Apple may open up
iTunes to buffet-style listening if reports of negotiations with record labels are true.
Apple’s pay-per-song approach to peddling music online through the
iTunes store may soon be joined by a new all-you-can-download option based on the purchase of a player, or a subscription fee. According to the Financial Times, Apple is currently in talks with major music labels over the proposed service.
The plan could offer unlimited downloads for a monthly subscription fee, as services like Rhapsody do, or build the cost of downloads into the cost of Apple’s portable devices, as Nokia has done with its “Comes with Music†devices. Nokia’s approach gives portable owners unlimited downloads for one year, and the ability to keep their libraries without paying when the service runs out.
According to unnamed executives cited in the Financial Times, the remaining dispute between record labels and Apple concerns price. Nokia reportedly pays music industry partners $80 per device to offer “Comes with Music,†but Apple will only lay about $20 on the table.
Although subscription models are also a possibility, no details have emerged on what such a service might cost if offered by Apple. Research cited by executives suggests consumers are generally willing to plunk down $7 or $8 per month for it.
Written by Derrick on April 21st, 2008 with no comments.
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Here's a short but sweet "how to" video on how to create ring tones for your iphone from your
itunes library.
In addition, keep in mind that the ring tone must be 29 seconds, but you can start the 29 seconds on any portion of the song.
enjoy
Written by Derrick on April 15th, 2008 with no comments.
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Filed Under: FutureWatch
What I’m going to say will likely disturb some folks, particularly in light of the fact that iTunes just became the #1 music retailer in the world this month. But work with me a little.
The online music revolution has not occurred, yet.
That’s it. No wild speculation, or tin-foil hat accusations, (and yet your characteristic sensationalism remains –ed)
That is the whole of the thing. While other industries have seen often dramatic effects on their business as a result of the internet, the music business is much like it was when my dad had a music store 20 years ago. Consumers still shop, they buy records, or singles they’re interested in. In short, online music has not been changed by the internet (save for the piracy aspect), it remains the same “Buy and Consume†metaphor it has always been.
In the spirit of disrupting future software patents by publishing prior art, after the break we’ll discuss in detail exactly how Apple could change all that.
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Written by Leigh McMullen on April 10th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Advertising and Media and Music and iPod and iTunes.
The new build of iPhone OS 2.0 now features contact search. Alleluia! I have over 1,500 contacts I’ve been collecting over the past ten years. After flicking through the list a few dozen times does get old. Anyways, the search function is also included with the revised iPhone Simulator that comes with the SDK build 9M2158a, beta 3.
(more…)
Written by Vincent Nguyen on April 9th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 3G iPhone and App Store and Featured and iPhone 2.0 and iPhone SDK and iTunes and iTunes Store.
After reading about the iPhone for a while, memorising facts from its spec-sheet is just an occupational hazard. So, Apple’s cellphone has a maximum screen resolution of 640 x 480 for compatible content… doesn’t it? Ars Technica say no, and they’ve been playing with video that encoded at 720 x 576, 25fps on both the iPhone and the iPod Touch, a figure that’s funnily enough exactly the same as a PAL DVD. Videos encoded at that resolution can be viewed both through mobile Safari and funneled over from iTunes, although of course it only shows up at the 480 x 320 resolution of either device’s screen.
So why is this important, if you can’t see the difference? As Ars Technica explain, it’s all about optimising your video library for playback on multiple devices:
“[It] can be [useful] if you want the same files to be playable the mobile device and on the computer screen or TV. If you are interested in experimenting yourself, don’t forget to stick to baseline H.264 encoding and remember that these files will not play on older generation iPods”Iljitsch van Beijnum, Ars Technica
The upside is that movies bought from the iTunes store are actually being delivered in higher resolution than you might expect, given Apple’s quoted compatibility for the iPhone; Iljitsch found his copy of Punch-Drunk Love came in at 853 x 366, which would look far better through, say, an Apple TV than a 640 x 480 version might.
[via Gizmodo]
Written by Chris Davies on April 8th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Media and iPhone and iPhone archive and iPhone content and iPod Touch and iTunes and iTunes Store.
