Rumour of The Day

Report: Apple & Fox Working Out Deal for 99-Cent TV Rentals

 

Apple and Fox Corp. are busily working out details for US$0.99 TV show rentals, according to a report from Bloomberg. The report said that the deal would allow users to rent TV programs for 48 hours, and that Apple was also in discussion with other TV studios and networks. Bloomberg cited three unnamed sources “familiar with the plan,” and those sources said Apple was talking to CBS and Disney (which owns ABC), as well. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is a major shareholder and board member of Disney, and the two companies have often worked together on content deals for iTunes. “This is a smart move by everyone,” RBC Capital Markets analyst David Bank told the news organization. “Something like this a la carte rental service is an incremental opportunity.” TV shows would be available for rent within 24 hours of their original air date, and they will appear commercial-free. Bloomberg also reported that Apple would announce the service on September 7th with a (much expected and rumored) media event, and that it would use the event to announce the other hot-rumor item, the $99 Apple TV. The report did not name the device the iTV, as has been rumored elsewhere. The report also said that the new rental service replaces Apple’s original plan for a subscription service that would have rivaled cable TV. The networks balked at upsetting the apple cart (pun intended) concerning its existing business arrangements with cable and satellite providers, and the rental service was the best way to offer cheaper TV content.

 

iTunes U Downloads Top 300 Million

CUPERTINO, California — August 24th, 2010 — In just over three years, iTunes U downloads have topped 300 million and it has become one of the world’s most popular online educational catalogues. Over 800 universities throughout the world have active iTunes U sites, and nearly half of these institutions distribute their content publicly on the iTunes Store. New content has just been added from universities in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico and Singapore, and iTunes users now have access to over 350,000 audio and video files from educational institutions around the globe.
“iTunes U makes it easy for people to discover and learn with content from many of the world’s top institutions”, said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “With such a wide selection of educational material, we’re providing iTunes users with an incredible way to learn on their computer, iPhone, iPod or iPad”.
Created in collaboration with colleges and universities, iTunes U makes it easy to extend learning, explore interests or learn more about a school. A dedicated area within the iTunes Store (www.iTunes.com), iTunes U offers users public access to content from world class institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Cambridge, Oxford, University of Melbourne and Université de Montréal. iTunes U gives anyone the chance to experience university courses, lab demonstrations, sports highlights, campus tours and special lectures. All iTunes U content is free and can be enjoyed on a Mac or PC, or wirelessly downloaded directly onto an iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Magic Trackpad Review By SlashGear

External trackpads aren’t exactly new, but Apple has managed to instill no small degree of excitement into their new Magic Trackpad by virtue of their multitouch technology. Essentially the trackpad from a MacBook Pro, sliced out and blown up, the wireless peripheral promises to bring gestures Apple’s mobile users have been enjoying to their desktop compatriots. Check out the SlashGear review after the cut.

 Aesthetically there’s no arguing with the Magic Trackpad’s heritage, and it’s obviously intended to sit alongside Apple’s own Bluetooth keyboard. The battery section at the back – which takes a pair of AA cells, which Apple would prefer to be from their own, new charger – elevates the pad to the same angle as the keyboard, and they’re as deep as each other. Physical controls are limited to a power button on one end; the other has a twisting cap that shuts the battery compartment.

Otherwise the magic is all in the trackpad surface, which Apple say is 80-percent larger than what you’ll find on a current unibody MacBook Pro. It’s slightly squarer, so the difference is more noticeable in depth than it is width, but thanks to the glass surface the tactile feel is the same: just slippery enough. The whole pad clicks physically – as before it’s hinged across the top edge, so it gets easier to click the further down your fingers are – but also responds to taps.

  
So far, so much a regular trackpad, but Apple’s ace is the multitouch gesture support. That’s a combination of the hardware together with the software to take advantage of it; gestures have been baked into OS X for several iterations now, but so far desktop users have had to use a Magic Mouse in order to take advantage of them. Pairing the Magic Trackpad was a straightforward matter – it uses Bluetooth, which is present on every recent Mac – and the quoted range is up to 33ft. Practically speaking, we could comfortably sit on the sofa and control the Mac mini we use as an HTPC from across the room.

