After Apple banned iPhone app Podcaster from its iTunes App Store, CNET called Podcaster the iPhone app that's "so good, Apple won't let you have it." Apple hasn't said why, but it's widely believed that the app was banned for competing with the iPhone's built-in podcast-downloading software. But blogger Niall Kennedy writes that he tested the Podcaster app according to Apple's stated rules, and discovered three reasons Apple might have legitimately rejected Alex Sokirynsky's app.Kennedy said Podcaster takes as long as 3 to 5 minutes to load some menus, that he had to dismiss a confirmation sheet each time he added a new podcast, and that Podcaster's interface is crowded and ugly. Remember, ugly is an unforgivable sin in the eyes of Apple, which warns developers on its Developer Connection site:

Running on Windows Vista, Apple's iTunes 8 isn't actually a computer virus, according to WordNet's strict definition of term as "a software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer." But that's only because iTunes 8 doesn't replicate itself and spread other computers. It is causing plenty of harm to computers, according to complainers on an Apple Support forum. They say they're seeing Windows's infamous "blue screen of death" reboot screen anytime a user plugs in an iPod or iPhone and launches iTunes 8 at the same time. We can already hear th fanboys telling us how this is all Microsoft's fault. (Photo by tomeppy)

Click to viewDespite the fact that Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced no new products at the company's glorified press conference yesterday, the crowd's cheers were as blustery as they ever are at Apple events. But Newsweek's Dan Lyons, who must have bored enough by what was being said on stage to be paying so much more attention to the darkened audience, says he knows the reason why: Much of the crowd was clapping so loud because they were paid to.

There is some shadow sect of people—pasty-faced, red-rimmed eyes, yellow teeth, the stench of cheese product on their breath—who must, simply must!, watch television on tiny picture phones. And the like. This undiscovered continent's worth of Americans have clamored so loudly for these techmologies that NBC and iTunes, after a year-long feud, have struck up a partnership anew. Episodes of your favorite shows like Chuck and Gemini Division will once again be available for download on the Apple music and media "store," for a buck ninety nine. HD shows for $2.99. What this means for web service Hulu, which streams some NBC shows for free, is unclear. Though I guess they could maybe exist together, as the dark Underspecies of people furtively watching Heroes on their iPods, while they rumble on a bus bound for Rochester, are not necessarily the same shut-ins who watch old episodes of New Amsterdam on their computers, holed up in their darkened spare rooms. And I guess that's really what America is all about. Diversity. [Variety]

Chalk up a rare victory for NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker in doing what few can: He stared down Steve Jobs and won. NBC shows like Heroes and Battlestar Galactica are returning to iTunes, but on NBC's terms. Almost exactly a year ago, NBC packed up its toys and left Apple's iTunes store over a pricing dispute. Apple insisted on sticking with one price for TV shows. But with today's announcements of new iPods, Jobs showed off NBC shows available again — at $0.99 for old shows, $1.99 for new shows, and HD for $2.99. NBC shows represented roughly 40 percent of iTunes video sales before they vanished from the store.

Something we bet Steve Jobs won't be discussing on stage at this morning's iPod event: The third-party developers who create apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch say Apple takes a week or more to approve updates — even bug fixes. Apple also doesn't communicate with the developers to tell them why or how long their updates will be delayed. Fraser Speiers, who developed the Exposure Flickr application for the iPhone, told Macworld:

Victor Wang — huh-huh — from Apple emailed the author of the Pull My Finger app, shown above, to explain that the interactive fart-noise program was deemed "of limited utility to the broad user community." I wonder what would happen if they applied a "utility" standard to the music videos sold through the same store? Wang's full email:

Lars Ulrich, Metallica's Internet-hating drummer, explained to a Bay Area radio station that he's glad the band's new album got leaked all over the world. A copy of the album was bought in a French record store and quickly uploaded to the Internet. The band's new stance is a big jump from 2000, when they sued Napster for distributing their music without permission. Since then Metallica has worked out ways of selling their music online by themselves, finally relenting to iTunes sales in 2006. If you still have a taste for Metallica, head on over to your favorite torrent site. Lars said it's okay.

We suspect the name "Unbox" only ever made sense to Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos. The online retailer has rebranded its video-download store as "Video on Demand." The only other big change: The videos will now play on Macs. They'll continue to be downloadable to viewers' TiVos, Windows Media Centers, and Xbox consoles. Flicks cost $2.99 to $3.99 to rent and $7.99 to $14.99 to buy. Another draw: Unlike Apple's iTunes store, you can get NBC Universal content from Amazon.com. (NBC vanished from Apple's store after a tiff over pricing last year.)

Digg founder Kevin Rose claims this iTunes 8 feature from a reliable source:

At a press conference scheduled for September 9, Apple will unveil "unspecified new products," reports Reuters. Thanks, Reuters guys — that really helps! The event's theme is "let's rock." In August, Digg cofounder Kevin Rose predicted Apple would announce a new iPod Nano, minor changes to its iPod Touch, price cuts to older iPod models and version 8.0 of iTunes — in other words, the same kind of update to its iPod product line Apple makes every fall. Our eternal gratitude, Captain Obvious!

