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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 Last 5 Years (2002 Off-Broadway Cast)

    • 10 out of 10
    • Jason Robert Brown
    • The soundtrack to this moving off-broadway musical is heart moving. The lyrics follow a couple in a relationship for five years, one point of view going forward in time, and the other tracing time fr
  • Quadrophenia

    • 10 out of 10
    • The Who
    • Quadrophenia is everything that Tommy wanted to be, a rock opera that told a story, but one where every song could still stand alone. It was also Pete Townshend's farewell tribute to the Mod

  • Spilt Milk

    • 10 out of 10
    • Jellyfish
    • The second and final album from this power-pop group makes me wish Jellyfish had been able to make just one more record together. The album is best enjoyed as a whole piece, flowing from one track to
  • Mezzanine

    • 6 out of 10
    • Massive Attack
    • "Black Milk" knocks me off my feet in this collection of moody and eclectic songs. Massive Attack uses samples and keyboards in a very unique way, but not all the songs pack the same punch.

  • Priest = Aura

    • 10 out of 10
    • The Church
    • Another of my all-time favorites, Priest = Aura is one of those rare albums where every song is simply fantastic, and a testament to how good pop-rock can be.

      Each song immediatel

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News

Apple Increases Efforts to Collect ‘Made For iPod’ Royalties

Earlier this year, Apple instituted a program that enables accessory makers to put a "Made for iPod" logo on their products, in exchange for royalty payments. Likened to an "iPod tax" by some, the program is now mandatory for companies that want to connect their products to the dock connector on the bottom of the MP3 player, according to a CNET article.

Apple senior vice-president of marketing Phil Schiller told reporter Ina Fried: "Yes, the electrical connection has specifications around that and licensing around that, and the way you get that assistance and information and licensing is through the 'Made for iPod' program." He wouldn't say when the program became mandatory, nor would he say what Apple will do if a company decides to ignore the requirements.

Ms. Fried cited a source who told her that Apple charges a royalty of 10% of an iPod add-on's wholesale price. She noted that the market for such accessories is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told her: "Ultimately Apple is tired of watching these people profit off their success."

On the upside, Ms. Fried said that the "Made for iPod" program gives these companies "some peace of mind ... in knowing that the accessories they make today will work with the iPod of tomorrow." Mr. Schiller told her that Apple ensures manufacturers that their add-ons will work with future versions of the iPod, thanks to its pledge to include an adapter with the MP3 player. The iPod nano comes with an adapter that enables it to connect with devices designed for earlier editions of the MP3 player.

However, as Ms. Fried pointed out, the latest iPods have dropped the topside connector that many accessory makers used to rely on for their products. Now third party manufacturers have to connect their devices to the dock port, which has rendered a large number of accessories completely incompatible with the new generation of iPods.

"It's the key to the kingdom," Digital Lifestyle Outfitters vice-president Andrew Green said of the dock connector. He told Ms. Fried that his company is focusing all of its recent development work on products that use that port, a move all iPod accessory makers now have to make.

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