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PSA: iOS 6 expected to arrive at 1PM Eastern, get your downloads ready
Apple tends to release new iOS upgrades like clockwork, which gives us a good indicator of when it should push iOS 6 to early adopters: 1PM Eastern, or 10AM Pacific and 5PM GMT. At that point, you can likely get your turn-by-turn and Passbook fixes through at least iTunes. The real question is whether the upgrade will be available directly from an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch -- we've seen delta updates arrive over the air for iOS 5, after all, but not major OS revisions. There's only a few hours before we find out. September 19, 2012 1:00 PM EDT
Frank Zappa music catalog now available on iTunes, could be coming soon to Spotify and Rdio
Freak out (!), because another music legend's starting to bite the iTunes pie. With the well-documented Beatles-on-iTunes saga well behind us, it's time for the late Frank Zappa to become one of the most recent artists to join Cupertino's media repertoire. This means that there's now over 50 of Zappa's albums up for your downloading / listening pleasure inside Apple's renowned application -- some of which have been remastered, and include the likes of Absolutely Free, Uncle Meat, Hot Rats, Burnt Weeny Sandwich and, not surprisingly, the best-selling Sheik Yerbouti. That's not it, however, according to Digital Music News, Frank Zappa's full set of jams could also be headed to streaming services (such as Rdio and Spotify) sometime around October of this year -- though, at this point, nothing's been set in stone just yet. Either way, the good news is you can find the hefty catalog on iTunes as we speak, all you've got to do's give the source link below a quick tap.
Apple reportedly planning major iTunes overhaul, better iCloud integration and sharing
While Google is beefing up its ecosystem, Apple is also planning some big changes to its iTunes platform according to Bloomberg. Sources inside the company claim, by the end of the year iTunes will undergo a major transformation seemingly designed to counter recent moves by Google. Key to the plans is iCloud. Cupertino's cloud storage solution will be much more tightly integrated, allowing easier access to and management of media collections across devices. Another part of the online offerings will be content discovery. As Netflix has already discovered, and Google is trying to master, making accurate suggestions for new music and films is key to keeping customers coming back to a media market. Deeper social network integration is also part of finding and sharing new music. Apple is supposedly in negotiations with the record labels to allow users to send songs to friends for free -- a feature both Spotify and Google Music already support. For a few more details check out the source.
Apple pitches data center near Reno, gambles iCloud will pay off among other puns
Apple data centers are popping up like spring flowers: following its North Carolina, Oregon and California plans, it's now pitching a fourth data center in Sparks, Nevada, just outside of Reno. The enigmatically named Project Jonathan hub is expected to light up before the end of the year if it's given the green light. Not surprisingly, Apple is promising jobs for the area, although the company is choosing the location for a reason: it's hoping for tax breaks on top of the advantages that previously led it to funnel some of its money through Nevada. We'll have a better idea as to the fate of the data center when Apple argues for the project on June 27th, but it's reasonable to think Apple is eager to make the Sparks location a reality. The more capacity and reliability it can build into iCloud and iTunes, the better. [Image credit: Amy Meredith, Flickr]
YouTube 'Merch Store' makes your artist channel a one-stop shop for the groupie goodies
Know what beats selling CDs (or USB sticks) and swag out of the trunk of your struggling band's party wagon? Striking a deal with Google to pitch those wares on the interwebs, that's what. Rolling out to official YouTube partners over the next few weeks, the newly created Merch Store will offer fans from all across the globe an opportunity to purchase MP3s, tickets for concerts and gatherings, and, of course, merchandise straight from your dedicated page. Helping ol' Mountain View make these coffer-filling goodies available are a handful of established online retailers like Amazon, iTunes, Songkick and Topspin. So, if you just can't wait for the Rebecca Black arena rock tour to blitz through your small town, keep clicking refresh on that artist channel for the inevitable slew of merchandising, merchandising.
Podcasts down in iTunes desktop store (update: it's back!)
