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WSJ: Apple developing competitor to Pandora, could launch within 'a matter of months'
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is engaged in talks with record labels to create a Pandora-like music streaming service. According to the outlet's sources, the service will be ad-supported and will be accessible from Apple's wide array of hardware -- there's even hope that PC users may be able to catch some of the action. However, it's said that Android devices will be left out in the cold. The sources also say that the company had previously toyed with the idea of a service similar to Spotify with a monthly fee, but that this effort appears more serious. Licenses supposedly being sought by the House that Jobs Built could let them air songs more frequently than competitors and allow for additional interactivity. Since Apple's negotiations are at an early stage, it's expected to take months before the service materializes. At any rate, if you're still jonesin' for something fresh from Cupertino, we hear that something's been cooked up for next week. Update: The New York Times is now chiming in with a similar report citing three sources of its own.
Wall Street Journal to offer free WiFi hotspots in NYC and San Francisco during September
Oh New Yorkers and their marvelous, no-cost WiFi access points. Only a few days after Google Offers and Boingo happily announced they'd brought gratis wireless connectivity to additional underground locations within the city, The Wall Street Journal is now let it be known it too will be kind enough to gift the NYC crowd with some WiFi hotspots of its own. The nice gesture will bring around 1,300 network units to areas such as SoHo, Greenwich Village, Union Square, Chelsea and, naturally, the renowned Times Square during the month of September -- all in hopes of giving "people the opportunity to sample The Wall Street Journal." Meanwhile, folks in San Francisco can also grab the internet-friendly freebies in a couple of different places, including Nob Hill and Fisherman's Wharf. And don't worry, there won't be any donkeys involved here.
iPhone 5 / 4S: the rumor roundup
It's July, there is no new iPhone, and the analysts are restless. This time last year, Apple had already announced and begun shipping the iPhone 4 -- in fact, every single previous model has been announced in June, save for the first, which was unveiled in January 2007. So, now that the month has come and gone and WWDC with it, what are all of the tech publications out there to do? Make with the rumor stories, naturally -- and over the past few weeks, they've been coming fast and furious.DigiTimes has offered a fairly constant stream of sometimes dubious rumors surrounding the device from its stable of supplier contacts, and a recent article from The Wall Street Journal has reopened the floodgates. GigaOm has gone so far as to suggest that the latter may well be a controlled leak from Apple, and certainly it has reignited interest in the belated device.There's not a lot in the way consensus here, save for one key detail: Apple appears set to release a new iPhone. That much seems certain. After all, the iPhone remains the company's biggest money maker, even in this post-iPad world. Last year, of course, we had a slightly better guide ahead of the launch, but this time out, for better or worse, no one at Cupertino has been considerate enough to leave the upcoming handset at a Redwood City bar after a night of partying, so let's cut through the noise and and piece together a cohesive picture based on the wide assortment of rumors.
Rumor: Apple talking with CDMA carriers in India
Adding to the already bloated CDMA iPhone rumor mill, The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Apple is in talks with Reliance Communications Ltd and Tata Teliservices Ltd to bring the much-talked-about CDMA equipped iPhone to India. Apparently, talks with Tata Teleservices Ltd have been going on for some 4 to 5 months now. Similarly, this same CDMA iPhone is the one that has been repeatedly rumored to appear on - surprise, surprise - Verizon's network early next year, also according to the Journal. So, Verizon folks, things are looking more and more in your favor, once again -- at least until they don't, once again. If Apple were to introduce a code division multiple access (CDMA) iPhone, it would open Apple's iPhone up to roughly 550 million new customers worldwide, according the latest official figures from the CDMA Development Group. This certainly would expand Apple's iPhone market! In India, one of the world's fastest growing wireless markets, Apple has the potential to get its iPhone into 134 million current CDMA handset users' hands, though Apple Insider suggests that nearly half the country may struggle to afford the phone, with individuals earning an estimated US$1.25 or less a day. If the rumors are to be believed, a CDMA iPhone release early next year is looking more and more likely. As always, nothing is certain until we see it in the cold, hard, light of day. [Via AppleInsider]
News publishers looking to the Galaxy Tab and BlackBerry PlayBook for refuge as well
In case you were worried that it was just Apple love that got major news outlets on the iPad so quickly, you should know that the general sense of desperation (or is it their never ending sense of adventure?) pervading the likes of the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today has them building apps for the Galaxy Tab as well. The news comes courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, and has yet to be announced officially by the parties involved -- though we have a hard time doubting any of it. It makes sense, of course: the big cost is producing content for a tablet form factor, not building the reader app, and the Galaxy Tab naturally won't be the last of its Android kind. The WSJ and The Financial Times are also apparently some possible gets for RIM's PlayBook, though less is known about those deals. On the Tab, The New York Times is supposed to be pre-loaded with some carrier's versions of the device, and its app will be free until January of next year when The Times starts charging for its website.
