TV downloads break new barrier with 'Scrubs' deal

The NBC hospital comedy, produced by Disney-ABC Television Group's Touchstone Television, has been added to the catalog of shows that can be purchased as a download from Apple Computer's iTunes music store for $1.99 per episode.

While TV series for network broadcast are routinely produced by and licensed from studios of competing media companies, the "Scrubs" deal marks the first such partnership for a prime-time program offered via the Internet for commercial download, NBC and ABC said Wednesday.

Until now, programs made available for online purchase, like ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and NBC's "The Office," have all been productions of their respective "in-house" television studios.

The iTunes inventory of network shows has grown to more than 60 programs since Apple struck a first landmark deal with ABC in October 2005 to provide commercial-free downloads of some of the Disney-owned network's biggest hits for $1.99.

The advent of downloadable TV launched a new revenue stream for broadcasters and a new era of digital portability for consumers, enabling them to play some of their favorite shows anywhere, any time, on video-equipped models of Apple's wildly popular iPod device.

However, the selection of shows that networks were ready to offer for downloads was limited by questions over how they would share revenues on programs produced by third-party TV studios--a quandary resolved by the "Scrubs" deal.

Apple lets parents 'turn that garbage down'

Apple Computer Inc., facing complaints and a lawsuit claiming the popular player can cause hearing loss, made the setting available as part of a new software update Wednesday. The free download applies to the iPod Nano and the iPod models with video-playback capabilities.

Parents also can use the feature to set a limit on their child's iPod and lock it with a code, the company added. (Full story)

"As the leading provider of digital music players, Apple continuously brings iPod customers innovative and easy to use solutions," Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president for iPod marketing, said in a statement. "With the increased attention in this area, we want to offer customers an easy to use option to set their own personal volume limit."

Earlier this year, a Louisiana man filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the iPod can cause hearing loss in people who use it. (Watch Apple faces The Beatles in court -- 2:17)

The devices can produce sounds of more than 115 decibels, a volume that can damage the hearing of a person exposed to the sound for more than 28 seconds per day, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California.

Although the iPod is more popular than other types of portable music players, its ability to cause hearing loss isn't any higher, experts said.

Apple ships a warning with each iPod that cautions "permanent hearing loss may occur if earphones or headphones are used at high volume."

Apple cell phone guessing game

Will Apple computer be adding a cell phone to their product stable? This along with how was the universe created may go down as one of the most talked about questions. Well maybe not but there are plenty of iPod users wondering about it. Will they, how will they and do people even want one are some of the biggest questions floating around. Each time Apple makes an announcement for a special event this subject rises up and speculation grows.

Well Apple has partnered with Motorola on the Rokr and Slvr phones over the last several months with very little success. Motorola created these phones and worked with Apple to get iTunes onto them. This would allow users to put up to 100 songs from their iTunes library onto the phone. Well to start 100 songs is not a lot of music. This would put the phone in the same class as an iPod shuffle but with a color display. The price of these phones is floating around the $200 price point. This is a pretty step price to pay for a basic phone with limited song storage.

There has been talking as of late that the 100 song limit is a software limit and that it might be expanded soon. This would allow for more songs to be placed on the phone, which might attract a few more people. Another downfall is that the phone is just now that cool looking. It’s a basic candy bar style of phone and pretty dull looking compared to the RAZR.

I think that Apple probably will do something more in the phone area someday. My best guess is that you’re not going to get some basic phone with iTunes on it. The Motorola experiment is just that, an experiment to see how the market would react. If Apple wants to do something special like they have so many times before, I would suggest creating a Newton phone. That’s right bring back the Newton, updated of course. This would be a PDA style phone with palm type features, able to store large amounts of data, music and compete with the Treo style phones. If Apple does this I am sure it would be a huge hit. The Newton still has a fairly large following and they could blend the products together to make something cool.

For now we’ll just have to keep reading the rumor mills and wait for that next big announcement from Steve.

