iPod iTunes Zone

IGG Software today released iBank 3 Public Beta, a trial version of its financial management application for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. The software includes iBank for iPhone, a Web-based iPhone application that allows users to enter transactions from an iPhone on-the-go. The update powers a redesigned interface with Mac OS X Core Animation technology, and a new view allows users to ‘flip’ through transactions presented professionally designed category images. iBank 3 Public Beta requires Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later, and the full version will ship in February for $50.Users can create new interactive graphs with the latest revision of iBank, and double-clicking on a pie slice flips it over to reveal detailed information. The update supports direct transaction downloads from numerous different banks using OFX, and banks that don’t support OFX are accessible via an integrated Web browser. Using Leopard’s Image Kit technology, users can take pictures of receipts or other items and assign them to transactions. Additional new features include smart portfolios for managing investments, and a new loan management module for tracking loans.

source: macnn.com

Equinux today began shipping the fifth generation of its online auction management software, iSale 5. The application allows Mac users to create as well as manage online eBay auctions, and features a template editor that allows supports customization of the included 222 templates. iSale 5 simplifies the search for product information and pictures, according to the company, and can display running auctions on the Facebook platform. iSale 5 is priced at $40, and requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later. Upgrades are free for users who purchased iSale after December 15th of 2007, and are priced at $20 for all other customers.”All iSale users will greatly benefit from the new version. iSale 5 not only gives you the possibility to manage and create your auctions, but it now also shortens the time it takes to look up information about the items you’re selling,” said Equinux CEO Till Schadde.

“iSale 5 is the most powerful and comprehensive online auction management software that equinux has ever released. iSale 5 includes an all-new Template Editor that allows users to edit every iSale template, we ever shipped and save them as your favorites.” The new research assistant allows users to easily take product descriptions from a FileMaker database and Delicious Library, adding them to an auction via one mouse click. Additional plug-ins support product research as well as pictures using Google, Amazon, the ISBN Database, or any other website. Posting auctions in a Facebook profile lets contacts know about any upcoming auctions, and iSale 5 manages multiple libraries for archiving old auctions. iSale’s user interface is designed to reflect the style and design of Mac OS X Leopard, and uses the operating system’s calendar to manage deadlines. QuickLook previews also allow users to find any auction with the Finder.

source: macnn.com

Apple’s iTunes software surpassed RealPlayer in unique users for the first time in April of 2007, according to WebSiteOptimization.com, and was the only contender among the four major streaming media players to show a positive growth rate over the past year. iTunes grew 26.8 percent from December 2006 to December 2007, while QuickTime and RealPlayer usage fell 8.6 percent and 17.5 percent, respectfully. Windows Media Player, meanwhile, remained essentially flat over the past year.

Apple recently reported its best quarter in history after unveiling iTunes movie rentals at Macworld Expo in San Francisco. The company confirmed deals with every major studio — including Miramax, MGM, Lionsgate, New Line Cinema, Fox, Sony, Warner Bros., Paramount, and Touchstone. All studios agreed to offer their movies to iTunes customers on a rent-to-watch basis, with old and new standard-definition releases priced at $2.99 and $3.99, respectfully. HD-quality versions are also available for $1 more, and new releases will arrive 30 days after their retail DVD shipment.

source: ipodnn.com

Stanford University is teaming up with iTunes to provide Lively Arts gift cards, a sampler card that offers attendees to the Lively Arts events 10 free downloads of featured artists. The iTunes sampler card will be given out from January 25th until March 15th at the various events, and will also be available to users through various campus services. Students who can’t attend the Lively Arts events can pick up a complimentary card at the Stanford Bookstoor, Tresidder Express, Track House Sport Shop, The Stanford Shop, and The Bookshop at the Cantor Art Center.

source: macnn.com

Apple’s iPod business will likely grow in the future, according to one industry analyst, despite the company’s lowest year-over-year unit growth rate in the product’s history. “With the iPod user base as its foundation, Apple is establishing a Wi-Fi mobile platform that we believe will spark continued growth in the iPod segment,” Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster wrote in a research note obtained by MacNN. “With 70 percent market share, we believe Apple is in the driver’s seat in terms of transforming the portable music market into a portable computing market.”Market data shows that growth in the standalone MP3 player market is slowing down, with NPD data suggesting a decline in year-over-year spending growth from 131 percent in 2005 to 17 percent in 2006. Growth in 2007 dropped another 4 percent year-over-year, according to Munster.

“We are modeling for year-over-year iPod unit growth to stabilize at around 15 percent through 2009,” he said. “The Street is expecting 4 percent year-over-year unit growth in March (vs. 5 percent year-over-year in December). In order to achieve this level of year-over-year iPod growth, we are expecting Apple to introduce cheaper, innovative iPods with Wi-Fi and multi-touch technology.” History shows that iPod growth is largely tied to the holiday shopping season as well as innovative iPods. Apple management last week referred to the iPod touch as the beginning of a mainstream Wi-Fi mobile platform during its financial results conference call. “We believe that the iPod touch is the first of several internet-connected iPods that Apple is currently developing. internet connectivity enables applications like email and a Web browser to add significant value to the iPod lineup, which will drive incremental growth and spur the replacement cycle for current iPod owners,” Munster explained. “With 70 percent market share, we believe Apple is positioned to transform the MP3 market into a portable computing market.” Apple managed to maintain a steady market share of around 70 percent over the last three years, which on a dollar share basis is higher — growing from 71 percent in 2004 to 84 percent in 2007. During the first full month of iPod touch shipments, Apple saw its market share rise to 90 percent on a dollar share basis.

