iTunes

iTunes had long been the only kid in town as Apple-imposed rules of the game prohibited third-party storefronts of any kind on iOS devices. Bowing to government regulators, Apple last year relaxed its strict policy pertaining to third-party stores and enabled subscriptions. This paved the way for music apps from Spotify and Shazam that have recently become available on the iOS platform. Now, another major subscription-based music service is about to hit the App Store.

According to reports, consumer electronics giant Sony is bringing its Music Unlimited service to owners of Apple’s mobile devices. For either $4 or $10 a month, Music Unlimited subscribers will be able to stream music onto their iPads, iPhones and iPod touches sometime this quarter. The first tier gets you the ability to stream music from your own personal library and the other enables unlimited streaming from Sony’s catalog of 15 million songs. Similar to Spotify, you will be able to cache songs and playlists when offline.

Sony’s logic behind this move reflects Apple’s approach…

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You are probably familiar with Shazam’s iOS app that lets you identify the name of the song being played, but today, Shazam launched a new iOS app called “Shazam Player.” Shazam Player is free and aims to be a more feature-packed alternative to the default iOS music player.  Shazam Player offers options like streaming lyrics; tour dates from artists, YouTube videos, artist biographies, and even the ability to buy new tracks from iTunes within the app.

Besides the ability to play music, Shazam Player can also identify songs similar to the original Shazam app can. From there, you can launch iTunes from within the app to preview or purchase the song. You can share music with your Facebook and Twitter friends. The ability to view tour dates and bios from your favorite artists right within the app is very cool.

Shazam Player certainly is not as lightweight as Apple’s music player, but it does add a great list of features. If you are big on listening to music, this might be the perfect app for you. Try Shazam Player in the App Store!

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Invitation image via @thepeterha

As first reported by The Loop, Apple sent out invites today for a special media event held in New York City next Thursday, Jan. 19. The invitation’s graphic shows the familiar New York skyscraper motif, adorned with the Apple logo silhouette and the tagline:

Join us for an education announcement in the Big Apple.

The invite arrives following a flurry of speculation pertaining to the nature of the event, which was first hinted by AllThingsD. The publication reported on Jan. 2 that Apple’s presser will not be huge —at least not compared to the company’s splashy theatrical announcements—nor will it cover any iPad or Apple TV hardware news.

Instead, it will focus on iBooks, another report said. With education the focus, this leaves iBooks and perhaps textbooks, another market Jobs wanted to disrupt, as the main attraction. The presser is said to involve Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, whose recently expanded responsibilities now include the App Store, iTunes Store, iAd, iCloud and iBooks.

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From 9to5Toys.com

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Update: 20% discount is over

Best Buy offers Digital Delivery of iTunes Gift cards for 20 percent off across the board.  Sizes range from $15, $25, $50 and $100 that are marked down to $12, $20, $40 and $80.  These cards can be used toward music, movies, TV, books, apps and more.  This might be particularly interesting to our overseas readers who use the United States iTunes store.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4vTqozhDWo]

Epic Games and Chair Entertainment, developers of the popular on-rails, hack-and-slash iOS franchise called “Infinity Blade,” just announced the two titles have earned over $30 million since the first game launched in the App Store in December 2010. Assuming “earnings” accounts for total earnings, Apple’s 30 percent cut would be $9 million.

Epic Games, Inc. and its award-winning Salt Lake City-based development studio, ChAIR Entertainment, today announced that earnings from ChAIR’s blockbuster Infinity Blade video game franchise have eclipsed $30 million in just one year since the introduction of the original game. One of the most popular gaming franchises to be launched on the App Store, the award-winning series has also created significant licensing interest in the underlying Unreal Engine 3 technology from developers worldwide.

In the announcement (via Joystiq), the developers also noted that Infinity Blade II reached over $5 million in net earnings since its release last month on Dec. 1, 2011. In comparison, it took the first Infinity Blade title three months to achieve that milestone. The first game now accounts for more than $23 million of the franchise’s earnings.

The original Infinity Blade is available as a universal download for $5.99 here. Infinity Blade 2, which IGN gave a “Perfect 10” score, is available for $6.99. The companies also noted a number of other products in the franchise were released, including the Infinity Blade: Awakening digital novel (on Amazon here), and the Infinity Blade: Original Soundtrack.

Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps said the following in a statement:

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Following multiple reports claiming that Apple is holding an event later this month to discuss new media-related services, Clayton Morris shared some tidbits that he has heard from sources. First, Morris claims he heard about the event in September 2011 and the event was originally scheduled for late 2011. Morris said the event has been long in the making and the announcements were close to Apple Co-founder Steve Jobs. Morris again affirmed that we will not be seeing hardware at the event and he expects two “large projects” relating to education to be announced.

We have independently heard that the iTunes team is on “lockdown mode” ahead of the announcements, which have been delayed before as also reported by Morris. This affirms that whatever Apple announces will be connected to iTunes in some fashion. Keep in mind the iTunes team runs the actual iTunes Store, the App Store, and the iBookstore.

