Update: Video after the jump.

At the end, last Friday didn't bring the iPhone 2.0 Golden Master for final developer testing, "small glitches" apparently being the cause of the delay. But in the meantime, we have been playing for a long time with these two.

Everything has been trouble-free so far. The iPhone applications are fast (the iTunes Music Store actually feels faster than before, as does Safari), there have been no errors or glitches, and, except the fact that the content restriction policies still don't seem to be working (I activated the restrictions for Safari and I still could access several of my favorite porn sites—thanks for the links, Jason), everything seems to click just fine.

In iTunes, the MobileMe section is there, but not active yet (perhaps because I don't have a MobileMe account to try it myself). The applications tab in the iPhone control panel is there, however, although obviously there are no apps to try it yet. In the iTunes preferences, there are three changes: automatically check for available downloads, age gaming restrictions, and—the most interesting of them all—"look for iPhone and iPod touch remotes."

Unfortunately, since we don't have the remote application yet, we couldn't try this one. July 11 is not arriving soon enough.

Wavexpress to Provide Internet Video Download Service for NBC’s Coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games

Free Service to Allow Media Center Users the Ability to Download Content During NBC’s Coverage of the Beijing Olympics, August 8-24, 2008

NEW YORK – June 23, 2008 – Wavexpress, a provider of broadband media technology and services, majority-owned by Wave Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: WAVX), has been selected by NBC Universal, Inc., to develop, host, and support a service for viewing NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Microsoft’s Windows Vista Media Center. The announcement was made today by Perkins Miller, Senior Vice President, Digital Media, NBC Sports and Olympics, and Michael Sprague, President of Wavexpress.

The “NBC Olympics on the Go” service will take advantage of Wavexpress’ TVTonic Internet video service to allow Media Center users to watch channels of NBC’s coverage of Olympic events in up-to-HD quality on the go on their laptop. The free service will enable viewers to watch NBC’s extensive coverage of the Beijing Games on a sport-by-sport basis, with channels designated to match the hundreds of events included in the Games. Users can simply sign up for the channels they are interested in, and the service will automatically synchronize NBC’s video clips as they become available, so viewers will have a fresh slate of Olympic content to watch on their morning commute.

“This service will provide a fantastic viewing experience for Olympic fans with Windows Vista Media Center,” said Sprague. “They can choose their favorite sports, from diving to water polo to gymnastics, and extended coverage is automatically synchronized to their PC in the middle of the night. With a laptop, they will get a high-quality video experience to view on the train, the plane, or in the college quad.”

“As we prepare to broadcast the Beijing Olympic Games, we are committed to reaching as many viewers as possible,” said Miller. “Our partnership with Wavexpress will enable us to reach viewers seeking high-quality in-depth coverage of the wide range of sports that make up the Olympics. The service will especially appeal to fast-paced fans who want to catch up on their favorite sports offline.”

She'd been warming me up to the idea for months, unsuccessfully. We would ditch the cases and file the media neatly into more efficient storage boxes. And given that a.) I wanted to be a good husband b.) we're soon moving from our large house into a tiny city apartment and c.) I'd get to keep using the cases of my 100+ video games, I finally gave in to her request.

Here's the sequence of painful events that followed.

During a quick trip to one of those red and white office supply stores, she picked up a set of boxes (coffins) and sleeves (coffin liners). Then on one particularly sunny afternoon, she sat down at our coffee table and transformed into some split personality I'd never seen in the 12 years I've known her. With crisp, militaristic movements, she quickly studied each case, noted its contents, and ripped its silver heart from inside.

And she didn't shed a tear.

I realize that the future of my movie collection is with digital downloads and that all this packaging is horrible for the environment. I know that with current technologies, it's just plain stupid to waste your shelf with codecs better suited for hard drives. But that didn't make the experience any easier.

"Maybe we could just keep the box sets intact," I offered.
"Why?" she responded, her eyes emotionless like a killing robot.
"They're just nice to have. I like looking at them," was all I could say. That was enough to keep a few on display.

