A Kim Kardashian app promising beauty tips and advice on relationships has launched in the iTunes store. The $1.99 app is being sold by Appetizer Mobile LLC. We aren't sure why they went with a Kim Kardashian avatar? Why not just use real photos of Kim? You can see a preview of the app here.
Have you ever wanted to ask Kim Kardashian for advice on relationships, beauty, health, fashion or style? Now you can!
Listen to Kim's exclusive answers every week with her official iPhone app. The interactive app gives you a glimpse into Kim's fabulous life--watch as she strikes her signature poses or blows you a kiss. Discover different ways to interact with Kim, like shaking the phone to make her talk. Follow Kim's latest tweets, catch up on the latest Kim Kardashian videos and pictures--even locate your closest Sephora to find her new perfume!
These celebrity iPhone/iPod Touch apps appear to be a trend. Just last week, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt launched the SpeidiWeb app.
Johnny Cash Song is 10 Billionth Song Downloaded From iTunes
The Mac Observer reports that the 10 billionth song was downloaded from the iTunes store on Wednesday. The 10 billionth song purchased was "Guess Things Happen That Way" by Johnny Cash. Louie Sulcer from Woodstock, Georgia will receive a $10,000 iTunes gift card for being the person to download the 10 billionth iTunes song.
MTV says the most downloaded iTunes song overall is the Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling."
The Black Eye Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" is the most-downloaded song on the store, with "Boom Boom Pow" landing at #3. Lady Gaga is the artist with the most songs toward the top, with "Poker Face" at #2, "Just Dance" at #6 and "Bad Romance" at #22. Other acts with tracks in the top 25 include Coldplay, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Kings of Leon, the Fray and Owl City.
Here is a video of the Johnny Cash song, "Guess Things Happen That Way." The song can be downloaded from iTunes here.
Apple Bans Thousands of Adult-Themed Apps from App Store
The BBCreports that iPhone app developers are outraged that Apple has removed thousands of apps from iTunes that Apple says contain adult-themed content.
Thousands of apps with adult-themed content have been removed from the store since Friday although some, such as one from Playboy, remain.
Apple has said that certain apps were removed following customer complaints.
Developer Jon Atherton is angry that previously-approved apps have been pulled, and accuses Apple of "experimenting with our livelihoods".
Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of product marketing, told the New York Times, "It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see."
The Timesstory says some of the apps removed do not contain nudity, but photos of women in bikinis and lingerie. Some apps with women wearing bikinis have been removed while similar apps, like Sports Illustrated's swimsuit app, remain. Apple's pattern of removing apps is confusing both consumers and developers.
The app ban could be related to the iPad, which Apple will soon be launching. Piper Jaffray analyst told the Times, "At the end of the day, Apple has a brand to maintain. And the bottom line is they want that image to be squeaky clean."
The Academy Launches Oscars App for iPhone/iPod Touch
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has launched an Oscars App. The free app offers iPhone and iPod touch users access to movie trailers, real-time Oscar Night results and other content. The app was designed for the Academy by the Los Angeles-based creative shop Omelet.
The app's features include a nominees list for each of the 24 categories, and trailers for the 10 Best Picture-nominated films. Users can also predict winners in each of the categories. Users' predictions will be saved to a database that will enable sharing with friends via social networks such as Facebook and Twitter as well as by e-mail and SMS text.
"We want to connect with movie lovers wherever they are," said Janet Weiss, the Academy's director of marketing. "Our Oscar App gives fans a way to participate in all the excitement and buzz right up to and through the show."
Apple's App Store Reaches Three Billion Downloads Milestone
Apple's App store continues to reach new milestones. Today Apple announced over three billion apps have been downloaded from its app store for its iPhone and iPod Touch devices since it launched eighteen months ago.
"Three billion applications downloaded in less than 18 months-this is like nothing we've ever seen before," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "The revolutionary App Store offers iPhone and iPod touch users an experience unlike anything else available on other mobile devices, and we see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon."
