Apple revolutionized the MP3 player sector with the iPod, made a mark on cellphones with the iPhone and it seems like its next stop is the handheld games industry! Wait, whuh? This doesn’t come in as an illogical move, seeing as the multimedia-rich iPhones and iPods were pretty good at playing movies and music and more in a handheld system. A gaming console looks like the next logical step in the progression.To find out what’s going on, hit the jump!

At Macworld Apple announced several new features to the Apple TV and a new price ($229 for 40gb, $329 for 160gb), all making for a package that’s actually appealing.

Users can now rent over movies straight from iTunes. Over 1,000 titles will be offered by the end of February. Of that 100 titles will be offered in high definition with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. Costs will be $3.99 for new releases, $2.99 for library titles, and $4.99 for high definition titles. Costumers will have 30 days to activate the title and 24 hours after that to watch it.

Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to iTunes on the user’s computer for enjoyment on their computer, all
current generation iPods or iPhone.

“With the new Apple TV and iTunes Movie Rentals, movie lovers can rent DVD-quality or stunning HD movies from their couch with just a click of a button,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “No more driving to the video store or waiting for DVDs to arrive in the mail.”

Other new features include viewing photos from their computers, Flickr and .Mac Web Galleries on their widescreen TV as slideshows or screen savers, and anytime photos are updated on Flickr or .Mac, they are automatically updated on Apple TV.

Dock your iPod and view its content in high-definition on your TV, sweet. HomeDock HD Upconverts iPod Video to 720p or 1080i via HDMI. Control the content via an RF remote and you’re good to go. The HomeDock HD will be released in Q2 2008 for the price of $249.99.

As of right now you’ll save $50, but the question at this point in time is will the price of Apple TV reduce or add more features that makes the HomeDock HD not that great of a bargain? We’ll disclose this information later today.

[Update] It’s official the Apple TV is now $229. Looks like the HomeDock HD is going to have a tougher time in the market.

Microsoft has announced, this week, that they’re planning a new version of their ‘Zune’ series of mp3 players. Not particularly big news, you’d think – the Zune sold 1.2 million units last year, the iPod over 30 million – but the fact that this announcement is gathering headlines on both mainstream news websites and niche technology blogs is good news: it’s competition.

Apple has, let’s face it, reveled in the fact that their product is now the byword for digital music players. People don’t talk, these days, about buying a new mp3 player. They’ll go to the store and buy a new iPod. When the first models were introduced back in 2001 they were an antidote to what Steve Jobs saw as ‘clunky’ and ‘useless’ players - most of the market then and, ironically, how the first generation iPod appears now.

It’s a well documented story that, since the first of Apple’s new machines caught the public imagination and sold in their millions back in the second half of 2004, they’ve dominated the market. Microsoft has now announced their new model and, with it, a raft of new features that include Zune Social, a networking site based around the player’s owners and their musical tastes.

Previously, the Zune – a competent player itself – had been shadowed, and other companies, like Creative, have produced products to rival the iPod but garnered only modest sales. The hugely innovative, stylish and attractive product introduced by Apple back in 2001 has made the rest of the market wake up and smell the mp3’s being burned to iPod’s all over the country: they had to wake up and catch up.

Thank god they did. The market’s full, now, of products that have had to raise their game to compete with Apple’s behemoth marketing budget. Creative’s entire range includes smaller models, inspired by the Nano, to full-size music masters. They’re aesthetically pleasing, durable and have excellent sound quality, just like the iPod. Archos players also consistently receive rave reviews, as do Samsung’s players. It’s a shame, then, that snappy adverts backed up by a multi-million pound marketing budget and the benefits of having an enviable reputation for success and credibility are the only things missing from making these perfectly worthy pieces of equipment a success.

I’m not saying that the iPod is a bad player – because it’s not. It’s got a great interface and is very good at what it does, even though file playback, and even iTunes itself, can be a little restrictive. It’s just worth exploring your options – now more than ever. There’s far more choice open to consumers than there ever has been, so make the most of it: vive la difference!

So we all know that iTunes, Ipods, well let’s face it Mac products seem to be taking over the earth. However, how safe is it? Well iTunes now has iTunes plus to let you download music well, better…so they say. Apparently when you download songs from iTunes plus it leave information embedded in the song, and that information is not encrypted. So basically your information if you were to lose your ipod or shuffle or even a notebook is out there for the open. Now if you think about it, this is kind of huge your information personal stuff that’s not supposed to be out there is well out there.

Now iTunes the regular one well that’s supposed to also leave information in the song but the difference is that that information is encrypted well so they say.

The only person who is really talking about this right now is a radio show host on Am 1070 Jeff Levy and Apple is refusing to comment on this whole situation, odd enough?

Help spread the word if you know anymore information comment why don’t you- c’mon people this is huge!

I guess this time PC > Mac

Apple today launched iTunes Plus — DRM-free music tracks featuring high quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings — for just $1.29 per song. iTunes Plus is launching with EMI’s digital catalog of outstanding recordings, including singles and albums from Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra, Joss Stone,
Pink Floyd, John Coltrane and more than a dozen of Paul McCartney’s classic albums available on iTunes for the first time.

iTunes will continue to offer its entire catalog, currently over five million songs, in the same versions as today — 128 kbps AAC encoding with DRM — at the same price of 99 cents per song, alongside the higher quality iTunes Plus versions when available. In addition, iTunes customers can now easily upgrade their library of previously purchased EMI content to iTunes Plus tracks for just 30 cents a song and $3.00 for most albums.

“Our customers are very excited about the freedom and amazing sound quality of iTunes Plus,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We expect more than half of the songs on iTunes will be offered in iTunes Plus versions by the end of this year.”

“This is a tremendous milestone for digital music,” said Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group. “Consumers are going to love listening to higher quality iTunes Plus tracks from their favorite EMI artists with no usage restrictions.”

With the release of iTunes Plus, customers can now download tracks from their favorite EMI artists without limitations on the type of music player or number of computers that purchased songs can be played on. iTunes is also offering customers a simple, one-click option to easily upgrade their library of previously purchased EMI content to the iTunes Plus versions. EMI music videos are now also available in iTunes Plus versions with no change in price. iTunes Plus songs purchased from the iTunes Store will play on all iPods, Mac or Windows computers, widescreen TVs with Apple TV and soon iPhones, as well as many other digital music players.

Apple today announced the launch of iTunes U, a dedicated area within the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) featuring free content such as course lectures, language lessons, lab demonstrations, sports highlights and campus tours provided by top US colleges and universities including Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Duke University and MIT.

“iTunes U makes it easy for anyone to access amazing educational material from many of the country’s most respected colleges and universities,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “Education is a lifelong pursuit and we’re pleased to give everyone the ability to download lectures, speeches and other academic content for free.”

“From its earliest days, Stanford has sought to serve the public by sharing the knowledge generated by our faculty and students,” said Stanford Provost John Etchemendy. “Our partnership with Apple and iTunes U provides a creative and innovative way to engage millions of people with our teaching, learning and research and share the experience of intellectual exploration and discovery that defines our university.”

Created in collaboration with colleges and universities, iTunes U makes it
easier than ever to extend learning, explore interests, learn more about a school and stay connected with an alma mater. Content from iTunes can be loaded onto an iPod with just one click and experienced on-the-go, anytime, making learning from a lecture just as simple as enjoying music.

The iTunes Store features the world’s largest catalog, adding new education content to over five million songs, 350 television shows and over 500 movies. The iTunes Store has sold over 2.5 billion songs, 50 million TV shows and over two million movies, making it the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store.