Pssst: If you want to get in on the iPhone app business, there’s one for sale on eBay.
The starting bid for JBMJBM, LLC. — an app factory with 87 approved ones so far — is $100,000 and ends Saturday, Nov. 14
Top-selling titles include Friday Night Lights, iSpy Game, iReferee, iSexyRef (pictured above, which helps muddled sports fans remember the rules), iSexyRef2, Pro Rodeo Fan, Sit Up Counter and Shake 2 Count.
Buy the developer out and you get 87 applications currently listed on iTunes plus all application assets which include source code files, website files and all collateral.
The Fab Four still haven’t made it to iTunes, but if you want to shell out $280, you can have some of their stuff on a limited-edition USB stick.
Collectors may crave 16GB key that comes with 14 stereo titles, plus re-mastered 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes.
The USB “core” pulls out of an apple, recalling the Granny Smith from the record company founded in 1968. Some 30,000 keys are available from the online store, from December 7 in the UK and December 8 in North America. (You can also pre-order online now.)
If you’re more interested in their music, it sounds like slim pickings for a hefty price – at least one fan, alluneediscash, on the site argued:
“But the BOX SET is only $219! ($179 at amazon) no one loves the beats more than me, but shouldn’t they charge LESS for the usb?”
Which raises the perennial question of when this icon of Brit pop will finally make it to iTunes. Although the Beatles settled the marathon trademark dispute with Apple two years ago, the use of this apple key, meant as a nod to Apple Records, might stir the embers of animosity rather than hasten them for Apple downloads.
Nothing like a customer service tale with a mostly happy ending: Nathan switched computers and lost everything he bought from iTunes (music, ringtones, movies) as a result.
So he wrote to Apple (iTunesStoreSupport@apple.com) and they agreed to let him re-download all the music he bought at no extra charge:
I understand the titles you purchased from the iTunes Store with account [redacted] were lost. I know how upsetting that can be. My name is Jesse and I would be more than happy to help you with this today.
Seeing that you have been a loyal customer since September, 2004, the iTunes Store would like to give you the opportunity to re-download (at no charge) all the titles you purchased on this account that are still available. This does not include any item that has been modified or removed from the store since you purchased it. Please note that you may download your purchases only once, so this is an exception. Also note that Apple does not offer protection for the loss of data from your hard disk, so I recommend that you back up your iTunes library as soon as possible…Full email from Apple at Consumerist.
Nathan was also able to re-download ringtones, but not movies though the rep did not provide an explanation for why not.
The King of Pop Michael Jackson’s posthumous album, This is It, launched yesterday on iTunes and almost immediately went to the no. 2 spot and 10 spots on the list of hot-selling albums.
Jackson’s last effort contains only one new song, the title track, and Jackson’s estate did not want to sell the album, as per Apple’s policy, on a track by track basis.
Fans who shell out $13.99 for the whole enchilada also get four demos and a poem with the 15 tracks including “They Don’t Care About Us” and “Billie Jean.”
The uneasy compromise: the new single only comes with the complete album.
As commenter yippiyyip noted: “The lone fault is that the title song is not being sold separately. Buy the album for the song? No thanks.”
Would you shell out for an entire album to get just one track?
Condé Nast announced that it will launch a digital version of men’s mag GQ on November 18 in tandem with the print issue.
The digital version available on iTunes will cost $2.99, half of the newsstand price, and there’s no word on whether snail mail subscribers get a discount. Condé says digital GQ be a perfect clone of the dead tree GQ, right down to the ads.
Our mock-up of what GQ might look like, from their online gallery.
Last week brought reports that Apple’s much-touted album format, iTunes LP, had serious challenges. Brian McKinney of Chocolate Lab Records claimed that he had been told that Apple was charging a $10,000 production fee for iTunes LP, but it didn’t matter anyway, because the product was only meant to extend to major record labels, anyway.
This set off quite a ruckus. I called iTunes LP a form of paid advertising instead of a legitimate offering, for one.
