It’s ‘happy, happy, joy, joy’ time for Palm PRE users.  In the waking hours of today they issued WebOS 1.2.1.  The 38MB update fixes syncing with iTunes as well as a bug that prevented some 2007 Exchange users from syncing with their server.

Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of Apple and Palm’s cat and mouse game.  Apple will issue yet another update to their iTunes application and once again break syncing with non-Apple devices.  Sure, WebOS users might get a month or two out of the latest update, but until Apple concedes, or Palm builds a better resolution you’re just gonna have to deal.

Read
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Once again Apple has passed a significant landmark for their app store.  Today the company announced that over 2 billion apps have been downloaded from the 2 year old service.  According to Apple there are more than “85,000 apps available to the more than 50 million iPhone and iPod touch customers worldwide and over 125,000 developers in Apple’s iPhone Developer Program.”

Apparently a half a billion apps were downloaded this past quarter alone, which means Apple should hit the 3 billion mark sometime early next year.  Now I’d like to see some app developer earnings info.

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Apple has confirmed a September 9th press event (same day as last year with the same theme) that will be held in a downtown San Francisco location.  Titled “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it”, the event will probably focus on the long rumored iPods with cameras, the announcement of their Cocktail project and perhaps even the launch of the Beatles catalog in the iTunes store.

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I’m surprised how many people still don’t know what HD Radio is.  The best way I can describe it is that every major radio station that you know has an HD version and is simultaneously broadcast with its analog version.  Simple right?  Admittedly I had gone years without ever hearing HD Radio so when I received the Polk Audio I-Sonic I was totally blown away by how awesome it sounded.

Having had a Sirius Satellite Radio (it was stolen), I thought that the programming was cool but the audio fidelity was horrible.  Not with HD Radio.  Sound is what HD Radio is all about and the Polk Audio I-Sonic excels at it.  Straight out of the box the I-Sonic delivers stellar audio reproduction values at no expense and I can easily say that I am now a huge fan of Polk Audio products and HD Radio.

In addition to being an HD Radio Receiver, the Polk Audio I-Sonic is also an iPod dock capable of iTunes tagging.  When you hear a song you like, just press the tag button on the I-Sonic and the information is stored and transferred to your connected iPod.  The next time you sync with your computer you can seamlessly buy all your tagged songs from iTunes.  For those of you who buy music this is a great way to check out some new tunes.

The I-Sonic has a myriad of other features as well.  There is a full alarm clock mode, station presets, HD station seek mode, plus the ability to plug it into a TV so you can watch videos or movies from your iPod thus making it a more suitable device to have stationed in your living room.

Aesthetically it kind of reminds me of that BOSE (Buy Other Sound Equipment) speaker system. You know, the one with the infomercial.  It actually has a very unique shape and doesn’t really have a level surface area so you can’t put beers on it.  Polk Audio uses a 4 speaker array with patented PowerPort technology that allows the I-Sonic to deliver room filling sound no matter where you are standing.  I totally agree.  The I-Sonic sounded great regardless of my position to the speakers and even when I was out of the room.

It has a display that is large and blue, and easy to read from across the room.  I also like the fact that HD Radio displays the artist and the track so even if you aren’t tagging music you know who you’re listening to with a glance of the display.

I dabbled through several genres of of music before finding my sweet spot at classic rock.  With no tweaking at all the I-Sonic sounded lavishly lush.  In fact, I had never heard classic rock sound so good.  Most memorable was how round and balanced the bass sounded.  It measured a perfect connection with treble and mid range frequencies to create a classic rock “symphony of emotion.”  In all honesty, words can be very descriptive, but they don’t come near to describing how immaculate this HD radio sounds.  Even using an iPod through it was up there with my current favorite dock the iPig, and though the iPig still jammed a little louder, the quality of the I-Sonic should not be taken lightly.

Tagging worked very smoothly and showed up just under the iTunes store bar in my computer’s iTunes.  Just one click will bring up the collection of songs you have tagged with the option to buy them.  Very easy.

The TV out capability worked flawlessly and really added versatility and depth to the I-Sonic.  All you have to do is make the proper cable arrangements and adjust the settings on your iPod and you are good to go.  The remote control works well with the TV out as well as all the other modes.  My only complaints about the controller are that it’s difficult to tell which end is which and that it could be bigger.

I’m really racking my brain for more to say about this HD Radio system.  It sounds killer, it’s easy to use, has a bunch of modes that are all well designed and implemented, and if you buy music the iTunes tagging feature will surely broaden your music horizons.  I had no issues with the firmware and all of my iPods and iPhones worked like a charm.  The price might be sticking point for some ($400), but I have rarely seen a dock that has so much quality to offer!  This is the type of system that a whole family or household can enjoy and I am just really flat out impressed with this product.