But I knew how defeated I sounded. Many of these DVDs hadn't been watched in years. And a sickening amount of them were never even opened before the unceremonious gutting by my wife. So why had I bought them in the first place?

I think that I just liked having them on the shelf. It wasn't about having a particular movie to watch. It was about owning a particular movie.

To her credit, my loving wife was being extremely thoughtful in her digital cleansing (while I was too distraught to help). She noted all sorts of details from each box that I might want to know, like bonus features and episode titles. And when I pressed her again on keeping some of the more loved cases around, she reminded me that her larger plan was to store the DVD cases for when we move back into a house one day, or at least a larger apartment.

"So we're going to store the storage?" I ask.
"Why not?"
"That's ridiculous. We'll just throw them away."

After all, I have iTunes' Cover Flow and programs like Delicious Library to curb that craving for packaging and album art. But still, my stomach dropped with every case tossed to the wayside, my trophies of consumerism simultaneously helpless and useless upon our rug.

At the moment, my once-cherished shelf of DVDs stands as a temporary monument to a once-thriving civilization. The cases sit empty—soulless—awaiting a trip to the trash in fleeting tribute to an era gone by.

Hermaphrodites with your sexy lady bits and your sexy men bits can rejoice too. [Thanks, Steve]

HBO & Apple Bring Critically Acclaimed Television Programming to the iTunes Store

Favorites Including "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City" Now Available on iTunes

NEW YORK and CUPERTINO, California—May 13, 2008—HBO and Apple® today announced that programming from HBO is now available for purchase and download on the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com). New HBO programs on iTunes include the Emmy Award-winning programs "The Sopranos," "Sex and the City," "Deadwood" and "Rome," as well as the critically acclaimed hits "Flight of the Conchords" and "The Wire." The iTunes Store is the world's most popular online TV store with over 150 million episodes sold and features the world's largest catalog with over 800 shows (over 20,000 episodes).

"We're very excited to make these legendary HBO programs available on the iTunes Store," said Henry McGee, president of HBO Video. "Whether catching up on 'Sex and the City' in anticipation of its upcoming movie release or reliving a favorite 'Sopranos' episode, we think viewers will love being able to watch these shows on their iPod or iPhone."

"We're thrilled to bring this incredible lineup of programming from HBO to the iTunes Store," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "These are some of the most talked about television shows ever, as well as some of the most requested by our customers."

"Sex and the City: The Movie" premieres in theaters on May 30, and in preparation for the movie's debut, fans can choose any or all 94 episodes from the entire six seasons of the program.

Television shows purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store can be viewed on a Mac® or PC, iPod® nano with video, iPod classic, iPod touch, fifth generation iPod, iPhone™ or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV®. "Sex and the City," "The Wire" and "Flight of the Conchords" are $1.99 per episode, and "The Sopranos," "Deadwood" and "Rome" are priced at $2.99 per episode. iTunes customers can also choose to purchase entire seasons of their favorite programs.

Pricing & Availability
iTunes 7.6.2 for Mac and Windows includes the iTunes Store and is available as a free download from (www.itunes.com). Purchase and download of songs and videos from the iTunes Store requires a valid credit card from a financial institution in the country of purchase. Television shows are available in the US, UK, Canada and Germany, and video availability varies by country.

Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., providing two 24-hour pay television services - HBO and Cinemax - to over 40 million U.S. subscribers. The services offer the most popular subscription video on demand products, HBO On Demand and Cinemax On Demand, as well as HBO on Broadband, HD feeds, and multiplex channels. Internationally, HBO's branded television networks, along with the subscription video on demand products HBO On Demand and HBO Mobile, bring HBO services to over 50 countries. HBO programming is sold into over 150 countries worldwide.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

What's impressive is how HBO got Apple to negotiate beyond its usual terms. If you remember, the fixed $1.99 episode price and profit splitting are what led to the Apple/NBC divorce in the fall. Now, Apple has backed down from its stance and appears to be into the flexible pricing scheme. Portfolio believes Apple wants this partnership to drive Apple TV sales. I also wonder if NBC on the Zune Marketplace shook 'em up a little.

