Ipod Music Downloads

A couple of recent updates on the much talked about NBC, Apple, and Microsoft Zune.

We all know about NBC pulling out of iTunes. However recently they seem to have given in a bit. They have made available to iTunes and iPhone users, the full episodes of their popular shows 30 Rock and The Office completely free. That’s very good news!

Now to the next update,  the number of the music players of Microsoft sold since their launch in November 2006 is 2 million. This numbers point out to two facts, one,that Apple with iTunes is the numero uno and way up in the list (Apple has sold close over 10 million ipods in the last quarter) and two the growth of microsoft Zune hasd also been pretty flat. Bad news for Microsoft and good news for Apple!

 

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Some time back we were telling you about NBC pulling out of Apple iTunes. Read post NBC and Apple tussle: Pricing, piracy or both? April 18, 2008.  Now NBC has struck a deal with Microsoft to air its television shows through the Zune media player. So, what is better with Zune than itunes. Pricing? Seems an unlikely possibility. Piracy protection? Maybe … or wait maybe not! So, why am I confused? I have every reason to be!

According to NBC Universal ‘s president of the digital distribution J.B.Perette, they wanted to create a technology that could allow legally purchased content to be playes and at the same time disallowing the pirated contents. This was already in the domain of softwares that Google and Microsoft were trying to build.  So maybe this is the reason for the deal with Microsoft Zune deal. But wait… Right here are the various statements from Microsoft:

 ”Microsoft has no plans or commitments to implement content filtering features in the Zune family of devices as part of our content distribution deal with NBC.”

“In the long term, the consumer wants there to be quality premium-produced content, and in order for that to continue to be a viable business, there needs to be significant protection around it.”

“I don’t think they are wrong, but we are not going to characterize those discussions. We have agreed to work with NBC across a range of topics, and protection of copyrighted material is certainly one of them.”

Well, this does not make much sense to me. I still wonder what drew NBC to Microsoft? Million dollar question maybe!

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If you are one of those people looking for fitness videos to put on your ipod, then you’ll want to read this.

You see, Mens Health have just released a series of workouts and stuff to help you get back in shape, using your ipod. Now that’s pretty cool, because you can watch the workout you need to do on your ipod, and then do the exercise.

.. And did I say you can get it free?

Yeah. Awesome I know. Now if you want these ipod downloads, you first got to sign up to their site. This is all free, so don’t worry about it. (Just don’t sign up for any email updates, if you don’t want to, and you will be fine!)

Now after that, you can download to your ipod videos like, “Your Six-Week Plan to a Six-Pack”, “The At-Home Muscle Plan”, ” The Marine Corps Workout” and more.

So to get in shape with your ipod, have a look here. I’ve just downloaded it and think I’ll watch it to get inspired or something.

To get more free ipod downloads and stuff, make sure you bookmark our site today.

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Well, we have been talking about iTunes free ipod downloads movies, music etc. How about art for a change? No, this is not a joke. The Southeby Private View podcast on itunes just does that. It is from the Southeby, the famous auction house in New York. Not only are art collections that are to be auctioned presented, but the information on the art collection like history, owners, the creator of the art collection is also presented. So it is not just a treat to the eye but also to the mind. Thus I feel not just serious art lovers, but anybody even with a faint interest in learning art would be very impressed with this podcast.

Anyway, for more ipod music downloads and stuff, check out this site now.

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iTunes is just getting better and better by the day! Added to its kitty is the new award winning programming from BBC America. From the words of Beth Clearfield, Vice President of Digital Media and Business Development, BBC Worldwide America : “BBC is delighted to provide U.S. audiences with the unique ability to purchase and download select award-winning BBC AMERICA programming on the iTunes Store” This certainly is a move that pleases all, Apple, BBC and certainly all of us. BBC will benefit from the worldwide coverage and download offered through iTunes and Apple will benefit from the enormous popularity of these shows. Robin Hood season two is premiering on 26 th April and costs US$1.99 per episode. What are we all waiting for? Get set to watch your favourite adventures of Robin Hood now on your iPod.

