Isaiah's Tech

Clearly, it looks like Palm Pre's App Catalog has been delayed, so paid apps are put on hold for a little bit - along with WebOS 1.2. However, the sweeter news is that WebOS 1.2.1 is rumoured to be iTunes syncing capable. Just keep that in mind Pre owners.

[Gizmodo]

At their event earlier today, Apple released iTunes 9. Besides having no support for the Palm Pre, the new iTunes has Twitter and Facebook integration. They also cleaned up the App Store, so that things are easier to look at. There's also a new iTunes LP format, "which provides an interactive presentation with photos, liner notes, animated lyrics and performance videos." More changes are below. By the way, you can download it here.

iTunes 9 introduces Home Sharing, allowing transfer of music, movies and TV shows amongst up to five authorized computers in a home network. Family members can view up to five iTunes libraries, view only the portion of these libraries they do not have, import content directly to their own machines, and automatically add new purchases from other systems. New too are changes to Genius technology, such as Genius Mixes, which automatically generate endless playlists based on library analysis.

Apple has just released iPhone OS 3.1. Thanks to Mobile Syrup, here's what's included in the new OS - more or less.

- Genius recommendations for Applications
- iTunes 9 support includes Genius Mixes, Organize your apps directly in iTunes, Improved syncing options for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts and photos and iTunes U content organization
- Ability to redeem iTunes Gift cards, codes and certificates in the App Store
- Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store
- Browse and download ringtones wirelessly from the iTunes Store
- Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
- Option to “Save as new clip” when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS
- Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on
- Remotely lock iPhone with a passcode via MobileMe
- Use Voice Control on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets
- Paste phone numbers into the Keypad
- Option to use Home button to turn on Accessibility features on iPhone 3GS
- Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
- Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling
- Fixes issue that caused some app icons to display incorrectly

iTunes 9: Mac NN, TUAW
iPhone OS 3.1: Engadget Mobile, Mobile Syrup

I'm sure you've already heard about the iTunes 9 rumours. You know, the whole Blu-ray and social integration. Everyday we're just hearing more and more news about the whole thing. Apparently, these photos were just snapped of a recent iTunes 9 "early beta."

The first notable feature depicted in the new shots is the Facebook integration. The images show the ability to create a new playlist and then share it on Facebook. The Facebook entry that subsequently appears on the user’s FB wall will include an iTunes link, presumably pointing to the shared playlist found on an iTunes page. Up next… How about some third-party device support? Yeah, very un-Apple but maybe Jobs & Co. have decided to turn over a new leaf.

Make sure not to miss Apple's event on September 9th that should go through all of this information. We don't know how legit these pictures are, but you can check out the link below for a couple more pictures.

[Boy Genius]

Looks like that Apple event everyone has been talking about lately will not be starring the rumoured Apple iTablet. The event is going to take place on September 9th and will actually be centred around iTunes and their new refreshed iPod line-up. So, we'll probably hear about iTunes 9 and what will be in store for us. This could include Blu-ray support - because they need to make Macs more expensive. And, of course, we'll see refreshed iPods. This probably means iPod Nanos and iPod Touches with cameras. This is just speculation by the way.

[Crunch Gear]

INQ has just announced its latest social networking handsets, the Chat 3G and the Mini 3G. The INQ Chat 3G has: a 2.4-inch display with a 320 x 240 resolution, a 3.2MP camera, GPS, 120MB of on-board storage, and a microSD card slot. This handset also has Twitter, IM, Skype, Facebook, and push Gmail support. The other handset is the INQ Mini 3G and it has: a 2.2-inch display a 320 x 240 resolution, a 2MP camera, 100MB of on-board storage, and a microSD card slot.

Like the title says, these handsets have Twitter and iTunes synchronization. Both of these handsets are expected to be available before the end of the year in seven different colours. Unfortunately, the price has not been mentioned yet. You can head over to Tech Radar to see some hands-on thoughts about the INQ Chat 3G handset.

