iLounge

Tech.co.uk claims that Apple will open up its FairPlay copy-protection technology to licensed iPod accessory makers. Apple is “expected to make two announcements this week—the first will be to allow streaming of protected AAC content via USB; the second will be to licence its Fairplay DRM to the company’s Made For iPod licensees,” the Tech.co.uk article says. “This will have the effect of enabling you to play songs bought from the iTunes Store through third party devices like hi-fis using digital connections. It may also mean that devices like iPod docks will be able to display more information—artwork and other track info, for example—which is stored alongside the protected audio.”

According to a report, music from the Beatles may be on the iTunes Store as soon as Valentine’s Day next month. Beatles fan website Abbeyrd claims that a deal between Apple and Apple Corps. has been struck, and that their latest album, “Love,” will be made available through iTunes.

Online DVD rental service Netflix has officially announced its online movie service, which allows subscribers to stream and watch about 1,000 movies and TV shows on their PC at no additional charge. The Windows-only service will roll out in small numbers to Netflix members each week through June.

Perooz is a new online service that lets users download mobile magazines for iPods, PSPs, and other devices. “Now you can enjoy your favorite magazines on the go with our exclusive content partners including Maxim, Stuff, Blender, Car & Driver, Road & Track, and more.”

Strong holiday sales will boost Apple’s fiscal first quarter numbers, which are due tomorrow after the markets close. Analysts, on average, expect earnings of 78 cents per share on sales of $6.42 billion, according to a Thomson Financial poll.

LG Electronics is considering whether it will file a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the iPhone design is a clone of the unreleased LG KE850 “Prada” mobile phone. The LG phone shares some similarities with the iPhone, including a rounded, black design, touch-sensitive controls and a full-screen interface. “At first glance, we recognized the iPhone shares many form factors with the Prada phone. We are flattered that other makers follow our design policy,” LG spokesman Lee Hyoung-kun said. “We can’t say at the moment whether or not we will file a lawsuit against Apple regarding this. It’s too early to make remarks on the issues.”

Despite soaring iPod sales, analysts believe that the popularity of lower-cost nanos and shuffles will result in Apple’s first year-over-year decline in iPod revenue. Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi estimates that Apple sold 17.5 million iPods during the holiday quarter, a 25 percent increase compared with last year, but likely at lower prices. “We believe the first ever y/y decline in iPod revenues may be unexpected for some investors,” the analyst wrote in a research note Friday. Sacconaghi estimates that the average sales price declined 22 percent, to $161 from $207, in the quarter compared with a year ago. Apple’s $79 shuffle accounted for 21 percent of all U.S. iPod sales in November, according to the NPD Group. The nano made up 51 percent of iPod sales during the month.

“Apple CEO Steve Jobs” appeared on NBC’s Saturday Night Live over the weekend, showing off the new iPhone. Over 2 billion songs and 150 kabillion contacts, in your pocket.

Apple will announce its fiscal first quarter financial results on Wednesday, January 17th, at 5:00 p.m. ET. Along with its earnings, Apple will reveal how many iPods it sold during the busy holiday quarter.

Apple’s legal team is cracking down on websites and online forums that link to newly created software that turns the Windows Mobile operating system into an iPhone lookalike.

Concerned that his “working man hands” won’t work too well with the iPhone’s virtual keyboard, Jason Santa Maria has mocked up a photo of how the keyboard might look in landscape orientation.

RCA has introduced two new “Made for iPod” audio products—the RCA RP5500i Dual Wake Clock Radio and RCA RS2130i Bookshelf system.

The RP5500i Dual Wake Clock Radio ($80; May) features a slide-out drawer with universal iPod dock, USB connectivity, and AM/FM radio. The unit also offers an automatic time set feature, two separate alarm settings, RCA’s Graduwake and SmartSnooze features, adjustable brightness control, and built-in battery backup.

The RS2130i Bookshelf Audio System ($170; May) features an external iPod dock, a 160-watt digital amplifier, and a five-disc CD changer that reads CDs and CD-R/RW discs with MP3 and WMA files. The system also offers RCA’s “Rip&Go” feature, which records music directly to an MP3 player via a built-in USB port.

In addition to its iGroove SXT, Klipsch has also introduced the iPod-specific RoomGroove speaker system. Part of the new KlipschCast family, the RoomGroove is a transceiver system—it can receive CD-quality wireless audio from the Klipsch CS-700 DVD Entertainment System as well as transmit audio to other RoomGrooves.

The RoomGroove utilizes dual 2.5-inch high-output woofers in a ported enclosure, premium crossover networks and dual MicroTractrix Horn-loaded tweeters. It features a hidden dock that accepts and charges all dockable iPods. The RoomGroove also has an auxiliary input and comes with wall mounting hardware and an IR remote control. The system will ship in April for $349.

