Apple Wants Slice of Movie Rental Biz

(NEWSER) - Apple has sold 928 million programs to mobile users and plans to celebrate its billionth App Store download by awarding a random customer a huge haul of merchandise, CNET reports. The lucky customer will walk away with a MacBook Pro, a 32GB iPod Touch, and a $10,000 iTunes gift certificate. Which of the 30,000 apps available propelled Apple to these heights? The Facebook app tops the free column, while the most customers paid for Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D. More»

Prices change: They'll range from $0.69 to $1.29

(NEWSER) - Apple will remove DRM anti-piracy software from the music it sells on the iTunes store, the New York Times reports. As part of a new deal reached between Apple, Sony BMG, the Universal Music Group and the Warner Music Group, songs will be DRM-free and will be priced differently. New hits will be sold for $1.29 a song, while the majority of songs will cost 69 cents. More»

Apple hypes it like crazy

(NEWSER) - After decades of legal battles over the “Apple” brand name, the Beatles and Steve Jobs have officially let it be and come together on iTunes. It’s not the big announcement many tech prognosticators were expecting , but Apple is hyping it to the nines, devoting its entire homepage to it. A round of TV commercials are planned as well, according to Tech Crunch . The Fab Four have even cropped up on Ping. More»

Fab Four's iconic catalog was noted holdout

(NEWSER) - Fab Four fans, rejoice: Or at least hold your breath, because the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Steve Jobs' pending iTunes news is that Apple is nearing a deal to bring the Beatles' catalog at long last onboard. Apple is readying an announcement, anonymous insiders say, while also warning that plans could still change at the last minute. The Journal notes that an agreement would end decades of tension between the two giants; the Beatles originally sued Apple in 1978 for copyright infringement on their Apple Records and Apple Corp. Ltd. More»

Amazon says it intimidated record labels

(NEWSER) - The Justice Department is investigating whether something might be rotten in Apple's music business, sources tell the New York Times , focusing on whether the tech behemoth threw its weight into dissuading record labels from giving Amazon exclusives. Amazon wanted the exclusive right to sell certain songs for one day before wider release, and offered to promote them in its “MP3 Daily Deal” section. More»