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A press release from ABI Research speculates that Apple’s iTunes service has the potential to outstrip its formidable iPod business and may allow it to enter the home audio and video markets ahead of its competitors. “With over a billion files downloaded from iTunes so far, computers all over the world are brimming with music, speech and video, often organized by iTunes client software into playlists and catalogues. Leveraging all that content, which users have already paid for and want to hear on a good home audio system or watch on a digital-ready TV, creates a huge opening for consumer electronics vendors.” More …

Release notes state that this update contains the following enhancements:

* Improvements to product stability
* Added changes for Frisian locale (fy-NL)
* Several security fixes

mozilla.org also offers the following notes about potential problems with extensions and themes after applying this update:

* If after you run the Firefox 1.5.0.5 installer, the extension compatibility and update wizard does not appear, go to the Extension Manager and manually check for updates.
* If the Extension Compatibility and Update wizard downloads and installs extension updates but those updates are not applied, open the Extension Manager and manually check for updates.
* On Intel-based Macintosh computers, PowerPC-only binary extensions do not work unless users upgrade to an Intel-native or Universal version or turn on Rosetta. To turn on Rosetta, click on the Firefox icon, click “Get Info” and then check the “Run Under Rosetta” box.

The new release is available as a 16.1 MB standalone download.

In a Chicago Tribune article on faulty iPods, an Apple spokeswoman said that failure rates for the device are low, and that an iPod is designed to last four years. Apple’s Natalie Kerris said iPods have a failure rate of less than 5%, which she said is “fairly low” compared with other electronics. “The vast majority of our customers are extremely happy with their iPods,” she said. Rob Enderle, analyst at the Enderle Group, estimates that 15% of iPods will fail within one year of purchase. He said that’s comparable to other gadgets, such as cell phones. The Tribune article also cites a 2005 survey by MacInTouch, which includes reports from more than 4,000 respondents. The survey found that of the 9,000 iPods owned by the respondents, more than 1,400 of the Apple devices had failed. The survey reported a total failure rate of 13.7%, about half battery related and half hard drive related. More …