Appletell

Fueled by the recent snowballing of Mac sales and interest in the iPhone’s mobile WiFi platform, this year’s Apple World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) has sold out for the first time in history.  The exact number of spaces that were available was not put out by Apple, but soon after making the “sold out” announcement, they released the following statement. 

“Response to this year’s WWDC has been off the charts and we are delighted with the show of enthusiasm and support from the developer community for the new iPhone SDK. The conference is now sold out.”

There are many speculations as to what will happen at WWDC ‘08, ranging from 3G iPhones to Tablet Macs (the latter taken with quite a sizable grain of salt).  Based on past WWDC history, chances are slim that any new computer designs will be introduced, as those larger announcement are usually saved for MacWorld (small design updates for the Mac line up are more of a possibility).

Luckily for those who didn’t snag a seat at the conference, videos of the session will be on iTunes shortly after for purchase.

Read [Mac Megatsite]

There are reports that within the next couple of weeks iTunes will be host to some of Time Warner’s HBO content.  What’s interesting about this deal versus any other iTunes content agreement is that Apple has supposedly agreed to a different pricing structure than the rest of their deals.  According to an article at Portfolio.com, “One possibility is that HBO programming will have a higher retail price than the flat $1.99 fee Apple currently charges for video content. [A]nother is that HBO will receive a larger cut of the same flat rate than other iTunes content providers receive.” However, as usual, Apple spokespeople have not commented on this report.

What does all this mean for Apple?  Well, it’s not just another content deal.  HBO has quite a few hit shows such as “The Wire” that could really help drive sales behind iTunes videos.  This could not only help iPods and computers, but also devices like the Apple TV.  As iTunes adds more and more content to it’s library, it is just gaining and even larger edge in the market and further revolutionizing the way we get our media.  Like I said in my post from a while back, this could be another step towards moving completely to online media.

There has been tons of rumors lately about what the new iPhone is going to look like and and what features it will have.  Sure, the iPhone is bound to be updated (or announced to be updated) in June at WWDC, but what about that little thing we call the iPod?  Can’t we give them a little loving?  What is the next iPod going to be like?  Unfortunately, it seems like this device has gotten lost in all the iPhone shuffle.  Well, let’s bring it back into the limelight, even if only for a little bit!  Keep in mind, I have no idea when they will be updated, but it’s always interesting to speculate on what they may look like and contain.

So, what do you think?  Is that old scroll wheel out of fashion?  Will they eventually all have wifi and Safari?  Are they all going to contain some sort of touch screen?  These are all good questions to ask, and with the way Apple keeps its secrets, any of those could be just as possible as the next.  I strongly believe they will all have some sort of advanced touch system, whether it be the actual screen or just adding multi-touch to the scroll wheel.  Apple has learned a lot from both the iPhone and iPod Touch about multi-touch displays, and the consumers seem to love them.  Furthermore, I think they will all be capable of wireless connectivity.  Even if it’s not Safari, Apple could possibly even add a more simplified iTunes Store to normal iPods.  This would be a great way for Apple to sell more songs and users to find even more music.

Now let’s talk more hardware.  With flash memory get cheaper everyday, will the new iPods move to flash?  I hope not.  Well, at least not now.  The Classic and its 160GB are great for people who have a ton of music as well as some movies, and I don’t believe hard drives are dead just yet.  Going along with my multi-touch theory, I also believe the new iPods will get larger screens to make them more able to support that feature.

What are your thoughts? Let them fly in the comments!

Graphic via [Gadget Reviews]

Universal is now distributing its TV shows through the iTunes Store in the UK. Universal’s content was added to the store last night (UK time). Their decision to bring shows to iTunes in the UK is interesting, because of the recent disputes between Apple and NBC Universal; its content had been removed from the iTunes US Store, but remained on Microsoft’s Zune store for the same price.

Universal is bringing some well-known hit TV shows that are currently airing on UK television, including: Heroes (Season Two), House, Eureka, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and The Incredible Hulk. All of the shows are priced at the regular £1.89 - which is still quite a bit more than US users would pay, due to the exchange rate and other excuses Apple makes for overcharging us. Interestingly, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and The Incredible Hulk are available for just £1.19 each - this could be because these are the less popular shows, and may gain more exposure from lower prices.