“We believe these numbers imply that, despite a slowdown in growth in the MP3 market, Apple’s vision of the iPod lineup becoming a mainstream Wi-Fi mobile platform will have two results: First, it will spur growth in the portable media player market, particularly from the replacement cycle,” the analyst said. “Second, if Apple is able to lower prices on Wi-Fi connected and possibly touchscreen iPods, it will be able to maintain or grow its leading market share position.”

source: ipodnn.com

The UK branch of European cellular provider Orange hopes to have music rental services on its handsets without copy protection in as little as half a year, the company’s music product director Brenda O’Connell says. Speaking at the MIDEM mobile conference, O’Connell explains that the digital rights management (DRM) that locks down tracks varies widely between computers and cellphones, making it all but impractical to have a unified but device-independent music service without removing DRM entirely.”We’re… very concerned about the fact that customers are really rejecting DRM,” the Orange official says. “We want to launch not only a la carte services but subscription-based services, rental models. DRM is what’s holding us back at this point.” O’Connell does not say how Orange would expect an unprotected rental service to work through conventional means, as the concept would expose any temporary files to illegal copying while they exist on the handset. One proposal, however, would see all content stored on Orange servers, allowing users to stream the music as often as they like while in range of a 3G wireless connection.

Omnifone’s MusicStation service uses a similar concept today but uses protect files on the customer’s phone as a form of local cache that permits listening to some music when the cellular link is switched off. Regardless of implementation, Orange content senior VP Herve Payan believes his firm should have all major labels onboard for the concept “in the next six months,” but that only about 100 handsets available in the world today would be technically capable of supporting such a service. None of these have been named so far. Separately, Payan also describes recent decisions with specific handset makers and notes that Orange agreed to unlimited data plans for Apple’s iPhone in part because of its automatic bridging between EDGE cellular data and Wi-Fi, which makes a data cap impractical. “It is very important to have not just an iPhone but unlimited data because the device goes from mobile to Wi-Fi without telling you - if you don’t have an unlimited data subscription the bill can be quite costly,” he says. The executive also notes that Orange is not averse to maintaining separate, copy-protected stores such as Nokia’s Music Store at the same time. The carrier is in talks with Nokia to ensure that the store is an option but is clearly separate from whatever Orange offers, Payan adds.

source: electronista.com

Apple is currently making little to no money on each Apple TV sold, a teardown analysis suggests. The research firm iSuppli has conducted a estimate of the manufacturing costs of the new 40 and 160GB set-tops, and found that after Apple’s $70 price cut, the 40GB Apple TV has a margin of just 10 percent, while the 160GB version has a more reasonable 29 percent. Apple normally has product margins closer to 50 percent, and even this does not account for secondary costs such as marketing or distribution.iSuppli admits that its figures may not be wholly accurate, as Apple is using a custom processor for which iSuppli cannot evaluate the true dollar figure. Analyst Andrew Rassweiler comments though that he “doubts it would be anymore expensive than what we’ve assumed.”

It is suggested that this could mark a shift in Apple strategy, focusing on revenue from content such as music and video over hardware, at least outside of the Mac realm. The difficulty for Apple here may be that again, much of the revenue from its media sales must go towards expenses, specifically profit sharing with record labels, TV networks and movie studios. iSuppli notes that when the Apple TV originally launched last year, some of the parts were more expensive, but margins were more favorable. Approximately 21 percent was earned on the 40GB set-top, while the later 160GB model generated 31 percent.

source: macnn.com

Case maker Fabrix has announced new products for the MacBook Air, which is due to release later this week. The company has updated its Delux notebook cases with a size specifically tailored to the Air, measuring less than 0.6 inches thick in order to give the notebook a tight fit. Each case is sewn with quilted padding for protection, and features an improved back pocket with compartments for the IR remote and the optional SuperDrive. The pocket should still have enough space for extra papers and/or a magazine. Buyers can now also pick from over a dozen different patterns for their cases, including the completely new Blue Suit, Red Damask and Black Amber selections. All the cases should begin shipping for $42 within the next week.

source: macnn.com

DigitalFriedChicken has released CookWare Deluxe 3.2, an update to the recipe collection and organization software that adds a calendar to help plan meals. The application automatically formats recipes as they are entered, creates custom printing templates, enables users to assign multiple categories to recipes, and supports saving searches as well as menus. The software is priced at $36, and requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later.The latest release features an editable market list that is sortable by store, as well as the ability to link recipes together that complement or require one another. CookWare Deluxe 3.2 also allows users to create a cookbook from selected recipes with one click, and provides five print formats with unlimited custom formats for creating a physical copy of recipes. CookWare Deluxe 3.2 allows users to print a single recipe, a menu, an index, or recipes that fit in a three-ring binder. The application supports exporting single or multiple recipes in three formats, and can create recipes, market lists, or cookbooks that are viewable on Apple’s iPod on-the-go.

source: macnn.com

The MacBook Air should finally go on retail sale Wednesday, possibly as soon as Tuesday, reports claim. While the sub-notebook was announced on January 15th by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, it has only so far been available for online pre-order, reflecting Jobs’ statement that it would only begin shipping in two weeks. Apple’s retail stores are said to be putting up banners and other displays today though, and Genius Bar employees should begin training on Tuesday.Frustrating to some prospective buyers may be indications that the Air arrived in stock on Friday or Saturday, but has been kept off shelves in order to follow Jobs’ marketing plan. Retail stores do, however, often need at least one extra day to prepare for a major launch. Apple has in some cases spent several days readying for new products, most notably the iPhone.

source: macnn.com