Well here's an interesting wrinkle to the next-gen iOS-based Apple TV rumors in the leadup to tomorrow's event: Bloomberg Businessweek says the new box will offer Netflix streaming, presumably in addition to whatever cheap TV content deals Apple's planning to offer through iTunes. That would be a first of sorts for Apple; although Netflix has apps for the iPhone and iPad, Steve Jobs isn't exactly in the habit of preloading services that compete with iTunes. That said, Netflix does have critical mass, and it makes a certain amount of sense for Apple to try and leverage that subscriber base to generate momentum for its own product -- a lot of people might buy a $99 Apple TV just for Netflix and wind up hooked on Apple's other offerings like apps, movie rentals, and purchased content. We'll see what happens tomorrow -- won't you join us?

P.S.- Businessweek also says a new iPod Touch with a higher-resolution screen and a revamped version of iTunes are due tomorrow, but like, duh.

Businessweek: new Apple TV to include Netflix streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games publisher THQ has released Vader Yourself on iTunes. It's a Darth Vader voice distorter, just in case you still can't get it right even after 30 years of practising with your head in a bucket. More »

We've already heard rumors that Apple was working to convince networks to offer 99 cent TV show rentals on iTunes -- and possibly on a forthcoming Apple TV / iTV as well -- and it looks like things might now be starting to firm up a bit. According to Bloomberg, "three people familiar with the plan" say that Apple is now in "advanced talks" with News Corp about offering Fox TV show rentals for 99 cents apiece, and it's reportedly talking with CBS and ABC-parent company Disney as well, although the state of those talks apparently aren't as clear. No mention of streaming-only episodes this time around, but those same people familiar with the matter do say that the episodes would only be viewable for 48 hours.

Apple reportedly in talks with networks for 99 cent TV show rentals originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article totally gave me an excuse to write that headline… been saving it for years. Reuters is reporting that 77-year old Yoko Ono was quoted as saying, “don’t hold your breath,” when asked about the possibility of the Beatles catalog coming to the iTunes digital music store. Ono went on to say: “Steve Jobs has his own idea and he’s a brilliant guy, there’s just an element that we’re not very happy about, as people. We are holding out.” Ono is the widow of deceased Beatles front man John Lenon and owns twenty-five percent of the bands music library rights. Former Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Star, as well as George Harrison’s widow Olivia, comprise the other three-quarters of Apple Corps, the bands holding company. Looks like, for the time being, you’ll have to get your Beatles fix the old fashioned way. Any Fab Four fans out there, any favorite songs?

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HTC has released a statement to let all those Europeans owning an unlocked HTC Desire know that they will start getting Android 2.2 this weekend. The update will have the latest version of HTC’s Sense UI, improved 720p video capture mode, iTunes integration, and its enhanced Caller ID. For American owners waiting for their cone of Froyo, this is just further proof that HTC has Android 2.2, complete with Sense, ready to rock… it’s only a matter of time now! We’ve got the full statement after the break.

The Android 2.2 (FroYo) update for HTC Desire will start rolling out across Europe this weekend. As well as including the complete set of Android 2.2 features, the update will contain a few special additions of our own through the latest iteration of HTC Sense. The update will provide 720p video capture, HTC’s App Share widget, as well as our enhanced HTC Caller ID, and improved multi-language keyboard. Also, through the update, HTC Sync will allow HTC Desire users to sync their music with iTunes.

HTC Desire users will be notified that the over-the-air update is available to download when their phone automatically checks for software updates. The update won’t delete any of the phone’s content. However, due to the size of the update, we would advise using a WiFi connection to download it wherever possible to avoid additional data charges.

This update will initially roll out to unlocked HTC Desire handsets. Operator specific versions of the update are undergoing testing and we expect to make them available in several weeks’ time.

We've just heard directly from HTC regarding that hotly anticipated upgrade to Android 2.2: it's happening this weekend for lucky Euroland owners of the Desire. Provided your Sense-laden 3.7-incher is not carrier-locked, you should be receiving your serving of Froyo by the end of the week, together with a new 720p video mode and iTunes sync for your music. HTC is also throwing in its App Share widget that it first introduced with the Wildfire, along with its smart Caller ID feature. Very nice, though it's quite a shame that operator-specific versions of the update are still stuck in testing and are expected "in several weeks' time." Ah well, guess that'll teach us to buy our gear unlocked.

Continue reading Official: HTC rolling out Android 2.2, 720p video, iTunes sync to unlocked Euro Desires this weekend

Official: HTC rolling out Android 2.2, 720p video, iTunes sync to unlocked Euro Desires this weekend originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 06:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's been a while since we first heard about Firefox Home, an app which allows you to sync your desktop browsing session to your iPhone, but it's been approved by Apple and is available in the iTunes store now. More »

Here we go again, unfortunately. Both 9 to 5 Mac and Ars Technica are reporting a new spat of potentially-fraudulent apps climbed the iTunes charts today, now in the Travel section. This time, the culprit's purported to be Chinese-based WiiSHii and a series of "GYOYO" Chinese- and English-language maps. The two publications have a screenshot each showing the apps climbing the charts, as well as an apparent receipt from one customer who unwittingly found charges for the software on his or her bill -- and yeah, we see them, too, albeit not topping any charts as of this writing. So yet again, we advise caution and double-checking your payment history. Le sigh.

