Apple announces that they have partnered with American Idol as a signature sponser acquiring exclusive rights to audio and video performances to television’s most popular show. This partnership will bring music fans all of the contestant performances from Season Seven exclusively on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com). Beginning this week, fans will be able to purchase music peformances for 99 centers per song. Additionally, viewers will be able to purchase the full video of Top 12 finalist performances fro $1.99 beginning March 11th.
“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.
The iPod becomes the official digital music player for Idol while the iPhone becomes the show’s official handset.
Think Secret has posted on their website that today (Feb. 14th 2008) will be their final day of publication. Founded in 1998 Think Secret published reports and rumors about Apple. The website name was a play on Apples slogan one-time slogan “Think Different”. Think Secret was published by Nick dePlum.
Think Secret was sued by Apple after being unmasked by bloggers at blackvortex.net. As part of a settlement reached with Apple it was agreed that Think Secret would shut down.
This morning Apple released new versions of the iPhone and iPod touch with each receiving double the memory. The iPhone now comes in a 16 GB model for $499 while the iPod touch now comes in a new 32 GB model for $499. The existing 8 GB iPhone remains at $399 while the iPod touch will continue to sell a 16 GB model for $399 and an 8 GB $299, respectively.
Cable Sasser has released his 2007 Cable Yah! Awards. In his usual comical demeanor Cabel provides us his “best of” and “worst of” 2007. Topics that made his list: Best Movie, Best Packaging Redesign and Best Thing Ever Of All Times, Ever. A very diverse list of everything important to Saser and classic Sasser at its best.
It was announced today that the Mac rumors website Think Secret will be shutting down. The shut down was a condition of the confidential settlement between Think Secret and Apple. Nick Ciarelli, Think Secret’s publisher, said “I’m pleased to have reached this amicable settlement, and will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits.”
Three years ago Think Secret was sued by Apple for allegedly stealing trade secrets and publishing these trade secrets on the popular mac rumors website. Additionally, the lawsuit alleged that Think Secret illegally solicited Apple employees to break confidentiality agreements and provide trade secrets to be published on the Think Secret.
Think Secret was published by Nick Ciarelli under the pen name Nick dePlume. Ciarelli had published Think Secret since the age of 13.
Apple has released a new “Get a Mac” commercial that pays homage to the old Rankin/Bass holiday specials. While the ad looks stop motion-esque it is clearly CGI. Mac and PC join in with Santa in singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” until PC tries to convince us to buy a PC this holiday season.Via: Macenstein.
On Monday Amazon released a wireless reading device that looks like while having some shortcomings may ultimately become a success. I know a lot of people are on the fence right now but given time this device is going to revolutionize reading. The Kindle packs a lot of great technology into a small, lightweight user-friendly package.The Kindle features a revolutionary screen technology called electronic paper that provides a sharp high-resolution output that looks and reads like paper. The device allows users to download content wirelessly instead of having to sync or download via a computer or search for an available WiFi hotspot. Weighing in at only 10.3 ounces this device also contains a full keyboard and you can add additional memory by inserting an optional SD memory card.The real reason why the Kindle has the best chance to succeed is in the content. Amazon is committed to Kindle’s success and already has 88,000 books available. Additionally, Kindle users can subscribe to newspapers and magazines and will also be able to read blogs and wikipedia.
Fox Business News reported on Friday that Apple is purchasing an 8% stake in AMD. A few minutes later FBN corrected itself and reported that Abu Dahabi had actually made the purchase and not Apple. Apparently FBN had incorrectly read a Wall Street Journal report on the news wire.
However, the on-air blunder was only part of the story. After incorrectly announcing the Apple purchase FBN guest contributer Charles Payne analyzed the deal and proclaimed the purchase “real smart by apple”. Real smart!?! Are you kidding.
It is that time of the year again. The Apple Store has just posted their Holiday Gift Guide. With only 42 shopping days left before Christmas there is no better time than now to begin writing your “wish list”. And if you are like me you will begin at Apple’s Holiday Gift Guide.
Of course the real holiday spirit is all about giving. With the Holiday Gift Guide you can find the perfect gift for a friend, co-worker or your loved one. Apple & iTunes gift cards are the perfect stocking stuffer gift. Apple offers their “signature gift box” for iPod and iPhone purchases and free shipping on all items purchased from the gift guide.
According to Crave UK, an Asus exec has confirmed that they are helping Apple build a tablet PC. Crave’s source alleges that an Apple Tablet is in development and will not be based upon current Asus technology but instead based on Apple design. In May 2005 Apple was granted a patent for a tablet-style electronic device.
I would imagine that an Apple Tablet PC will run on a slimmed down version of Leopard featuring the Cover Flow finder (similar to what we have seen in the iPhone and iTouch). It wouldn’t surprise me to see this new device shun the “stylus” and instead use the multi-touch technology.
On Monday Amazon released a wireless reading device that looks like while having some shortcomings may ultimately become a success. I know a lot of people are on the fence right now but given time this device is going to revolutionize reading. The Kindle packs a lot of great technology into a small, lightweight user-friendly package.The Kindle features a revolutionary screen technology called electronic paper that provides a sharp high-resolution output that looks and reads like paper. The device allows users to download content wirelessly instead of having to sync or download via a computer or search for an available WiFi hotspot. Weighing in at only 10.3 ounces this device also contains a full keyboard and you can add additional memory by inserting an optional SD memory card.The real reason why the Kindle has the best chance to succeed is in the content. Amazon is committed to Kindle’s success and already has 88,000 books available. Additionally, Kindle users can subscribe to newspapers and magazines and will also be able to read blogs and wikipedia.
