Apparently I’m not alone, the issue of iTunes not downloading songs after they’ve been purchased is affecting folks all over the world. There’s no word from Apple yet as to what caused it, what might fix it, or what happened to my $1.98 and my ‘report a problem’ email.
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There’s a great article over at the Salt Lake Tribune, titled “NBC is loser in spat with Apple.” It’s a good article, insightful in most of its points, but the title makes me feel left out. What about my suffering? I lost something too, eh? At any rate, it’s well worth the read. It appears the only language that Vince Horiuchi speaks is “money quote.”
Finally, NBC, which is in fourth place in the ratings, needs iTunes to drum up interest in its series. [...] It also doesn’t help that this deal went sour just before the start of the fall TV season, when millions will be turning to iTunes to get episodes of new shows. [...] NBC, like all the other television networks, doesn’t understand why downloadable content is going to change the face of TV. They just want to make money off it.
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The arrival of iTunes 7.4 brings a few troubles to the plate for anyone that has hacked their iPhone (it’s safe to assume that there will be similar troubles for every new iTunes version). Some users report the inability to perform jailbreak. Other users report that iTunes has broken their custom ringtones (see also here). Fret not, though.
- Ambrosia Software promises an iToner update to get their ringtones working again
- EFKSoft promises an iPhoneRingToneMaker update to get their ringtones working again
- iPhoneAlley, makers of iFuntastic, are entirely silent on the matter
Some people have reported issues performing jailbreak. Apparently the short-term fixes are to perform jailbreak with either the 3.0 version of AppTapp Installer.app, or to use the new OSX App iNdependence, a GUI application for jailbreak, activation, SSH, and ringtone / wallpaper / application installation. I’ll post an update for Windows h4×0rz as soon as I find one that’s confirmed to work with iTunes 7.4, but I’ll wager that iBrickr will win this race.
Apple quietly slipped out its promised release of iTunes 7.4, integrating support for yesterdays announced iPod line – as well ringtone support for iPhone, iTunes Wi-Fi Store, and that Starbucks whatchamacallit thing. Beyond that, there really isn’t much to say. Once the update is installed a new Ringtone tab is revealed after your iPhone is docked. Guess what that does? I could give a tinker’s damn for music ringtones, so I won’t be joining you around the campfire singing bad karaoke tunes. Sorry.
The download weighs in roughly 40MB, depending on platform of choice.
For me, it’s a 38.5MB update. It includes compatibility with all of the new iPods, and the new ringtone support for the iPhone. It also brings the long-rumored ‘ringtones’ tab to fruition. There’s still no 8th tab, though… maybe we’ll know when our iPhone update comes out.
Holy smokes! Apple has put a $200 price cut on the 8 GB iPhone, and dropped the 4GB version altogether. That’s right, the 8GB iPhone is now $399. Where do I line up for my $200 check? I’m equal parts filled with rage for paying a $200 early adopter fee, and equal parts filled with glee for a $200 price cut. I’m glad that it makes the iPhone that much more accessible for everyone else. I just feel a little sore when I sit, that’s all.
I have colleagues that believe the price cut is a portent of a hardware refresh. I have a hard time believing Apple would refresh their iPhone hardware so soon after launch, but I should float the idea out as speculation. I believe a 3G version is possible, perhaps in the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2008. The part of me that hopes I’m wrong is the part of me that wants my iPhone to be new forever. Sigh
There’s an iTunes update tonight that will bring Ringtones support. For a select portion of their music catalog (about 500,000 songs altogether, or 8% of the songs available on iTunes), you can make a ringtone if you’ve already purchased the song. All in all, the song to play on the iPod and the song to play as a ringtone is $1.98. Song portion: $.99, same as always. Ringtone: $.99. I think the extra fee is for the ‘public performance’ licensing aspect of ringtones. It will be interesting to see if the iTunes update breaks iToner, iFuntastic, or the indomitable iPhoneRingtoneMaker. Let’s hope not.
The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store will come to the iPhone in an update later this month. Look for it on a Tuesday afternoon this month, I’d bet. You will be able to purchase any music from the iTunes store and download it via wi-fi. I doubt you will be able to purchase it via EDGE. After all, it’s not the iTunes Wireless Music Store. Why not, though? It’s easier to say, and less cumbersome to type.
The iTunes Wi-Fi Music store will also be available from a bunch of Starbucks in most areas by 2009. The Starbucks in the larger top-ten cities in the US will get the update treatment first, and Starbucks figures they’ll have “most major metro areas” by late 2008. Um, I could rollout a storewide wi-fi network faster than that.