Via [Macworld UK]

Since its introduction by Apple on January 9th, 2001, iTunes has become one of the most popular music library organization apps ever.  It started off simple and eventually became what it is today, a place not only to organize files, but to shop, learn, and watch.  With so much growth, large deals, and new features in the past few years, it makes me wonder where iTune’s place will be in the future.  When digital sales take over physical media, will it be because of iTunes?  Will iTunes one day start a revolution in how we purchase and handle all of our DVDs, music, and TV shows?  Or will iTunes eventually slip away into the past and be replaced by a whole new app or movement?

With the direction iTunes is headed now, it seems like it very well could be the driving force behind moving totally to digital sales for some.  It has one of the biggest music selections available anywhere, allows you to rent movies, releases new DVD titles the same day as hard copies, and contains all sort of other media, such as podcasts and TV shows.  With only a couple more deals and updates, iTunes could soon be the place to go for all of your media.  This would almost completely eliminate the need for physical media.  Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t think this will happen anytime very soon, but it is possible.  But what would seal the deal for moving completely to digital media?

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Hate rushing to the store to make sure you are able to get one of the few copies available of your favorite movie on the day of its DVD release?  We’ve all been there, and it sucks.  Well, Apple has now come to the rescue.  You are now able to purchase iTunes movies on the same day as their hard copy DVD release.  This deal covers a ton of studios, including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Lionsgate.  The new releases go for $14.99 currently at the iTunes store.

“We’re thrilled to bring iTunes Store customers new films for purchase day-and-date with the DVD release,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We think movie fans will love being able to buy their favorites from major and independent studios.”

It was going to happen eventually, and I’m glad the time has finally come.  Could this be one of the largest steps in a while towards moving completely to digital entertainment, or is there still a long way to go?

Apple has finally surpassed its goal of 1,000 movie rentals - users can now rent from a store of over 1,000 movies. Apple didn’t meet this goal on time however - they are exactly 63 days late from the deadline - but at least they made it. Steve Jobs must have been very optimistic with the movie rental idea, as 2 months isn’t really acceptable from Apple. Most people expected all 1,000 movies to be on the store at least 63 days ago. But I suppose its best that Apple took its time, making sure everything went well - better late than never as they say.

To see the expansive list of movies available on the iTunes rental option, just open up iTunes and choose search from the store menu; choose Movies from the Power Search pop-up and enable the “Search Movies That Are Available for Rental option” - then click search. You’ll see all of the movies organized into 6 pages, each with 150 movies - another additional page lists 103 movies.

Via [Macworld]

BBC America TV shows have just been added to the US iTunes Store. There are only three shows at this point in time, but expect more to be on their way:

• Torchwood (Series 1 and 2)
• Little Britain (Series 3 only)
• Robin Hood (Series 2 only)

This small collection of shows is available for the usual $1.99 per show - buying entire seasons can vary in cost, but is usually slightly cheaper than buying episode-after-episode. This is still very limited, and what I would call not worth paying for. But I guess if you don’t have access to the BBC World channel, or you want it on your computer/iPod/iPhone - then this is the way to go. If you’re in the UK, you’ll have a much wider variety of choice; including the BBC’s own iPlayer - which lets you catch-up on shows every 7 days. This service is also available for streaming on iPhones and iPod Touches in the UK.

Via [TUAW]

Today, Apple celebrates the fifth anniversary of its iTunes store with a look back at “all of the great music, video, and exclusives” that users discovered on iTunes, and highlighting the songs and shows that defined each year of the iTunes store’s life. Apple gives a brief history along with a collection of “best sellers” on its iTunes store today, and claims its music catalogue grew from over 200,000 songs and a handful of exclusive tracks to over 10 million songs, according to information available on the iTunes store.

Earlier this month, Apple announced that the iTunes Store surpassed Wal-Mart to become the number one music retailer in the United States, based on data from January and February of 2008. Apple also stated that it had served over 50 million customers and sold more than four billion songs.

iTunes makes up approximately 70 percent of digital music sold worldwide. It is estimated that in the next five years, Apple’s media service may account for a staggering 28 percent of all music sold worldwide.

Via [The iPod Observer]

Apple is at again with a new iPod commercial.  This time around the ad features the same same colorful theme with figures of dancers in black as well as a hip song.  You can find the ad on Apple’s iTunes page and the song “Shut Up and Let Me Go” by The Ting Tings in the iTunes Store. Like most of the songs featured on Apple’s new commercials, this one will probably sell like hot cakes, making for a very happy artist.

Apple does a great job on all of their ads, they are very catchy and yet manage to get the point across about the product.  They make you remember them, which is the one of the major points when it comes to advertising.  They are the type of ads that make you stop fast forwarding your DVR and watch them, which is pretty hard to do.  Heck, I will probably end up buying this song now, how about you?