Apple said it began selling Walt Disney Company movies at its iTunes online store.

"Today we are making more than 75 films available online and we will be adding more every month,"

Apple chief executive officer Steve Jobs said during a press event in a San Francisco theater.


The offerings include recent releases including "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Cars," Jobs said.


The films were from Disney, Pixar, Touchstone and Miramax film studios, Jobs said.



New films would be available online for $12.99 dollars the same day of their release in DVD format, Jobs said. The price would rise to $14.99 dollars after the first week.


Library films would sell for $9.99 dollars each.






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LONDON - Bob Dylan, fresh from getting into bed with Victoria's Secret for an ad campaign, is now starring in a spot for Apple's iPod that cross-promotes his new album, 'Modern Times', the first in five years.


The ad, created by TBWA\Chiat\Day, broke this week and features Dylan performing the single 'Someday Baby', set against a stark white backdrop -- a look that runs through much of the advertising for Apple products.


It also features an almost-silhouetted dancer prominently displaying a white iPod -- a motif that runs through all of the iPod advertising.

Dylan, whose fans once were once up in arms when he started playing an electric guitar, has well and truly embraced the age of digital music.


His deal with Apple includes a Bob Dylan digital box set, called 'The Collection', only available on iTunes. It features all of Dylan's albums -- almost 800 tracks in total -- and can be downloaded in the US for $199 (£104.70).


Apple also gave US fans the chance to get advance tickets on dates to Dylan's tour later this year, if they pre-ordered 'Modern Times', which came out yesterday.


"Bob Dylan is one of the most respected poets and musicians of our time, and he is a personal hero of mine," Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, said.


"Being able to offer his new album and the exclusive box set of his works on iTunes is a real thrill for us."


Having shunned the commercial world for decades, in 2004 Dylan made his first ad -- promoting the US lingerie brand Victoria's Secret. He was then criticised for a 2005 deal with Starbucks to sell rare tracks in its US stores.

The confirmation follows reports of a regulatory filing Toshiba made to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that mentions the device and its features. The filing documents can be found here.

"Toshiba is manufacturing the device and the [FCC] report is legitimate,"

a spokeswoman for Microsoft's public relations firm said Friday.


She declined to say if other hardware makers also would be building Zune players, adding that Microsoft will reveal further details of Zune in the next few weeks.


In addition to the name "Zune," the device also is referred to as "Pyxis" in Toshiba's filing. A collaborative service for Zune users, something akin to Apple's iTunes software and service, is called "Argo."


The FCC filing contains photos of what Toshiba's Zune player will look like. The photos, which show a device that looks similar to Apple's original iPod, but bigger, can be seen here.


According to the Zune "user's manual" included in the filing, the Zune device will include 30GB of storage, wireless capabilities and an FM radio tuner.


The wireless capabilities will allow users to search for other Zune devices in range and share music, photos, playlists and other media contents with those devices.


After months of speculation, Microsoft confirmed in July that it was developing a music player and service to rival Apple's iPod and iTunes. If other attempts to unseat the iPod are any indication, Microsoft will have a tough road ahead. Earlier this week, Dell stopped selling its DJ Ditty music player on its website and ended development of its own line of music players.


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I just read an intriguing little story about how a guy dropped his iPod in a plane toilet. Its posted on World Warcraft's forum, under the title: I played WoW, I became a terrorist.


This ... is going to be a long one. And believe it or not, it's a 100% true story. Its relation to World of Warcraft will not be immediately apparent. Anyway, the gist of what happened is here: The Ottawa Citizen


It all started when I got out of my seat to go to the bathroom. I went to the bathroom, washed my hands, and returned to my seat. A little while later the two stewardesses on the flight crossed each other in the aisle. They had a quick conversation that I was in earshot of.


I locked off the front lav. There's something in the toilet that's preventing it from flushing. Run some water and see if you can clear it." My face immediately turned red. The seat cover! I thought. It must have been too big to flush! I should have thrown it out!


I was so embarrassed. I tried to act normal ... I took a sudden interest in the contents of the seat pocket in front of me, acted nonchalant and all. I watched as the stewardess got on her hands and knees in the lavatory and did unfathomable dirty work.


Sometime later, I decided it would be best if I forgot the whole thing happened, so I went to put on my headphones and drown myself in iPod music. But ... no iPod. I panicked, checked my other pockets. Where was it? Not under the seat, not in the pockets, not ... anywhere. I looked up to the stewardesses. One of them had run past me in a decent clip. She was carrying a green handbook. She brought it to the other stewardess. They flipped through the handbook, read a page, then made a call. The other stewardess had retrieved a blue metal box and was removing some equipment from it.


I put two and two together. I knew what had happened.


So I walked up to the stewardesses, both clamoring over the handbook, and tapped one on the shoulder.

"So, I had an iPod before I went to the bathroom, and now I don't. I think I know what's in the toilet."

Read more »

Apple Computer will resolve its patent squabble with Creative Technology by paying the Singapore-based company US$100 million for a license to use a recently awarded patent.


The deal announced Wednesday ends all legal disputes between the companies, including five currently pending lawsuits, according to a statement. In return for its payment, Apple will get a paid-up license for use of the patent in all its products. It can also make some of that money back by licensing the patent to other companies. In addition, Creative will make iPod accessories under Apple’s "Made for iPod" program starting later this year.


Creative is a leading competitor to Apple of Cupertino, Calif., which dominates the portable media player market with the iPod. In May, Creative asked a U.S. court to block sales of iPods, saying they violated a patent that covers the user interface software in most portable media players, including the iPod. Creative also asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to block the importation of iPods into the United States.


The settlement "removes the uncertainty and distraction of prolonged litigation," Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs said in a statement. The payment will add about $0.85 per share to Creative’s earnings in its current quarter, ending Sept. 30, the companies said.


Creative was a pioneer of portable digital media players in the late 1990s with its Nomad products and currently sells the Zen line of players as well as the popular Sound Blaster PC sound cards.


The deal should be a boon to both parties, according to Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group in San Jose, Calif.


"Apple gets out from under what could have been a major problem," Enderle said. "Creative had a reasonable chance of stopping iPod imports." Apple’s stock would have "cratered" if it had, he said.


The iPod accessories market could be a lucrative new business for Creative, which hasn’t been growing much in the media player market, Enderle said. The strongest challenger in that space today is SanDisk, he said.


Source: CIO


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