Developer Banned From iTunes App Store

Apple has expelled Chinese software developer Molinker and it's approximately 1000 applications from the iTunes App Store. Molinker, who's applications where described as mostly knock-offs of other developers apps, is accused of gaming the rating system to entice downloads.

According to Wired "iPhoneography wrote a long letter to Apple's marketing boss, Phil Schiller, and posited that Molinker was giving out promotional codes -- essentially free copies of the applications -- in return for these 5-star reviews."

By all accounts the majority of reviews on Molinker products were 5 star with the remainder in the 1 star range, which probably more accurately reflected the true value of the software.

More commentary in the Wired article here.

Palm Fires Back At Apple

When the Palm Pre was released one of the key selling points was it's ability connect to Apple's iTunes store. Apple however had different ideas and promptly went to work to block the Pre from iTunes. Palm has now filed a complaint with the U.S.B. Implementers Forum, the industry group that was established by the companies who developed the U.S.B. technology which, as we know, links computers to other electronic devices. Palm is claiming that Apple is restraining trade.

Mike Abramsky, an analyst with the investment firm RBC Capital Markets says: “There isn’t much precedent for this case,” and “It’s breaking new ground. In my mind, ultimately the users are the arbiters in the outcome of these situations.”

The fight with Palm combined with the refusal of Apple to allow Google Voice apps through iTunes store has begun to create a bit of an Apple backlash online. I guess the users will be the arbiters...

Source: The New York Times

Apple Won't Allow Google Voice Application In iTunes Store

Yesterday Apple decided that it would not allow Google to distribute its Google Voice application on iTunes, shutting out iPhone users from the much-anticipated service. Google Voice enables you to make cheap international calls, consolidate your phone numbers into one Google voice account, allows you to manage where your calls will be routed (cell, home, office, etc.) and provides multiple interfaces to your voice messages, including e-mailed text. Apple seems to have lost it's voice, declining to comment on the matter. One more reason to love my android phone!

LA Times story.

Monty Python's YouTube channel

From cheese shops to candid shots and all things in between... iTunes and Monty Python have struck a deal to bring us all the wonderful comedy of the comic troop. This is the best news I've heard in a very long time!

Apple Offers DRM Free Music At A Premium

Apple is now promising High-quality, DRM-free music via it's new iTunes Plus offering. "With iTunes Plus, you get high-quality, 256-Kbps AAC encoding. All free of burn limits and digital rights management (DRM)." The company says that millions of tracks are available from all four major music labels and thousands of independent artists. The new scheme also allows you to upgrade your existing iTunes purchases to iTunes Plus "Just pay the 30¢ per song upgrade price. (Music video upgrades are 60¢ and entire albums can be upgraded for 30 percent of the album price.)" Check out what else is new in iTunes 8 here.

Radiohead Turns To iTunes

Radiohead, who had balked the establishment and offered it's 7th album In Rainbows digitally on a pay-what-you-will basis, has finally permitted iTunes to sell music from its first six albums, both in whole and on a track-by-track basis. The band's former record label EMI in the past had argued that the band chose to withhold its music from iTunes because they preferred to present whole albums to their fans as opposed to single tracks. Other long time hold outs, Garth Brooks and AC/DC used the same argument and went on to sign exclusive deals with a U.S. cellphone operator to sell full-album downloads. Time will tell which approach is best but the question is, how much revenue has been lost during the holdout? CBC story here.

Another Blow To The Video Rental Store Model

In January Apple turned on movie rentals from within it's iTunes store. Today the service has gotten a little better with an announcement that new movie titles will be released for rental or purchase on the same day as their DVD release. Previously the service had to wait 30 days after the DVD release date to add a title to its catalog. This can be seen as a big blow to traditional retailers as it removes one of the big advantages that brick-and-mortar retailers like Blockbuster had on the online downloading alternative. As ars technica puts it "...customers get new titles on the spur of the moment without having to leave the house." With competition from the likes of Apple and Netflix, it's not looking great for the likes of Blockbuster, Rogers, Jumbo Video , or insert your neighborhood video retailer here.

