July 3 - 12:20pm EDT   imeem is gradually building its own music store that may afford it independence from Apple's iTunes or Amazon MP3, an investigation has found. Normally, those buying permanent copies of music from the site must go through an Amazon or iTunes link and buy it off-site; quietly, however, the company has been adding direct-download MP3 purchases of its own for certain artists, such as Iron and Wine. The payment system is direct and uses either credit cards or PayPal. [full story]

June 30 - 5:00pm EDT   iPlayMusic has launched the beta version of a new download service, providing chords, music and lyrics for songs from a user's iTunes library. Chords for iTunes synchronizes video with the audio of an iTunes track, allowing users to slow down or speed up while maintaining proper pitch. [full story]

June 26 - 12:40pm EDT   Apple has been deceptive with regards to iTunes gift cards, knowingly or not, a new lawsuit alleges. Filed in an Illinois district court by Barbara and Daniel Owens, the suit charges that even as Apple transitioned to variable iTunes song pricing on April 7th, the company continued to sell cards describing every song as costing only 99 cents. Such advertising is potentially misleading, the Owens say, suggesting that people can get more songs per card than may realistically be possible. [full story]

June 25 - 10:10am EDT   (Updated with feature information) Apple is now distributing an update to the Remote iPhone app, bringing it to version 1.3. The app lets users control music playback on a computer or Apple TV, whether through basic play, pause, skip and shuffle commands, or the creation of custom playlists. Users can additionally control speakers connected through AirTunes. [full story]

June 23 - 2:40pm EDT   Apple is quietly combating fraudulent iTunes gift card offenders, writes the Washington Post. After using cards purchased from eBay, some shoppers are reporting that their iTunes accounts are being disabled. As a consequence, many claim that they are losing all iTunes Store purchases that are not backed up. Fake cards are typically said to be listed at $20 (for a $25 iTunes card), and originally purchased with a stolen or hacked credit card. [full story]

June 17 - 3:10pm EDT   Along with offering a variety of new features and capabilities, the Version 3.0 firmware for the iPhone and iPod touch also addresses a long list of security vulnerabilities. CoreGraphics bounds and error checking have been improved to prevent maliciously crafted images or PDF files from terminating applications or executing arbitrary code. Bounds checking in FreeType v2.3.8 has also been reworked to prevent integer overflows. [full story]

June 17 - 2:00pm EDT   US Democratic Congressman Eric Massa on Wednesday introduced the Broadband Internet Fairness Act, a measure to monitor and regulate capped, tiered Internet services. The bill would require any provider switching from a typically unlimited plan to a usage-based system to be scrutinized by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and would ban any service plans that the FTC deems "unreasonable or discriminatory." Providers that ignored any imposed bans would be subject to unspecified punishment. [full story]

June 15 - 11:50am EDT   EasyWMA 3.0 ($10) is a tool for converting wma, asf, flv/wmv audio, real media, and ogg vorbis files to aiff, mp3, m4a, or wav so that they can be used in iTunes. The application has a simple interface that feature drag-and-drop support and is also capable of performing batch conversions. The update has added support for the flac audio file format. [Download - 4MB] [full story]

June 9 - 11:35am EDT   MyMacTime 1.3 ($20) is a tool for tracking time spent on different projects. Users can enter all the tasks they are currently working on and then either enter the time spent on each one manually or have the application log it. Tasks can then be synchronized with iCal for printing or sharing. Version 1.3 allows users to open recent projects through the status menu and also includes new options for bringing the main window to the front. Clicking on a Growl notification, using a defined keyboard shortcut, and using a specified status menu action are all options for making myMacTime the active window. [Download - 4.7MB] [full story]

June 8 - 2:35pm EDT   Apple at the WWDC event provided a variety of details surrounding the expanded capabilities of the iPhone 3.0 operating system, including direct movie purchases from the handset interface. While the current software requires users to obtain the content on iTunes before syncing the device, the update will enable rentals or purchases while on the go. [full story]

June 8 - 11:05am EDT   Lionsgate, MGM and Paramount today launched an invitation beta for Epix, a hybrid cable and online movie streaming service meant to supplement rather than replace regular pay-per-view TV. Anyone with a cable package that includes the channel will get access to the studios' movies weeks ahead of their regular DVD releases for "free" but will simultaneously have access to streaming, 720p versions of those same movies for their computers. The approach is ad-free, even online, and automatically scales the bitrate up or down (to as low as 500Kbps) depending on the quality of the connection. [full story]

June 7 - 3:40pm EDT   Vaughn S. Cordero of VSC/Macsupport has released a new version of the iPhone backup-browsing utility, MobileSyncBrowser 3.0. The software is used to keep a local copy of the information contained in the iPhone’s SMS and Notes applications, as well as the recent call history. In the latest upgrade, compatibility has been added for the upcoming iPhone OS 3.0. Support for iTunes 8.2 has also been improved, providing both new and enhanced previews, along with better performance and stability. Available localizations now include US English, German, French and Spanish. [full story]

June 4 - 12:10pm EDT   VUDU today added movies from Disney's various studios to its catalog in a significant expansion of its catalog. The initial roster includes about 60 titles and focuses more on mature titles such as No Country for Old Men but also includes children's titles like High School Musical 3. In a first, the device and video provider also claims to be the first to offer permanent, purchasable versions of these movies in HD. Competitors like iTunes are currently limited to renting in HD and purchasing in standard resolution. [full story]

June 3 - 4:15pm EDT   The recent iTunes 8.2 update allegedly includes code strings that point to several iPhone features, including Nike+ Sport Kit and FM radio support, that may arrive with next-generation devices, according to AppleInsider. The radio capabilities would allow users to tag songs to be purchased from iTunes. The Nike+ support is also new to the iPhone, although the receiver has already been built into the second-generation iPod touch. [full story]

June 1 - 4:50pm EDT   Apple has published updates for two of its main media playback utilities, iTunes and QuickTime. The most crucial is iTunes 8.2, which introduces support for the yet-to-be-released iPhone 3.0 firmware; the upgrade may signify an iPhone 3.0 debut on or around Apple's imminent WWDC event, scheduled to begin June 8th. Also addressed in the download are unspecified bugfixes and accessibility improvements. [full story]