SoBeTECH

iTunes Store May Capture One-Quarter of Worldwide Music by 2012

Since its debut five years ago Monday, Apple’s iTunes Store has sold more than 4 billion songs and accounts for approximately 70 percent of digital music sold worldwide. In the next five years, it may well account for a staggering 28 percent of all music sold worldwide.

By 2012, digital music is projected to account for 40 percent of music sold, according to InStat. If Apple holds onto its current market share, it will account for more than one-quarter of all music sales by its ninth birthday. Not bad for freeware.

“I’m very skeptical about whether iTunes can be unseated, because there’s not a lot of consumer pain there,” said Paul Resnikoff, editor of Digital Music News.

Digital Music News recently found that iTunes is installed on nearly 30 percent of all computers worldwide, making it the most widely installed music store application in the world.

When Apple snapped up a little music program called SoundJam MP back in 2000, no one predicted that the iTunes application it became would lead to a complete restructuring of the music industry.

Like all journeys, iTunes’ reinvention of the music business began with a single inauspicious step. The major labels agreed to license their music only to Apple because the iTunes Store ran exclusively on Macs, representing a “sandbox” in which the labels could test the fledgling online music market.

(Via Wired News.)

IT departments running out of excuses not to use Macs

In spite of their stability and ease of use, Macs have long been shunned by IT departments everywhere. It is getting harder and harder for IT departments to come up with reasons not to include Macs in their short lists of hardware, however. With factors from a greater number of users embracing the Apple interface to greater availability of cross platform options, IT is running out of excuses.

More and more people in the work force are asking their IT departments to either switch to or offer Macs as an option. Up until now, there weren’t that many compelling reasons for IT to say yes. Macs have been hobbled in the past by high prices, lack of cross platform compatibility, and a reputation for lacking enterprise management solutions and being only “for creatives”.

The surge in Mac requests has come hot on the heels of the popularity of the iPhone, iPods and the newest lines of MacBooks, MacBook Pros and iMacs. Company IT departments are usually keen on keeping the hardware in a company as uniform as possible to prevent issues with incompatibility, malfunctions and problems like viruses. These are all problems that plague the more ubiquitous Windows systems.

Macs are gaining a toehold in corporate America because they are prone to none of the incompatibility issues that Windows based PCs are. Mac’s insistence on doing everything from design and hardware to software in house keeps their computers in top shape right out of the starting gate. They are built to be easy to use, and will “see” whole networks regardless of platform once installed.

More and more people are writing software for Macs, eliminating the software compatibility argument. There is also a plethora of Open Source software available as well. Though a bit pricier out of the starting gate, when you stack them up next to an equivalently equipped PC their cost effectiveness becomes apparent. They also have a long shelf life, capable of lasting for years, often long past the changes in technology.

Even the government is thinking of rising the Mac wave, publishing a handbook on how to make their security comparable to federal standards. IT departments are coming to realize how easy MAcs are to set up and how simple they are to support, as well. Over time, any remaining reluctance to avoid Macs in businesses should be eliminated as they grow in popularity and demand for something better than Windows continues.”

(Via MAC.BLORGE.com.)

iPhone 101: typing accented characters

Over at MacTips they have a nice tip which I figured would make for a good iPhone 101. If you find yourself needing to type an accented character (acutes, graves, umlauts, etc.), all you have to do is hold down the relevant key for a couple of seconds and voilà a nice pop-up menu will appear with the available choices. The trick works for a number of different characters besides the vowels (e.g. ‘z’ and ‘?’) and seems to function as well on the iPod touch.

(Via (TUAW).)

RIM developing “Apple Killer” touchscreen BlackBerry?

The times has a verbose 2,000 word piece about the high stakes world of high-end cellphone manufacturers (no way!), specifically centered around RIM’s post-iPhone trials and tribulations. Besides a bit of vague lip service paid to the 9000 series, they’re claiming that two 3rd party developers — no sources cited — leaked that RIM has a skunkworks product dubbed “AK” (which stands for “Apple Killer”), and that apparently it’ll be touchscreen. And then comes the tub-thumping money shot from co-CEO Mike Lazaridis: “I couldn’t type on [the iPhone] and I still can’t type on it, and a lot of my friends can’t type on it. It’s hard to type on a piece of glass.” Right, until you guys decide to do one of your own — these executive types are so transparent they might as well just be up front.