And if HBO does come to iTunes, it will be their first mainstream venture into the online media market. They've been hesitant up until now, presumably because it might cannibalize subscription revenue. While they are testing an online on-demand system with a planned national rollout, it's currently only available in Wisconsin, and requires a subscription to HBO through cable providers.

While no specifics have been declared, Portfolio hints that it could simply be older/cancelled shows, such as Deadwood and The Larry Sanders Show. This would make sense, because watching new shows would still require a subscription, and HBO doesn't show many replays of shows no longer in production. In any case, Portfolio says this will likely play out in the next two weeks, with a simultaneous announcement/availability of content. Let's keep our fingers crossed. [Portfolio via iPodNN]

Interestingly enough, these new shows are priced at £1.89 while older shows such as Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (oh boy!) are priced at £1.19. NBC's desire for variable pricing for their shows and Apple's refusal to allow it is what drove the network away from the store in the first place last year. Does this mean Apple is giving in? Will we finally be able to watch Battlestar Galactica episodes via iTunes again? Time will tell. [PC World]

Hughes' argument centers around subscriptions: "(Recently) I made a list of the 22 ways to sell music and 20 of them still require DRM...any form of subscription service or limited play-per-view or advertising offer still requires DRM. So DRM is not dead." And he thinks subscription services are where we're headed (or at least the industry hopes so), meaning DRM for all.

But the fact that he's pinning DRM's survival on subscriptions—as opposed to advocating for it on all tracks you buy online—shows that we actually have come a long way, and DRM is dead, at least in one sense. Contrast with the MPAA's rep, whose industry is still in the beginning of the DRM life cycle: "We need DRM to show our customers the limits of the license they have entered into with us." The RIAA is a veritable Lessigian copyright hippie in comparison. [CNET]

They're putting their shows out online in a million different ways (you can even download 30 Rock, The Office, Conan and Leno direct to your desktop now) and more than happy to pipe 'em to you, as long as it's in a controlled sandbox of some sort. NBC Direct requires a walled-garden player install with loads of DRM, and they wanted copyright controls from Apple and Microsoft to give just two examples, not to mention Hulu. It's sorta surprising that the QuickTime feed for iPhone is unprotected, but theoretically it's restricted to two devices. You know, if they'd just relax a bit, overall, they'd be in a good place online. [Silicon Alley Insider, Thanks Peter!]

Well, thanks to our readers found the tip to get this movie completely free. In iTunes, click iTunes store, look for the "Browse" on Quick Links in the right hand side. Than, select "Movies" and then "Thriller". Look for the title "Hitman". You will see it is free (as pictured above) for the whole version at 1.06GB. I can download it and watch it successfully. Not sure whether it is something new or a bug of iTunes.

[WinAndMac via Macenstein]

The studios thought to have signed on Apple's dotted line include Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate and New Line—all of whom have a rental deal with iTunes. Smaller houses, such as Magnolia and Image Entertainment are included, but MGM is out of the picture.

Most at risk from the news is, undoubtedly, Wal-Mart. Apple has already usurped the retail giant this year as the number one seller of music. Amazon and Microsoft, with their respective operations, Unbox and XBox Live Marketplace, are also expected to be affected. [Yahoo!]

It seems like the perfect software for the laziest people in the world, but it's one of those "oh wow" things that will make everyone smile when using it.

Breakthrough Visual Search Engine for Mobile Phones Takes Off Big in Japan

Pasadena, CA & Tokyo, Japan - April 17, 2008 - Evolution Robotics Inc., a leading robotics technology company, in partnership with Bandai Networks Co. Ltd, Japan's leading mobile content provider, announced today that KDDI Corporation is including the "ER Search" visual search engine on its new Spring 2008 "au™" line of camera phones, and has made it available for download for any KDDI customer with a prior "au" camera phone. This launch marks a dramatic expansion in the market for mobile visual search, which will enable millions of consumers in Japan alone to do online searches by taking pictures of everyday objects with their camera phone.

