Apple has announced three significant changes to its iTunes Store at Macworld Expo, but the first is undoubtedly the biggest news: The music and video download service, which features more than 10 million songs, is finally going DRM-free.
Apple senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller told the assembled throngs at Macworld Expo this morning that the service has sold six billion songs since going online in 2003. More than 75 million accounts with credit cards have been created thus far.
[ Special report: Macworld Expo 2009 ]
No more DRM by the end of March
iTunes Plus is Apple's DRM-free encoding for the iTunes Store; music is encoded using the AAC format at 256Kbps. Beginning today, 8 million of the iTunes Store's 10 million songs will be offered without DRM; the entire catalog is expected to go DRM-free by the end of the first calendar quarter of 2009.
New pricing structure
Since going online, the iTunes Store has retained one pricing model: 99 cents per track, with many albums priced at $9.99. That's changing in April, said Schiller; there will then be three pricing tiers: 99 cents, 69 cents, and $1.29. Schiller assured the crowd that more songs are going to be offered at 69 cents than at $1.29, however.
iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store goes 3G
The iTunes Music Store previously was limited to allowing purchases on the iPhone only over Wi-Fi; that restriction has been lifted, at least for iPhone 3G users, who can now purchase and download content to their iPhones over a 3G connection. That feature is being implemented today, and provides iPhone users with the same price and selection on the iPhone as they would find on iTunes on the Mac or PC.
Macworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.
This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.
Download now »
Download a free 30–day trial and experience how XenDesktop delivers a pristine, on–demand desktop experience to users on whatever device they choose, while cutting IT complexity and costs.
Download now »
The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.
Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation
Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts
With the continuous expansion of data capacity, completing the full cycle of a scheduled scan can be a very time consuming process. Find out how to efficiently secure EMC Celerra with centralized virus scanning, virus pattern file updates, event reporting and antivirus configuration.
Download now! »
A single virus-infected file in a storage system can be responsible for infecting large amounts of data. This white paper details the architecture and product features of Trend Micro's data storage security solution, ServerProtect, and discusses how it has been designed to protect EMC Celerra file servers with minimal overhead.
Download now! »
White paper
The increase in Linux popularity has increased the frequency and sophistication of malware attacks. Learn how you can protect your Linux environment with real-time protection that is certified by all major Linux vendors.
Download now! »
With the emergence of mixed threat attacks, a failure on a single server can quickly impact the entire network. Learn how a technology that is designed to remove and block infected files on application and file servers prevents the virus from reaching users and keeps your Windows network free from malware.
Download now! »
2 Recommendations