Want to download the latest Engadget Show from the iTunes Store on your Mac or PC? Well, you probably can't -- right now, at least. That section appears to be down for most of us at the moment, with the Podcasts tab presenting a "not enough memory available" error message on each click. We've confirmed the error on iTunes 10.2.1 and 10.2.2.12 -- the latest version -- and aren't able to get past the home page. We're sure Cupertino is working on a fix, but you may need to put your podcast obsession on hold, or jump on your iOS device for all that tech talk in the meantime. Update: We're also unable to download apps from both the Mac and iOS App Stores. After clicking to download an app in iOS, it appears on the home screen briefly, then disappears. We're also prompted to re-enter passwords with each attempt, so this may be related to an authentication issue. Jump past the break for the App Store error. Update 2: The outage extends to all iTunes Store content, including music, movies, TV shows -- the works. Time to go out and enjoy the sunshine? Update 3: As of 3:15pm ET things look to be up and operational again. You may now recommence stuffing your devices with datas. [Thanks, Jeff]
iTunes gifting grifter cleaning out British bank accounts
On January 25th, The Register reported that one unlucky bloke saw his bank account emptied through a series of iTunes monthly gift purchases sent to an unknown Hotmail account. He was informed of the theft by an e-mail from Apple, saying his gift purchase had been confirmed, but alas, he'd already been taken to the tune of £1,000. It's been over a week since the story appeared, but accounts continue to pour into an Apple customer support forum, echoing the accusations made to The Register -- and, boy are people mad. Apparently, customers seeking Apple's help have received a pat response that sounds awfully familiar: cancel your credit card and report the charges to your bank. We've yet to hear of this happening anywhere outside the UK, but we're still interested to see how the great iTunes heist shakes out. If a suspicious Hotmail account is sucking you dry, we want all the sordid details.
Apple nears ten billion downloads in App Store, should hit it without Verizon's help
For whatever reason, Apple has a thing with ten billion. The outfit served up its ten billionth iTune right around this time last year, and more importantly, served its one billionth app in April of 2009. In just 1.5 years, the company has seen that figure soar nearly tenfold, which is impressive no matter how you slice it. Of course, we're quite curious to know if this includes duplicate downloads, app updates and just free or paid apps, but regardless, there's no question that Cupertino (and quite a few developers) are raking it in. Of course, the explosion of the iPad certainly helped boost the download frequency, and if we had to guess, we'd say it'll take even less time to double up this milestone. You know, once next month happens. Oh, and if you get lucky enough, you could score a $10,000 iTunes gift card if you just so happen to download the ten billionth app -- make sure it's a good one. [Thanks, Ali]
iTunes celebrates its 10th birthday, still takes too long to sync your iPhone
If you've managed to use any piece of technology for ten years, it's safe to say that said piece has some serious lasting power in an era filled with flavors-of-the-week. It's a bit startling to think that Apple's iTunes has now fallen into that category, but sure enough, the music-turned-media-application is now a decade old. Fittingly enough, it just hit version 10.0 a few months ago, and it may very well be tweaked to play nice with an all new device later this week. Head on past the break for a look at the very first iTunes introduction at Macworld 2001, and then think about how many times you've hated your life as you watched that sync progress bar crawl along at glacial speeds. No, seriously, think about it.
Apple now selling older HD movies for $10
Buying HD movies from iTunes has never been the most popular option, but it's at least a little cheaper now that Apple has added a $10 or less HD movie section for older titles that were previously sold for the new-film premium of $20. The sub-$10 library only consists of 30 titles at the moment (though we assume that'll grow with time), including 3:10 to Yuma, American Psycho, and The Doors, as well as more appropriate bargain bin specimens like Midgets vs. Mascots, The Midnight Meat Train, and Witless Protection. Ideally, we'd love for the rumored new Apple TV and $0.99 TV show rental option to make all of this somewhat of a moot point, but you'll never catch us complaining about price drops. And besides, it's not like we'll be dropping our Netflix subscriptions based on "maybes" or "mights."
Inexplicable rise in iPhone dev's App Store sales connected to iTunes account hacks? (update)
We've received a handful of tips this morning claiming something's rotten in the state of the iTunes App Store, namely via the Book category. As of this writing, 42 of the top 50 books by revenue are from the seller Thuat Nguyen, whose company website ("mycompany") leads to parked site www.home.com. A vast majority of these book apps were released in April, have little to no customer ratings or reviews, appear to be in Vietnamese (despite claims in the side bar that the supported languages are English and Japanese), and may or may not be infringing on copyrighted work -- we're noticing a lot of Dragon Ball art here. To give sales a sense of scope, Twilight series conclusion Breaking Dawn is hovering only at 34 right now. So, how did these books hit the top of the charts? The other half of this story has to do with a claimed rise in iTunes account hacking, with a number of people reporting up to hundreds of dollars being spent unwillingly from their account to these specific books. Coincidence? Let's not mince words here, something is definitely amiss, and it's not looking good. Just to be safe, might wanna check your purchase history under Apple Account information. We've reached out to Apple and will let you know as soon as we hear back. Update: We've yet to hear from Apple proper, but we do have an update of sorts -- 9 to 5 Mac reports all the "mycompany" titles have completely vanished from the App Store. We're not sure whether Apple decided to shut down the operation or the seller pulled them himself, so continue to keep an eye on your digital pocketbook until we know for sure. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Apple serves up 10 billionth iTune, smiles all the way to the bank
Whether you love it or loathe it, there is now no way to deny the spectacular success of Apple's iTunes Store. The proprietary digital media player, organizer and salesperson has just now recorded its 10 billionth song download, marking a truly unique achievement in the still nascent world of digital distribution. Congratulations to Apple, whose response has been to thank you all for spending so much cash and making El Steve look like the techno pied piper. Hit the source link to find out what the most downloaded songs of "all time" were... you might not be surprised by the top three, but you should definitely be horrified.