The deployment of this technology in the mass market also opens up an entirely new range of categories of services for mobile marketing, which is already projected to grow to $24 Billion worldwide by 2013. (Source: ABI Research)

ER Search is a mobile search engine operated by Bandai Networks and powered by Evolution Robotics' ViPR visual pattern recognition system. It works essentially like using a traditional search engine, but without having to type any text or go through complicated menus. Instead, users simply snap a picture of something they're interested in and immediately get back relevant content, all in the palm of the hands.

As an example, KDDI customers will be able to take a picture of a music CD that would return links relating to the artist, hear clips from the album and purchase songs to download on their phone. If they are shopping for wine in a store, they can take a picture of the wine label and get expert reviews and recommendations on the spot. Or, if they are browsing through a catalog and see an item they'd like to buy, they can order it immediately by snapping a picture of the item on the page.

"ER Search is an entirely new way for connecting consumers with content and companies," said Satoshi Oshita, CEO of Bandai Networks. "Because ER Search runs on mobile phones, searches happen when and where the customer is, as soon as they see something that they're interested in. Additionally, the fact that a customer simply has to click a picture of a product or advertisement, makes the search process far easier and immediate than anything that has been available before."

"We are very pleased to be working with Bandai Networks and are excited to see the momentum building in the Japanese market," said Paolo Pirjanian, President and CEO of Evolution Robotics. "Our mission is to take aerospace-grade technologies and make them affordable for mass market applications, and ER Search is a great example. We see this as just the start of a growing market for visual search in Asia and other parts of the globe and are actively working with our partners to expand the range of services that can benefit consumers and companies alike."

Bandai Networks had already deployed ER Search on over one million phones in Japan in 2007. With this deployment with KDDI, the number of users with access to ER Search will expand by millions more in a very short time, making it even more compelling for companies and advertisers to participate in the service.

About ViPR

The ViPR technology easily supports user-generated content so that users can take new pictures of objects, images, videos or even locations and tag them with links and content to expand the database. That content will then show up in the results returned to other users who take similar pictures, thus creating a robust world-wide visual database for communities to develop and access. (A video demonstration of Evolution Robotics' visual search technology running on Apple's iPhone can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/user/EvolutionRobotics)

ER Search's versatility rests in Evolution Robotics' breakthrough ViPR visual recognition technology. ViPR is able to learn new objects and images on the fly (such as the cover art on a music CD), without the need for any special encoding such as barcodes or watermarks. Just as significant, ViPR performs well on low cost components such as the cameras used on most mobile phones today, even when lighting and other visual conditions are poor.

For the music search application alone, Bandai Networks has over 150,000 music CD covers already indexed in their database. Other mobile marketing and mobile commerce applications include providing content and links for print ads, book covers, DVDs, product packaging, movie posters, retail displays, business signs, etc. Even animation, streaming video or images from live TV can be supported.

[Evolution via Mobile Whack]

"If you look at studies about MP3 players, especially leading MP3 players and what portion of that content is pirated, and think about how that content gets onto that device, it has to go through a gatekeeping piece of software, which would be a convenient place to put some antipiracy measures. We are financially harmed every day by piracy. It results in us not being able to invest as much money in the next generation of film and TV products."

If you really want to stream on the go, without Wi-Fi, you could probably rig up a Wi-Fi internet connection sharing thing with a Windows Mobile phone as well.

We tested it over Wi-Fi and it streamed back all of Adam Pash's songs without a problem (eventually). It crashed and hung the first couple times. [Simplify Media]

After all, since then, iTunes has passed even Wal-Mart's massive moving power in its B&M stores to become the US's biggest music retailer. Plus, all Big Four have already signed on with Amazon for DRM-free music, making it the no. 2 digital retailer. At this point, they've either gotta step up or step aside. [Listening Post]

CUPERTINO, California—April 3, 2008—Apple® today announced that the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com) surpassed Wal-Mart to become the number one music retailer in the US, based on the latest data from the NPD Group*. With over 50 million customers, iTunes has sold over four billion songs and features the world's largest music catalog of over six million songs.