[Electronista]

Yesterday, Microsoft released a new ad that mentioned that it takes $30,000 USD to fill up a 120GB iPod. Their goal was to inform viewers that iTunes costs a lot ($1 a song), while a Zune Pass costs a little ($15 a month). While this might pull some of the crowd in their favour, it definitely wouldn't lure me. Why? Because smart people like me download their music illegally. I have never bought anything off of the iTunes Store because it's simply not worth it. On a side note, it looks like Microsoft doesn't have anything to target except for the "high price" of all of Apple's products. You can take a look at the advertisement at Engadget.

Microsoft's new Twitter account made for Office 2010 seems to be focused on the release of a new Microsoft product. It could possibly be the rumoured Zune phone - that Microsoft has consistently denied - since the tweet says, "New product launch, that's all I'm allowed to say. Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre." The account also has another tweet that says, "June 2009 will be an important month for Zune lovers." Could this be a Zune phone or the Zune HD? We'll just have to see what Microsoft announces in June.

[Engadget (Zune Pass), Engadget (Zune Phone)]

For all of you lucky developers out there, Apple has just released Beta 4 for the iPhone 3.0 OS, which should fix a couple of bugs, or whatever. On a side note, first you must install the beta version of iTunes which is version 8.2. iTunes 8.2 does have a hidden message, which points at Blu-ray. We already know that Apple's WWDC has sold out - no surprise there. But, could Apple be preparing a new MacBook with Blu-ray functionality? You be the judge. All I know is that Blu-ray would just make those stinking things even more expensive than they already are.

[Gizmodo (iPhone 3.0), Gizmodo (Blu-ray)]

Apple has spotted the person who downloaded the 1 billionth app off of the App Store and it was Connor Mulcahey of Connecticut. He took home a $10,000 USD iTunes gift certificate (that I would sell on eBay because I don't get anything off of the iTunes Store), a MacBook Pro and a Time Capsule. He's only 13-years old, so I'm pretty sure this is something that he'll remember for the rest of his life. Congratulations to him! I hope he spends that $10,000 iTunes gift certificate wisely.

[Apple Blog]

Earlier today, Apple announced that the 1 billionth app had just been downloaded from their App Store. An incredible feat, and I'm proud of them - even though I'm not exactly a huge fan of Apple. Apple has offered up a prize valued at over $13,000 USD for the person who bought the 1 billionth app. That person's name will be publicly displayed when they pinpoint exactly who it was. Congratulations to Apple and the winner of that prize.

[Mac Rumors]

This morning iTunes increased the price of their DRM-free music to $1.29 (for the more popular songs) and now Amazon has followed them. It's not entirely surprising that they increased their price but it is surprising that they increased their price on the exact same day without an official announcement. Looks like you're going to have to compare the two stores now to find the absolute best price for your music.

[CNet News]

The overpriced songs on the iTunes Store just got more expensive - some of them at least. I say expensive because I still download music illegally. Anyways, if you're one of the many people that love to give Apple your money then you can go right on ahead and purchase your DRM-free music off of the iTunes Store. The 3 price points are 69 cents, 99 cents, and $1.29 for buying songs on the iTunes Store. On a side note, you can get DRM-free music from Amazon for just 99 cents which is cheaper - for the most part. Choose who you want to buy your music from wisely. But, we all know how hard it is to get sucked into Apple's black hole...

[Engadget]

The title speaks for itself. The free Skype App that came out earlier this week was downloaded over one million times in the first two days of its release. If that's not impressive enough, that comes out to 6 downloads per second. Incredible. I really think that they should have charged at least the minimum fee for the Skype App because it would've made a load of cash. This is one of the fastest-downloaded iPhone apps ever, which is an incredible feat. I'm sure those phone carriers are getting screwed now.

[Tech Crunch]

At MacWorld, Apple announced that they would be launching new prices on their iTunes Store tracks. You will be able to buy popular tracks for $1.29 and less popular tracks for $0.69. These tracks will be DRM-free and Apple did point out that there will be more tracks for sale at $0.69 than at the $1.29 price. But, that's probably because the tracks that people actually want to buy (popular tracks) will be going for $1.29 and all the unknown artists' tracks will be going for $0.69. Have fun getting legal music, I'll be busy illegally downloading off of LimeWire / FrostWire. This new pricing will start on April 7 - missing the expected April 1 launch date.

