All Articles Tagged iTunes

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!

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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)

On the rare occasions when I hit iTunes looking for music, I go immediately to iTunes Plus. When it comes to DRM music, I’m just not gonna do it, so if I can’t find it on iTunes Plus, I can’t find it. Trouble now is, I can’t find iTunes Plus! Used to be in the Quicklinks, but now it’s gone missing from the iTunes Canadian Store. Maybe MacRumors knows:

Forum user Doodledoo has been following it closely and found evidence of tracks from both Warner and Sony studios participating in iTunes Plus. Apple originally launched their DRM-Free iTunes Plus format with the support of only EMI but recent rumors have suggested Apple is working on winning over the other three majors studios (Warner, Sony, Universal).

Whazzat? Really? Could it be that Big Media is finally learning that treating customers to fair use for fair price is the way to go? In a word… “no”. According to Apple Insider, progress and all, the Beatles are still going to need some help:

“EMI want something we’re not prepared to give ‘em. It’s between EMI and The Beatles I think – what else is new?,” McCartney said. “Last word I got back was it’s stalled at the moment. But I really hope it will happen because I think it should.”

So are we finally on the cusp of a revolution? Is (music, at least) DRM dying? And will all of us be long gone before the Beatles show up for download as well?

Now that 2.2 is upon us, you can get your TiPb fix in yet another way: grab our Podcast over the air!

It’s simple. Just turn on WiFi (necessary because all of our podcasts are over 10 megs), head into iTunes on your iPhone, and search for “Phone different.” It’ll pop up right quick (and includes the feed for our iPhone Live! Podcast to boot!). Then head in, tap download, and away you go!

(Speaking of the Phone Different Podcast, we have this week’s in the bin. It should be edited up and ready for you to grab tomorrow)

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?

[This is an iPhone blog App vs. App review! Last week, we ran our Google Earth vs. Earthscape showdown, with Google Earth scoring the win. But which commenter won an iTunes gift certificate? Congratulations musicobsession! Want your chance to win the winning app this week? Comment below!]

Have you ever had a song running on infinite loop in your brain but can’t quite place the name or artist? What about those times you are in a store or in your car and you hear a song that you really like, but you have no idea what the name of the song or artist is? Fortunately, there are two excellent FREE apps for your iPhone, Shazam and Midomi, that can help you name the song and artist, watch the music video, and even buy the song. How do they compare? Read on for App vs. App, music tagging edition!

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It’s time for App Avalanche 14, and this week we’re taking a look at the Finance category in the App Store and at what’s Good, Better, Best, and, of course, the CrApp. If you are looking for some good finance apps, there are a load of apps in the App Store in this category. Unfortunately, there seem to be a ton of very mediocre apps (according to reviews left by App Store visitors), and it takes a bit of sifting through the coal dust to find some diamonds. Read on to learn about some Finance apps you may want to try for yourself!

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Back during September’s iPod and iTunes focused “Let’s Rock” event, Apple announced that they would begin carrying “stunning” HD TV Shows, and that — surprise surprise — NBC had come skulking back into the fold as well.

Now Apple reports that they have all 4 big US-based television networks: ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC available in HD, and what’s more:

200 million TV episodes sold, including more than one million HD episodes purchased since the launch of HD programming on iTunes last month.

“Purchased” should indicate that they’re not counting the promotional freebies given away at the start of the HD push, right Apple? Since TV is available via cable, satellite, and for free over the air, one million episodes at $3 a shot is pretty impressive.

Of course, Apple and the major networks, and their archaic international licensing systems (wanna talk “bags of hurt”?) mean that there’s currently no HD TV for users outside the US, and still no US network TV for people in countries like Canada. Ahem.

Can we get on that nowish, Mr. Cue?