Update: MacRumors reported that Apple has filmed promotional interviews with executives from the textbook publishing industry, possibly affirming that this upcoming event will focus on digital textbooks. They noted that while these interviews have indeed been worked on, there is no confirmation that they relate to this upcoming event.

Update 2: Goodereader claimed that Apple will be launching an iTunes self-publishing service with the EPUB format…
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Apple offers a wide variety of digital content for those looking to find their Christmas spirit this holiday season. Classic flicks adorn iTunes and the App store as digital downloads, audio books, albums and applications, and each media selection gives global users the opportunity to find good cheer…

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.10664228&w=650&h=420&fv=]

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Apple does not often have or advertise sales on Boxing Day, a holiday recognized in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. On the holiday, retailers discount products similar to Black Friday in the United States. However, this year, Canadians are getting a Boxing Week sale on iTunes.

As of right now, Apple is running a promotion in at least the Canadian iTunes store with a selection of 69-cent songs and albums from $5.99, including: Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites by Skrillex, Foo Fighters’ Wasting Light, and Take Care (Deluxe Version) by Drake.  Each album is selling between $5.99 and $7.99. Altogether, there are 30 or more albums offered.

There is also a selection of 69-cent song collections consisting of the top-selling songs from 2011, best songs of 2011, classic hits, and more.

It is unclear whether Apple will have a Boxing Day or Week sale in its Canadian, U.K., or Australian online and retail stores. Canadian retailers typically run Boxing Week sales from Dec. 24 through Jan. 2, but Boxing Day is traditionally recognized on Dec. 26. It appears the iTunes sale has not popped up in the U.K. or Australian stores, but let us know in the comments if it does.

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Adobe just -the No. 1 e-signature service used by over four millions users- for both iPhone and iPad as a free universal iOS application. The new app is available now, and it allows users to send documents and have them signed with a legally binding e-signature on the iPad or iPhone.

Users will access their EchoSign account, search and send from the EchoSign library, or send documents from their photo album, an email attachment, or apps like Box.net and Dropbox. There is also built-in, real-time status tracking, and the ability to quickly view signed agreements in an EchoSign account. Adobe promised the signing process within the app includes all of EchoSign’s “key authentication and privacy, fraud protection, and consumer disclosure”.

Out of EchoSign’s four million users, some of the estimated 50,000 paid subscribers include Twitter, Google, Facebook, VMware, Dell, and Groupon. Jason Lemkin started the company in 2006, and it was eventually acquired by Adobe in July of 2011 when the company had around 35,000 paid subscribers.

You can grab the app for free from the App Store now (iTunes link). Apple iPad screenshots are below:

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Similar to the Complete My Album feature that debuted on iTunes in the summer of 2009, Apple today launched a similar offering for television shows aptly named “Complete My Season Pass”. As you know, iTunes Season Pass lets users buy an entire television show season and have individual episodes automatically downloaded up to 24 hours after they air on the tube.

So, let’s say you previously purchased individual episodes of Desperate Housewives and now want to upgrade to the entire season, but without having to re-purchase the episodes you already own.

Well, per MacRumors:

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Avatar, a 2009 epic sci-fi flick written and directed by James Cameron, has marked a major technological breakthrough and ushered in a new era in digital effects. Although development on the movie began in 1994, when Cameron wrote an 80-page scriptment for the film, the director soon found he would have to wait for the necessary technology to become available if he were to achieve his vision of the film.

Beginning Dec. 20, a special edition of Avatar is landing on Apple’s iTunes Store packing in interesting iTunes Extras unavailable on other platforms. According to the press release, these interactive digital enhancements let fans:

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We’re starting to get reports that Apple is sending out emails to users in Spain and elsewhere in Europe notifying them the iTunes Match service is officially available for 24,99 € per year (as shown above). One Twitter user also claims that he was able to subscribe to the service in Europe two days ago before iTunes told him it was a mistake and returned his money.

“I managed to buy iTunes Match in Europe two days ago. Now they told me it was mistake and returned the money.

The email he provides looks identical to the one above apart from the language. It’s of course possible this is a slip up on Apple’s part ahead of an official rollout in the near future. Let us know in the comments if you have access to the service, which you can try here.

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We’ve got reports coming in from Canada where it is listed at C$27.99/year and Australia where it is A$39.99.  In the UK, it is £21.99.

Last week Apple also opened up the cloud service to users in Brazil to accompany the launch of the iTunes Store in Latin America.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUa4IAQetTk]

Here’s a fun iPad game for the whole (Partridge) family.

Rockmate turns your iPad into a complete music studio easy and super fun to use. You can compose, record and play songs with up to 4 Rock players on one single iPad. Rockmate is easy to play with smart chords progressions, sounds great with separated guitar effects and in-house produced audio samples and is also fully customizable with multiple drums and keyboard styles.

