UGN Info Manager UGN Info Manager
An unhappy iTunes online music store customer is suing Apple Computer, alleging the company broke antitrust laws by allowing iTunes to work only with its own music player, the iPod, freezing out competitors, court filings showed. The suit was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif. One antitrust expert called it a long shot, but Californian Thomas Slattery is hoping for unspecified damages for being 'forced' to buy an iPod, one of the most successful electronics products in years. ... see the full story...
Last year, RealNetworks released a technology called Harmony that for the first time let copy-protected songs from a music store other than Apple's iTunes play directly on the iPod. RealNetworks had independently mimicked the antipiracy tools used by Apple and hadn't gotten Apple's permission first. RealNetworks' Harmony software, once again allows songs to be played directly on an iPod or on a Microsoft-based device, is limited to the company's pay-per-song store. Songs downloaded through the new Rhapsody portable subscription service are compatible only with a small number of Windows-based MP3 players.
MacDevCenter.com has the plans for turning your cell phone into a remote control for iTunes. That way, you can tell it to change songs from another room. Read more...
Jon Johansen, also known as 'DVD Jon,', for developing software that removes digital rights management from DVDs has developed a new program that deletes similar restrictions from iTunes downloads. The software currently is only available for Windows and Linux. Bet this won't last long. ... see the full story...
Well, as quick as Apple reponsed to the iTunes attack, there was a counter response.
DVD Jon has already reversed engineered Apple's protection and has released a new hack for Linux that still removes the DRM. Read more...
Well, it was bound to happen. In less than a week, Apple recovered from the "break-in" and created a new version of iTunes that won't serve the song without copy protection. You must now use iTunes version 4.7. ... see the full story...
This BBC news story, from the US Digital Hollywood conference, reports that SONY is eying "iTunes" for movies. Do you think Sony will develop its digital download services for films? The Sony partnership with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Universal Studios and Warner Bros. might suggest a yes to that question ... newsvote.bbc.co.uk
I think all Mac users are familiar enough with iTunes to know that it ocmes with a list of "radio stations" that can provide a constant stream to your Mac. However, there are a lot of possible stations on the Internet that aren't listed in the iTunes Radio list. PlayList magazine has a way to create your own playlist of radio stations. ... see the full story...
Yes, that is correct, it is possible to use the Play Station Portable to control iTunes. Emgadget jhas an articl on how to do it. See the details at: www.engadget.com
Robert X. Cringely, on PBS, has been around the high tech industry for as long as I can remember, has a commentary on last week, saying it "This Week Changed the World of High Tech Forever, Though Most of Us Still Don't Know It." He breaks it down to three major points.
1) Microsoft's announcement of the new XBox. He is saying that it is built to compete with Intel computers, not just Sony and Nintendo.
2) Is Google Web Accelerator. The idea here is that Google provides a service where they try to predict where you are going next. Then download a compressed version of that web page while you are reading the current one. This could compete with Microsoft's own operating system. The big problem being that they could provide additional computing power on their server so our current computers would last longer. That would cost Microsoft and hardware companies a lot of cash. Also, it could eliminate the need for ISPs such as AOL that provide their own content.
3) Apple's new movie/music business. He quotes a Slashdot poster that is supposedly an Apple employee. (S)he said that Apple would be doing a video equivalent of its AirPort Express WiFi repeater that has audio output to link iTunes to your stereo system. He points out that the use of this repeater means that the computer itself doesn't have to be so fast. Thus the Mac mini becomes the center point of a multi-media system.
Interesting isn't it. He gives a lot more detail, including comments on the new Yahoo music service. ... see the full story...
I came across an article propposing that Apple add the ability to connect the iPod to cell phones and cameras via an SD memory card slot. Summarizing:
"Hadley's statement on Nextel, Verizon blocking the iTunes mobile version got me thinking - if the smartphone market is going to be so crucial, what can Apple do to bypass these wireless companies but still have a presence in the smartphone market ?
