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Apple Drops New iTunes And iPhone 2.2 Firmware On The World [UPDATE]

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on November 21, 2008 by itnerd

Apple is getting kind of sneaky these days. Late last night, Apple dropped two new updates for its fanbois users. Let’s start with the fact that iTunes 8.0.2 for Mac And Windows is now available. If you want to grab a copy, visit Software Update or click here. This update addresses the following issues:

• iTunes 8 and iTunes U are now accessible with VoiceOver on your Mac.
• Addresses a quality issue creating MP3s on some computers.
• Fixes a connectivity issue with the iTunes Store when using some Internet proxies with Mac OS X.
•Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.

Next is the updated iPhone 2.2 Firmware. It brings a lenghty list of fixes and enhancements:

•Enhancements to Maps
•Google Street View
•Public transit and walking diretions
•Display address of dropped pins
•Share location via email
•Enhancements to Mail
•Resolved isolated issues with scheduled fetching of email
•Improved formatting of wide HTML email
•Improved stability and performance of Safari
•Podcasts are now available for download in iTunes application (over Wi-Fi and cellular)
•Decrease in call set-up failures and call drops
•Improved sound quality of visual voicemail messages
•Pressing the Home button from any Home screen takes you to the first Home screen
•Preferences to turn on/off auto-correction in Keyboard settings

This version is available via iTunes after you plug your iPhone into your Mac or PC. This update is apparently available for the iPod Touch as well.

If you’ve got feeback about these updates, please leave a comment.

UPDATE: The iPhone/iPod Touch update security changelog can be found here. Note that it fixes the issue where iPhones are not really locked when they’re locked that I told you about. Apple has posted update pages for the iPhone and the iPod Touch as well. Also, a thread on Apple’s discussion board indicates that this update seems to fix that WPA issue that I told you about.

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iTunes 8.0.1 Is Out And Apple Actually Tells You What They Fixed

Posted in Commentary with tags , on October 2, 2008 by itnerd

You should check Software Update or click here as iTunes 8.0.1 is out. Oh yeah, Apple actually tells you what they fixed:

• Seamlessly plays the current song when creating a new Genius playlist.
• Improves syncing spoken menus to iPod nano.
• Addresses an issue of deleting HD TV episodes when downloading.
• Improves checking for updates from the App Store
• Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.
• Addresses problems syncing Genius results to iPod.

That’s pretty detailed by Apple standards. I guess they couldn’t say “bug fixes” again and expect people to buy that.

I’ve downloaded it and it seems stable so far, but there’s nothing earth shattering here (not that I expected anything earth shattering). If I come across anything, I’ll let you know.

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Digital Music Royalty Rate Frozen…. iTunes Music Store Continues To Live…. Apple Is The 800lb Gorillia Of The Music Industry

Posted in Commentary with tags , on October 2, 2008 by itnerd

Late tonight, News.com posted the news that The Copyright Royalty Board has frozen royalty rates for digital music sales to 9.1 cents a song. An Apple sock puppet spokesman said:

“We’re pleased with the CRB’s decision to keep royalty rates stable,” said an Apple spokesman.

Duh! Of course they’re happy. It means that Apple will not be closing the iTunes Music store. So their threats worked and industry types agree:

Mark Litvack, an entertainment and copyright attorney and a former legal counsel for the Motion Picture Association of America, said rates have traditionally gone up during these kinds of negotiations. But Apple has “effectively set the economics of the music industry, which now appear to be frozen.”

This just proves that Apple has a ton of power in the digital music industry and are a force to be reckoned with. The music industry should take note.

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Apple Threatens To Shut Down iTunes Music Store Over Royalty Rates

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on October 1, 2008 by itnerd

The iTunes Music Store has allowed Apple to sell a ton of iPods and iPhones and it also has become a revenue stream for them as well. But a ruling expected tomorrow by the Copyright Royalty Board could raise royalties for online music sales by 9 to 15 cents per track. That would make Apple pull the plug on the iTunes Music Store:

“If the [iTunes music store] was forced to absorb any increase in the … royalty rate, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss – which is no alternative at all,” [Apple V.P. Eddie] Cue wrote. “Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it is in this business to make money, and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes music store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably.”

