iPod and iTunes news stories (updated)

The good news:

Canadian iPod owners rejoice! Your Supreme Court has decided that the levy imposed on blank media is invalid when it comes to iPods (and other digtial music players). The tariff was $2 for non-removable memory capacity of up to one gigabyte, $15 for one to 10 GB, and $25 for more than 10 GB. Apple Canada will be giving refunds to their customers but no details yet on how.

On another story, Creative Technology, maker of Nomad and Zen MP3 players, had a quarter loss and wrote off unsold stocks. On top of that, their stock has dropped 26 percent in the past 12 months. MDN

Update: August 15, 2005:
Paul Thurott thinks that there will never be such a thing as an iPod-killer. This is after Microsoft, Creative, Nokia, and several companies have been yakking about the "soon" to be released iPod-killer. Their "soon" has come and gone and still nothing. Microsoft et al are just shooting blanks. MDN

Cell phone-music player hybrids are blown away by iPods when it comes to usability and music quality. And they say Nokia will blow away iPod. Ha!

And now for the bad news...

Apple's patent application for the iPod's menu-based software interface was rejected MDN, and if stories are correct, the rejection is because of a Microsoft researcher. The unknown researcher filed the patent 7 months before the iPod was launched hence edging out Apple. MDN Other stories about this disturbing development can be found in Dallas News MDN

(Update: August 15, 2005)
Here's an update on the news about Microsoft beating Apple to the punch on iPod's menu interface patent. SeattlePI has quoted Rob Enderle of the "Enderle group" (actually, the 'group' only has two people in it: Rob and his wife. Such a lonely group) as saying, "It's incredibly embarassing." But then again, anything that Enderle says should be taken with a grain of salt. He has had the tendency to say stupid things.

And as if to rebut Enderle, Arik Hesseldahl, a patent lawyer, has said that the patent fuss is much ado about nothing as report by BusinessWeek. Technically, Apple is not yet finished in the application process. Apple said that they "will continue to pursue this patent application, as well as the many others covering iPod innovations. Apple invented and publicly released the iPod interface before the Microsoft patent application cited by the examiner was filed." And that the matter regarding the patent hoohah is not as bad as it seems. MDN

Lastly, Forbes mentions that even though Microsoft patent application sounds almost the same that of how the iPod does things, "the patents in question might not even be directly related." It firther adds, "Indeed, news articles suggested that Microsoft's patent surrounds the iconic iPod clickwheel. But its patent has to do more with the organization and delivery of digital media items." So, it is much ado about nothing.MDN

Some audio CDs now have copy-protection technology which prevents users from copying music from the CD to the PCs. Apple, however, has posted a support article to allow users to import from copy-protected audio discs. The solution is:

1. Make sure you can import tracks from other audio CDs with your optical drive. If you can import tracks from other CDs, make sure the disc is clean and free from debris and scratches.
2. If the disc contains additional multimedia, the disc may have been created in a way that does not allow the audio portion to be imported into iTunes. You should contact the manufacturer of the disc for additional assistance with these types of discs.
3. Certain audio discs may contain copyright protection mechanism that prevent users who do not have appropriate rights from reproducing the contents of the discs on other media. You should contact the manufacturer of the audio disc for information on the type of disc provided. MDN

The ugly...

Consumer Reports says that 20-per cent of Mac users 'detected' virus in the last two years. Hogwash! These Mac users with anti-virus software (did they really need it?) probably detected Windows viruses. I haven't heard of any Mac OS X user complaining of a virus problem. Sloppy and bad research. Reminds me of the doddering, decrepit, senile board members in where I work.

Hey! I'm working. At least I think I'm working. Ah, well...

More bad reporting comes from the dorky looking Peter Griffin of NZ Herald. In his piece he is insuating that Apple is creating a monopoly in the digital music downloading industry and that iTunes Music Store has a very limited selection of songs (1 million and counting) just because he couldn't find his favorite songs. The funny thing is, he thinks Apple is not playing fair by not allowing other digital music players to download songs from iTMS or not allowing the songs bought from iTMS to play in other players other than iPods. But he doesn't think that copyrighting audio CDs is not fair. Idiot.