...Thanks to IDC's IdaRose Sylvester who opened up the iPod Shuffle and identified the key components - a Sigmatel STMP3550 chip (costs $7.50 volume pricing) and a Samsung 512MB/1GB Flash memory chip.
...If the iPod SDIO really existed it could instantly be added to a Smartphone (based on Palm OS or PocketPC OS) with a SD slot with SDIO capability, and iTunes mobile software could take advantage of the GPRS/EDGE or EVDO services so that customers could directly access the iTunes store and download songs completely bypassing the wireless company but using the data service offered by the wireless company.... Also if the Smartphone is like the latest Samsung with 3GB storage (although Samsung uses Transflash slot, this idea could be extended), the iPod SDIO could use its internal flash chip just for buffering but store the tunes on the smartphone's internal hard disk."
Note: This looks to me like it could be done by a third party. Read the full proposal at: sastwingees.blogharbor.com
Ok, so you rip a bunch of your CDs to iTunes. But how do you get the cover art that goes with the song? Why with "Fetch Art" of course. It gets the artwork from Amazon. It will even get the art work for every song on the LP/CD if the songs are selected when you start Fetch Art. But it won't paste it to iTunes automatically. For that you have to select each song in Fetch Art and click on the paste it button. Fetch Art for iTunes
Apple is giving away up to 8 million songs with its new Slurpee Summer Prize Fest promotion. Get a free song with the purchase of a 32 oz. Slurpee from 7-Eleven convenience stores around the US. Specially marked 32 oz Slurpee cups feature a free 12 digit alphanumeric code redeemable for one free song download from Apple's iTunes Music Store. The sweepstakes ends on July 31, 2005 ... see the full story...
KCRW-FM, LAXL General Manager Ruth Seymour was getting her teeth cleaned in February when her dentist suggested the station adopt a new technology called podcasting.
Apple Computer Inc. this week rolled out an updated version of its music software, iTunes, that prominently features podcasts of such KCRW programs as comedian Harry Shearer's "Le Show" and film critic Elvis Mitchell's "The Treatment."
The nonprofit station relies on the generosity of 500,000 over-the-air listeners and funds from program sponsors. If the trend continues, Seymour anticipates the station may raise an additional $1 million a year, a big potential shot in the arm for its $10-million annual budget.
KCRW's experience signals that podcasting may soon join Internet radio as a mainstream way for local radio stations to distribute programs nationwide. Although 22 million Americans own portable devices capable of playing podcasts, before this week only about 6 million people had downloaded programs, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. KCRW is one of the public radio stations that I listen to at work.
But I haven't come across the two shows mentioned above. Thus, I didn't recognize them in the new list on the iTunes store. Listening to Podcasts are so much easier now. Read the full story (Free registration required.) www.latimes.com
Dave Winer, one of the inventors of RSS, criticizes Apple for its implementation of Podcast subscriptions in iTunes. Apple aims to build podcast support directly into both the software and iPod, but leaders in the RSS community, including the standard's own creator, are taking Apple to task for developing an ill-advised DTD without seeking input and guidance from the community.
So-called "media RSS" implementations would enable podcasts to be categorized by any syndication service, the way existing RSS tags today enable text pages--including Tom's Hardware Guide pages--to be listed on many syndication services today, including Moreover.
But last week, responding to Apple's iTunes 4.9 release on one of his many blogs, Dave Winer, the creator of the original RSS standard and its most vocal supporter, chastised Apple for explicitly using the name of its technology, "itunes," within the DTD namespace....
This is not the first time that Dave Winer and Apple has butted heads. He previously had a macro program for scripting on the Mac, that Apple over took with AppleScripting. Read the full story at: www.tomshardware.com
I am sure that Apple will release its own fixes for this problem, but meanwhile, this small program fixes a bug in iTunes 4.9. It repairs type and creator coes for mp3, m4a and m4p formats. (Note: some people think that MacUpDate.com is better than the long time leader, VersionTracker.com and keeping Mac owners up to date.