Rockmate is ready to rock ! Your guitars are always well tuned, no need to carry your drum kit or to patch your keyboard. A smart metronome and a real-time looper will assist you in composing and recording your songs. That you can share by email or in your iTunes sharing folder.

We want as many people as possible to experience Rockmate. So we have decided to make Rockmate available for one week (From 14 to 21 december 2011) at the introductory price of $0.99. Regular price $3.99.

(iTunes $.99)

For those who are after something in the professional realm, a new App called Shredder was released today…
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The novelty of smartphone apps may have worn off since the original iPhone but every now and then an app comes along that captures our imagination. Woodcraft for iPad  ($9.99 iTunes) by software artisans at Fasterre is interesting for its novel idea and professional execution. Say you’re an amateur or pro woodworker and you want to design your next deck, bench, furniture or backyard shed on your iPad.

Niche apps like that are few and far between and Woodcraft arrives to fill the gap. It’s no toy: The program features the fully automated bill of materials, seamless switches between 2D or 3D and lets you measure distances with up to 1/64th of an inch precision.

Watching their promo clip (nice editing work, BTW) makes me wanna explore my carpenter genes (my grandpa was an adept woodworker). Woodcraft is a universal binary that supports both iPad and iPhone/iPod touch and is available in exchange for ten bucks during the launch period. Release notes right after the break.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xStZZsx6A4]

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The Next Web notes that Apple today introduced Brazil to its Apple TV set-top box.  The hobby project is available in the Brazilian online Apple Store for R$ 399,00, or approximately $217 (compare this to the $99 price point in the United States). The gizmo is available now and comes with free shipping. This is the first BRIC nation to get the Apple TV (BRIC being a term for huge global emerging economies coined by Goldman Sachs). According to a Strategy Analytics analysis, Apple’s set-top  box is set to capture nearly one-third, or 32 percent, of the set-top box market in the US 2011 based on projected sales of four million units. A hardware update is expected to include 1080p video output and Bluetooth 4.0 technology, among other things.

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We’re getting several reports this evening from our great readers in Latin America that the iTunes Store is beginning to roll out all over. The countries that we’ve heard about so far include Peru, Dominican Republic, Chile, Panama, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, and more.  It also sounds like Brazil is getting their first taste of iTunes Match.

Cheers to everyone who sent this in!

Update: Apple has just pushed a Press Release saying as much:

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Apple today updated iTunes to version 10.5.2 weighing in at a hefty 257MB. Right up front, Apple notes that Match is getting a fix with “several improvements”. Also, an audio distortion issue which we hadn’t heard of, also gets a fix.

Update: In other news, Apple updated its Thunderbolt displays yet again.

Here are the notes:

What’s new in iTunes 10.5.2

iTunes 10.5.2 includes several improvements for iTunes Match and fixes an audio distortion problem when playing or importing certain CDs.

iTunes 10.5.1 also included:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ychmsJR6Rkk]

Seems to be Beatles day at Apple.  Earlier, we noted the iBookstore offering an enhanced iBook version of The Beatles Yellow Submarine (also worth noting: in the credits at the top it says ‘For Steve’).

A few minutes ago, the above ad appeared in Apple’s YouTube feed.

Go get some Beatles!
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Just two days after Wednesday’s release of an updated software for the Apple TV set-top box that brought the new TV Shows menu option, we’re hearing Apple pulled that option from the device’s menu, reports iPhoneinCanada.ca. Originally, the firmware update (which was deployed silently) added the new TV Shows choice to the Apple TV main menu.

However, it doesn’t work as iTunes Canada users  report being unable to purchase television shows. For some, the TV Shows menu option disappeared on its own 24 hours following the firmware update. Others report that the option gets deleted from the main menu upon choosing it. It could also be a software glitch rather than a deliberate move on Apple’s part and there’s already a thread on Apple’s support discussions forum.

According to the publication:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp_Mz6rs9fc]

Chronic Dev Team is putting finishing touches on what is set to become the world’s first untethered jailbreak solution for iOS 5 and 5.0.1. Team member and French hacker pod2g just released this video showing off the jailbreak, which appears to be near-complete and functioning properly.

Unlike tethered, untethered jailbreak does not require that the device be connected to a computer each time it needs to be booted. It appears you won’t be able to untether with iOS 5.0.1 using Chronic’s tool, but pod2g did confirm that the iOS 5 untether will work on iOS 5.0.1:

Tons of questions from my nice followers. Too early to answer. Will work on iOS 5.0.1, will try iPad 2 and 4S after others are ready.

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While TV shows have been available through iTunes in Canada, the Apple TV has not been a source of TV show downloading. Now, Apple appears to have sent an over-the-air update to Apple TV boxes in Canada, and TV show downloading is now available. Episode downloads cost between free and $2.49 a pop and are actually full downloads, not rentals. Apple recently traded single TV show episode rentals for a TV show downloads service. Episodes you purchase will be streamed with no limit from the iCloud storage locker. More photos after the break. Thanks, iH8Sn0w!

Update: We’re also starting to receive multiple tips from Australia and UK as well.

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