300,000,000th download, Creative lowers prices, Mac mini UK review, iPod shuffle knockoff

You get a four-in-one deal today.

First on the list is the announcement that iTunes Music Store has surpassed 300 million downloads. People might say that Apple is cheating by counting in the downloads from their free songs of the week and such. But the number excludes the free downloads and only counts the paid downloads. People can get music from iTMS by paying thru credit card, prepaid card or a gift certificate in paper or electronic form.

Creative blinks

Next is Creative's decision to lower the prices for its MP3 players. The Korean company said thru its chairman and CEO, Sim Wong Hoo, that they are putting their competitors on the defensive (and this is why they had to lower prices).

The new pricing involves the new Zen Micro (4GB) priced at US$179.99; the Zen Micro 5GB at $229.99 and the Zen Micro 6GB at $249.99.

The price slash comes 6 days after Apple released new iPod Minis and new iPod photos.

It's funny to note that someone commented to the story and likened Mr. Hoo to Saddam Hussein's Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf because of his statement, "We have gained huge momentum and are putting our competitors on the defensive."

Another Mac mini review
Here's another Mac mini review this time from the UK website, TrustedReviews.

What's their conclusion?

They recommend it! As their verdict says:

If you’re cool on Macs, the mini will start to warm you to them, but for those already tempted, we heartily recommend it. If the PC user is a Neanderthal and the Mac user the evolved sophisticate, the Switcher Man, hovering between them, is the missing link – and the Mac mini will be his weapon of choice.

It was bound to happen
Yup and happen it did. After the release of the iPod shuffle, I thought to myself, "Some Chinese or Taiwanese company's going to make or 'design' something like the this pretty soon." And so they did.

Luxpro is a company located in Taipei and just like a any other chinese company they like to copy other people's stuff and design.

Their iPod shuffle knockout, the Super shuffle, is almost an exact copy of the iPod shuffle. The navigation wheel is the same. The shape looks the same. Heck, even the earbud headphones are the same. The differences are the Super shuffle is slightly bigger, has a voice recorder and FM tuner built in, and the back has two switches rather than just one.

I wonder how Apple's going to react to this.