Sprint, Samsung look for piece of iTunes’ pie
Sprint, Samsung look for piece of iTunes’ pie
Posted by Lab Rat
Today saw the announcement of not one but TWO new online music services looking to compete with Apple’s iTunes store. First out of the gate is Sprint Nextel Corp, whose just announced “Power Vision� is the first online music download service offered by a US cell carrier. Power Vision is similar to Verizon’s high speed VCast network which allows customers to download video content to their phones over a high speed wireless connection, but Power Vision is the first to add music to the equation. Sprint plans to sell songs for a rather steep $2.50 a song, in contrast to iTunes’ $0.99 per song. For that price, customers will get 2 versions of their songs, one formatted for use on their cell phone, and another higher quality version they can burn to a CD from their computer. Sprint claims users will not mind paying the extra cost in exchange for the “convenience� of a mobile download, and say the added cost covers the extra bandwidth usage required to purchase songs. Cingular, the US carrier for Apple’s and Motorola’s iTunes enabled ROKR cell phone, is expected to release a similar music store next year.
In addition to the announcement by Sprint, this morning also saw the media picking up on an announcement made last week by Samsung’s president Choi Gee-sung stating, “We are now in talks with our partners to debut a service program like iTunes of Apple. Our No. 1 priority is to help customers use our products with ease.’ Samsung’s service is perhaps a more worthy adversary and potential threat to Apple. Samsung manufacturers flash memory chips for use in many brands of digital music players, including the iPod. The odds are if they were to build their own music players, they would be able to compete aggressively on price against most rivals. The biggest advantage shared by both iTunes and the iPod is their relative simplicity. Gee-sung’s remarks seem to imply the Samsung is aware it needs to offer an impressive user experience in order to compete with Apple.
Of course, the great disadvantage any company hoping to enter the online music sale/player business faces is that none of the songs purchased in their stores will be compatible with the iPod, nor will any songs purchased via iTunes work on their players. Apple’s dominance in the music player market becomes more apparent with each iPod sold. The longer these companies wait to come out with this week’s “iPod killer�, the more of an investment in sticking with Apple most music fans will have. Once a person has $500 of purchased iTunes songs, it will be harder to convince him to switch services, no matter how “convenient� buying a song on the road is, or how “easy to use� their store’s interface is.
Apple announces over 1 million videos sold in under 20 days
Posted by Helper Monkey
In a statement released today Apple announced it has sold over 1 million videos via its iTunes music store in under 20 days. Given the fairly limited selection of videos to choose from (2,000, most of which are music videos) these are industry-rattling numbers. Steve Jobs noted these sales numbers imply a greater demand than expected, and vowed to increase the number of offerings.
“Selling one million videos in less than 20 days strongly suggests there is a market for legal video downloads,� said Jobs. “Our next challenge is to broaden our content offerings, so that customers can enjoy watching more videos on their computers and new iPods.�
Considering the video iPod has only been available for 2 weeks, it would seem most purchasers are watching these videos on their home computers. This would seem to fly in the face of the traditional thinking that people do not want to watch tiny, compressed movies on their traditionally small sized computer screens and tiny speakers. It also implies that there may be up to 1 million people out there right now saving up for a video iPod purchase in the very near future. Looks like a merry start to the holiday season for Apple.
OS X 10.4.3 due this weekend
Posted by Lab Rat
Macenstein’s sources have told us to expect the release of OS X 10.4.3 sometime this weekend, or Monday at the latest. This update is a monster, weighing in close to 100MB, and is expected to squash just about all known bugs that 10.4.2 missed (and some that it caused). Key updates to the Core Image, OpenGL and CoreGraphics are expected, largely in support of new features found in Front Row, Aperture, and Photo Booth. Numerous smaller tweaks to just about everything ranging from iChat to Safari are rumored to be included as well, but no major new functionality is expected.
Yahoo doubles its subscription music prices
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
Yahoo Inc. has announced it will be doubling the fees charged to users of its online music download service. The monthly cost will jump from $6.99 per month (or $60 annually) to $11.99 a month ($120 annually). Yahoo, like many other online music services, uses a subscription plan instead of iTunes’ “pay-per-download� model. The subscription plan gives users access to over 1 million songs for a flat fee, so users are effectively “renting� songs. If a user of a subscription plan opts out of the service, they no longer have access to any of their music. Songs purchased through Yahoo and other online music services are not compatible with Apple’s iPod player.
This price increase was widely expected by industry insiders who felt Yahoo would be unable to keep such a low price on services. Still, even with Yahoo’s increased fees, members still pay less than users of rivals Napster and Real Networks respective services.
Civilization IV for Mac coming early 2006
Posted by Lab Rat
Aspyr announced today that they will be publishing the latest version of the massively addictive turn-based strategy game, Civilization IV for the Mac, due out in early 2006. Also announced is the planned release of Civilization III: Complete for Mac, with a target date of December 2005.
(above: Civilization IV)
Civilization III: Complete combines the original Civilization III and adds both the “Conquests� and “Play the World� expansion packs. The “Conquests� pack adds more of everything you love about Civilization III, including 7 new civilizations, more types of units and unit abilities, more wonders and scenarios, and AI improvements. The “Play the World� expansion pack adds 8 new civilizations, but more importantly, will allow Mac users to finally play online against other Civilization addicts (although, they will mainly be playing fellow Civ III Mac users, as most PC gamers will already be firmly entrenched in Civilization IV, released for the PC earlier this month.)
Mac users have been forced to grow accustomed to the inevitable delay in porting hot-selling PC titles to the Mac. In most cases, Mac publishers must wait for the final version of a PC game to be completed before they can get their hands on the source code to begin their port. Civilization IV hit the streets for PC users a couple weeks ago in a special limited Presale Edition, still available on Amazon..
