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Top 5 Free Apps

Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: May 22, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: August 29, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Release Date: August 07, 2009

iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

Top 5 Paid Apps

Release Date: April 22, 2009
StickWars $0.99
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
Bloons $0.99
Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • The Stooges

    • 8 out of 10
    • The Stooges
    • Another pillar of my musical foundations, The Stooges' first album is one those records whose influence far outweighed its popularity. Like The Velvet Underground & Nico, hordes of people wh

  • Guero

    • 10 out of 10
    • Beck
    • Beck is the modern master of the groove, and Guero is merely the latest example of this. From the opening power chords of "E-Pro," to the Pac-Man cuteness of "Girl," to the dirge-like lullab

  • Abnormal Anonymous

    • 8 out of 10
    • Congo Norvell
    • Very few albums manage to capture snapshots of a quality of life in the manner that Congo Norvell's sophomore record, "Abnormals Anonymous," does.

      Comparisons to the Velvet Underground are

  • 2112

    • 10 out of 10
    • Rush
    • We all know it, right? Well, ya just gotta have it. 2112 finally showed Rush out on their own, doing their own thing, and doing it well, IMHO.
  • The Wall (Deluxe Packaging Digitally Remastered)

    • 10 out of 10
    • Pink Floyd
    • Okay, someone had to say it, and though others on the iPO staff are more qualified to review this album, I decided the time was now. This is the quintessential concept album. Though others came before

Reader Specials

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News

Playing Catchup With iTunes

On Monday, Ethan Smith at the Wall Street Journal analyzed the competition to Apple's iTunes in an in-depth article: Can Anybody Catch iTunes? [Subscription required.] Mr. Smith's survey of Emusic, Yahoo Music, Napster, RealNetworks, and Microsoft revealed how each company is avoiding a head-on confrontation with market leader Apple, taking an indirect approach, and trying to find small holes in the successful iTunes strategy.

Mr. Smith explained how Emusic is doing well because theirs is the only service compatible with the Apple iPod. Yahoo is going after customers who have been reluctant to engage in pay-for-music services in the past. Napster is concentrating on the "music wants to be free" slogan, leveraging their heritage, and also working ambitiously to convert their base into paying customers. RealNetworks is working on improving the hardware integration with partner SanDisk. Microsoft is focusing on one of the social aspects of music.

This is an excellent survey of the competition. While Mr. Smith didn't make any predictions or come to any conclusions, he showed how each competitor is trying to avoid a head-on approach and, instead, carve out a market niche for themselves.

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