I would like to think that this is some sort of empty threat designed to influence tomorrow’s decision, but I’m not so sure. As I mentioned earlier, the iTunes store sells a ton of iPods and iPhones for Apple. I don’t think that Apple would sell songs at a loss just to move other Apple products. So perhaps there’s something to their threats.

Check in tomorrow to see what happens next.

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Apple Fixes iTunes 8/Vista BSOD Issues On The Down Low [UPDATED]

Posted in Commentary with tags , on September 12, 2008 by itnerd

Apple has come up with a fix for the iTunes 8/Vista Blue Screen Of Death issues. Here’s what you basically need to do:

  • Uninstall iTunes and Mobile Device Support
  • Restart
  • Re-download iTunes 8.

Basically what Apple has done is fixed something in the background without coming out with a 8.0.1 release of iTunes, which is not exactly the most above board way of dealing with this IMHO. The question is, what did they fix? ZDNet’s Ed Bott has an idea as to what they fixed though. According to him, they’ve silently replaced a flakey driver with an older version from iTunes 7.7 that won’t kill your Vista system. I’ll note that Bott said that this was the issue in his blog posting from yesterday. Perhaps Apple should hire Bott to work in their Windows software QA department as the people “The Steve” has working for him aren’t getting the job done.

Apple really has to start getting its act together. Screw ups like these are not going to be easy to forgive if they keep happening.

UPDATE: This support document just appeared on Apple’s website in regards to problems experienced by Windows XP and Windows Vista users when syncing the iPhone or iPod Touch devices containing photos. It seems they point the finger at other people’s drivers for their USB issues.

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iTunes 8 Causes Vista To BSOD… It’s All Apple’s Fault.

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on September 11, 2008 by itnerd

This posting on Apple’s Discussion Board seems to indicate that iTunes 8 users who are running Vista are getting frequent Blue Screens Of Deaths unless they unplug their non-Apple USB devices. It’s always difficult to tell how widespread a problem is from a board posting, but ZDNet did a poll that indicates that 36% of Vista users seem to be having issues. While the poll isn’t scientific, that’s not exactly a small number. Also, ZDNet’s Ed Bott has a clue as to what might be going on here and he points the finger squarely at Apple:

“An even bigger problem is Apple’s attitude toward its Windows customers. These additional software packages and drivers are being installed with no disclosure and no consent. A pile of software, including the troubled MobileMe service, is also being installed and enabled at startup on Windows machines, even where the user has no MobileMe account and, for that matter, no mobile device.

Apple’s Get a Mac ads love to tweak Microsoft for its frequent crashes. Someone from Apple needs to look in the mirror and realize that they’re the problem in this case.”

Ouch. That’s harsh. But I have to agree with him. Apple has really shot itself in the foot when it comes to how it treats Windows users. That needs to change.

I’m seeing a iTunes 8.0.1 update hitting the streets shortly.

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Oh…. One More Thing…. (With Apologies To Steve Jobs) [UPDATED X2]

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on September 9, 2008 by itnerd

It seems that Apple has slipped out some extras in addition to today’s news:

  • A iPod Touch guided walkthrough video has been posted.
  • A document that was just posted confirms that a number of security issues have been fixed in the iPod Touch/iPhone 2.1 firmware. By the way, the firmware may actually be shipping via iTunes at this time. However, there have been reports of issues in terms of downloading it.
  • Bonjour for Windows 1.05 has appeared today as well. This utility, which gives XP and Vista machines access to zero-configuration network resources such as printers or Mac OS X web sharing, now includes a couple of DNS-related patches. Click here for the full details and download it here.
  • The word on the street is that the iPhone won’t work with the Nike+iPod system even with the 2.1 update because of a lack of hardware inside the iPhone.

And because I care, here’s the new iPod Nano ad. In case you are wondering what the song is, it’s Bruises by Chairlift. [iTunes link]. And for added fun, here’s the new iPod Touch Ad. Anybody want to tell me who does the music in this commercial?

Question: Is “Funnest” even a word?

