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Apple Now Accepting iPad Apps, Planning “Grand Opening” of iPad App Store

Apple is now accepting iPad apps for a “grand opening” of the iPad App Store, according to an email just sent to registered developers.
“iPad will begin shipping soon and your opportunity to be part of the grand opening of the iPad App Store starts today,” the email says.
There’s no details about when the store’s grand [...]

Security Expert: “Mac OS X Is Safer, But Less Secure”

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Tech site H-Online has an interesting story today, quoting security expert Charlie Miller about his forthcoming talk at the CanSecWest conference next week.
He says OS X is full of security holes. There are lots more than in Windows, he claims.
And yet: OS X is a safer system to use. Why? Because, in the words [...]

Apple Devotes Entire Home Page To Jerome York Obituary

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If ever you needed a sign that Apple was a different kind of technology company, this is it.
What other computer manufacturer would remove its top-selling, hype-inducing, industry-altering new product from the prime spot on its website home page, and replace it with an obituary to an investor?
This is one of those “Here’s to the [...]

Coming Soon: Steve Jobs, the Sitcom

Fake Steve creator Dan Lyons just signed a deal to bring Steve Jobs to another small screen near you.
The half-hour series called “iCon” is billed by the presser as “a savage satire centering on a fictional Silicon Valley CEO whose ego is a study in power and greed.”
Making sure the barbs prick will be the [...]

Report: Apple, Studios In Talks Over Expanding DRM-Free iTunes

Apple is in talks with three major music studios that have held out selling songs on iTunes free of copy protection, according to a report Thursday. If successful, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony BMG titles could be part of Apple’s iTunes Plus.

Although CNET described discussions as “still preliminary,” an agreement would expand Apple’s iTunes Plus option to include music from all major studios. When the program was launched about a year ago, only EMI signed onto selling tunes free of restrictions that tied iTunes purchases to an Apple device.

With its iTunes and iPod dynasty, Apple has dominated digital music sales. However, a growing number of rivals — Amazon, Microsoft and MySpace among them — have used DRM-free MP3 music to loosen the stranglehold.

Microsoft is among one of the biggest winners in the non-DRM debate. Universal Music, EMI and Warner Music Group have all signed deals with the software giant. Talk now suggests Sony may announce its own MP3 agreement soon.

However, Microsoft’s Zune isn’t likely to be dramatically hurt if Apple’s iTunes more widely embraces the MP3 format.

“The subscription-only services are the ones that will feel pressure from the DRM-free stores and the social media cites like iMeem, Last.FM etc. who license songs and allows registered users to stream
songs and playlists, ” Mike McGuire, media analyst at Gartner, told Cult of Mac.

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About the author

Ed Sutherland

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

Email the author | Read more posts by Ed Sutherland.

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