The collaboration between Apple and Starbucks to bring the music being played in Starbucks to iTunes users on the fly has begun in earnest in Seattle and New York where the sweetness is not only in the whipped cream atop your hot coffee, but also now in your hand with a free iTunes download card handed out at the register.

Selected artists are featured every day and the card entitles the holder to a free downloaded song by that artist. This is a pretty brilliant way to get the Starbucks iTunes collaboration into the minds of the the Starbucks customers.

Additionally many Starbucks are also featuring a large flat panel display which shows the currently playing track and reminding them of the iTunes service.

The seamless nature of the blend of iTunes and lattes is another genius move and I'm looking forward to both my next java and my next tune once the service rolls out to my area of the country.

If you live in New York or Seattle and have personally used the service we'd love to hear your comments on the service. Is it over the top, in your face and obnoxious or is it blended tastefully like your cappuccino?

Labels: free music download, iTunes, Starbucks

Apple announced yesterday that the 4GB iPhone will be phased out and the 8GB model will see a price drop of $200 bringing the device to the four hundred dollar range. For early adopters of the iPhone this may be a bit hard to swallow and possibly encourage these same people from being eager to rush out and buy new Apple devices in the future.

There have been many folks who spoke in doomsday tones about the move Apple was making to get into the cellular phone market, but the price cut is akin to the moves made by cell phone manufacturers across the spectrum. That is, release a new phone and slash its' price within a year. This runs counter to the typical Apple method of cutting prices on products only after a couple iterations of the device, but it seems a shrewd decision by Apple in time for the holidays to gain wider acceptance of the device.

The iPhone will be issued a software update that introduces the iTunes Wi-Fi Store. Using the Wi-Fi ability of the iPhone you can now wirelessly buy tunes direct from your iPhone and synch them with iTunes when you get home. But where to use this new service? Try Starbucks. Apple and Starbucks are rolling out a special service (complete with a bottom row button on the iPhone) that allows you to see what the last ten songs played at a Starbucks location were and buy them directly via the Wi-Fi iTunes store. Pretty darned cool.

What to do with those tunes? How about make a ringtone. For an additional 99 cents you can now create a ringtone on your iPhone with many of the songs in your iTunes library. iTunes now has a new tool to enable you to select a portion of a song (up to thirty seconds long) and create your own custom ringtone.

So a price drop, Starbucks partnership, Wi-Fi iTunes store and dropping the low end phone model. Big news. Just in time for the holiday season ....

Labels: iPhone, iTunes, Starbucks, Wi-Fi

In an earlier post about the iPhone as a PSP Killer I mused about the iPhone being positioned as a handheld gaming console and now it seems others are running with the idea:

Macsimum News story

Mac Informant story

The US Patent 6768066 filed way back in 2004 it seems Apple has thought of using the accelerometer in a gaming tablet of sorts for some while. The insistence that all software for the iPhone will be Apple produced does not gel too well with the idea that the platform will open to game developers, but I think this is really Apple just maintaining control over the experience. I think it won't be too long after the iPhone release that we see several things which lead to a larger adoption of the iPhone:

• New versions of the device with much larger storage capacities.
• Lower price points as sales begin to increase and competitors enter the market.
• Apple certified development process whereby all sales are handled through iTunes.
• Wireless integration and sync abilities with iTunes and perhaps Apple TV.

As mentioned in my earlier post about the iPhone introduction, Gaming Consoles was one of the markets mentioned in the MacWorld announcement when Steve Jobs was discussing possible sales figures. I simply do not believe this was a mistake. I think Apple is gunning for the living room in every way and I think the iPhone is the device to get them there.

Imagine your Apple TV becoming a game console and you can download iPhone versions of games alongside the newest title playing on your HDTV. Imagine when you purchase your Ghost Recon on Apple TV you also get the handheld version.

Do you see what I see? Integration, integration, integration.

Labels: Apple TV, game console, handheld, iPhone, iTunes, Sony PSP

It's coming in bits and pieces - the story is falling into place. The pundits, jockeys and tech gurus are all thinking they have the square around this, but leave it to Jobs and Apple to have something up the sleeve of inventiveness.

We have stated it here before in other words and again now - Apple will blow away most people with what they will end up delivering.

So ... patents. Patents are nearly always a bit vague and open ended in order to allow for wiggle room and to protect things still under development. When an application for a patent is filed it become public knowledge and as such often the diagrams and descriptions are fuzzy, simple or confusing as all get-out.

In the case of a recent patent application it becomes clear they will likely add download ability via iTunes as most of us have expected. What will they offer? Firmware updates, ringtones, wallpapers and of course music, videos and TV.

It is this person's belief you will also see games and widgets, widgets, widgets.

Labels: games, iPhone, iTunes, patent, widgets

I have mentioned the idea of ringtones being available on iTunes when the iPhone launches, but it occurred to me today that in fact it is likely you will be able to assign anything from your iTunes library as your ringtone. What does this mean to those who are out there marketing (and even pulling in a decent dime) on the sales of ring tones?

iPhone has the potential to change the market in general for these extra goodies we are now accustomed to paying for. As much as the hardware revolutionizes what to expect in a device, the UI and software have the ability to impact the marketplace just as iTunes and the iPod turned the music industry upside down.

Labels: iPhone, iTunes, Ringtones