UPDATE: The iPod Touch 2.1 update is the one that is currently available. MacRumors has a list of what is in this update. The iPhone 2.1 update is still scheduled for release on Friday. MacRumors has also noted that the iPod Touch gets an external mic as well. Finally, the song in the iPod Touch ad is Around the Bend by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour. [iTunes link]

UPDATE #2: The infamous MobileMe Control Panel for Windows has been updated too. Plus there is now a download page for the Front Row Update that I mentioned in my previous post.

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Apple Drops New iPods And A New Version Of iTunes… Fanbois Go Wild [UPDATED]

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on September 9, 2008 by itnerd

It was another one of those days today. Apple held one of their religious experiences for their fanbois press events to announce the following:

  • A new version of iTunes has hit the streets. It has support for High Definition TV shows and Genius playlists which automatically find similar songs in your collection. It’s available now from www.apple.com/itunes. You’ll need Quicktime 7.5.5 which was also released today along with a Front Row update for Macs.
  • A new iPod Nano is available. It’s taller and thinner than the last version. It has a accelerometer to detect tilt, which is clearly used with the “Shake iPod to shuffle” feature. The genius playlist feature is built in to this iPods as well along with an enhanced user interface. The battery lasts 24 hours for music. 4 hours for video and comes in 9 Colors (silver, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, black) in 8GB and 16GB variants. Check out all the details at www.apple.com/ipodnano
  • The other iPod that was announced was the iPod Touch. They’ve changed the casing and have incuded the long rumored iPod Touch/iPhone firmware 2.1 (more on that in a second) as well as support for Nike+iPod. There’s also built-in speaker, volume controls. Get the details at www.apple.com/ipodtouch
  • iPod Touch/iPhone firmware 2.1 as mentioned earlier hit the streets today. Changes apparently include significantly better battery life, fewer call drops, the ever popular “bug fixes” and faster backups to iTunes, no application crashes. The iPhone 2.1 firmware will presumably support the same Genius playlist features described in the new iPod Touches and perhaps maybe the Nike+iPod too (although that would require hardware support and I haven’t seen anything on that). Perhaps this will put an end to the lawsuits? The firmware will be relased on Friday via iTunes.
  • NBC who had pulled their TV shows from iTunes a high profile falling out with Apple have returned to iTunes. Word on the street is that Apple caved to demands from NBC about the pricing of their shows on iTunes. Oh yeah, the shows are in HD.
  • New in-ear headphones are now available as well.
  • Finally, the iPod Classic only comes in one variant now. It is now available with 120GB of storage. The 80GB & 160GB versions have been discontinued.

The markets didn’t like this news. Apple stock is down by 4% as I write this. But as you can see here and here, the fanbois are talking about the new offerings from “The Steve.”

UPDATE: A Video of the event is now available.

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iTunes Music Store Back In China…. Minus Tibet LP

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on August 26, 2008 by itnerd

Here’s the good news: Those in China can now get the iTunes Music Store again.

Here’s the bad news: You can’t get that Tibet LP (iTunes link). But at least we know why they blocked it:

“An article on China.org.cn, a new Web site operated by the Chinese government’s Internet Information Center, said “Songs for Tibet” had “ignited strong indignation” among Chinese Web users. Some users said they would boycott Apple products, including the popular iPhone, which is so far unavailable in China, the article said.”

The moral of the story: China doesn’t like freedom of speech and those who speak up for those who can’t. Too bad.

P.S. Buy the album and support freedom of speech.

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iTunes Store Blocked In China… Could Tibet Album Be The Reason?

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on August 22, 2008 by itnerd

Following up on my story about Chinese censorship at the Olympics comes the news that the iTunes store is being blocked in China. The word on the street is that it’s being blocked because of an album called Songs for Tibet [iTunes link], which is a compilation of music by Sting, Alanis Morissette, Garbage and others, plus a 15-minute lecture by the Dalai Lama.

This is a dumb move by China. Perhaps people inside China won’t be able to buy this album. But thanks to their stupidity attempt at censorship, Apple is guarnteed to sell a lot of copies of this album outside China.

This whole thing reminds me of a line from a Who song: “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.” But in China’s case it’s “Meet the new China. Same as the old China.”

P.S. Buy the album and support freedom of speech.

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