iPod iTunes Zone

If you thought the iPhone was a safe bet among Americans for a most wanted Christmas gift, think again. A survey released today, the appeal of the fancy phone may have lost traction and is not part of the current top 10 and is ranked behind products such as laptops, digital cameras, the PS3 and HD players.

According to the released of the study conducted by Solutions Research Group (SRG) among 1200 American consumers, the iPhone is the 15th most wanted Christmas gift this year. It comes in well behind other usual suspects and well behind other Apple products as well: SRG said that Apple’s hottest products this year will be laptops, ranked #11 overall and #9 among women.

Interestingly, the iPod is also absent from the top 10. However, the research firm noted that when combined, Apple-branded technology products make it to the top 5 overall with one-in-six considering purchase, suggesting strong potential holiday season for the company.

If SRG is right, then flat-screen HDTV will be the most attractive gift in this year’s holiday season, followed by Windows-based notebook computers and digital cameras. The list is rounded out by desktop computers, mobile GPS devices, cellphones, digital video cameras, Nintendo’s Wii, Sony’s PS3 and Blu-ray/HD DVD players.

In video gaming, the Xbox360 misses the top 10 with a survey result that puts the console at #12. According to SRG, this is likely due to unique survey results by gender. Sony PS3 and Xbox 360 were on the top 10 list of men but did not make it to the top 10 list of women. On the other hand, TiVo/DVR and Apple laptops were in the top 10 for women but did not show up on men’s wish lists for the holidays.

The ranking also reflects a computer trend that goes more and more into the direction of mobile systems. Notebooks were preferred over desktop PCs 2-to-1 in the age group of 18-34. There aren’t many consumer electronics technologies that truly have arrived in the mainstream and appeal to both genders and people across all age groups. In fact, SRG found that there is only one gift that can be found in all top 10 lists generated: Digital cameras were ranked #2 or #3 in all age and gender groups. GPS devices are following this trend and were ranked #5 among men and #7 among women.

source: tgdaily.com

Have you ever wondered if stores still keep track of the number of customers that walk through their door? Well it’s only natural that they do, it lets them know all kinds of interesting facts like the ratio of people that walk through the door vs the number that actually make a purchase. So what happens when you just happen to be the 10 millionth customer to walk through the doors of an Apple Store? A celebration of course!

Michal Revivo just so happened to be that lucky 10 millionth customer in the Regent Street Apple Store. We’re not sure what she went in there for, but she came out holding a new black MacBook, an iPod nano and a One-to-One training membership.

You can bet your sweet ass that I’m going to be walking into my local Apple store as often as I can from now on.

source: slashgear.com

Apple intends to revitalize its flagging Apple TV hub by launching HD video downloads on iTunes, according to a rumor from a source which in the past accurately described the iPod touch in advance of its launch. A “selection” of the movies and TV shows available from the company’s store would receive a significant step up in resolution from today’s videos, which are currently limited to the maximum 640×480 size officially supported by the iPhone and all existing iPod models.

Apple is stocking up on supplies of its media hubs in anticipation of increased demand spurred by the HD videos, says the purported insider.While many of the details were left out of the alleged leak, the 40GB and 160GB Apple TV models on sale now support playback of widescreen videos as sharp as 720p (1280×720), qualifying as HD-capable. Apple’s September iPod refresh also introduced a new component video output cable that would theoretically support HD video, although the existing lack of support by current Apple handhelds would limit its usefulness with iTunes HD content.

If accurate, the claim would have Apple make the announcement sometime before the end of the month, coinciding closely with the company’s expected October release of Mac OS X Leopard.

source: electronista

Fox has added Family Guy, season 6 to Apple’s iTunes Store, bringing the hit television series to loyal fans everywhere.

The comedy cartoon follows an American family with an oaf husband, his loving wife who occasionally shows a neurotic side; 16-year-old Meg who often becomes the source of other family members’ jokes; 13-year-old Chris who seems to follow his father’s footsteps; 1-year-old Stewie, an exceptionally intelligent baby with an eye to take over the world; and Brian, the family dog who enjoys dry martinis and dumb blondes.

Season six will feature guest voice appearances by Paris Hilton, Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson. As usual, individual episodes are priced at $1.99. The show airs Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. on FOX.

source: iPodnn.

Apple may open up its iPhone to third-party developers who receive the blessing of Steve Jobs when the company ships Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard later this month, according to 9to5Mac. Rumors are circulating that the Cupertino-based company is speaking with partners who develop games as well as applications for the iPhone/iPod, and that it will use the development model created by T-Mobile for its Sidekick device to bring trusted developers on board. Those developers who create seemingly desirable software and who can refrain from interfering with software already available for the iPhone could develop their applications natively and potentially distribute their works with Apple’s help.

