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Cameron Backs Obama's NASA Budget, Kindle Going Color?


Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines....
  • President Obama's NASA budget received some early criticism from within the scientific community because it eliminated funds from the Constellation moon landing program. The budget has attracted one influential backer, though, as 'Avatar' director James Cameron has publicly supported the plan because it allows for more privatization of rocket and shuttle development. [From: The Huffington Post]
  • During a Congressional hearing related to the proposed Comcast acquisition of NBC Universal, NBC CEO Jeff Zucker demonstrated a complete misunderstanding of the Boxee media service. Hulu has blocked Boxee users from accessing its extensive content, even though when Boxee users "watch shows from Hulu, they are watching the ads and generate real revenues to NBC." D'oh. [From: Boxee]
  • Hopefully Steve Jobs's recent staggering boost of confidence isn't just a tragic case hubris. Gathering for a clandestine meeting with New York Times executives about the future of the iPad, Jobs reportedly arrived at a ritzy restaurant wearing a top hat. He then apparently proceeded to order two items that weren't even on the menu from his menial plebian servers. [From: New York Magazine]
  • One of iTunes' major drawbacks has been the inability to quickly preview iPhone apps from the Web. Apple is reportedly addressing that issue, though, with the creation of a "Web storefront" that will allow for quick Web-based app previews. [From: The Washington Post]
  • The Office of Science and Technology Policy is releasing a free text service for expectant mothers. By texting to "511411," pregnant women can receive informational updates three times a week about flu prevention, immunization, local clinics, and other health issues. [From: The National Journal]
  • With the introduction of the iPad and the shift toward e-readers with touch interfaces, Amazon's Kindle is beginning to lag behind the rest of the pack. But, Prime View International, the company that developed the Kindle display, says that it will be releasing upgraded displays this year that will provide color and touchscreen capabilities. [From: Engadget]

Audio/Video

Time Inc. Debuts Digital Magazines on Touchscreen Tablet

Non-Existent Apple Tablet Gets Digital Sports Illustrated
We guess that the magazine publishers of the world know something we don't. A couple of weeks ago, Condé Nast and Wired showed off a specially-formatted version of the digital lifestyle magazine for a magical tablet device (still unannounced by Apple, much less anyone else). It was clear that Wired thought this unannounced product was the future of publishing, and it appears they're not alone.

Now Time Inc. has joined in the fun and unveiled a concept version of Sports Illustrated for an unspecified tablet device. The digital magazine would feature embedded videos, in-page slide shows, and could be customized to display only the content you wanted in whatever order you pleased. Time even included social features, such as integration with Twitter for providing related content from subjects of articles and other readers (not just mindlessly sharing the link).

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Tech Tips

Make Free iPhone Ringtones Using iTunes

While Apple would prefer that you buy ringtone versions of music you've already purchased, you can still make ringtones for your iPhone using only iTunes and songs that don't have DRM (such as the ones you've ripped from your old CDs). Here's how:
  • Open iTunes, right click (or Control + click) on a song, and select 'Get Info.'
  • Under 'Options,' check the boxes beside 'Start Time' and 'Stop Time,' and under 'Stop Time,' change the duration to 0:30 (or less). Hit 'OK.'
  • Right-click on the song again and select 'Create AAC version.' (If a format other than AAC comes up, go into 'iTunes Preferences/General/Import Settings.' Under 'Import Using,' select 'AAC.')
  • Once the AAC version is created, drag it to your desktop, delete it from iTunes, and then change the file extension from .M4a to .M4r. Drag this file back into iTunes and you'll find it automatically placed in the 'Ringtones' section of your library. Delete the desktop version.
  • Note: Don't forget to go back to the original song file and uncheck the 'Start' and 'Stop' times.

Audio/Video, iPod, Web

iTunes Auto-Censor Targets '50s Doo-Wop

Despite its staid and strict stance against nudity and racy apps, Apple is continuing its unofficial practice of turning perfectly harmless words into demeaning slurs. Apple's censoring depends on a program that scans the iTunes database for dirty words, replacing the offending letters with asterisks.

The problem with this auto-censorship is that it doesn't recognize context. As a result, innocent words are sometimes altered, ironically and immediately making people think of those alternate, more devious usages. According to the Guardian, the latest to fall prey to the asterisk is the style of music known as "doo-wop," whose name contains a word sometimes used as a slur against Italian-Americans. The word, with which many people were probably unfamiliar prior to the asterisk fiasco, appeared as "w*p" throughout iTunes as of this morning (it's since been changed back to doo-wop).

It's probably time to let the auto-censor go, Apple. Since you're now worth over $170 billion, you should probably be able to hire some human scanners. You know, ones that could actually discern between musical genres and racist terminology. [From: The Guardian]

Tech Tips

Find Free iTunes Downloads

You might not know it, but Apple regularly posts free downloads in the iTunes music store. Rather than hunt through iTunes' vast library to find the freebies, hit up Free iTunes Downloads for a constantly updated list of free music, movies, videos, and TV shows. Each post features the iTunes description in a blog format and includes a direct link to the download.

