairman, Mr. Schmidt-Holtz, wanted the pricing to go into effect right after the announcement, while Mr. Jobs wanted a longer time horizon. According to a person briefed on the telephone call, Mr. Schmidt-Holtz and Mr. Jobs had a heated exchange by phone on Christmas Eve. Eventually, Sony gave in and agreed to a longer waiting period.
With Steve Jobs (the smartest man in music?) on leave of absence, however, don’t think things will get any easier for the historically out-of-touch music industry. Insiders report that others inside Apple, including iTunes VP Eddy Cue, follow Steve Jobs’ line.
Apple and music aside, what does this mean for — you know — the end users? How important is downloading music over the cell network to you? Will it make you buy more music? And will some songs being cheaper, and others more expensive, change you buying habits as well?
CNet takes a look, 6 years later, at Steve Jobs’ 2003 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine and the checklist of predictions — make that accomplishments — is impressive. Then again, Steve Jobs did make his name, and Apple’s, with just that kind of market savvy:
- iPod (and now iPhone) could be more important to Apple than the Mac
- Big media doesn’t understand technology
- iTunes would be non-trivial for others to copy in 6 months (make that 6 years?)
- Copyright is important. Theft corrodes the soul. Apple will provide a legal alternative
- iTunes could sell 1 billion songs a year (now selling 1 billion in 6 months)
What’s even more interesting is seeing how Steve Jobs’ insight not only helped change the face of computers (Apple, Mac), Music (iPod, iTunes), retail (Apple Store), movies (Pixar) but now also cell phones (iPhone). Mostly linked together (Pixar more tangentially), but with the same focus on premium quality, unsurpassed user experience, and utter simplicity of execution.
Makes me even more eager for the iPhone 2,1 (iPhone HD?) to really bring it all together…
[via Daring Fireball]
When Apple first announced it was going DRM-free at Macworld 2009, they set up a system where users who previously bought the old, lower quality, copy-protected music could upgrade to the new, higher-quality, non-protected music for $0.30 per single track.
Problem: it was all or nothing. If you had 100 tracks, you had to upgrade every single one of them, all at once, which would set you back $30 (or $300 for 1000 tracks). Now, Macworld (via TUAW) says Apple has seen the light, bowed to pressure, or otherwise fixed the lame, and is allowing users to pick and choose, and upgrade only the music they want on a per track basis.
So, head on over to iTunes to see which of your music tracks [iTunes link] are eligible for upgrade, but make sure you have 1-Click enabled (for now, to avoid some sort of glitch in the system).
Seems like a great step in the right direction for us. Anyone more likely to upgrade now that we don’t have all-or-nothing dangling over us?
What finally made Apple and Steve Jobs relent on their previously locked-in-stone $0.99 single price for single songs iTunes business model? Many suspected it was the lure of DRM-free music, which the record labels (except EMI) had been withholding from Apple and providing competitors like Amazon MP3 in an attempt to break the iTunes juggernaut.
Maybe not, however, according to Ars Technica (referencing the Associated Press):
the key negotiating component was over-the-air downloads for the iPhone. The record companies held out on allowing users to download songs on the 3G and EDGE networks (instead of just WiFi) until Apple relented.
While this might seem strange, technically many users probably don’t care (or don’t even know about DRM) unless they run into the old 5-machine limit or try to move their protected music outside the iPod ecosystem. However, anyone hitting the iTunes icon on the iPhone and getting the message to switch to WiFi likely suffers a bad user experience. Then again, strange is normal in a strange industry filled with strange old media dinosaurs, innit?
Higher prices, according to the article, are also intended to make discounted song bundles seem like better values.
How important is 3G or EDGE downloads to you? Worth the potential cost bump for premium “hot” singles? Mitigated at all by the thought of cheapo bundles of the same? Let us know!