In other iPod news, Steve announced the iPod sister to the iPhone, the iPhone touch (8GB for $299 and 16GB is $399), to be available later this month. It’s slightly smaller, you’ll note from the picture above, and its application functionality has obviously not been totally disclosed. Notably missing from the iPod Touch thus far is a notes app and a maps app…. Hmmm.
The iPod, newly rechristened the iPod Classic, saw updates bringing a new, drastically thinner 80GB version ($249) and a thinner-than-the-previously-thickest 80GB version is the 160 GB version ($349).
The new iPod Nano, regarded by many as an ugly duckling, gets the full iPod treatment. It gains a video-quality screen, and is available in 4GB ($149) and 8GB ($199) versions, and it still works with the Nike+iPod sport kit. As you can see in the picture from Apple’s website above, it’s a little wee thing, absolutely tiny.
Huh. Apple’s iPod lineup looks like a steamroller right now. The Zune, Creative Zen, Sony Walkman line, et al, all look like bumpy roads waiting to be flattened this holiday season.
Apple is hosting another media event today. iPod Nanos are expected, and they look drastically different than the current nano. Not everyone is happy with the new look, but from what I can see it looks pretty functional. I think I’m withholding judgment until I’ve seen what all of their iPod lineup looks like.
Meanwhile, ThinkSecret basically guarantees touchscreen iPods. They also say the iPod nano, featured in the above Gizmodo link, will pack some seriously updated iPod software, and it will be great; it will be revolutionary. Or evolutionary. One or the other, really.
Please note that the screenshots from ThinkSecret above include albums from the Beatles that aren’t yet available in the iTunes Store.
Microsoft always seems to pop up with a little snippet of news on event days like this. I think they do this so they can play the ’sour grapes’ role of the day, now hints that making a Zune phone is ‘not unreasonable.’ This is more or less the opposite of what CEO Steve Ballmer said at the D5 conference, so I’m glad to see that they’re still talking from both sides of their mouth. They’re champs of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Emphasis on the ‘uncertainty’ part here. And now you know why they play the sour grapes role — it gets them in the news. But everyone knows somebody that can’t tell the difference between negative attention and positive attention, and it’s not like there’s surging demand for a Zune phone, though I’m sure Windows Mobile users would be happy for the extra functionality.
But back in focus, there’s no shortage of hype — read a paragraph and you can see why Apple’s stock is so volatile after announcements. Taken from Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge:
I seriously believe tomorrow is going to be different. I think it’s going to be the day when iPod die-hards, technology geeks, and mainstreamers alike are all going to be genuinely excited by what Apple is going to show. In short, if the release of the iPod mini signaled the start of Apple’s dominance of the digital music player business, and the nano and 5G signaled the end for most of its small competitors and beginning of its video initiative, tomorrow is going to be the final nail in the coffin for Microsoft, Sony, and the bigger players as well. Yes, even with their recent announcements. The only people who will be upset are those who aren’t already on the bandwagon, or the few who (sorry, NBC) jumped off early and got hit by it.
You know though, the scary thing is that he could just as well be right. John Gruber thinks so, so it must be true.
And in other news, T3 reports that a 3G version of the iPhone will be announced today. I think that’s a pipe dream; there’s no way Apple would update a flagship product 2 months after it came out for the first time. That would flat-out anger the almost-1-million purchasers of an iPhone here in the U.S.A.
Of course, any time Apple updates iTunes, it’s always possible that they will also update the iPhone, so I’ll be keeping my ear close to the news to see what they have planned. There’s plenty of speculation for iPhone Games and ringtones. And it’s not just the iPhone Ranch that’s expecting it, it’s also the New York Post.
up. It was reported that NBC wasn’t going to renew their contract, due to expire in December. I reported this in the rejected story links thread in the forums. NBC released a press statement on Saturday to say that it wasn’t the bad guy to respond to the Apple press statement on Friday that said that NBC was the bad guy. I’m starting to think that this is just business as usual when dealing with the content providers.
Apple just sent out a press release proudly boasting that its iTunes Store has now sold over 3 Billion Songs. Congratulations Apple. Now how about giving away free iPods to loyal customers, eh? No? Well I tried.
Apple and AT&T have worked closely together on iPhone throughout its development and looming rollout. That much is certain. But the two companies may be working on some rather interesting service integration with iTunes and a special dashboard widget for OSX users. According to a source I spoke with from AT&T, the two companies are working to enable iPhone users to view and administer their AT&T account from within iTunes itself.
In this arragement iTunes would allow you to view your bill, minutes used, add-on features like ringtone downloads, etc., all right within iTunes. The company may also offer a simple dashboard widget which displays minutes used as monthly bill status. Interesting.
