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- iTunes 9: Deconstructing LPs & Extras
Leading up to Apple’s music event last week, rumor sites had been circling about a new format from Apple that would provide additional content, like lyrics, liner notes, video interviews and more. The rumors came true as Apple announced yet one more way to spend more money inside iTunes: iTunes LPs for music and iTunes Extras for video. Here’s what they look like up close.
Deconstructing the LP
When you purchase an iTunes LP (for this example, I’m using Tyrese Gibson’s MAYHEM!), you actually end up downloading the songs included and the animated content in a new format, called .itlp. This new format is (in this example) a very big file, a little over 400MB. Not only does it take a while to download that content, but if you start to fill your library with several of these, you’ll run out of room very quickly.
For diehard fans, iTunes LPs are simply amazing. In MAYHEM!, the additional content is an animated comic book that comes to life with spoken dialog. As more and more artists sign onto creating iTunes LPs, these will become big time components of true music enthusiasts. Let’s just hope new iTunes LPs are released more frequently than the GarageBand Artist Lessons.
And Now for Video
Apple also announced iTunes Extras for video content, allowing quick scene selection and other animated “behind the scenes” content available in these exclusive packages. For many, this could be the real deciding factor between opting to purchase a new movie on DVD or Blu-ray versus purchasing it within iTunes. The end result, while perhaps not equal in terms of additional content, is a complete movie experience, with a substantial amount of supplemental content. Unfortunately, iTunes Extras are only available when purchasing content from iTunes; they are not available with movie rentals.
If you purchase content from iTunes on your iPhone and that content supports iTunes LP or iTunes Extra, the base content (songs or movie) will download immediately to your device. The LP and Extras content will download to your computer the next time you sync your iPhone or iPod touch. Upon doing so, be sure to go to “Store” and click “Check For Available Downloads” to download the additional content.
A Good Start
The iTunes Store currently has 12 iTunes LPs available (and even some of those are pre-orders) and 15 movies featuring iTunes Extras. Though Steve likes to attribute Apple’s new iTunes LP concept to a desire to pay homage to classic LPs that included bonus content, one can’t help but think that these extra features are offered to persuade users to purchase complete albums instead of a la carte downloads. The concept is very trendy and will definitely turn heads, but will the majority of our music collection feature iTunes LPs? Probably not. Will we have them for some of the big time major artists? Maybe.
What about iTunes Extras for movies? Will this stop some people from ripping their own DVDs and purchasing the content from iTunes? Perhaps. It’s unlikely that anybody (or perhaps this is a challenge to the Handbrake team) will be able to reverse engineer the .itlp format to allow users to have their own ripped DVDs with all special features play natively within iTunes.
At the moment, iTunes LPs and iTunes Extras are only playable within, you guessed it, iTunes 9. Others have already noticed, however, that the interface for these could definitely support interaction through touch, so perhaps eventually we’ll see the ability to sync these content types with our iPhones, iPod touches or even Apple TVs.
Now the question is passed to you. What do you think? Is it worth it? Have you pre-ordered Pearl Jam or downloaded The Doors yet?
Переслать - iPhone OS 3.1 Update Causing Crashes On iPhone 3G's
It just wouldn't be an iPhone OS update without the usual accompanying cries of anguish from end-users, now, would it? It seems Apple just can't get the update process right; and there's really no good excuse for it.
Over on the Apple Support user discussions forum several threads are quickly growing around a common theme; the iPhone OS 3.1 update is causing iPhone 3G's to slow down and, in many reports shared by frustrated users, handsets are simply shutting down, seemingly at random.
A selection of the most popular posts at this time go by the provocative titles; 3.1 turned my iPhone slow – unusable and lacking in all tasks, 3.1 Update Problem – Hangs, Two very strange bugs found in 3.1, 3.1 killed 3G – unable to restore, WIFI Issues and Mysterious random total shut downs following 3.1 update.
At the time of writing, the problems seem to be limited to the iPhone 3G. Users report that their phones refuse to respond after:
- exiting applications
- unlocking the handset after auto-lock has kicked-in
- waking from standby with or without the passcode lock activated.
In all cases, only a hard reset returned the handset to proper working order, but only temporarily. Reading through the different reports shows that users have tried different ways to fix the problem, including removing and reinstalling all applications, wiping all personal data and settings and even full system restores via iTunes — all to no avail.
To add to the drama, some 3G owners report drastically reduced battery life since the 3.1 upgrade.
So once again, an iPhone OS upgrade is causing end users grief. Despite the fact it's a closed platform developed by one company (not an open-source free-for-all). Despite the fact that there are only three platform configurations for this device. Despite the careful attention Apple would have us believe each third-party app is subjected to prior to approval (and let's not forget the sandbox environment in which apps operate).
Despite all of these checks in place that ought to provide Apple with a foundation for trouble-free updates, the company seems to have extraordinary — and bewildering — difficulty releasing stable, bug-free updates to the iPhone OS.