(above: Civilization IV’s new 3D map view)
It has not been confirmed as to whether or not Civ IV for Mac will have identical features to the PC version, but the list of improvements to the PC version should give Mac gamers something to look forward to. New to Civilization IV is a brand new and beautifully rendered 3 D environment with new unit animations and customizable armies. Wonder movies are back. A new Team Play mode allows users to set alliances and share wonders, either online or in single player mode. There is online play out of the box, and extensive modability, including a powerful Map Editor. And of course there are a bunch of exciting new civilizations and units to be discovered as well. Full information on the updated feature set can be found on the official Civilization 4 website.
Sonnet announces new high-capacity iPod replacement batteries
Posted by Helper Monkey
Sonnet has announced a new series of replacement batteries for most versions of Apple’s iPod music players. Owners of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation iPods, as well as the iPod mini, can purchase new batteries capable of providing up to a 78% increase over the stock battery which shipped with the unit. Sonnet ships the batteries in a kit which includes all the tools need to replace the battery yourself, as well as an instructional video demonstrating the procedure. The replacement of the battery will void any warranty you may have with Apple, however odds are if you are replacing the battery, your iPod is out of warranty anyway. Prices are extremely reasonable at $39.95 for the 1st and 2nd gen iPods, and only $29.95 for 3rd and 4th gen, and iPod minis.
Apple has its own iPod Out-of-warranty Battery Replacement Program, however they charge $65.95 per iPod, and you will get a battery with less charge than those offered by Sonnet.
iTunes video sales off to strong start
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
The Mac Observer claims video sales via the iTunes music store are selling above and beyond Apple’s expectations. Earlier today, The Sydney Morning Herald published an interview with Eddy Cue, global head of iTunes, where they asked about the possibility of video content being made available for purchase in the newly announced Australian iTunes music store. “It’s something we just started in the US and we have nothing to announce at this time. “ said Cue. “We have figures from the US [that] we’ve not shared yet … but what I will tell you is that we are very, very happy with the results we’ve seen so far.” .
It seems the success of the video store has encouraged ABC to follow through on its promise to make more shows available through iTunes. Albert Chang, executive vice president of digital media for the Disney ABC Television Group told a mobile entertainment conference in San Diego Monday that more shows will be available as soon as the network finalizes agreements with the actors, writers, musicians, etc. of those programs.
In a recent interview with the website TechWeb, Chang is quoted as saying “We expect our mobile video subscriber business to reach 14 million in 2009, up from about 200,000 today.”
Obviously those numbers will not be all iTunes-related sales. Currently, ABC has plans to make content available for a wide range of wireless and mobile devices, not just the video iPod.
Apple stock climbs to “dangerous� levels
Posted by Igor
Apple stock rose yet again in active trading this morning, gaining $1.40, or 2.31%, and reaching a new high of $57.50 by 12 PM (EST). Apple’s stock price has caused considerable concern on Wall Street as of late, as The Street’s Walter Emmerling explained in a recent article. “Apple’s stock is quickly approaching the $60 mark which many analysts have set as an achievable price target.” writes Emmerling. “The problem is, if Apple’s stock should actually hit that goal, the Earth will stop rotating, and its molten core will freeze solid.”
While this is welcome news to anti-global warming advocates, Julie Stitzenberg of the Wildlife Conservation Society says it actually poses a great threat to all living creatures on the planet, with the possible exception of Penguins. “I love the iPod as much as anyone”, writes Stitzenberg. “But if having 15,000 songs in my pocket means the end of life on Earth as we know it, then what’s the point?”
Apple to bring back “themes� in Leopard?
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
Macsimum News is reporting that Apple has recently been granted 2 patents. One relates to driver configuration in linking up multiple FireWire devices (yawn), but the other seems to imply we will soon see the introduction of “themes� or skins to OS X.
Patent number 6,958,758 is titled �Pattern and color abstraction in a graphical user interface�. The filing describes “Systems and methods for providing a user with increased flexibility and control over the appearance and behavior of objects on a user interface… These themes can be switched dynamically by switching pointers to drawing procedures or switching data being supplied to these procedures.�
While we feel the introduction of themes could be a major selling point to some users when OS 10.5 ships in early 2007, there is no reason why Apple would have to wait until Leopard to introduce such features, and perhaps they plan to implement themes in a Tiger update when the first Mactel systems ship next summer. Many PC users have grown accustomed to being able to apply themes to personalize their desktop’s appearance. While we doubt Apple will allow for extreme customization of their interface, even modest color choices would be welcome.
The FireWire patent, titled “Method and apparatus for dynamic link driver configuration� is less exciting, but at least it implies Apple has not totally abandoned FireWire in favor of USB 2.0.
NASA Confirms Shipment of First G5 Quad
Posted by Igor
NASA confirmed today that the first G5 Power Mac Quad system has shipped. In an emergency press conference early this morning, NASA rocket scientist Bert Finkle displayed satellite imagery indicating the first of the “dual-dual core� systems has been shipped to a location just north of Danville Illinois. “There is really no mistaking the rather distinctive heat signature of the G5 Quad,� said Finkle. “It is actually the only PC which runs hot enough to be seen from space.� Finkle then produced a breathtaking thermal image of what he claims to be the new Power Mac. “The frightening thing here is all indications are the computer is currently in sleep mode. There is really no telling what will happen if the individual tries to check his mail, let alone render a scene from Maya. “
Danville, with a population of about 32,000 people, sits near the border of Illinois and Indiana, 125 miles south of Chicago and 80 miles West of Indianapolis.
Above: Finkle claims the G5 Quad is the first PC to be able to be seen from space. Satellite imagery courtesy of NASA