Daniel Sieberg offers some advice for keeping up on all of Apple's apps here.
Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is close to purchasing Lala, an online music service that lets your hear a song once for free before purchasing it.
The terms of the deal weren’t known. The people declined to be identified because talks are still in progress. Investors in Palo Alto, California-based Lala include New York-based Warner Music Group Corp., Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures and Ignition Partners in Bellevue, Washington.
The Lala service lets users listen to any song on its site once for free. Customers can then opt to buy the track for 10 cents and listen to it on the Web. The service differs from iTunes because the music is stored on servers via so-called cloud computing, instead of being downloaded to the user's computer. If customers decide to download a track, the cost is 79 cents -- compared with iTunes’ price of 69 cents to $1.29.
The potential acquisition by Apple is interesting because Lala is one of Google's partners for its recently launched music search feature. You can find more discussion of the potential deal here on Techmeme.com.
Businessweekreports that Sony plans to launch a store that will compete with iTunes. Like iTunes, Sony's store will sell music, movies, books and downloadable apps for smartphones and other mobile devices. The tentative name for the online store is Sony Online Service.
On Nov. 19, Sony said it plans to launch an online store selling music, movies, and books as well as other downloadable applications for mobile products. Sony's top executives didn't specify when the Internet store, tentatively called Sony Online Service, would go live or what it would look like. But the online storefront, announced at a management strategy meeting in Tokyo, is likely to bear some similarities to Apple's iTunes store and would be Sony's most ambitious attempt to link its products to its own vast library of digital content.
The article says Sony wants its store to differ from iTunes. One difference is that Sony members will be apple to have accounts they can upload videos and other content to.
Sony will try to differentiate its service from iTunes. One example: Users will be able to upload videos shot on camcorders, save photos taken with digital cameras, and post other digital content to their personal online accounts. That's how Google's suite of Net-based services (such as YouTube video-sharing and Picasa photo site) works.
Internet Retailersays the new Sony store will be based on the Sony PlayStation Network's infrastructure, billing and log-in systems.
Apple's iTune App store recently surpassed the 100,000 mark. The store has greatly expanded from the 500 apps that were available when it launched. The enormous amount of apps creates a problem for Apple users trying to decide what apps they should spend money and time on. Daniel Sieberg investigates some of the apps available for CBS. Sieberg says nothing has upgraded smartphone apps like the addition of GPS technology. Take a look:
Apple Pitching iTunes Subscription Plan to TV Networks
The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog reports that iTunes is in talks with TV networks about launching a $30 subscription service for tv shows through iTunes.
The company is trying to round up support for a monthly subscription service that would deliver TV programs via its multimedia software, multiple sources tell me.
Apple isn't tying the proposed service to a specific piece of hardware, like its underwhelming Apple TV box or its long-rumored tablet/slate device. Instead, the company is presenting the offer as an extension of its iTunes software and store, which already has 100 million customers.
A so-called "over the top" service could theoretically rival the ones most consumers already buy from cable TV operators - if Apple is able to get enough buy-in from broadcast and cable TV programmers.
A subscription service will only work if they can get enough content providers on board. Subscribers aren't likely to pay a monthly fee if they are also going to have to still pay for their favorite shows that aren't part of the subscription plan. A subscription move could end up putting Apple and Hulu in direct compeition as Hulu is also planning to launch a fee-based service next year. Unlike Hulu, Apple already has people paying for television content on iTunes.
Give Peace a Chance 40th Anniversary Celebrated With Commemorative Digital Single
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of "Give Peace a Chance," Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon have partnered with EMI Music and Sony/ATV Music Publishing to donate net proceeds from the sale of a commemorative 40th Anniversary digital single to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). Beginning today, iTunes will exclusively offer the single's special anniversary edition for download purchase, with net proceeds benefiting the PBF through December 31. The song can be found here on iTunes.com.