[Gizmodo]

After my 37 hours of blog disappearance, I am back. Again, I'm going to talk about iTunes' attempts at selling their HD movies for $20 a piece. My last post talked about the availability of HD movies on iTunes right now and today I'm going to tell you about - what could be - bad news. If you spent $20 on your HD movie off of Apple's iTunes (either yesterday or today) then you better have an "HDCP-compliant [High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection] external display" because you need it in order to play your movie in HD. Luckily, iLounge will allow you to play the HD movie on your monitor if you don't have the specified display, but it will only let you play the movie in crappy SD (Standard Definition), which makes buying the HD movie clearly a waste of money. Apple of course stands apart from the crowd by introducing this HDCP crap because if the monitors supported HDMI it would be better, since HDMI "supports HDCP natively." That is, Apple tries to sell your their products by basically screwing you over. Good luck.

[Gizmodo]

Apple hasn't released any details on when it will be available but iTunes will be selling HD movies for $19.99. I hate to say it, but why buy movies when you can torrent them? I know it's illegal, but damn, it's cheap. Personally, I haven't bought a CD or a DVD in a long time - excluding the Bourne Trilogy for my mother as a birthday present. Anyways, HD movies aren't available for purchases in Canada or the UK yet, but they will be getting them soon. You can pre-order your movies now, if you really want to.

[The Apple Blog]

Palm Pre fans, don't be scared because Sprint and Palm have confirmed that the Pre will still be available in the first half of this year, so that means that it is still on schedule. The plans and pricing was also confirmed by Sprint. I'll just copy and paste it, since there's no point of putting it into my own words, keep in mind that these are all in USD. "Individuals can choose from 450 minute ($69.99), 900 minute ($89.99) or unlimited plans ($99.99). Families can choose from 1500 minutes ($129.99), 3000 minutes ($169.99) or unlimited plans (189.99). Business customers will also be able to pool their minutes together using about 5 different plans." Unfortunately, the Touchstone wireless charger will be an additional cost and won't be included in the package.

Let's head over to Apple, Palm's favourite brand right now. So, with the release of the new iPod Shuffle yesterday, Apple has released a new version (8.1) of iTunes that supports it. It is reportedly faster than the old iTunes, but i don't really see a difference when running a Windows PC. I haven't had the ability to test it out too thoroughly, but i do know that i spotted a new feature called iTunes DJ. If you want the full list go to this link, Gizmodo will tell you all you need to know.

Apple is going to have a big announcement next week dedicated to the new iPhone OS (3.0). This will be happening on March 17, so i'll have more official news next week. On a side note, it's time to go to the old rumour mill. So, word is that Apple is planning to include MMS and will also have tethering. "The tethering function allegedly will work via Bluetooth pairing the phone with a USB device attached to a computer." Anyways, the official announcement will be next week so that's when i will have official news.

Since Bill Gates is somewhat related to Apple or well, at least, used to be. Bill Gates is once again the world's richest man, according to Forbes' Billionaire list. Last year there were 1,125 billionaires, but this year there are only 793 of them left, meaning 373 people have fallen off the list. I guess this is due to the recession, since the wealth of the remaining 793 people have also gone down an average of 23% which is huge. It's good to see that Bill Gates is back on top though, even though he did face 18 billion in losses.

Palm Pre News (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5168926/pre-available-first-half-of-2009-pricing-plans-confirmed
Apple iTunes 8.1: http://i.gizmodo.com/5168529/itunes-81-now-available
Apple iPhone OS 3.0 (and picture): http://www.gsmarena.com/iphone_os_30_is_knocking_on_the_door_launch_set_for_17_march-news-830.php
Apple iPhone OS 3.0 Rumours: http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/03/12/iphone.os.rumors/
Bill Gates (and picture): http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/03/bill-gates-is-worlds-richest-man-again.ars