We can also see MacBook owners who may have wanted to use third-party ergonomic keyboards but were loath to give up the notebook’s trackpad choosing the Magic Trackpad too. Perhaps more interestingly, it points to the role touch and multitouch will play in Apple’s future, as it spreads across from their PMP/smartphone/tablet and notebook lines and onto the desktop. It’s not hard to envisage a further step to home entertainment, with an updated Apple TV using a Magic Trackpad for navigation and control. As it stands, though, the Apple Magic Trackpad is a strong addition to the company’s concise portfolio of branded peripherals, and neatly sates a request many Mac Pro and iMac users have been making. Unless you’re dead-set on using a mouse, I wholeheartedly recommend the Magic Trackpad, hence giving it two-thumbs up.  Price: $69.00 Apple.com  

Apple Updates Safari 5

Users Can Add New Features Through Extensions

CUPERTINO, California—July 28, 2010—Apple® today released Safari® 5.0.1, turning on Safari Extensions and introducing the Safari Extensions Gallery. Apple introduced extensions support in Safari 5 in June so developers could begin creating extensions with HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript web standards. With Safari Extensions Gallery, users can quickly find extensions that add powerful new features to Safari, from toolbars that display live web feeds to sophisticated programs that filter web content. Safari 5.0.1 allows users to download and install extensions either from the Safari Extensions Gallery or directly from a developer's site.
“Safari 5 has been a big hit, and user response to the innovative new Safari Reader has been fantastic,” said Brian Croll, Apple’s vice president of OS X Product Marketing. “We’re thrilled to see so many leading developers creating great extensions and think our users are going to love being able to customize Safari.”
“Millions of our customers already use Amazon Wish Lists to store items they want to buy for themselves or receive as gifts,” said Gianna Puerini, vice president of Worldwide Design and Community at Amazon.com. “With Safari 5, we were able to quickly build the Add to Amazon Wish List extension that lets customers add items from any website to their Amazon Wish List with the click of a button.”
“We’re excited to continue working closely with Apple to bring visually compelling Bing experiences to Safari,” said Jeff Henshaw, general manager of Bing User Experience. “The Bing Extension for Safari brings Bing search intelligence to everyday browsing with Safari. When a user selects text in Safari, Bing instantly recognizes what they might need and pops up helpful, informative tips, from real time maps and driving directions to real time translations to direct web search results.”
“Using web standard technologies and Safari’s extension builder, we developed an MLB.com extension to give fans another way to consume up-to-the-moment baseball content, including live look-ins to games, right from the Safari toolbar,” said Noah Garden, executive vice president, Commerce and Sponsorship at MLB.com.
“Our extension for Safari is a great way for readers to get all of the latest breaking news and all the important stories, blogs and columns they want to see,” said Denise Warren, general manager, NYTimes.com at The New York Times Company. “While you browse other sites in Safari, our extension checks for updates and slides in new headlines and thumbnails, so you won't miss a thing.”
“Creating our Twitter extension in Safari couldn't have been easier,” said Jason Goldman, vice president of Product at Twitter. “By providing features like the ability to tweet about a page and view trending topics, we've created a simple way to deliver relevant, interesting content to people regardless of where they are on the web.”
The Safari Extensions Gallery is accessible from the Safari menu or at extensions.apple.com. Users can download and install extensions from the gallery with a single click, and there’s no need to restart the browser. Extensions can be automatically updated and are easily managed within Safari. Users can enable or disable individual extensions, or turn off all extensions with one click.
Safari Extensions are built with HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript web standards, and can have all the power and functionality of advanced web applications. Every Safari Extension is signed with a digital certificate from Apple to prevent tampering and to verify that updates to the extension are from the original developer. Safari Extensions are sandboxed, so they can’t access information on a user’s system or communicate with websites aside from those specified by the developer. For increased stability, Safari Extensions run solely in the browser.
Safari 5 also features Safari Reader, which presents single and multipage articles on the web in a new, scrollable view without distracting content or clutter. The Nitro JavaScript engine runs JavaScript up to 30 percent faster than Safari 4.* Built on the open source WebKit engine developed by Apple, Safari 5 includes more than a dozen powerful new HTML5 features for creating media-rich experiences, like full screen playback and closed captions for HTML5 video.
Pricing & Availability
Safari 5 is available for both Mac OS® X and Windows as a free download at www.apple.com/safari. Safari 5 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X Leopard® 10.5.8 or Mac OS X Snow Leopard® 10.6.2 or later. Safari 5 for Windows requires Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista or Windows 7, a minimum 256MB of memory and a system with at least a 500 MHz Intel Pentium processor. Full system requirements and more information on Safari 5 can be found at www.apple.com/safari. The Safari Extensions Gallery is available at extensions.apple.com. The Safari Developer Program is free to join at developer.apple.com/programs/safari.
*Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection and other factors. All testing conducted by Apple in May 2010 on an iMac® 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system running Mac OS X 10.6.3, with 4GB of RAM. JavaScript benchmark based on the SunSpider 0.9.1 JavaScript Performance test.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.