iPod Tracker

Reports are coming in from all over the web about how Apple’s latest version of iTunes is nothing more than a piece of spyware. The story has gained so much traction that even the BBC have chimed in. But what I would like to say is this:

1. It’s easy to disable the MiniStore (Edit -> Hide MiniStore).
2. When disabled the MiniStore is inactive and does not ‘phone home’.
3. Maury McCown (a well-known system admin) confirms this.
4. Check for yourself, download Little Snitch

As part of yesterday’s MacWorld Keynote speech, Apple announced that version 6.0.2 of iTunes is now available to download. Features include:

• MiniStore: can be used to quickly browse the iTunes Music Store from within your library.
• Create iPod-compatible versions of your home movies with iTunes.
• Simultaneously stream the same song wirelessly to up to three home stereos or powered speakers with AirTunes.

The new capability to stream music to more than 1 stereo is enough for me!

As part of MacWorld Steve jobs gave his usual run down of sales figures for iPod and iTunes.

iTunes

• New FM radio tuner that works with all current iPods. $49.
• Reports that Apple have sold over 8 million TV shows since they started on October 12th.
• iTunes currently running at 3 million downloads per day, 850 million songs already sold.
• iTunes has 83% marketshare, selling at the rate of over 1 billion songs per year.

iPod

• Apple sold 14 million iPods over the 2005 Christmas shopping season.
• They were selling at the rate of over 100 per minute throughout the entire quarter!
• Since Apple first released the iPod they have sold a total of 42 million iPods.

New content from ESPN, ABC Sports, ABC Entertainment and Touchstone Television, ABC News, ABC Family, Disney Channel, Buena Vista, SOAPnet and Walt Disney Feature Animation will be made available on iTunes.

The announcement means that a slew of American football games, Xgames and more sporting content will be available to download. Family shows like “Wildfire”, “Kim Possible”, “The Proud Family”, “School House Rock” and others will also be on iTunes soon.

Classics from Walt Disney feature Animation such as “The Three Little Pigs” and “The Tortoise and the Hare” will be offered for download through iTunes also. A selection of free video podcasts including parts of “Good Morning America”, “World News Tonight”, ” Money Minute” and “Medical Minute” among others will also be made available.

HBO are interested in making their hit shows such as The Sopranos available to download from iTunes. The news came as HBO and Cingular announced a deal where the cable company would make clips from it’s shows available to Cingular customers.

“I’m very excited by the video iPod. At some point, I think we would have some arrangement with them,” said HBO’s chief executive, Chris Albrecht, on Thursday.

This news follows hot on the heels of NBC announcing that more of their TV shows will be available through iTunes in the coming weeks.

It’s that time of year again. December means January is just a few weeks away. Who cares about Christmas gifts, MacWorld is coming! And for any discerning Machead, you know what that means. Cool new products.

This year it looks like iPod will take center stage, and rumours are flying round that Steve Jobs will be announcing a deal with FOX in his keynote speach. What does that mean, you might be watching The Simpsons on your iPod soon!

However, reports on the internet suggest that new episodes of The Simpsons won’t be available for next day downloads like current NBC TV shows.

NBC Universal’s Television Group president, Jeff Zucker, confirmed in an interview with Broadcasting and Cable magazine that NBC will be adding more shows to iTunes. When asked about the timetable, Zucker replied; “Over the next couple of weeks.”

Zucker told the magazine that each week there are approximately 436,000 illegal copies of Battlestar Galactica downloaded from peer-2-peer networks such as BitTorrent.

““In fact, we will have many more announcements about many more shows there. We see it as a brand-new business, and it will be run like any television network, with new material refreshed and replenished all the time. I don’t think there’s a limit as to how many shows we can have available. Given that we are selling Battlestar Galactica for $1.99, there is finally a legitimate model in place,” said Zucker.

Looks like Apple are onto another winner with the pay-per-download model for video content.

The ROKR E2 iTunes-enabled phone from Motorola was previewed late last month in a presentation given to investors last month. The phone will sport “rapid USB2-enabled downloads”, a Bluetooth stereo headset and support for a new 3G news and information called UMTS.

Aside from these features, Motorola are aiming to make the ROKR E2 much more user-friendly in order to overcome the many problems that dogged the ROKR E2. Reports indicate that the ROKR E2 will be introduced in the first half of 2006.

There are reports of at least 2 more phones from Motorola with iTunes support. The SLVR L7 and the RAZR2 are both reported to feature iTunes.

The Motorola SLVR L7 phone with integrated iTunes seems to be available to buy through Vodafone in the UK. The SLVR L7 is not available elsewhere as it seems to be exclusive to Vodafone at this time.

The Vodafone website describes the SLVR L7 as:

Ultra-thin, ultra-stylish and ultra-cool, and only available at Vodafone. With video messaging, high quality camera and MP3 player, order yours now before its too late.”

We’ve been getting reports that iTunes 6.0.1 suffers from one minor (but inconvenient) issue that affects fast forwarding and rewinding a track when minimized.

This issue is super-annoying and forces you to enlarge the window so that you can go forward or back, which wastes time.

Apple please fix it!