World of Apple

The Financial Times is reporting that Apple is currently in discussions with the music labels in an effort to allow customers to have unlimited access to their entire iTunes library simply by paying a premium for an iPod or iPhone.

“The “all you can eat” model, a replica of Nokia’s “comes with music” deal with Universal Music last December, could provide the struggling recorded music industry with a much-needed fillip, and drive demand for a new generation of Apple’s hardware.” reports FT.com.

Negotiations are currently being delayed due to discussions over pricing. Apple is reportedly only offering $20 per device where as rivals Nokia are offering almost $80 per handset.

Other possibilities are rumoured to be a subscription based service for $7-8/month with the capability to keep 40-50 tracks/year after the subscription lapses.

Ars Technica points out that following the long writers strike iTunes Store customers have been feeling the strain. Buyers of season passes have been left in the limbo as TV seasons either partially completed or were left with no new episodes.

Apple appears to now be offering some solution by offering partial refunds or video credits to Season Pass owners “depending on the situation”.

It appears that the necessary credits and/or refunds have been applied to iTunes accounts.

Apple has failed to comment on the situation.

Lionsgate film house announced Monday that it is working with Apple to provide Digital Copies on its DVDs.

An iTunes Digital Copy is a file that can be easily transferred from a DVD disc to iTunes where it can then be viewed on the PC or Mac or synced to an iPod, iPhone or Apple TV.

Lionsgate is the second studio to join the Digital Copy initiative following the lead of Fox back in January.

The first Lionsgate DVDs to debut with iTunes Digital Copy will be the special edition DVD and Blu-ray releases of “Rambo” on May 27th, and “The Eye” latter this summer. In addition, Lionsgate and Apple said they plan to deliver numerous other films on DVD with iTunes Digital Copy later this year.

“Lionsgate is constantly identifying fresh opportunities to monetize its 12,000-title filmed entertainment library in an increasingly digital world and provide product that is at the very cutting edge of consumer taste,” said Steve Beeks, President and co-Chief Operating Officer of Lionsgate. “Our consumers are always looking for new viewing options in terms of the motion pictures they buy, and we are always searching for new ways to deliver content in formats that reflect consumer preference across the entire home entertainment spectrum, from packaged media to digital storage to VOD.”

thisislondon.co.uk and UPI are both reporting that Sir Paul McCartney is set to release the entire Beatles back catalogue to iTunes to help pay for his divorce from Heater Mills.

The singles and albums will reportedly be available “in the coming months” with the deal being worth up to £200 million ($400 million).

Rumours of the Beatles joining iTunes have been prevalent for many years.

Apple to Fall Short of 1000-Movie Promise?

AppleInsider briefly notes that Apple has around 35 hours to add over 200 movies to the iTunes Store before it falls short of Steve Jobs’ claim to have 1000 movies by the end of February.

The site reports that as of Thursday morning 798 movies are available on iTunes.

Time Capsule Begins Shipping

Remember Time Capsule, the wireless hard drive you can use to backup? It appears that customers are finally seeing units ship to, many units have begun reaching those who pre-orderd the device which was announced at Macworld in January.

Ironically the Apple Hot News site appears to be the last to know about the shipping Time Capsule.

Apple announced today that iTunes has become number two music retailer in the US, behind only Wal-Mart, based on the latest data from the NPD Group.

Apple also announced that there are now over 50 million iTunes Store customers. iTunes has sold over four billion songs, with an incredible 20 million songs sold on Christmas Day 2007 alone, and offers the world’s largest music catalog of over six million songs from all of the major and thousands of independent labels.

“We’d like to thank the over 50 million music lovers who have helped the iTunes Store reach this incredible milestone,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We continue to add great new features like iTunes Movie Rentals to give our customers even more reason to love iTunes.”

Apple has released a minor update to iTunes via Software Update, version 7.6.1 improves compatibility and contains several bug fixes.

The following description is provided from Apple about the update:

iTunes 7.6.1 includes several bug fixes and improves compatibility with Apple TV software version 2.0.

Apple also informed iTunes customers today that they will be offering a rental for $0.99 every Thursday. The price of $0.99 will be available Thursday through Monday. Once rented the selected movie will have the same 30-day limitation as any other rented movie.

This weeks $0.99 rental is The Hours(iTunes Link).

Following on from rumours that came to light earlier today, it appears that BBC Worldwide content has begun to appear (iTunes Link) on the UK iTunes Store.

As of writing the content is only available in the UK.

The following shows are now available from the BBC on the UK iTunes Store; Torchwood, Spooks, The Mighty Boosh, Life on Mars, The Catherine Tate Show, Spooks, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and Little Britain.

Apple has announced via press release that they have partnered with Fox Broadcasting Company to provide performances from Season 7 of American Idol the day following the broadcast.

“We have some truly outstanding talent this year, and by working with Apple and iTunes, we’re giving viewers another great way to enjoy America’s brightest new stars from ‘Idol,’” said Simon Fuller, creator of “American Idol” and Founder of 19 Entertainment. “I’m sure there will be many memorable performances that viewers will want to relive from this 2008 season.”

“We’ve created a special section on the iTunes Store for ‘Idol’ fans with an incredible array of music and video performances from television’s most popular show,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We think ‘American Idol’ viewers are going to love the ability to purchase and download ‘Idol’ performances from iTunes.”

Customers can purchase music performances for 99 cents per song, and viewers will be able to purchase the full video of Top 12 finalist performances for $1.99, starting March 11.

During todays Keynote presentation Apple announced that iTunes Movie Rentals featuring movies from all the major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate and New Line Cinema. Users can rent movies for as low as $2.99 and watch them on their Macs or PCs, all current generation iPods, iPhone and Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals launches today and will offer over 1,000 titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound which users can rent directly from their widescreen TV using Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals are priced at $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 and new releases at $4.99.

“iTunes Movie Rentals instantly brings great movies from all the major studios directly to your iPod, iPhone, TV or computer—without having to drive to the video store or wait for DVDs to arrive in the mail,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Movie lovers can now discover and enjoy movies as simply and easily as music lovers discover and enjoy music today on iTunes.”

“Apple has created an incredibly easy and innovative way to rent and enjoy movies,” said Jim Gianopulos, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment. “Millions of movie lovers will be able to watch wonderful movies from Fox and the other major studios whenever and wherever they want, be it on their computer, TV, iPod or iPhone.”

Once a movie is rented, it starts downloading from the iTunes Store directly to iTunes or Apple TV, and users with a fast Internet connection can start viewing the movie in seconds. Customers have up to 30 days to start watching it, and once a movie has been started customers have 24 hours to finish it—or watch it multiple times.

iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only and are $2.99 (US) for library titles and $3.99 (US) for new releases, and high definition versions are priced just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 (US) and new releases at $4.99 (US).