Apple unveiled the iPhone early this year at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco and began shipping the device in late June. Since then, developers hoping to write software for the iPhone have either followed Apple’s lead and remained within the confines of its Safari development environment or turned to a slew of “unlockers” who, through various means, managed to remove the device’s restrictions against Apple’s own recommendations and policies. Unlocked iPhones were crippled by Apple’s latest iPhone software update, however, following a press release from the company stating that unlocking an iPhone could render the device useless and voids the warranty.

The new initiative, if true, would serve to open the iPhone up to serious developers and major companies like EA, which is currently said to be porting its entire iPod lineup to the iPod/iPhone platform for sale along with the classic iPod versions. Apple would still retain complete control over which developers could produce native software for the device, however, effectively splitting the difference between trying to maintain a completely closed system while eager hackers develop their own native iPhone apps and an entirely open system with no control over any developer savvy enough to compile programs for Leopard.

Source: macnn.

The iPod touch will be one of the most popular toys this holiday season according to predictions from retailer Toys R Us. The chain has released a list of 20 toys that it believes will be top sellers this year, knocking the iPod nano from its top spot. The UK Telegraph reports that “Optimus Prime and his fellow robots from the film Transformers, as well as last year’s favourite Dr Who” are other predicted hits. The iPod touch is available in two configurations with 8GB and 16GB storage capacities for $300 and $400 in the US, respectively. The 16GB version is priced at £269 in the UK.
The iPod touch’s 3.5-inch widescreen display displays photos just like the iPhone, and supports Apple’s “pinch-to-zoom” technique as well as the customary slide for unlocking the device. The iPod touch features CoverFlow technology, and includes a WiFi meter in the top-left corner of the screen to monitor signal strength. The iPod’s wireless capability includes 802.11 b/g support, and utilizes the company’s Safari Web browser to login to public wireless networks as well as surf the Web.

The Cloud, a UK network of Wi-Fi access points, recently announced that it is giving Wi-Fi access to users of the iPod touch with a new service dubbed Cloud Unlimited Music, which will be priced at £3.99 per month and is not subject to any minimum term contract.

Read the full article here.

Apple is working on solutions that will help developers get more face time on the iPhone, but there are currently no plans to offer a “true” iPhone SDK that would allow developers to create native apps, a source at Apple has told Ars. 

The company is currently planning a handful of updates to Safari and the iPhone that may appease some of the common complaints about developing for the device. For example, Apple is currently jamming on adding offline storage capabilities to Safari—something that would rival Google Gears in being able to serve up web applications locally without having to access the Internet. Our source says that the project is entirely for the iPhone: “The entire purpose of all this work is to make the iPhone ‘SDK’ (WebKit) more usable,” our source told us. Because of this, the SDK will remain web-based, he said, with the applications remaining constrained to HTML, CSS, and a nice splash of lemon-scented AJAX.

That said, our source also believes there may be other goodies up Apple’s sleeve. Apple may offer more local JavaScript access to useful iPhone functionalities, and developers might eventually also be able to create home screen icons that will point to their (presumably) offline web apps. Apple is currently aiming for an unspecified “January” deadline on these updates, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it will likely be announced at Macworld 2008.

Read the full article here

 A New York woman is so angry at Apple Inc. for lopping $200 off the price of the iPhone that she’s filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million in damages. 

Dongmei Li of Queens, New York, claimed the company violated price discrimination laws when it slashed the price of the 8-gigabyte iPhone by a third, from $599 to $399, within two months of the gadget’s June debut. 

Apple lowered the iPhone’s price on September 5 and also said it would stop selling the $499 4-gigabyte model. Hundreds of early customers who paid full price didn’t expect a reduction so soon and complained.

Apple issued an apology the next day. Under its return policy, Apple refunded the $200 difference for those who bought the phone within 14 days of the reduction. And in a move to make peace with those who purchased the higher-priced phone before that period, the company offered a $100 credit at Apple stores.

According to Li’s lawsuit, filed on September 24 in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, the price reduction injured early purchasers like herself because they cannot resell the product for the same price as those who bought the cell phone following the price cut.

Li purchased a 4GB iPhone for $499 and alleged that owners of the 4GB model were given less favorable terms than those who bought the 8GB model at the premium price, according to the lawsuit.

Apple spokeswoman Susan Lundgren declined to comment, citing the company’s policy to not discuss pending litigation.

The lawsuit also named AT&T Inc., the exclusive carrier in the U.S. for the iPhone, and alleged the two companies’ required two-year service contract for the iPhone constituted unfair business practices.

Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman, declined to comment, saying he had not yet seen the

source: ccn.com