More power for the video iPod

I made the mistake of trying to watch "Dances With Wolves" on a plane headed to L.A. once. Of course, my player ran out of juice right when I got to the good part of the movie. Belkin's TunePower for video-capable iPods should be able to prevent this type of cliffhanger ending.
TunePower
Credit: Belkin

The TunePower adds up to six extra hours of video playtime to the iPod video on top of the approximately two hours the iPod is natively able to provide. This means the battery pack should be able to provide enough power to last from the time you get to the airport, through the mandatory strip search, and all the way through the end of the flight.

Belkin announced yesterday that the TunePower should be available in late March and will will cost around $79.99. Two sleeves are included for the 30GB and 60GB iPod. A low-power indicator on the battery pack shows when it's necessary to charge the device using the AC adapter included in the kit.

swan song for my iPod

Swan song for an iPod

Death, if we're so lucky, comes in the waning years of one's life. It would arrive with little suffering, as painless as closing your eyes and entering a deep sleep.

Some of us aren't so lucky. My iPod wasn't. It suffered. And I cried a thousand tears.

On Monday, Feb. 28, 2006, at approximately 4:10 p.m., my 20-gigabyte, special-edition U2 black-and-red iPod died. No warnings, no goodbyes. It happened as I exercised on the elliptical machine at the gym. Its last words were: You're seeing the world through cynical eyes ... ("All Possibilities," by Badly Drawn Boy). Then the screen froze.

For us, the fiercely loyal 42 million iPod owners worldwide, this is our worst nightmare realized.

As the elliptical machine in the gym came to a stop, I held down the menu and select buttons to reset the iPod. A folder with an exclamation point popped up, with a Web address for Apple Support. I reset the iPod once more, and the same screen came up, followed by a whirring sound, like it was crying.

And then, for a moment, I coaxed some psychic echoes from the player -- a few scraps of songs -- only to have my hopes dashed. Freeze. Whirr. Nothing.

The bus ride home that evening was the longest 15 minutes of my life.

Have you ever lost a childhood pet? That's how it feels right now. You don't appreciate it until it's gone, and then you think about all the good times you've shared.

One time, I jogged along the lakeshore with Outkast blaring its Deep South brand of hiphop. I never ran so far and so long in my life. There's the time my desk mates at work were yapping about this, that and the other. I slipped on the white ear buds, thumbed the click wheel clockwise to turn up the volume and let the outside world drown in a sea of Coldplay.

That iPod has helped me get in shape, making the treadmill less of a chore. It has helped me ignore both panhandlers and Greenpeace volunteers. It is my lucky rabbit's foot, my medulla oblongata, the wind beneath my wing. Did it ever know it was my hero?

Those memories flooded back as I walked into the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue the next day. The man at the counter held the iPod to his ear, listening to its inside. The same whirring sound came up. And then, with as much sympathy as diagnosing a hangnail, he told me: "You've got hard drive failure." My stomach sank.

He explained several options. Apple could fix the iPod, but that would likely cost more than the actual device itself. I could take it to a third-party repairer, but that would involve mailing my iPod away to strangers, for days and possibly weeks.

His last suggestion, the one he gave the most enthusiastic pitch for, was for me to buy a brand-new iPod. The new one has a screen in color, it holds more songs, and it plays videos! Awesome! I walked out.

In the week since the death of my iPod, I've been lumbering around with this unwieldy apparatus called a portable CD player, a device I purchased more than a decade ago. Besides the fact it only plays a dozen songs at a time, doesn't really work while jogging and requires four fresh AA batteries every other week, it still works like a charm. Hmmmm.

I now ponder the $299 question. As much as I question the worthiness of a new video iPod (under my previous, $350, special-edition iPod's lifeline, it worked out to $21.81 a month), I'm resigned that it's not a matter of if, but when I'll buy a new one. But there's something about ol' Poddy I can't let go -- the scuff marks, the way it contours in my hands, the arresting red click wheel. But then I remembered ...

When I was younger, I found my pet goldfish floating lifeless on the surface one morning. After it went round and round down the porcelain grave, my parents bought a new goldfish from the pet store that same day. I could barely tell the difference.