(Via Engadget.)

Apple in rumored talks to license vibration feedback for iPhone
Apple has reportedly begun talks with Immersion to integrate haptic feedback into future touchscreen devices, addressing a complaint leveled against the iPhone by fans of physical buttons and keyboards.

An Apple worker has allegedly leaked to Palluxo that Immersion executives met twice with their Apple peers this week to discuss integrating Immersion’s vibration response technology into the cellphone.

The meetings are said to parallel a more publicized deepening of relations between the two companies through indirect means: Immersion this week hired Clent Richardson, a former Worldwide Solutions Marketing VP at Apple between 1997 and 2001.

What exactly would be implemented is unclear. However, Immersion’s most recent efforts have focused on using haptics to simulate physical button presses in an increasing number of touchscreen phones, including Sprint’s soon-to-be iPhone rival, the Samsung Instinct.

The technique most frequently involves sending short, concentrated pulses through all or specific locations of a phone as the user taps buttons in software. In effect, haptics not only restore some of the feel absent in touchscreens, but also give users a way of confirming that the phone has recognized a command through more than just visual output.

A frequently-cited complaint regarding the iPhone is its lack of tactile feedback for converts from BlackBerries and other smartphones, many of whom expect the relative certainty of physical responses while navigating the interface or typing.

Neither Apple nor Immersion has commented on the rumored discussions, which are still early and so aren’t expected to result in a finished product for some time.

(Via AppleInsider.)

Retail Sources Confirm iMac Refresh
Following early rumors that the iMac would finally see revisions next week, we’ve heard from multiple retail sources that new iMac part numbers have indeed appeared in their systems.

(Via MacRumors.)

Bootcamp updated for Windows XP and Vista

Bootcamp 2.1 has just been released in three Windowslicious flavors: Windows XP, Vista 32 bit, and Vista 64 bit. All three updates ‘address issues and improve compatibility,’ which is always a welcome thing.

Bootcamp, in case you aren’t in the know, is Apple’s utility that allows you to dual boot your Mac: one partition boots OS X and another boots Windows (it is a little creepy, but very cool).

Windows XP users take note: Bootcamp 2.1 should be installed before you apply Windows XP Service Pack 3.

(Via (TUAW)

(Via (TUAW).)

Get widgets for your iPhone from Widgetbox
My name is Lisa and I’m a widget junkie.

I love having widgets of all kinds on my iMac — even things like the Ski Report (I live in Florida), ESPN (it’s not football season), and Flight Tracker (I rarely fly). I even have similar ones (though Apple calls them webapps) on my iPod Touch. Since I’ve exhausted all the webapps for the touch that I’m interested in, I was glad to hear Widgetbox announced a gallery of widgets just for iPhone and the iPod touch users. Check it out via any browser, or right from your iPhone.

Now, most widgets are Flash-based, but these aren’t and therefore don’t use Apple’s SDK, but they’re cool and work well nevertheless. Among my favorites are the Yahoo! News RSS feeds, Random Quote Generator, and the Flickr slideshow.

While there’s not a ton of widgets available just yet, there are around 32,000 developers in the Widgetbox community so I suspect the gallery will be populated pretty quickly. There’s even a short video tutorial on how to make the iPhone widgets, in case you’re curious — or motivated.

Red Zune 80 on its way to retail

Not unlike the early colorized versions of the original Zune before it, the red Zune 80 looks like it should finally be ready to make its un-tattooed retail sales debut . If you’ve been considering getting loud and/or proud with your next Zune, call ahead to your local gadget stock keeper and see if they’re in.

(Via Engadget.)

AT&T and Starbucks officially begin WiFi rollout

Remember that WiFi pact brewed up between AT&T and Starbucks earlier this year? How could you forget, right? As if it wasn’t official enough already, the two have announced that the rollout has begun at company-operated Starbucks locations, and the nationwide effort will continue throughout 2008. Effective May 1st, qualifying AT&T high-speed internet / WiFi customers — that’s those who subscribe to one of the three higher-speed residential broadband packages, a small business broadband package or a U-verse offering with high-speed internet — will have free WiFi access at over 7,000 coffeehouses across the US. Unfortunately, we’re not given any real insight into what kinds of potential deals are in the works for AT&T wireless customers (if any at all), but here’s to hoping you all can get a little love, too.

(Via Engadget.)