"We launched iTunes less than five years ago, and it has now become the number one music retailer in the world," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "We are thrilled, and would like to thank all of our customers for helping us reach this incredible milestone."

*Based on data from market research firm the NPD Group's MusicWatch survey that captures consumer reported past week unit purchases and counts one CD representing 12 tracks, excluding wireless transactions. The iTunes Store became the largest music retailer in the US based on the amount of music sold during January and February 2008.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

I explicitly noted that the results may be somewhat inflated by gift cards, and I noted that other retailers on the list have gift cards, too—don't forget that fact. And a sale is a sale...This is a monumental event for Apple, because while the company may not be guaranteed the top spot for eternity—or even the following month—it is something many thought would never happened.

Michael Arrington points out that a $5 tax—besides essentially turning music into a service requiring us to perpetually suck on the industry's teat—would double its size, from $10 billion to $20 billion. So of course the labels are all for it. It's guaranteed revenue that would flood their coffers like never before. Warner's plan calls for the cash stream to flow into a pool that'll be split between copyright holders and artists. But we all know how hard labels want to screw artists.

And as Arrington points out, it would basically freeze innovation in the industry, meaning labels would be able to ream them that much harder. Not to mention, thanks to the fine print, we'd probably no longer own our music. But that's the whole point. [Portfolio via TechCrunch]

He adds in his blog:

I'll let you know if I get a response from anyone at Apple. I wonder if somebody on the other side is really going to read it ... I can hear it now, the squeak of a chair pushing away from a desk as a man grinds his cigarette into an ashtray, stands up waving a printout over his head and screams "WE GOT AN iTUNES CRASH OVER HEEAH!!!" Because in my mind everything looks like a '60s-era spy movie.

Actually, it feels to more like contacting the Wizard of Oz to me, but I guess that John is used to spies and Men in Black every time he has to go to see The Steve to play with his toys.

Do you write this kind of letter in the bug reporters of Mac OS X or Windows? Are they neutral? Fun? Angry? Don't you wish you could draw pictures of genitals and send them? Don't you? Huh? HUH? OK, so maybe that's just me. Post your answers in the comments. [John Mayer's Blog—thanks Camperton]

The look of the alleged store appears to be very similar to installer.app, and why not? It sure as hell works. Strangely, the applications already had a shed load of user ratings, but if this is part of Apple's testing routine, that fact is probably not too out of place. What do you, the discriminating public make of it all? [Monsterandfriends via Modmyifone]

The labels, particularly Universal, are known to be hot on a subscription deal, since it'd provide more reliable revenue from iPods—BW notes the average iPod owner buyers "fewer than 30 than songs" and rips or steals the rest. Apple, on the other hand, is already balling with iTunes just the way it is—now the no. 2 music retailer in the country—and it's really just money icing on the wildly profitable hardware cake. And if it's not busted, why tinker with it?

Since the labels really want a subscription model, it makes sense that label sources would play it up to the press, giving them more leverage at the negotiating table by showing the heavy buzz/demand the rumor is generating. Apple-side sources would spin the opposite way, since—if they really were considering a subscription model—it would give them weight to push down the price, both what they'd give labels and what they'd charge us. And as both the FT and NYT have noted, price is likely to be the major sticking point.

Conclusion? Be hopeful, not wistful. [Businewss]

Universal's the biggest proponent of selling subs, so they'll probably be there. Reportedly Apple wants to throw the labels $20 a device, which is only a little more than what the labels make off an iPod now in music sales, so they've got some gaping chasms to negotiate across. [Bits]

The article also cites an anonymous executive who claims consumers would pay $100 extra for a device with lifetime music downloads, or $8 per month. Comparatively, Zune's pass is $15 a month. Apple's doing well with current music store sales, in second place behind Wal-mart. So one has to wonder what their motivation would be for such a setup. Total domination? [FT]