Download it at: macupdate.com
It is possible to broadcast video casts to iTunes NOW. MacDailyNews has a story about Apple doing just that. It is obviously for test purposes at this point, but it is interesting and works with both Mac and Windows versions of iTunes. Read more at: macdailynews.com
Many people think Apple's iTunes store has eliminated illegal music sharing. Nothing could be further from the truth -- and sharing may get worse if Apple is forced to raise song prices at the iTunes Music Store next year. Digital Music News is reporting that music labels have been pushing Apple to increase the fixed a-la-carte pricing structure in the US, Canada and Europe. Apple's lower pricing in Japan has forced some of its main competitors like Sony, Yahoo Japan and Excite to lower pricing. www.digitalmusicnews.com
Don't sell that OS 9 Mac just yet. Recording labels are circling the wagons with their latest copy-protected CDs. The news is buzzing that iPod users won't have a solution. A new Dave Matthews Band CD purchased last week wouldn't work on iTunes or iPod... the scuttle is it copied quickly and easily with OS 9.1 using Casady and Green's Sound Jam. And, there's always the old RCA plugs. ow the industry is saying "It's up to Apple to flip the switch" but that very statement alone betrays their recent arrived on the digital music scene. www.ipodnn.com
For five bucks, The Sound Guy will send you a copy of PlayLyrix 0.9 which searches your iTunes collection and automatically creates a new playlist of all the songs whose lyrics contain specified words or phrases. Download the demo, or click for details
Get less done, have more fun... here's the world's first mobile phone with iTunes, 100 iTunes for Mac or PC -- from Apple, Motorola and Cingular Wireless. ... see the full story...
Speakables for iTunes is the first voice recognition software product to enable users to launch iTunes playlists by simply speaking the name the playlist Read more...
AP Internet Writer Anick Jesdanun writes: "Software Promises to Free ITunes Music From IPods, but Use It at Your Own Risk ... Sometimes, I feel as if I'm the only person out there without an iPod ... My Jukebox can do most of what iPods do, and like the iPod of its generation it only does music. The main exception is playing songs bought through Apple's iTunes Music Store; Apple has made it clear its iTunes service is only for iPods."
HotRecorder (http://www.hotrecorder.com/) is a media recorder and converter tool designed to record and convert iTunes and Yahoo music files into universal formats, removing copyright protection while maintaining sound file quality.
Jesdanun says : "HotRecorder indeed works -- some of the time -- in freeing your tunes from copy protection. Just use it at your own risk." ... see the full story...
Starting November 1st, Yahoo will double the price of its online music subscription service, ending the promotion that the company hoped would encourage consumers to use Yahoo's service instead of Apple's iTunes music store. 'Nuff said ... Read more...
InformationWeek has an article about what the latest update for OS X 10.3 does. The article claims that Apple set a new record by having 60 bug fixes. It also includes fixes for iTunes and Mail. ... see the full story...
Lugz footwear has sent a cease-and-desist letter to both Apple and its advertising agency TBWA ChiatDay - Lugz says that the similarities are more than striking between their TV commercial and Apple's latest Eminem iPod / iTunes spot... What do you think?
Are they similar? Read the article Watch the video
Thrupp 1.2 is an update that lets iTunes users sync their library to any kind of MP3 player -- any device that plays MP3s and mounts in the Finder. Better yet, if a library isn't in MP3 format Thrupp automatically transcodes as it copies. Version 1.2 adds profiles for popular phone models to ease the setup process. The new profiles also support Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, Palm, Treo and Windows Mobile devices. The update also adds interface refinements, bug fixes, and offers the ability to create album subfolders. Thrupp 1.2 is available for $15, and requires Mac OS X 10.3. Download file: thrupp-1.2.dmg ... see the full story...