In a rare move, Apple has responded to the explosive rumor and denies all charges. Apple contacted UK blog Electric Pig, informing them it will be “releasing the open specs for iTunes LP soon, allowing both major and indie labels to create their own. There is no production fee charged by Apple.”
That’s very positive news, and if it means what it seems to, it’s well-worth celebrating. I should also note that Apple’s announcements need to be very carefully read. They typically mean just what they say and no more. Pledging to allow labels to “create their own” iTunes LPs does not mean that you will approve them, for example. Saying “There is no production fee charged by Apple” does not mean that some other intermediary won’t charge for production. Bear in mind, Apple still claims it hasn’t rejected the Google Voice app for iPhone, claiming it has yet to approve it months after submission and heated letters to the FCC later.
Honestly, this topic looks murkier all the time. Apple is a remarkably opaque organization. The truth is, we will never know if Apple previously intended to allow indie labels to participate in iTunes LP prior to this minor controversy, nor do we know if the rumored production fee once existed. Apple keeps its inner workings so locked down that we can only ever judge the company based on its external actions. If an iTunes LP SDK is released in the next month, that’s a positive sign. And if we see the selection of iTunes LPs grow from about 12 to 1,000 titles in the relatively near future (with abundant indie label participation at no extra charge), it will be clear that the format is a major push toward a true digital album.
I’m thrilled Apple is taking this seriously, and I hope iTunes LP lives up to its potential. Keep your eyes peeled.
Over 6 million songs in the iTunes Music Store. God knows how many albums that translates to, but we must be insane to try and pick 20 albums worth considering for their combination of music and artwork, right?
As long as we’ve got that straight on the front-end, then.
Herewith, a collection of 20 albums available on iTunes, loosely organized by release date (in reverse order) and presented with the thought they might make good additions to the much-ballyhooed iTunes LP upgrade hyped at Apple’s It’s Only Rock and Roll event in September.
No doubt readers may quibble with some (perhaps all!) of our selections; no doubt you’ll have suggestions of your own. Do let us know abut it in comments. All album links open in iTunes.
So, a month ago, I wrote a post proclaiming iTunes LP to be the first digital album good enough to criticize. I would like to revise that assessment. It is, instead, the first major content misstep in the history of the iTunes Store.
At launch, Apple had six albums available in the format, which basically marries lyrics, album artwork, ad video content to your collection of AAC files. Scratch that, there were five albums and one musical comic book. It seemed like too little, but it was a launch — there were hardly any apps on the App Store when it came out, too. A month later, however, things have scarcely improved. We’ve gone from six offerings in iTunes LP to 13.
So what could be the problem? As it turns out, it’s the business model. According to Gizmodo, an indie record label owner asked Apple what it would take to get some of his albums available in the LP format. Apple’s reported answer? Be a major label. Seriously. Read on.
The New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) gave the green light to Station Stops, an app with handy time tables, after having it yanked from iTunes for intellectual property claims against the developer.
Station Stops, which costs $2.99, is back in the Apple store this week.
It’s a major victory for the developer/blogger/commuter Chris Schoenfeld, who saw his work pulled from iTunes in August and on the receiving end of a nastygram from MTA lawyers.
The app provides a timetable for the Metro-North Railroad for regularly-scheduled trains departing and arriving from Grand Central Station.
Schoenfeld ran into trouble with the MTA because although they provide schedules to Google Transit, they do not release the data publicly. To build his app, Schoenfeld did it the old way — by entering data manually from the published public schedule.
Two music companies representing rapper Eminem have settled out of court with Apple over a download dispute.
Eminem’s publisher, Eight Mile Style, and his record company, Aftermath Records, sued Apple for allegedly making the rappers music available for download without permission.The rapper was not involved in the case.
Publishing house Simon & Schuster just launched a new product dubbed “vook,” a dumb name for what sounds like a smart video book.
