Apple is holding talks with News Corp to fill their upcoming $99 Apple TV with $0.99TV Show rentals.
Viewers would be able to rent programs from News Corp.’s Fox for 48 hours, said the people, who declined to be identified because discussions aren’t public. CBS Corp. and Walt Disney Co., where Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs is a board member and the largest shareholder, also are in talks about joining the effort, the people say.
Apple’s previous plan to make a subscription TV service reportedly failed as media companies didn’t want to take risks with cable providers.
Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, confirmed that the new software update iOS 4.x will appear in the near future to correct performance problems on the iPhone 3G, which works on iOS 4.x. He confirmed it while answering to the email he got from a user who was disappointed with the iPhone 3G performance running on iOS 4, describing it as "dog slow".
Although he did not mention a specific version or date of its release we can guess that he was specking about iOS 4.1, which is going to be released next month, when iTV (Apple TV) and the next generation iPod touch will spotlight.
We've gotten some information that Apple plans to rename the Apple TV into "iTV", which was initially named as "iTV" in September 2006, but changed the name to "Apple TV" for its launch in January 2007. Apparently the box won't be capable of handling 1080p video. Instead it will only push out 720p clips. Moreover, video experts note that the difference in resolution is not visible to users at a normal TV viewing distance unless the screen is larger than 55 inches. The device will be getting apps and presumably an App Store entry.
iTV well be running iOS that means that it will get access to iTunes. By converting Apple TV into an iOS device, the company could erect a third new wing of apps in iTunes. This smaller, cheaper device will probably use network streaming rather than Apple TV's hard drive for local storage.
WWDC 2010 is today, June 7. Here is when Steve Jobs keynote will start:
07:00AM - Hawaii
10:00AM - Pacific
11:00AM - Mountain
12:00PM - Central
01:00PM - Eastern
06:00PM - London
07:00PM - Paris
09:00PM - Moscow
02:00AM - Tokyo (June 8th)
We expect to see new iPhone, new iPhone OS 4, new MAC OS X 10.7, new iPhone apps, Safari 5 and Apple TV. We'll cover the event here, on iPhoneRoot.com.
Today Engadget revealed new information on the next-gen Apple TV that was received from sources close to Apple.
The architecture of the upcoming device is based on iPhone OS 4, which means it will have the same hardware (A4 system-on-chip) with 16 GB of flash memory, video out and power socket. It will be 1080p HD capable, and will look like "an iPhone without a screen". Read the rest of this entry »
This week Apple revealed new patent application that describes its new superior advertisement technique. The document entitled "System and method for providing contextual l advertisements according to a dynamic pricing scheme."
Its main idea is that the effectiveness of the modern mobile advertisements can be improved with using unique pricing scheme (when advertiser pays variable price that based "on the likelihood of influencing user behaviour") and special marketing factors that can determine the effectiveness of the ad.
Recently Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer had a financial conference call with the press and analysts. Here are some interesting facts we gained from the conversation:
It seem like Apple have always been concentrated on Macs and iPhones/iPods/iPads, so their Apple TV product may be considered more like a hobby. But the company's main rival thinks of it as of another field to work on.
Intel, Sony and Google created a team to work on the device called GoogleTV. The latter already has its prototype. The New York Times says it consists of Intel's Atom processor and Android OS with Chrome web-browser. The project has been under development for a few months and there is still a work to do, but preliminary the device will be introduced this summer. To test their set-top box Google cooperates with Dish Network.
The NYT's source say:
“Google wants to be everywhere the Internet is so they can put ads there.”
It sounds plausible, because GoogleTV device is planned to allow users to browse the Internet, watch YouTube videos, check out Hulu content and even run Web apps and games.
Apple just released an update to iTunes, bringing the latest version to 9.0.2.
iTunes 9.0.2 adds support for Apple TV software version 3.0, adds an option for a dark background for Grid View, and improves support for accessibility.
According to PreCentral.net, this update also kills Palm Pre webOS sync. Again.
You can download iTunes here or through software update.
Updated: MuscleNerd has just confirmed that the update does not affect the Jailbreak, users can still use custom firmware. You can easily upgrade to 9.0.2.
MediaMemo reports on claims from music industry sources that Apple is planning a keynote event for the week of September 7th. Rumors say that some expected topics are Snow Leopard , iTunes 9 and new iPod Touch with camera and microphone.
Apple has traditionally held media-focused keynote event each September to introduce new iTunes features and iPod updates:
2008: "Let's Rock" - iTunes 8 and new iPod touch, nano, and shuffle models.
2007: "The Beat Goes On" - original iPod touch, updates to the iPod line, iTunes 7.4 update, iPhone price drops.
2006: "It's Showtime" - iTunes 7 and iPod updates, Apple TV.
2005: "Here We Go Again" - Motorola ROKR mobile phone with iTunes support, the release of iTunes 5, introduction of the original iPod nano to replace the iPod mini.
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