Pros:

• Sound so awesome you won’t believe it’s radio
• Versatile and easy to use
• Compact design

Cons:

• No matter what I say people will think it’s expensive
• Remote control could be shaped so you know which way is the front

Buy it here for $400!

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Social features are all the rage these days, so it comes as no surprise to hear rumors of Apple integrating many of them into their iTunes music application.  While we reported on the rumors last week, today BGR received some screenshots detailing the social features in Facebook and images indicating that iTunes 9 will officially support 3rd party devices.

As you can see, a Facebook user’s thread shows a custom playlist created by the user.  Presumably clicking on it would create the same playlist on your machine and any music you don’t own iTunes would probably suggest you buy it.   The other screen shot depicts a Samung MP3 player officially supported by the application and shows its capacity and name.

Since there is no way to validate these screen shots I suggest you head to your spice rack and break out the seasoning salt.

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Continuing the cat and mouse saga, Palm released the webOS 1.1.0 update for the Palm PRE, simultaneously fixing the iTunes 8.2.1 syncing issue and restoring tranquility unto the troubled world of PRE. Other updates include:

• Emoticons
• Exchange support
• NFL Mobile Live (the newest, 31st app)
• New swipe gesture to move forward through web pages

So, Apple, just how quickly will you be releasing 8.2.2?

This post was syndicated from PhoneDigSimilar Posts:

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I don’t know if I should feel sorry for Palm PRE users or just shove a ’serves you right’ sandwich in their face.  Why?  Apple issued an update to iTunes today, 8.2.1, that essentially disables syncing with non-Apple devices, such as the good old PRE.  I mean really, did you think Apple wouldn’t take action especially after the whole pinch to zoom and expand fiasco? Then again, is that function truly proprietary?

For those of you who are Palm PRE users and reading this post with your bottom lip firmly planted underneath your front teeth from frustration, the only solace I can offers is that you hold off on upgrading your version of iTunes until a more reasonable and rational resolve is had.

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Apple has issued an update to their iTunes application, iTunes 8.2.  Sure, it will fix some minor bugs found in the previous version, but it’s actually a necessity for supporting iPhone Software 3.0, which should launch sometime later this month.  Of note, it also fixes some minor bugs and includes many accessibility improvements.Similar Posts:

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At today’s Sirius XM meeting for shareholders, a presentation was made in regards to a new app on its way to the iPhone.  While the app will be free, an extra $3 a month will need to be added to an already existing subscription to Sirius XM to use it.  Whatever.  Unless you have an extreme hankering for specific programming on Sirius XM I can’t see anyone being into this given the amount of free radio on the iPhone.  The app will also feature a way to buy songs through iTunes.  Do we care?

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Easily the most hyped smartphone since the iPhone two years ago, Palm Pre info is always well received.  Today’s nugget is that the Palm Pre will sync directly to iTunes right out of the box without required software.  Will this be a huge selling point for people?  Will it run in the double background?  Just release the damn thing already!

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What only seemed like a logical move (not sure why they didn’t do it sooner) AT&T released their very own iTunes application this week.  Called the AT&T myWireless Mobile, it allows customers with a registered AT&T Mobility account to: view and pay bills, view voice and data usage, add and remove plan features.  The app is completely free and should prove extremely useful for those who burn up their monthly minutes.  Looking at your data usage is a bit moot though, since its unlimited with the iPhone plan.

[Thanks, Jon]

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Generally speaking, with in the first 5 reviews of just about any app in the App Store, people complain about how much it crashes and as a result that it sucks.  With App Store development being today’s best way to strike it rich, everybody wants in.  Apparently it looks like Apple wants you to be in too.  Partnering with Standford, Apple will release videos and other source materials from Stanford’s undergraduate iPhone app development course through iTunes.  Taught by two Apple engineers, the first video is over an hour long and is up right now.  They will be free through the “iTunes U” educational channel.  Here’s how the path looks on my iTunes:

Home>iTunes U>Stanford>Science&Technology>iPhone Application Programming-Video

Let’s make some apps!

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Ugh.  How weak.  While rumors can be both good and bad, this is definitely bad.  As if iTunes doesn’t make enough money as it is.  Do they really need to increase the price of popular songs to $1.29??  Thankfully I don’t listen to popular music.  This will probably mostly affect the denizen’s who will buy the latest disposable hip-hop track guest featuring some no talent ass clown.  Sorry, bitter day today.  Anyway, lets hope this does not come to fruition.  Supposedly set to happen on April 7th.  Freddie’s got fingers crossed.

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Yet another free storage service has launched, however this one, called Echodio, integrates directly into your iTunes and lets you stream uploaded music.  They’re currently in beta and offering 1GB of storage for free.  To use the service you simply sign up, install a plugin on your computer and then drag and drop the songs you want to upload to a designated playlist.  Right now you can only access your music by launching Boxee, but they hard at work to develop a ‘rich web player’ and an iPhone app.  The service is free, but once out of beta they plan on charging on a per gigabyte basis.

