Rumours are circulating that the iTunes Music Store will open for business in Canada tomorrow. “The iTunes Music Store is not available in your country yet” message has appeared for many users trying to access the iTunes Music Store from Canada.
The exact same message appeared for users in newly added European countries the day before iTMS was officially released.
Apple have released a new software update for the iPod Mini and iPods with a Click Wheel. Details as below.
iPod Updater 2004-11-15 includes iPod mini Software 1.2 for iPod mini and iPod software 3.0.2. for iPods with a Click Wheel. iPod Updater 2004-11-15 contains the same software versions as iPod Updater 2004-10-20 for all other iPod models.
New features of iPod mini Software 1.2:
New features of iPod Software 3.0.2 provides:
For more information about iPod, visit the iPod Support website.
In an interview late last week for regional radio, a Dixons spokesman spoke about demand for the iPod. Echoing comments made by Steve Jobs at the opening of a new Apple Store a few weeks ago, the spokesman said that demand was extremely strong for the iPod. Dixons were selling more iPods that any other digital music player, but interestingly he did suggest that significant numbers of people were buying players other than the iPod – simply because there were no iPods to buy!
So folks, if you want an iPod for Christmas then you had better get it soon. Dixons say they are trying to secure as many iPods as possible, but with demand far outstripping supply you might find it hard to come across one.
According to what Apple Insider calls “well placed and extremely reliable sources”, we can expect a new flash iPod in the first few months of 2005.
Their sources report that Apple are due to start manufacturing the new iPod next month, building up a stock-pile of approximately 2 million models before the shipping date. Apple Insider claim that the as yet rumoured flash iPod will be launched during the ‘Stevenote’ at MWSF in January.
Microsoft launched MSN Music in 8 new European countries, further expanding it’s number of potential customers and going toe-to-toe with the iTunes Music Store.
“If you take all the new countries, we expect to overtake iTunes very soon because we will have a larger user base to tap”, said Arndt Salzburg who represents Microsoft. He also stated that MSN Music is now a profitable business, but declined to comment on just how profitable it is.
Does this spell the end for iTunes? Will Microsoft take control? Don’t think so.
After urging users of iTunes 4.2 trying to access iTunes Music Store to upgrade to a newer version, Apple have now discontinued support of iTunes 4.2 with the iTunes Music Store. While iTunes 4.2 is still perfectly capable of playing songs, those still using this version will have to upgrade in order to access the store.
Not everyone has total freedom to purchase at will on the iTunes Music Store. With so many songs to choose from, it would be handy to make your own wishlist of music you want for future purchase.
In a review of the new iPod Photo, USA Today personal tech columnist Edward Baig awarded heaped praise on Apple’s new offering. Baig was impressed with the ability to carry both music and songs.
“Besides your digital music collection, these latest devices can carry pictures of your kids and boatloads of other images. The aptly named iPod Photo comes in 40- or 60-gigabyte capacities, enough storage to hold up to 10,000 and 15,000 songs, respectively, and up to 25,000 photos. Put in perspective, that’s nearly the equivalent, Apple says, of 5,000 square feet of wall space — more than twice the space of an average American home.”
Apart from the price, Baig complained that it was sometimes hard to view the pictures in daylight but admitted that many mobile phones suffer likewise. The iPod Photo was awarded 3.5 stars out of a possible 4.
Music sales on Apple’s iTunes Music Store have remained strong according to NPD, a global sales and marketing research group.
“Nearly 70 percent of music files downloaded legally between December 2003 and July 2004 were downloaded from iTunes. Napster’s share for the same time period was 11 percent, while MusicMatch, RealNetworks and Wal-Mart each reached a six percent share.”
New figures from research group NPD and published by the Mac Observer have shown a drop in marketshare for Apple’s iPod, although it still enjoys a commanding 87.3% share of the US hard drive portable media player market. The HP iPod came in second, with a 3.6% share.
While this merits the first marketshare drop for the iPod within the hard drive based sector, it must be taken into consideration that most of the drop was constituted by sales of the HP iPod … manufactured by Apple.