Murdoch confirms WSJ coming to iPad, device kept 'under padlock and key'
It only came at the tail end of an announcement of a new New York metro section for The Wall Street Journal, but Rupert Murdoch has finally confirmed that the paper will indeed be heading to the iPad. The really interesting bit, however, is that not only is the company now being allowed to work on an iPad, but that Murdoch says it's kept "under padlock and key," and that "the key is turned by Apple every night" -- a bit of hyperbole, maybe, but then again, maybe not. In other newspapers-going-digital news, Murdoch also said that the WSJ would be heading to half a dozen or more other devices within a year, although he didn't name any specific devices.
Sony e-readers get exclusive Dow Jones, New York Post content
Hoping to read the New York Post on an e-reader anytime soon? Then your choices just got quite a bit more limited, as the newspaper has signed a deal that will see Sony offer the only version of the paper for digital reading devices. Joining it are various exclusive offerings from Dow Jones & Company, including The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch, which won't be completely exclusive to Sony readers, but will be available in special editions only available on Sony readers -- that includes The Wall Street Journal PLUS, a digital edition of the morning paper that also features an update of the day's events after the close of the markets. Owners of the Sony Reader Daily Edition will also naturally be able to get the day's papers wirelessly delivered to their readers, with subscriptions running between $9.99 and $19.99 a month.
Major media giants to form joint venture for digital future, says WSJ
News Corp, Time Inc., Condé Nast Publications Inc., Hearst Corp., and Meredith Corp. If this Wall Street Journal report is to be believed here, these five major media firms are preparing to announce a new joint venture tomorrow to "prepare print publications for a new generation of electronic readers and other digital devices." Details are a bit sketchy here, and what makes it more interesting / confounding is that many of these companies already have or have showcased separate initiatives, such as Hearst's Skiff and tablet demos from both Time and Condé Nast. We'll be eager to find out if there are any devices the group rallies behind (or even produces itself), but one thing's for sure: good old Rupert Murdoch will have something fun to say on the matter.
Viva Piata featured in WSJ (wha?)
Nintendo may have created the first generation of (pocket) monster controlled mindslaves, but Microsoft is hoping to snare the next generation with piñatas. And it looks like they just might hit the big time. That's right, Viva Piñata has been featured in the money-grubbingest of all publications, the Wall Street Journal. A subscription is required to read the article, and we certainly don't make WSJ caliber money around here. Lucky for us, the fine folks of Gamerscoreblog have picked out a tasty snippet, "And in the New York showroom of Playmates Toys Inc. on Wednesday, 70 or so tradable Viva Piñata figurines and a hand-held electronic game -- made by Playmates -- will be unveiled. The toys offer more avenues for marketing partnerships that would connect Viva Piñata with kids when they step away from their TVs and are designed to link the components of a piñata universe that has been carefully concocted to boost the videogame."It just drips with the trappings of a master plan, doesn't it? Any of you planning on picking up Viva Piñata for the kids? For yourselves?