HULU's first look

Started by NBC Universal and News Corp, HULU.com is NBC's alternative to iTunes and YouTube, that the skeptics have given little chance for success. c|net's news.com has had a look during the closed beta release that started yesterday and the verdict is "Hulu nailed the basics." The review is not all glowing "To be sure, Hulu needs work. The site featured a bare bones look, just a laundry list of show titles and thumbnails. Click on a link and a video player appears." but it seems that providing clear, full length video, for free, puts HULU on the right track.

Apple drops price of DRM-free music

Feeling the pressure of new rival Amazon, Apple has decided to drop the price of it's DRM-free music from $1.29 to $0.99, bringing it's prices in line with the competitors offering. In this Globe and Mail article an Apple spokeswoman is quoted as saying "It's been very popular with our customers and we're now making it available at an even more affordable price,". While they may deny that the move is motivated by competition, it's hard to ignore the fact that the music industry is in flux and with more competition and bands going it alone, it will be interesting to see what happens over the next little while.

NBC to offer shows for free download... with ads

After having removed it's content from Apple's iTunes store over a difference in opinion regarding the rates they should be receiving for their downloads, NBC has announced that it will be making it's content available for free, sort of.

A new service, called NBC Direct, will begin in October that will allow users to download shows to be watched for up to a week after they air on the network. Their is a proprietary viewer that must be downloaded and installed, which currently only works on Windows PCs. The catch is the content will contain advertisements as opposed to the ad free download and pay model used in iTunes. Interestingly the service is only available to PC users at the moment, coincidence?

It's unclear whether or not the service will be available outside of the U.S.

The New York Times, Bits column has the details.

John Lennon collection available through iTunes

Apple has announced the release of the entire solo works of John Lennon on iTunes. The Beatles had long been hold outs until recently when a dispute over the Apple trademark was settled and Paul McCartney inked a similar deal. It is expected that deals will soon be announce regarding the works of Ringo Starr and George Harrison. The question now is whether or not the Beatles albums will be allowed for sale online? One can only hope. Globe and Mail story here.

SpiralFrog taking it's acts on the road

A music downloading service that opened in Canada earlier this year is now hitting the road to offer its music in the U.S. The ad supported service, SpiralFrog, features more than 700,000 tracks mostly from Universal music and independent labels. There is a download manager which is not compatible with iTunes, and users are required to keep their membership current or they are cut off from the service. If a membership is not renewed within 30 days, download privileges are cut off and after 60 days the songs will no longer play. Membership is free and completely supported by ads. CBC Story here. To be honest, I haven't tried the service so I'll have to reserve judgment. The titles seem a little limited but then again so are Amie Street's and I'm liking that service.

Morgan Webb's webbalert - 5 minute tech news

Morgan Webb of G4tv's X-Play fame has taken her act to the web. webbalert is a new semi-daily video podcast that Morgan hosts bringing you all of the days tech stories in 5 minutes or less. Her on screen prowess shines through, the podcast if rather well produced and covers the hottest topics. I've added you to my iTunes feed Morgan... good luck with the show!

Led Zeppelin and Apple make nice music together

Engadget is reporting that Led Zeppelin is finally embracing iTunes. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones have personally selected a number of songs to be sold as a "best of" type collection. "Mothership," will include 'Stairway to Heaven', 'Whole Lotta Love,' 'Dazed and Confused' and other personally selected tracks. This at the same time that Apple announces it's 3 billionth download! No one screams like Robert Plant!

Free music! DRM free that is...

In a move that has music downloaders running for their credit cards ;-) Apple Inc. announced Wednesday the launch of iTunes Plus a worldwide portal, for iTunes Music Store, that will sell only DRM (digital rights management) free tunes. The tracks are reported to sell for $1.29 (us), 30 cents more than most regular, DRM'd, iTunes tracks and will be encoded at 256 kilobits per second as opposed to 128 kbps for regular iTunes tracks. What this means is better sound quality and more portability of songs between devices. Most of the EMI labels catalogue of songs will be available, this includes artists such as Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and Paul McCartney.