iTunes goes 9.0.2: adds support for Apple TV 3.0, kills Pre sync
First comes the Apple TV 3.0 update, and next comes the iTunes update to make the two play nice. It's a beautiful thing, we tell ya. As of right now, iTunes 9.0.2 is available via Software Update, and with that comes compatibility with Apple TV 3.0, an "improved look and feel," and an easier-to-explore iTunes Store. Hop on past the break for the full changelog, and feel free to get your download on now if you're still not scared of blindly installing software from Cupertino. Update: Looks like it killed Pre sync -- now, act like you're surprised!
Palm complains about Apple to USB governing body, while Pre / iTunes sync "fix" is explained
You should be refilling that popcorn bucket right about now. While we thought the next round of the Pre / iTunes syncing fiasco would probably be something simple like Apple releasing another quick patch, Palm has stepped it up a notch by complaining to the USB Implementers Forum over what it sees is "improper use of the Vendor ID number" by the gang at Cupertino. What the company means is that when an ID is applied for, a form is signed that states:"Unauthorized use of assigned or unassigned USB Vendor ID Numbers and associated Product ID Numbers are strictly prohibited." The implication here is that Palm believes Apple is violating this stature by disallowing certain Vendor IDs -- namely, Palm's -- from using iTunes. So how'd Palm manage to "fix" that syncing hole Apple managed to fill? From the looks of it, by misrepresenting its own Vendor ID, so that the Pre now shows up as a iPod / mass storage device made by Apple (ID 0x05ac) as opposed to one by Palm (ID 0x083) -- hence the complaint. Of course, lying about your own ID would seem to break with the aforementioned rule, too, so what we're left here is some muddled grey area and Palm apparently being okay with fudging some data to correct what it sees is an injustice. If anyone's curious, DVD Jon points out that the root USB Node is still identified as "Pre," so we very likely could see another round of these shenanigans in the not-too-distant future.Finally, now's as good of a time as any to take a look at some of the peripheral casualties from this war of attrition. In an essay on his personal site that's been circulating the interwebs, Marc Deslauriers outlines the pangs he and the Linux community have felt over the years trying to use iPods on the open source platform, surmising that Apple is intentionally and repeatedly seeking ways to block non-iTunes programs from syncing in any way with its devices. This story is far from over, and as ugly as it looks now, it's probably only gonna get worse.[Via Digg and Pre Central]Read - Marc Deslauriers, "Goodbye Apple"Read - Palm's lodges complaint with USB IFRead - USB Vendor ID applicationRead - Palm Pre USB hack confirmed
Palm responds to iTunes / Pre statement, defiant and unfazed
We're still not 100 percent clear what Apple's next move is, but we do know they're a little more than nonplussed about Pre's ad hoc iTunes syncing methods. Despite Cupertino's update to its support site last night, Palm seems unconcerned, as relayed by a spokesperson to Digital Daily. In a statement, the company said disabling the sync "will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience" and that "there are other third-party applications we could consider." In other word, it'd be Apple's loss. We're not quite sure we agree there, nor would we really think "stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre" method is really the best suggestion, but hey, we're not the multimillion dollar phone manufacturer here. We anxiously await to see if and when this cold war is turned up a few notches.
iTunes on the Wii for free, whee!
Since our freaking lucky colleagues over at Engadget are liveblogging Steve Jobs' Apple keynote speech this morning, we thought we'd toss out a little random Apple love of our own. We wrote previously about a little $9 application that would let you turn your Wii into a media center (of sorts) and access your iTunes music and whatnot ... but how about a totally free solution?Hackaddict.net has posted a simple little guide showing you how to do so, complete with handy dandy photos and John Madden-like telestrator doodles. Follow the steps and let us know how your mileage is. Of course, Apple could be announcing the all-new Leopard specs, -- complete with built-in Wii integration following their buyout of Nintendo as you read this -- but if you want it now with nothing to shell out, get to work.