Infurious Comics created an iPhone app called Comic Reader, which does just what it sounds like it does, and featured a book called Murderdrome as the app's first title. Murderdrome is a story about a "game where the only way to score a goal," one character explains as he cuts into another's skull, "is with the severed head of an opposing player." Because Apple prohibits "any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content" in iPhone apps, Apple quickly booted Comic Reader and Murderdrome from its iTunes App Store.Naturally, this upset Murderdrome's creator Paul Jason Holden, who called — "infuriously," we suppose — for action on his blog: "PLEASE leave a comment. We’ll forward ALL of these to Apple, so that we can ensure that not only Murderdrome, but that ANY comic submitted to Apple doesn’t fall foul of the same censorship." (Do hyperviolent comic book authors also always go by three names?) By this morning, tech-news aggregator Techmeme was dutifully full of sympathetic retellings of Infurious's plight. Not here though. We'll only make the obvious point that we'd never heard of the Comic Reader app, Infurious Comics or its just-plain-gross comic Murderdrome until now. Publicity for being banned worked commercial wonders for even James Joyce's unreadable Ulysses, so we bet it helps Mr. Holden's gore-porn sales just plenty.

"All Summer Long" is one catchy tune. Built on the groove of the late Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London," spiced up with Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama," the song nonetheless soars on Robert James Ritchie's down-homey delivery of one of the best ballads to hit the airwaves in years. I've heard it on Top 40, country and classic rock stations in the past week. Kid Rock's album, Rock 'n Roll Jesus, is now at #2 on Billboard's chart. All this without iTunes. Why on earth would record labels withhold an album from America's largest music retailer?There's no one big reason. This WSJ report lists several:

Is iTunes helping the music industry—or destroying it? That's the dramatic question we will answer for you in this post. Itunes is the single largest retailer of music in the US, period. It sells nine out of every ten digital song downloads in the country. And since it helped put the Tower Records of the world out of business, lots of artists think there's nowhere to go except iTunes. But how much money are (even famous) bands really making off all those 99-cent singles? Here's, uh, one perspective:

China has cut off access to the iTunes store after it was revealed that some Olympic athletes have downloaded a pro-Tibet album featuring, among others, tea-swilling bald Lothario Moby. Dear power structure: Please stop affirming Moby's self-importance. [Idolator]

In agreeing to sell the iPhone, does Best Buy know what its getting itself into? Steve Jobs is issuing mea culpas about MobileMe, Apple's flaky email-and-synching service. But there are no Jobsian apologies over the iPhone 3G. Sure, sales are fine, $30 million changed hands through iTunes App Store in its first month, and Apple's market cap is now larger than Google's. But InternetNews.com's Andy Patrizio says it's obvious there's something wrong with the device itself.Specifically, the "3G" part of "iPhone 3G." Patrizio writes that "on disabling 3G, service improved immediately. There were no more dropped calls. Audio quality was fine. Battery life was much better." An analyst tells Patrizio a chip inside the phone is the problem: "We believe that these issues are typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack where we are almost certain Infineon is the 3G supplier." Patrizio's three other problems with the iPhone:

In a post about iPhone apps sales hitting $30 million a month, today's featured commenter Shadowlayer gives a stark prediction:

Nullriver, a software developer, released an iPhone application called NetShare, which enables an iPhone to be used as a portable modem for computers. Despite being a violation of AT&T's terms of service, Nullriver got it onto Apple's iTunes App Store. Over the past week, Apple took it down, reinstated it, and then took it down again. Both companies are now laying the blame at each other's doorsteps, as one blogger realized in his attempt to get a refund for his purchase. Might just want to call your credit card company to get the charge removed. That seems easier.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs says iPhone and iPod Touch users downloaded more than 60 million apps from the iTunes App Store during its first month of business, spending about $1 million per day for a sales total of $30 million. "At the current pace," report the quantitative analysts at the Wall Street Journal, "Apple stands to reap at least $360 million a year in new revenue from the App Store." Said Jobs: "This thing's going to crest a half a billion, soon. Who knows, maybe it will be a $1 billion marketplace at some point in time. I've never seen anything like this in my career for software." Note Jobs's crafty wording!

Before Apple succumbed to jealous cries of the hoi polloi and removed his "I Am Rich" application from its iTunes App Store, developer Armein Heinrich sold eight copies of his $999.99 pristinely useless software — six to refined buyers in the United States, one to a collector in Germany and another to one in France. From a technical perspective, all "I Am Rich" did was glow red. Metaphysically, it was known to provide elation only found in the delicate, snow white comfort of a Himalayan white tiger fur coat. Heinreich told the LA Times: "I have no idea why they did it and am not aware of any violation of the rules to sell software on the App Store." SAI performed the gauche math and figures Heinrich profited $6,000 from his work; Apple kept 30 percent of that for "store upkeep."