iTunes fraud takes trip to travel section? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DVD Jon, the reverse engineer who decrypted DVDs for the masses and liberated iTunes with DoubleTwist, is worried about the Android Market. There's too much junk, he says, and Google needs to follow Apple's lead to clean it up. More »

Google - Android - Apple - Nexus One - Handhelds

Bing, Microsoft's "decision engine," is wading into the entertainment realm today with the revelation that searches for music, lyrics, games, TV shows, and movies will get a new special sauce treatment from here on out. You'll now be able to play 100 basic games right in your search results, along with full-length streaming of songs (first time only, 30 seconds thereafter) from a 5 million-strong catalog. The latter is augmented with "one-click" purchases from the Zune Marketplace (directly through the web, no need to launch the app), Amazon, or iTunes music libraries. Movie tickets are promised to be similarly easy to buy, though the biggest new feature might well be the Bing.com/entertainment page, which acts as a portal into your media consumption with a selection of the most popular content in each category. It doesn't look terribly different from the iTunes storefront, but given its partnership with Apple's digital music shop, we doubt Bing's Entertainment section is perceived as much of a threat -- not yet, anyway. As to that other search giant, Google's been said to already be putting together a music store of its own. Man, all this integration and interconnectedness -- just where will it end?

Continue reading Bing Entertainment integrates Zune Marketplace purchases, improves Microsoft's media swagger

Bing Entertainment integrates Zune Marketplace purchases, improves Microsoft's media swagger originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trent left town, so we had to produce this podcast with our own feeble hands. If you don't like it, blame Trent Wolbe.

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Special Guest: Joanna Stern
Music: Evacuate The Dancefloor

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Engadget Podcast 201 - 06.19.2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember PadRacer, the iPad racing game that uses iPhones as controllers? Well, that particular gaming setup just got a bit better and a lot more expensive, because you can now combine two iPads into a large display. [iTunes] More »

IPhone - IPad - Handhelds - Smartphones - Video game

doubleTwist, a company whose vision is “to create a unifying media platform that connects consumers with all their media and all their devices,” has just released a full-featured media player for your Android device. Sporting a very appealing UI, the new media player allows users to sync and update media from the doubleTwist desktop client (available for both Mac and PC) directly to their Android device. A new, and fairly huge, feature that the doubleTwist Android player packs is the ability to recognize metadata from an iTunes library. This gives long time users of iTunes — who don’t fancy the iPhone — a choice of media players and a legitimate exit strategy from iTunes. Users can change media players — while retaining the ability to sync seamlessly with a mobile device — and not give up playlist, song rating, and play count data accumulated over days, months, or years of iTunes. Go ahead and give the new doubleTwist Android media player a shot, and do let us know what you think.

NOTE: you can also checkout Songbird as a cross-platform iTunes alternative.

[Via LifeHacker]

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Double uh oh. That Justice Department investigation into Apple's music practices? It got a bit broader, with word out this weekend that the DOJ is concerned about more than just digital music. Film too? Sure, why not. More »

Apple - Macintosh - iTunes - Companies - Apple II

It’s no secret that the star of this year’s WWDC keynote will be the next-gen iPhone, but what else could it potentially bring to the table? According to a note issued to investors by Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu, the answer is iTunes.com, a cloud-based music service, and a refresh of the Mac Pro and MacBook Air. Apple has long been rumored to want in on the cloud-based music business, and its purchase of Lala in December of 2009 only served to add fuel to the fire. Add to this the fact that Apple has ordered Lala be shut down on May 31st and it seems there is quite a bit of evidence to support these claims. Turning our attention to the Mac Pro, the scuttlebutt is that it will pack a pair of 12 core Westmere-based processors from Intel’s Xeon 5600 series. As for the MacBook Air, rumors of a refresh have been fairly consistent over the past few months. The most recent came a few weeks ago and claimed that the travel-friendly notebook would be equipped with a Intel Core i3 processor and 4GB of RAM (although back in January the word was it would be getting a Core i5 processor). Would this be enough to satiate your need for shiny, new Apple gear?

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We knew it would happen rather soon, but WIRED Magazine now finally comes in iPad format. And it looks great: More »

IPad - App Store - Magazines and E-zines - iTunes - United States

And it has happened once again. The New York Times published an interesting article this evening which alleges that the U.S. Department of Justice has kicked off another anti-trust investigation that focuses in on Apple. Unlike the other two ongoing investigations which deal with Apple’s lockout of Flash in the iPhone OS and its upcoming iAd service, this time around its Apple’s strangle-hold grip on the digital music marketplace that’s getting all of the attention. Here specifically is what the NYT said triggered the investigation.

In March, Billboard magazine reported that Amazon.com was asking music labels to give it the exclusive right to sell certain soon-to-be-released songs for one day before the songs go on sale more widely. In exchange, Amazon promised to include those songs in a promotion on Amazon’s Web site called “MP3 Daily Deal.”

Representatives from Apple’s music service, iTunes, were asking the labels not to take part in Amazon’s promotion, and Apple punished those that did by later withdrawing marketing support for those songs on iTunes, the magazine reported.

So far the Department of Justice has not proceeded past the inquiry stage, but it doesn’t exactly reflect well upon Apple that this is the third time this month the agency has poked its nose in Apple’s affairs.

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