Apple's iTunes Music Store Starts Tweeting


If customizing an RSS feed just doesn't quite satiate your hunger for all things Apple, three new iTunes Twitter accounts should fulfill any neglected desires. Apple has already been tweeting through iTunesPodcast since August, and now its cohorts -- iTunesMusic, iTunesMovies, and iTunesTV -- have all joined in on the micro-blogging madness.

So far, the action has been limited, with only a few music tweets (about the 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' soundtrack and a new Black Eyed Peas video), one movie tweet (about 'Where the Wild Things Are' co-screenwriter David Eggers), and zero TV tweets. Even though iTunesTV has yet to tweet, it has already amassed a fan base of over 1,000 people, proving definitively that if Apple were to put its logo on a piece of dog poo, people would buy it. [From: TUAW]

Cell Phones, iPhone

Peek Under Girls' Skirts With Creepy New iPhone App

Perverts rejoice! There's yet another iPhone application that caters to your sexual fantasies. We've already told you about the 'Hottest Girls' app, and the 'myMassage' app. Beating both of those apps on the creepiness scale, though is 'Puff!' The goal of this game is to blow into the iPhone microphone until the onscreen girl's skirt lifts up, revealing her underwear. If you blow hard, the girl's skirt lifts higher, and she lets out a stomach-churning squeal. The girls appear in different settings (including an office and playground) and wear different outfits (including a cheerleader uniform and a kimono).

Just who exactly is screening apps for the iTunes store these days? It's not the near nudity in 'Puff!' that bothers us. Apple does offer parental controls on the iPhone, after all. Our real problem here is with the hypocrisy. How can Apple allow folks to use the iPhone to peek up girls' skirts but not allow them to use the new iPod Nano for the same purpose? Sounds suspicious, if you ask us. [From: Huffington Post]

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Cell Phones, iPod, iPhone

Steve Jobs Returns With New Camcorder Nano, iTunes 9

Jobs is Back, Nanos Get Cameras, iTunes 9 and Other Apple Highlights
No doubt the biggest news at today's Apple event is the triumphant return of Steve Jobs. Out of the spotlight due to health issues, the perpetually black-turtleneck-clad Jobs took the stage (video), proudly proclaiming his gift of life. Brand new liver aside, it was the same Steve everyone has come to know and love, including the first "One more thing..." we've heard in quite some time. Head after the break for a rundown of all that's new in the Apple Universe today.

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Audio/Video, iPod

Beatles on iTunes? Yoko Says Yes, EMI Says No

Rumors are circulating again that iTunes will finally be getting access to the Beatles catalog. According to a now mysteriously disappeared article from Sky News, Yoko Ono indicated to the news outlet that the Fab Four's albums might appear in the Apple owned music outlet. And, with an Apple press event scheduled for tomorrow (the same day as the release of The Beatles remastered albums) what better time for the biggest music store in the country to announce it would be selling songs from the biggest band ever.

The article, which went up today and was quickly passed around Twitter, was pulled down by Sky News quickly. One employee apparently told the 9to5Mac blog that upper management instructed employees to not comment on the story, and the article even disappeared from Google's page-archiving Cache.

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Audio/Video

One in Four Songs in U.S. Bought on iTunes

Although digital music sales continue to rise, CDs still account for the market majority in the U.S. When it comes to the burgeoning online world, though, iTunes stands alone.

Macworld writes that a recent report released by NPD Musicwatch showed that 25-percent of the songs purchased in the United States during the first months of 2009 came from the iTunes store. That makes iTunes the most popular music retailer in the country, beating out former champ Wal-Mart, which boasts 14-percent. (That figure, though, includes Wally World's sales from its retail stores, Web site and download store.) iTunes's market share is up from 21-percent in 2008 and 14-percent in 2007. Not only has Apple seen a steady climb in overall sales, but it's also trouncing direct competition -- owning 69-percent of the digital market. In second place is Amazon, which claims about 8-percent of MP3 purchases.

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Audio/Video, iPod

Sans Apple, Major Labels Plan New Digital Album Format

While it might sound like commercial suicide, a group of major record labels -- Sony, Warner, Universal, and EMI -- are planning to launch a new digital album format, without Apple's support.

According to the Guardian, the project, codenamed 'CMX,' will launch in November and include songs, lyrics, videos, liner notes, and artwork. It's a push to revive the album in a time when digital singles dominate music sales. However, Apple turned down the labels' offer to work on CMX and instead began work on a digital album format of its own called 'Cocktail.' While it's unclear exactly how these two will differ, it could be troubling news for the record labels. If CMX isn't compatible with the ubiquitous iTunes, it could wind up dead on arrival. Label reps will play it safe at first, only releasing a few select titles under the new format.