Unfortunately, I really don’t see this taking off since Dropbox offers a comparable service with 5GB of storage for free and you can upload any file you desire.  Sure, it doesn’t integrate directly into iTunes, but uploaded music can be accessed and streamed via any old web browser.  Give me 40GB of storage and an ad supported model and then were talking.

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For what is probably years now, yes years, its been rumored that Apple would offer an ‘all you can eat service’.  Ostensibly, this would mean streaming, not downloading content, like Napster or Rhapsody.  Soon, the streaming part might just come to fruition, however it won’t be predicated on a flat monthly price for unlimited access, at least according to Apple Insider.

Sources close to the project say that Apple is planning to roll out a new iTunes 8 feature called ‘iTunes Replay’.  The feature would let iTunes’ users stream previously purchased movies and TV shows to any compatible device.  Providing a service like this would address or quell a number of issues: the duplication of copyrighted content and the limited storage issues found on the iPhone or iPod Touch.  With that said, there are of course dependencies that might prove too much a frustration for consumers to tolerate, such as the requirement to have a consistently high bandwidth through put, something AT&T’s 3G network doesn’t even touch.

Regardless, I find the prospect of iTunes Replay an interesting one and believe that a hybrid of the current setup (you can download content to a limited number of devices) with iTunes Replay would be a welcome feature by most consumers.

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Wondering what the top 10 iTunes apps – paid and free – for 2008 are? Here you go:

Top 10 Paid Apps

1. Koi Pond
2. Texas Hold’em
3. Moto Chaser
4. Crash Bandicoot: Nitro Kart 3d
5. Super Monkey Ball
6. Cro-Mag Rally
7. Enigmo
8. Pocket Guitar
9. Recorder
10. iBeer

Top 10 Free Apps

1. Pandora Radio
2. Facebook
3. Tap Tap Revenge
4. Shazam
5. Labyrinth Lite Edition
6. Remote
7. Google Earth
8. Lightsaber Unleashed
9. AIM
10. Urbanspoon

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You’re probably thinking it can’t be that easy? Wrong, it is that easy. Hit the video after the ‘leap’ for the demonstration or read my break down below on how to make a custom iPhone ringtone, totally free, using JUST iTunes 8.

1. Find an MP3 (not AAC or anything with DRM [i.e. not bought, except Amazon])
2. Right click on the MP3 and choose ‘Get Info’ and select ‘Options’
3. Set the start and stop time to your favorite part of the song. You’ll want it to be no more than 20 seconds in length
4. Click ‘ok’
5. Right click on the song again, this time choose ‘Create AAC Version’
6. Drag the newly made AAC file from iTunes to your desktop
7. Delete the newly made AAC file from iTunes (it won’t work if you have duplicates)
8. Change the name of the extension (the file on your desktop) from ‘m4a’ to ‘m4r’ (note: to see extension in Vista you’ll need to modify an option in your Control Panel
9. Now drag the file, with the new extension, back into your iTunes Library. It should appear in your ringtones section

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With 65 million users how could NBC resist. That’s right, NBC shows are once again available on iTunes. After pulling out of the World’s most popular music store almost a year ago, NBC has signed a new deal with Apple to distribute its shows. To bolster engagement, NBC will be offering one free standard definition download of some of its top shows for the next 2 weeks. I can only imagine the shit eating grin Jobs had on his face when they came crawling back.

If you recall, NBC partnered with Fox to produce the free streaming site ‘Hulu’. Hulu offers standard definition and 480p quality video from many popular TV shows and movies, and based on my experience works almost flawlessly. Hulu rocks, but it ain’t iPod friendly.

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Did you miss the event? If so, here’s a quick recap scrapped from sources around the Net.

• HD TV shows
• iTunes ‘Genius’ function – it can make smart playlists that are tailored to your taste plus recommend music from iTunes
• New iPod Nano (as leaked here) that’s curved, more environmentally friendly and includes an accelerometer. It’s got the Touch/iPhone cover flow UI, voice notes (you need to add a mic), 24 hour battery life for music and 4 for video, and a butt load of shiny colors. The 8GB 3G ipod Nano is $149 and the 16GB is $199. The 8GB will start shipping this week (maybe) and the 16GB in the next few weeks.
• New Apple ear buds that are $80 (moot).
• New Nike+ interface (as rumored here) and the receiver is now built into the iPod Touch.
• A thinner iPod Touch. 8GB, 16GB and 32GB which is $229, $299, and $399 respectively
• Looks like they added new Shuffle colors too

The Apple Store is up and running with the new products!

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Hurry, cause the iPhone app is only free for the first 100,000

Video demo after the ‘leap’

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