itunes

News roundup: MySpace, Yahoo, Amazon

MySpace and Photobucket make amends. The block on videos from Photobucket for MySpace users was lifted yesterday. According to a post on the Photobucket blog, "open lines of communication and procedures with MySpace" were made to make sure it doesn't happen again. The blockage affected nearly a quarter of Photobucket's 40 million registered users. Related: MySpace launched a version of its site today for Latino Americans.

Yahoo, Gracenote launch lyrics service. Yahoo Music users will now be able to pick up the lyrics to their songs after a deal was made with digital media company Gracenote. … Read more

Adobe takes on iTunes with new media player [VIDEO UPDATE]

[Note: This post has been updated with a video taken from today's keynote from the Web 2.0 Expo, to see it click the 'read more' link at the bottom of the post]

Today Adobe announced their new Media Player, a multi-platform, online-enabled application that runs on Adobe's Apollo framework. Along with a full featured desktop media player for Flash files, Adobe plans on including a themed online music store like Microsoft's XBOX Live Marketplace where people can purchase music and movies.

Adobe Media Player will join the bevy of online music and media stores like iTunes, Napster, Urge, Rhapsody and others. Like the competition, Adobe is using DRM, both for downloads and streaming media to secure purchased content.

There's no word when the service will be available, but expect details and partnerships to emerge as Apollo develops.

From their keynote presentation today, we also got a sneak peak of Buzznote, a collaborative word processor that runs off the Apollo framework.

Our early hands-on with Apollo can be found here. And to see a video of the app in action, keep reading.… Read more

Subscription rumors for iTunes surface again

According to one music industry executive, Apple is considering launching a subscription version of the iTunes Music Store this year.

CNN's Media Biz blog quoted Les Ottolenghi, the head of Intent Mediaworks, as saying he's talked to Apple people about a subscription service. "I think Apple is seriously considering a subscription offering right now even though they will probably tell you otherwise," he said in the report.

Subscription music services such as Rhapsody, after a rough start, have found a footing but haven't caught on with music buyers in the same way as Apple's … Read more

Last barrier removed for the Beatles on iTunes

Major record label EMI announced today that they have settled an ongoing copyright dispute with the Beatles that had prevented the label from licensing their music for distribution. In light of EMI's recent deal to release its catalog on iTunes, it appears that there is little left to prevent the Fab Four's back catalog from finally being released online.

Legal issues aside, the band has historically declined offers to sell downloads of its music. Still, with Steve Jobs using the Beatles' music as part of his Macworld demonstration for the iPhone, it's fair to say Apple is … Read more

iTunes customers to hear MGM's roar

Apple has added MGM's films to the list of movies available through the iTunes Store, which now has over 500 movies.

MGM's famous Leo the Lion has graced the opening of thousands of movies since the dawn of the motion picture industry. Apple doesn't plan to offer all those movies right away, but is starting off with classics like Rocky and Dances With Wolves. (How long will that take to download?)

Movies on iTunes cost between $9.99 and $14.99. Apple plans to add additional titles from MGM's library over the next few weeks. In … Read more

HD video podcasts come to iTunes--and Apple TV

One of our biggest complaints with the Apple TV was the dearth of HD video content. The product is capable of streaming 720p high-definition video, but to date, all of the movies and TV shows at Apple's iTunes Store are encoded at a "near DVD" resolution of 480p. But HD content has finally arrived on iTunes--and it's free. The Washington Post announced today that its online HD video podcast--which is shot in 720p high-definition--will now be available through iTunes.

We downloaded the two most recent episodes of the podcast--Edwards Family Values as well as Contamination … Read more

iTunes streamed to your phone? Possibly

The release of Apple TV a few weeks ago has opened up an intriguing new possibility: streaming music from iTunes on your home computer to your cell phone.

No, Apple TV does not stream over the Internet or across a cellular phone network, but the SlingBox does. And Sling Media, the makers of the SlingBox, confirmed to CNET News.com on Monday that the company is working on making the Slingbox compatible with Apple TV. The most likely--and compelling--scenario would be to allow the streaming of Apple TV content (which is synched with a PC) to a mobile device.

"… Read more

eMusic poised to gain from DRM hysteria

With all the iTunes/EMI DRM-free ballyhoo going on, it's easy to forget that sites like eMusic have already been offering inexpensive, DRM-free downloads for years. While Apple and Microsoft casually backpedal out of the DRM mess they've made, eMusic is announcing a very attractive new monthly subscription model that offers 25-cent downloads of DRM-free MP3s. It may not be Apple's reported 256kbps AAC quality, but for the average user a 192kbps MP3 sounds just fine--especially at 25 cents a song.

eMusic's new plans (called Connoisseur) come in three types 100, 200, and 300 downloads per … Read more

Netgear's Apple TV competitor plays DRM-encoded songs purchased from the iTunes Store

Kudos to Laptop magazine for getting the scoop, with the one of the first hands-on reviews we've seen of the Netgear EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD. There's just one problem: they got one big detail of the product dead wrong. The Netgear product does play songs purchased from the iTunes Store, as confirmed by hands-on tests in the CNET Labs.

We purchased and played two songs from the store, and were surprised to see that the Netgear was able to stream them to the TV/stereo system in the next room just as easily as it could with DRM-free … Read more