Yoko Ono says, "I am thrilled that so many in the music business are readily supporting 'Give Peace a Chance' on its 40th anniversary. It is indeed a time when we are all getting more aware of the necessity of doing something to achieve world peace, no matter how small. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I feel deeply that we are all one, regardless of where we stand."
"Give Peace a Chance" was written during John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1969 honeymoon bed as a protest against the Vietnam War. It was inspired by Lennon's off-the-cuff explanation to a visiting reporter of the couple's purpose for protesting the war by remaining in their honeymoon bed. From March 25 to March 31, the couple invited media to visit and interview them daily between the hours of 9am and 9pm in their bed at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. The song was recorded live on June 1, 1969 in a room at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel.
Google has just launched
its new music search feature. Users search Google for a particular song title or recording artist and Google's music search returns its own results first at the top of the page. If you click on the title to a piece of music, a popup from Google's partners MySpace, Lala, Pandora, imeem and Rhapsody will appear, giving you the chance to sample the tune and buy it. Needless to say, Apple's iTunes store or Amazon.com's digital music offerings do not appear. It's an iTunes killer, essentially, where Google gets a cut of the music sales. Here's how it works:
Owl City's upbeat song called "Fireflies" is currently the #1 song on iTunes. Adam Young is the sole member of Owl City. Adam Young recorded the entire album, Ocean Eyes, in his basement at his parents' house in Owatonna, a small Minnesota town. Adam Young landed a contract with Universal Music after building a fanbase by posting his catchy songs on MySpace.
The song and the music video are getting great reviews. The music video for "Fireflies" shows Adam Young playing a keyboard in his room while the toys and electronics in the room come to life. You can watch it here.
Fox issued a press release today boasting about all the music sales Glee is generating. The show currently has 10 songs on the iTunes Top 200, including cast versions of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," Rihanna's "Take A Bow," and Kanye West's "Gold Digger." Fox also says the number of Glee music downloads from iTunes has passed the 1 million mark.
Glee does do great covers of popular songs. For example, take a look at this clip of Glee's version of Kanye West's "Gold Digger."
On November 3rd, Columbia Records and Twentieth Century Fox Television will release Glee: The Music, Volume 1 the first in a series of soundtracks that feature music heard in the first season of the series.
Apple has dropped the price on the 160GB Apple TV from $329 to $229. Apple has discontinued the 40GB Apple TV. The Apple TV runs on-demand HD movies and HD TV shows on your tv set. It can also access the iTunes store. It works with both Macs and PCs.
The price cut has fueled speculation that a new Apple TV model is on the way, possibly even in time for the holidays. Crave writes that the Apple TV faces increasing competition from other players, such as Roku. Wired thinsk the Apple TV needs to evolve of face extinction.
Analyst: AT&T's Exclusive iPhone Contract Could End Next Summer
Brandweekreports that Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster is predicting that AT&T will lose its exclusive deal with Apple's iPhone next summer.
Rumors that Apple's iPhone may soon shutter its exclusive deal with AT&T just got some expert support. Gene Munster, a senior analyst for Piper Jaffray, stated in a recent investors report that the company predicts Apple could open its iPhone product to additional U.S. carriers sometime next summer.
In the report, Munster mentioned how Apple gained in market share when it switched from an exclusivity model with French carrier Orange to a multi-carrier model, and that this could propel the decision.
It may not happen that quickly. CNET notes that there are also rumors AT&T already has or is negotiating with Apple to get its exclusivity contract extending until 2011.
In an interview here on Fortune's Brainstorm Tech blog, Gene Munster also talks about Apple possibly launched a $30 - $40 tv subscription fee on iTunes that could compete with cable.
The Mac Observer 
The BBC 
Bloomberg is 
Businessweek 
The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog 
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of "Give Peace a Chance," Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon have partnered with EMI Music and Sony/ATV Music Publishing to donate net proceeds from the sale of a commemorative 40th Anniversary digital single to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). Beginning today, iTunes will exclusively offer the single's special anniversary edition for download purchase, with net proceeds benefiting the PBF through December 31. The song can be found 
Brandweek 