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A latest news is that Sony is buying Gracenote for a whopping $260 million. Gracenote is the company that maintains a database of the contents of audio CDs. This database is internet accessible and Gracenote has the licence over this database. Businesses that need to manage or search digital media, for example the iTunes, use Gracenote’s software and metadata. iTunes has since inception used Gracenote. So now business analysts and pundits are wondering how the buying of Gracenote by Sony(another entertainment giant ) might affect iTunes and thus Apple. In the views of a TechCrunch commentator, Jack Bauer : While there are alternative music databases that Apple could conceivably use, points to the open source Musicbrainz project, AMG Lasso, and a database that Microsoft employ. However many feel that these products may not live upto the reputation and services of Gracenote. Also many skeptically point out that if Apple had had such options, it would have lapped it up long time back, before waiting for such deals to happen. So, will Sony’s new deal be a blow to Apple or just a pinprick. Like always, time shall have the answers!

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Tennessee has a budget deficit of US $500 million. So, what has this got to do with iPods?  Apparently Tennessee legislators think that imposing a tax on digital downloads could fill their moneyboxes and maybe plug up this deficit.  This Digital Products Tax encompasses almost all types of digital media download. This blanket bill covers anything digitally downloaded including music, movies, entertainment and news but has for some strange reasons excluded software downloads. Wait a minute, its not all that bad. This bill is still in its nascent stages and has not been presented to Tennessee legislators yet. Also, there is growing feeling that if this bill if proposed would be definitely not be welcomed by the citizens of the state and the companies that offer the digital downloads. For us, wait and watch may be the best thing to do now.

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Ipods have become indispensable now. Oh, we all now that for a fact. But ipod potty seems a bit too far fetched. Well it isn’t so! Traditionally a Porta potty used to look like this. (picture on left) But now they look like this too! (picture on right). The new PortaParty which is in essence a portable potty is now iPod enabled. It is shaped like an iPod (see picture on right). You open the door and actually walk into this iPod potty. Inside there is an iPod dock and disco ball to jazz up the party effect. Great news, now one can dance sing and also potty with the ipod!

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The financial results of Apple for the second fiscal that ended March 29, 2008 have been announced. Going to the straight figures and stats; the revenue was $7.51 billion and net quarterly profit was $1.05 billion this year as compared to the revenue of $5.26 billion and net quarterly profit of $770 million the previous year. However the gross profit margin has actually slipped down from 35. 1% last year to 32.9% this year. Most of the revenue had come from the sale of Mac computers, iPods and iPhones. Again a bit of numbers to know what the real sales are. Over 2 million (2,289,000) Macintosh computers have been shipped, 10 million (10,644,000) iPods and over 1 million (1,703,000) iPhones have been sold in the quarter. What did the biggies at Apple have to say about this?

Steve Jobs , CEO of Apple said “We’re delighted to report 43 percent revenue growth and the strongest March quarter revenue and earnings in Apple’s history. With over $17 billion in revenue for the first half of our fiscal year, we have strong momentum to launch some terrific new products in the coming quarters.”

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO said “We’re thrilled to have generated $4 billion in cash flow from operations in the first half of fiscal 2008, yielding an ending cash balance of $19.4 billion. Looking ahead to the third quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $7.2 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $1.00.”

To know more about the financial results, log onto www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq208/ where beginning 2 pm PDT, 23 rd April 2008, Apple will provide a live streaming of their second quarterly results.

Happy watching folks!

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Case Logic has come out with new ‘Traditional Tins’ for iPod. Let me just give a brief description of this ‘traditional tin’ for people wondering what this is. Basically, these are tin containers which are redesigned to serve as ipod covers. Initially they were meant to more of an ordinary ipod holder, but after Tinbot’s artistic outer designs and inner padding were added, it is more than just a holder. This new version has cut the front art, it instead it has an artistic front lid. The rear is a steel grey silver one with perforations. There is a side shell and a white silicone rubber lining. Look at the picture and you will certainly agree with me that the design and colours are quite attractive. The size is designed to fit the 160GB iPod classic but upon inserting a white soft insert pad this case can comfortably hold the 80GB classic models also. There are two orifices in this case, one for the full-time headphone and the other for the Dock Connector port access. But barring this, this one is a real tough shell, there is no way one can reach the screen or the controls with the ipod nestled snugly in this case. Thus, one needs to remove the iPod from this Tin to access the controls or the screens. This is probably the only disadvantage. Well may be not the only one. I certainly feel the $30 pricing is a bit too high, but everybody has their views on the cost. So if you are looking for an ipod in shining armour, go for the ‘Traditional Tins’.

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