I've owned each iPhone since the first generation device, and cheerfully installed each OS update the same day it was made available. Generally I've seen improvements in overall system performance, but battery life has been all over the place, sometimes improved by an OS update, sometimes made much worse. I've celebrated as the system performance steadily improved, then swore as it declined… until the next update put things back on track. And so on.
As I see it, there are really only two explanations for this sadly-familiar iPhone OS update drama; either Apple's iPhone OS development teams are incompetent, or Apple's quality standards are far lower than we like to think.
Harsh words? No, not at all. iPhones are either expensive, or extremely expensive. But we buy them because we know we're buying more than a product; we're buying a swathe of functionality, wrapped-in an elegant user experience other smartphones have yet to match. Apple keeps its underlying software under close guard, cautiously approving some third-party contributions while dispassionately denying others. Apple does this, it says, in order to maintain the integrity of the product, its features and the experience we pay top-dollar to enjoy.
Either Apple can't follow its own rules, or it’s talking utter rubbish.
I'm fully aware the three different models of iPhone currently in the wild have different hardware configurations, but that's no excuse. If Apple cannot its own software updates to work across all three of its own models, it should not make updates available for all three models. At least, not until it’s done the most exhaustive of stress tests to work out all the bugs.
It has been five days since iPhone OS 3.1 was made available to the public and iPhone 3G customers started experiencing problems with their handsets. Still no word yet from Apple. Not even a simple "We hear you, we're looking into it."
C'mon Apple. You can do better than that. You bragged last week that you've sold more than thirty million iPhones. How many of those sales are 3G's? Don't those customers deserve a little more respect?
Переслать - 160GB Apple TV Gets Price Cut, 40GB Discontinued
Those disappointed that the music event last week failed to update Apple’s all but forgotten set-top box, may find hope in the company’s move to lower the price of the 160GB Apple TV by $100, to $229.
That new price for the 160GB model was the old price for the 40GB model, which is no more, and that is cause for speculation in itself.
At the beginning of the month, AppleInsider reported Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster noting long wait times for the 40GB model, resulting in predictions of a minor upgrade at the then rumored Apple event. That would be followed by a major upgrade of the Apple TV later this year, one that might include DVR capabilities. That first prediction proved to be incorrect, and, unfortunately, DVR capabilities will not be coming to the Apple TV, either.
Again via AppleInsider, Caris & Company analyst Robert Cihra put an end to the DVR speculation about a week later at a meeting with Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer. At that meeting, Oppenheimer said plainly that the DVR concept “just doesn’t fit Apple’s business.” Sadly, that business to date has been forcing the Apple TV into the role of an iTunes Store kiosk in the living room.
So, whither Apple TV? The price cut/storage bump provides a glimmer of hope, assuming the change is not a final, indifferent attempt to stimulate lagging sales, but let’s pretend it’s not. Clearly, the future of content consumption in the living room will be streaming. If the Apple TV is to survive, Apple needs to acknowledge this in a big way, creating “channels” in the software for the major players: Netflix, Hulu, even Amazon Video on Demand. Sure, that will impact iTunes rentals and video sales, but not as much as a failed product that ends up being canceled.
Переслать - AT&T Already Activating iPhone MMS for Some
iPhone users in the U.S. are eagerly anticipating AT&T’s Sept. 25 MMS activation date, but for some at least, the wait is already over. Many are already seeing the switch thrown that enables MMS on their devices, according to a thread over at HowardForums, a mobile phone message board.
AT&T is taking a staggered approach to the activation of this long-awaited iPhone OS 3.0 feature, probably in an effort to minimize the effects of the rollout. If my own experience is any indication, the vast majority of network strain resulting from MMS will occur when users first activate it, after which most will probably only touch it sporadically.
Judging by this staggered introduction, AT&T’s primary concern with the MMS rollout is to minimize the impact to its network, which is already suffering under the strain of so many iPhone users, and which has already caused some to jump ship in search of better quality and consistency.
If you’re one of the lucky people to benefit from early activation, you should see a new “Cellular Data Network” menu item in the General > Network settings page, and a small camera icon will appear in the lower left-hand corner of your Messages app, which will allow you direct access to either the device’s camera or your pictures folders.
Oddly, the reports seem to indicate no correlation at all between carrier bundle or software version installed on their device, or their physical location, and the activation of MMS. When Apple originally introduced MMS in iPhone 3.0, here in Canada a carrier settings update was required before the service would work or the icon would even appear. AT&T’s activation suggests that no change on the user’s end of things is actually required to get things up and running, which isn’t what AT&T spokesman Brad Mays originally seemed to suggest:
The service will be enabled with a software update on the launch date. Customers can obtain the update from iTunes, just like all other iPhone updates.
Once activated, iPhone 3.0 users will be able to send photos, videos, audio, address book contact info and Maps locations via the Messaging app on their devices. By default, an MMS opt out is attached to all AT&T iPhone owners’ accounts, which must be removed prior to MMS functioning. If you’re experiencing problems, contact AT&T to make sure this has been lifted on your account.
Let us know if you’ve received MMS activation yet, where you are, and how you find the service so far (any noticeable network effects, for example).
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