The idea? Vooks blend text and video into a reading and viewing experience, so the next time you’re not really getting a sense of place from a novel, or want to see how exercises are done you can watch a video. It’s also got all of the social media trappings, so you can discuss, rant etc. about the vook, (pronounced to ryhme with book), too.
Dublin launched a bike sharing scheme on Sept. 15. Sponsored by French ad giant JC Decaux, locals can pick up the bikes around town, then leave them at one of 40 stations. The first half hour is free.
The trouble? Firm Fusio thought it’d be nice to have an iPhone app, available gratis on iTunes, telling would-be cyclists which stations had bikes available and how many. The Dublinbikes app used a mashup of Google Maps and data from the official Dublinbikes Website.
The story sounds depressingly similar to StationStops, the app that ran into trouble with NY transport authorities by publishing available public schedules.
It may not be over yet, however: politician Paschal Donohoe, a declared iPhone user, called on Dublin City Council to intervene.
“The new bike scheme will depend on bikes being available, when and where people need them,” he said in a statement on his website. “A new application for iPhones provided this up-to-the minute information on where the bikes were located.”
“We should be encouraging innovation for the sake of the economy, not stamping it out.”
In the meantime, there are already a couple of mobile web alternatives to the killed bike sharing app.
In an embarrassing turn of events, Palm has gotten the smackdown from a USB industry group over a software hack that enables Palm’s Pre smartphone to sync with iTunes.
When Palm released the Pre earlier this year, the company cleverly spoofed Apple’s unique USB identifier to fool iTunes into thinking the Pre was an Apple device, allowing it to sync songs and playlists. It was a sneaky but daring move for Palm, ensuring the Pre was compatible with the market-leading music software.
But Apple repeatedly disabled the hack with a series of iTunes updates, so Palm sent a letter to the USB Implementers Forum, an industry group that oversees the USB standard, claiming Apple is “hampering competition.”
But in a response to Apple and Palm on Tuesday, the group sided with Apple, saying Palm’s spoofing of Apple’s ID likely violates USB-IF policy.
“Under the Policy, Palm may only use the single Vendor ID issued to Palm for Palm’s usage,” “the group said in a letter obtained by Digital Daily.
“Usage of any other company’s Vendor ID is specifically precluded. Palm’s expressed intent to use Apple’s VID appears to violate the attached policy,” the letter continued.
Embarrassing. Clearly not the response Palm was hoping for.
The USB Forum asked Palm to clarify its position and respond within seven days. Palm told Digital Daily it is reviewing the Forum’s letter and will “respond as appropriate.”
The music industry is planning to introduce new laws that would require Apple to pay for music in downloaded movies and TV Shows — and iTunes’ 30-second song previews.
The move comes from the industry’s royalty-collection agencies — ASCAP, BMI and others — which collect royalties on music that’s broadcast or performed.
The agencies collect royalties on songs played on the radio or your local dive-bar jukebox, but say they are left out of the digital revolution. Artists are not being paid for music downloaded in movies and TV shows, or previews on Amazon, iTunes and other digital outlets, the agencies say. So they’re lobbying Congress to bring Apple and others in line with cable and broadcast outlets.
On the one hand, the agencies make a compelling point about the consumption of music. Music used to be public. It was broadcast on the radio of performed at concerts, and the industry had mechanisms for collecting royalties on this. But now music is private. It’s loaded onto iPods and played through computers — but there’s no mechanisms for monetizing these new consumption patterns.
“This is really a fight about the future,” one industry spokesman tells CNet. “As more and more people watch TV or movies over an Internet line as opposed to cable or broadcast signal, then we’re going to lose the income of the performance.”
This doesn’t sound unreasonable, but 30 second song previews? As CNet notes: “For many, this would also undoubtedly confirm their perception that those overseeing the music industry are greedy.”
What is it? It’s one of my all-time favourite Menu Bar apps, and was recently updated to work with Snow Leopard. I’m delighted to have just re-installed it after a spell of trying to live without it.
The app is called I Love Stars, and I prefer it over ever other iTunes helper I’ve tried. And I’ve tried quite a few.
