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Next-gen iPod touch photos supposedly leak out; Cocktail part of Apple announcement? (Updated)
No surprise that the Zune HD announcement has resulted in a flurry of iPod rumors, and there's a couple good ones going around today. Obviously the big news is a set of photos purporting to show a next-gen touch with a camera -- the sourcing and the backdrop in some of the pics make it feel like it's a publicity stunt, but the shots of the motherboard next to a current-gen touch's board seem convincing -- especially because of Apple's recent propensity to leak this sort of thing. The other piece of news? CNET says that whatever Apple does next month, the new Cocktail "next-generation album cover" will be a part of it, at least according to "multiple music industry sources." That might link into the major labels' CMX initiative, it might have something to do with iTunes 9, it might be a fun little Tom Cruise movie, or it might be nothing at all -- but it sure seems like we're in for a hell of a September. Update: As commenter Joseph pointed out, these look pretty fake when you zoom in Photoshop -- there's a distinct square of pixels around the lens. Nice publicity stunt, guys -- we'll totally start listening to your show now. Update 2: After seeing some high res versions of these pics, we think we can safely rule out the JPG artifacting as the tell-tale sign that these are fake. You know what we can't rule out? The really bad looking Photoshop work around the lens. Much clearer pic after the break. [Thanks for the pic, Manny] Read - The Covino and Rich Show blog post with iPod touch photos Read - iPod touch photos on Flickr in higher-res Read - CNET on Cocktail
Apple and record labels to release competing enhanced album formats
Remember when we said the four largest record companies were working together with Apple to add enhanced liner notes and extra media to full album purchases through the iTunes Store? Well, apparently Apple wasn't in on that cooperation. The Guardian is reporting that the four companies' plans for enhanced full albums were rebuffed by Apple, and they are planning to release their own format in competition with the one to be released in the iTunes Store. The new file format, called CMX, was created by EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner. It will function quite a bit like a DVD, with a launch page allowing for navigation to the related artwork and video portions of the album. An unnamed label representative is quoted saying that the format was initially presented to an uninterested Apple; now, Apple is releasing a competing format under the code name Cocktail. The format's tentative launch date is set for November, will be for a small number of titles, and only available in smaller music stores and non-Apple players. It is unclear how Cocktail and CMX will be different, if at all, save for the exclusivity of platforms. Apple is largely said to be following up on the format as a precautionary measure, in case it proves to be immensely popular; as they've said repeatedly, their interest still lies with supporting the more lucrative hardware, rather than trying to profit from full album sales. Still, Apple is stepping up to the format battle, and while not on the scale of Betamax vs. VHS or HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray, this promises to be a pretty decent fight. [via Electronista]
Major labels show eagerness to fail with new CMX digital audio format
Let's think about this, shall we? How did Sony's ATRAC format do? How did all those DRM-laced formats fare? Call us zany, but we've got a feeling an all new format developed by the astoundingly brilliant (ahem) minds at the world's largest record labels is apt to follow the aforementioned formats right on down to Irrelevant Boulevard. According to Times Online, Sony, Warner, Universal and EMI are currently looking to go head-to-head with Apple's own "Cocktail" by introducing a CMX format (codenamed) that will "give music fans a computerized version of the sleeve notes that come as standard with a CD, including lyrics and artwork, and videos." Reportedly, the format is expected to launch in November in an effort to boost whole album downloads (as opposed to singles), and while the labels approached Apple in order to gain its support, the Cupertino-based company purportedly decided to concoct its own mixture. Oh, and you can pretty much consider this extra DOA should iTunes not support it; fair or not, that's just the way it is.[Via Guardian]
