Stan's List

According to the words we long to hear:

iTunes 7.7.1 includes fixes to improve stability and performance.

Available only via Software Update. Was not listed on the Apple Downloads page (8:00 P.M.)

Getting ready for Friday’s iPhone 3G and iPhone/iPod Touch software version 2.0, iTunes 7.7 includes an updated iTunes Phone Driver and Apple Mobile Device Support for their remote-control application available now in the App Store. The App Store is open and you can download iPhone/iPod Touch applications The 2.0 software is not yet available, and is necessary to take advantage of this new store.

Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 or later. Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home — a free download from the App Store.

Apple announces that over 5 billion songs have been downloaded. The milestone seemingly has no where to go but up, especially with the largest music catalog now with over 8 million songs, 2 million more than just a few months ago. More than 50,000 movies are rented or purchased everyday.

The iPhone is predicted to steal market share from the iPod. I have a 3rd and 4th generation iPod, and each are used often. The iPhone will not replace these iPods. With an iPhone, I do not want a video iPod. This will only continue with an increased capacity iPhone. What becomes a possibility is an Apple TV.

AOL Radio, with over 200 internet radio stations, iChat integration, small size and low memory usage. The new version doubles the program presets to 10.

Download AOL Radio 1.2.1

AOL also has a web client which requires installing a browser add-on.

ITunes has 2293 radio streams. You can make make playlists of your favorite stations

A MacInTouch reader has some interesting ways to bring more connection reliability to his MacBook G4 and MacBook Pro b/g airport card and an Apple TV. The reader was “having major connection problems. Read the steps the reader took. More …

Fistful of Dollars is a pancho-clad, cigar chewing, mysterious “Man with No Name” rides into a small frontier town which is embroiled in a struggle for power between two families. He hires himself out as a mercenary, first to one faction and then to the other, with no regard for honor or morality. He plays both sides against the middle, collecting his money, until he eventually destroys both, leaving the town to the bartender, coffin-maker and bell ringer as he rides into the desert whence he came. Based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1961 film

In a press release by both HBO and Apple, it was announced HBO programing is now available on iTunes.

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.”

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.

Portfolio reports that HBO and Apple should have an agreement in a few weeks. “One possibility is that HBO programming will have a higher retail price than the flat $1.99 fee Apple currently charges for video content,” Portfolio said. This would be inconsistent with past agreements and certainly cause other networks to think they should get a similar deal.
More …

It’s excellently cast, featuring Kline in a Best Support Actor Oscar-winning role as the unhinged goodfball with poor impulse control, Curtis as an underhanded, double-crossing sexpot, Cleese as a repressed Brit cutting loose at last, and Palin as a hapless, incompetent, communication-impaired hit-man / pisciphile … unhinged eccentrics all.

Get A Fish Called Wanda

MacWorld reports that iTunes now has 1000 movies for rent, only two months late. At the keynote, Steve Jobs stated iTunes would be at 1000 rentals by the end of February.

In addition, Apple has a press release pronouncing movies available on the same day that the DVD is released. Every studio is on board.

New releases and catalog titles will be available from 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios. Movies purchased from iTunes can be viewed on an iPod with video, iPhone, Mac or PC or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV, with new releases priced at $14.99 and most catalog titles at $9.99.