While Apple maintains its stranglehold on the digital music market, it may be looking to further venture into the hardware market, too. Rumors suggest that Apple will introduce a 10-inch touchscreen tablet this September similar to the iPod touch.

If this is the bullheaded path the major labels plan on taking, it'll be impossible to ignore the elephant in the room that is the iTunes Store. The major labels must find a way to set the new format apart from the version Apple will offer, or they'll fast see it go the way of the 8-track and cassette. [From: The Guardian]

iPod, Web, Social Networking

New iTunes 9 to Include Social Networking Features?

We're used to Apple rumors flying ("What will the new iPhone bring?" "When'll they finally release a tablet-style Mac?"), but we've been a bit surprised that the rumor mill is now grinding over an innocuous piece of software that most of us have only come to begrudgingly accept: iTunes.

On the more pedestrian side of things, it's expected that iTunes 9 will bring support for Blu-ray playback, something that should make media junkies who also happen to be Apple fanboys very happy. But we're more interested in the supposed integration with social networking services like Twitter, Last.fm, and Facebook.

According to the Boy Genius Report (BGR), that integration will not come in the form of built-in features, but will involve integrating iTunes with an as-yet-unannounced social application from Apple. The app is expected to function somewhat like Yahoo!'s OneConnect or the recent Facebook acquisition FriendFeed, gathering all of your various social networking accounts into one place. The new social app will supposedly let you broadcast what music you're spinning, share it with friends, and update your status across various networks.

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Audio/Video

iTunes Cracks the Vault With 'Digital 45s'


We're not going to lie. Very few of us here at Switched are old enough to remember when buying 45s (short-playing records) was de rigeur. Still, a good number of us have spent hours poring over record- and thrift-store bins, searching for that original Wilson Pickett single, or a Beatles Decca release. Although those trips are often motivated by a collector's impulse (or attempts to get rich quick on eBay), we've discovered a lot of random B-sides along the way -- powerful songs that we'd otherwise have never heard.

And that is exactly the point of iTunes's new Digital 45s. While everybody in every bar from Tuscaloosa to Timbuktu can hum along to Johnny Cash's 'Ring of Fire,' how many can honestly say they've heard its B-side 'I'd Still Be There' with its rollicking, church-in-the-tavern piano? Most anybody who's gone to college sometime in the past quarter-century has struggled to keep up with the rapid-fire verses of R.E.M.'s 'It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine),' but who's heard the plaintive, 6/8 piano ballad 'Last Date?'

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Audio/Video, Reviews, Downloads

Songbird: the Firefox of Music Managers

Songbird -- The Firefox of Music Managers
Songbird

What it does: Songbird aims to do for media managers what Firefox did for Web browsers: trounce the standard bearer (iTunes, in this case) with customization, open-source ideology, and sheer performance. Actually built on the same codebase as Firefox, Songbird allows you to manage your music collection, buy songs, and load audio on your iPod.

What we like about it: Songbird is the one iTunes alternative that can play songs purchased from the iTunes store, which makes switching from the seemingly inescapable (and overrated) Apple media manager easier than you'd expect. Songbird also has no problem loading music to most iPods. (Note: It doesn't support the iPod touch or iPhone, as only iTunes currently has support for these devices.) (Update: Songbird released an update a mere hours after this review went live with preliminary support for the iPhone and iPod Touch, though it's very rough in the current version.) For those who choose to skip Apple altogether, many other media players, including models from Archos, Sony, Creative, and SanDisk, are also supported.

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Web

Scammers Busted for iTunes and Amazon Music Fraud

A group of English ne'er-do-well scammers, have been arrested by the Metropolitan police (also referred to as Scotland Yard) for international music fraud.

After uploading a few songs they allegedly recorded to iTunes and Amazon, the group commenced to repeatedly create and buy its own songs with 1,500 stolen credit cards. An unnamed police source told the Times Online, "We will not know why they did what they did until we have conducted all the interviews." Over a five-month period, the 10 individuals spent $750,000 and racked up $300,000 in royalties, according to the Guardian.

Sixty officers from the Metropolitan police's e-crime unit arrested the seven men and three women from all over England. The group is being held on suspicion of fraud and money laundering. The case was cracked during a parallel investigation with the FBI, after it was established that the criminal network was uploading music.

According to Detective Chief Inspector Terry Wilson, the e-crime unit will continue its work against criminals and will actively develop international partnerships with business and law-enforcers around the world.

We see examples of cybercrime regularly around here, like when a repairman was arrested after tricking Apple into sending him thousands of iPod shuffles, which he'd sell for a profit. Fraud, whether committed as part of a complex digital heist or simple plan, seems inescapable; there's no shortage of people trying to make a quick buck. [From: Guardian and The Times Online via Slashdot]
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