Apple has announced a software update to the iPod software. It updates the iPod shuffle software to support the iPod shuffle Battery Pack and improves the stability of the software. For the iPod mini, there is support for the second-generation and adds support for charging and syncing over USB with Mac OS X 10 v2.8 or 10.3.4. For 3rd Generation iPods and later, it adds the Shuffle Song selection and provides support for iTunes 4.7. Update through Apple software update.
We don't very often get "IMHO" pieces from readers, but this seemed totally appropriate to pass it along...
A reader writes:
Just read your THIS OLD MOUSE, and am very impresssed. I ran across that website while I was searching for possible user groups in my N.VA area. I think I am out of luck on that one. There are three groups listed in VA - one in Hampton and two in VA Beach. I'm up in Woodbridge, North of Quantico.
Seriously now though, my biggest annoyance with Apple is that their service is practically nonexistant. In my opinion, they betrayed their loyal users when they awarded exclusive sales and service of Apple products to CompUSA.
The service technician who covers about a hundred square mile area here in northern VA has never fixed the problem that induced me to take my computer to him in the first place, but on that visit and two successive ones, he has managed to make such a mess of my system that I would like to take my computer and crown him with it.
I have had to resort to writing snail mail letters to him because I cannot phone him or email him and cannot afford to take my computer back to the store and wait for him to show up and "work" on it again. I only have access to one computer and I need it daily. There is not a single repair person listed in my Woodbridge phone book who works on Macs or knows of one, other than the one at CompUSA.
Someone suggested that I locate a user group and now I see that those are few and far between, too. Almost enough to force me to trash my Mac and cross over to the PC (after having used only Apple/Mac since I bought my first computer over fifteen years ago).
thank you
A lesson to be learned
This type of email is neither unusual nor infrequent. Since 1994 the UGN has maintained the "Find A Group" and fields lots of mail like this -- but the UGN database has been getting smaller and smaller. We help all those we can, but there are huge gaps in MUG coverage across the country.
This condition points to Apple and User Group community's lack of identity marketing. Obviously Apple, Washington Apple Pi, nor Virginia Mug messages reach the Woodbridge area -- a scant 45 minutes from the Beltway. For whatever reason the reader didn't know about groups in the area nor the opening of Apple stores in northern Virginia.
The reader did find Apple's UG database, but it wasn't able to locate the right group. Since UGN links were removed from the Apple/MUG web pages during the rise of the Chuck Joiner regime, the reader didn't find our database either. Dead end. Luckily our column turned up in another search and we got this reader hooked up with a user group and an Apple store "Expert Desk" close by. It's just too bad we can't help all of the readers who write in from all around the country.
Apple and their user groups need better identity marketing. Apple seems to have become tunnel-vision focused on hip-hop, iPod bling and self-gratifying iTunes marketing -- almost exclusively to 20 to 30-something expendable-income "Dinks" -- slowly losing touch with their deep-pocket user base now turning gray. Have you seen or heard a "normal user" identity message from Steve Jobs since he entered mid-life crisis? Neither have I.
At some point it will become important to remind people that Apple makes computers -- even if it is just a side-line. And if Apple computer users can't get the products, service and help they need, I'll bet there's an HP or Dell out there looking better and better every day.
Fred
I have mentioned About.com a number of times in this column, but it was years ago. I just came across their iTunes Resource area. They have a link to AppleScripts for iTunes and how to lists. The lists include controlling the visualizer, converting file formats, copying songs from iPod to Mac or PC, creating gap-free tracks and more. Check it out at: macs.about.com
Have a great week...
User Group Network Affiliates may reprint articles as long as full credit and a link to this web site: http://www.user-groups.net/info/ provided. Other Non-profit or non-commercial publications should contact us. The UGNN cannot guarantee accuracy or timeliness of articles beyond the date of publication. All URLs, links and email addresses are accurate as of date of publication. Clicking links in articles older than 30 days may result in a broken link. If you encounter a broken link, please let us know.
Return to: the top of this page, or the INDEX for this department
Exit to: The User Group Network front page
Contact: The Editor, Webmaster or Membership Director