itunespass
Latest
iTunes Pass links your credit to iOS' Passbook app (update: now available in the US)
Scratch-cards are fun. Inputting lengthy serial codes, less so. We're not sure why Apple's testing this out in Japan first, but iTunes Pass marks another effort in the direction towards smoothing mobile payments -- something that country knows plenty about. Spotted on Apple's Japanese iTunes page by 9to5Mac, the company describes how users can now deposit money directly to their iTunes account inside bricks-and-mortar stores. Apple sales assistants will scan the Passbook card (seen above) and the payment will go through then and there, ready to be used instantly. The Passbook app can already be installed from the iOS iTunes Store app in Japan and as 9to5Mac notes, with only eight stores, the country could be the easiest way to gauge the service before deciding whether to take it global. Oh yeah, and it's completely different to Apple's 2009 iTunes Pass. Update: The new Passbook card has now appeared in the US.
Apple experiments with iTunes Pass: it's not what you think, and it's lame
If it seems like Ma and Pops over at the iTunes store are toying with the idea of subscription music, look again. The iTunes Pass is more akin to buying a season of Celebrity Rehab: long-time Depeche Mode fans can put down $18.99 to get everything the band releases between now and the seemingly arbitrary date of June 16, 2009, including the new single, various promotional bits (remixes, videos, etc.) and the Sounds of the Universe album when it's eventually released. The audio comes in iTunes Plus (256kbps / AAC / no DRM) format, and while Apple doesn't say exactly what you'll be getting, the company promises that you won't wind up paying more for the pass than the value of everything you receive. Of course, what we'd really like to see is this sort of a deal for a band that didn't peak twenty years ago. In the meantime, we'll be catching up with Depeche Mode the way nature intended -- during the weekly spin of Personal Jesus at 80's Night.[Via Tech Digest]