Delivered by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, this year’s keynote address from Macworld Expo is now available as a free downloadable podcast from the iTunes Store. Despite the fact that it clocks in at a feature film-length 1 hour and 45 minutes, Jobs’ keynote is unquestionably the most engaging public speech iLounge’s editors have ever seen, introducing the company’s new iPhone with a level of oratorical mastery that deserves academic study. The download is 1.21GB, and well worth the transfer time.

According to trademark law experts, Cisco may not be the owner of the iPhone name as it claims in the lawsuit filed this week against Apple. The iPhone trademark, owned by Cisco since 2000, was apparently abandoned in late 2005/early 2006 because the company was not actively selling a product under the iPhone name.

Cisco filed a Declaration of Use with the US Patent and Trademark office days before the trademark’s expiration in May 2006, following a six month grace period, but only provided a photo of one of its previously existing products—the Linksys CIT200 Cordless Internet Telephony Kit—with an “iPhone” sticker affixed over the product’s name.

“If Cisco didn’t launch a product using the iPhone name, their trademark registration would be canceled and they would have no bargaining chips with Apple,” says attorney Jay Behmke. “So in order to keep the trademark active, they had to file the Declaration of Use, and start selling a product under that trademark.”

“It is possible that the Declaration of Use is defective, as there was no continuous use, and the sample that Cisco submitted was for a product not released until 7 months later,” Behmke says. “The fact that the Declaration of Use was submitted only days before the deadline expires gives me the impression that they were scrambling to get a product to market, and had to file the Declaration before the product was ready.”

Celebrating the close of its Illuminator case design contest at Macworld Expo today, Mophie unexpectedly announced that three separate product concepts had won, with each item turned into physical prototype form and planned for release by the company in the near future. One of the winners, Schlep ($30), is a flip-open design that will be produced in two versions - one for iPhone (June), one for iPod 5G (April), adding credit card sleeves and a zippered storage pocket, and suitable for mounting on a bag strap. Bevy ($15, March) is a shuffle-fitting keychain holder-slash-bottle opener, with integrated iPod headphone cable management around its edge. Montage (price and date TBD) is a multi-function digital photo frame with a user-positionable iPod dock. Additional pictures of all three designs can be seen at the company’s Illuminator contest mini-site.

Some financial analysts and legal experts believe Cisco’s lawsuit over the iPhone trademark won’t stop Apple from using the name, noting that the case will likely be settled long before the June ship date. At least one analyst, however, believes Apple will change the device’s name to “Apple Phone.”

“We expect an amicable resolution,” Prudential Securities analyst Inder Singh said. “The most likely outcome, in our opinion, is for Cisco to be a net recipient of financial payment from Apple for use of the name.” Apple “has until May to sort this out and then ramp up marketing, so there is time,” said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray.

Citing sources close to the iPhone situation, Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research said he expects Apple to change the name of the iPhone to “Apple Phone” in time for the product’s release in June. Of note, Apple this week renamed its previously codenamed iTV living room device the “Apple TV.”

Tunewear has announced its Prie Tunewallet micro for both iPod nano generations. The nappa leather case features a card pocket which can hold 15-20 business cards or credit cards and cash. The $30 case comes with a Tunefilm screen and click wheel transparent protector, and has an eyelet hole for using a wallet chain (not included). The Prie Tunewallet micro is available in four models—B/R (black leather/red stitch), B/W (black leather/white stitch), W/W (white leather/white stitch), and Sienna (brown leather/yellow stitch).

Sundance Institute and Sundance Channel today announced that they will offer narrative, documentary and animation shorts from the 2007 Sundance Film Festival on the iTunes Store. A selection of short films from the 2007 festival will be available for download at $1.99 each on the iTunes Store beginning January 22, 2007.

“The films available on iTunes are drawn from the 71 Sundance Film Festival short films, representing 19 countries and 4445 submissions from American and international filmmakers,” says the organizers. “Also available on the iTunes Store will be free podcasts that take you behind the scenes of the Sundance Film Festival including engaging panels with filmmakers, journalists and industry representatives direct from Prospector Square and live performances straight from the Music CafA(C) in Park City.”

AT&T will rebrand its Cingular service with the AT&T name starting Monday. AT&T took full control of Cingular, the exclusive carrier of Apple’s iPhone, with its $85.8 billion purchase of BellSouth last month.

“The new name is a step back in time for Cingular, which bought the old AT&T Wireless in 2004 and eventually dropped the AT&T name altogether,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “AT&T executives hope a sole brand will signal to consumers that the company is a one-stop shop for myriad services including wireless, TV and land-line phone. But the coming months may be confusing for some Cingular customers who not long ago were absorbed from the old AT&T Wireless.”

Ads, customer bills and other items will have both Cingular and AT&T logos at the beginning of the transition, with the AT&T name to takeover solely months from now.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs says consumers can expect more mobile applications for the iPhone by the time the device ships in June—but that Apple will control what applications make it onto the iPhone, much like it has done with every iPod.

“We define everything that is on the phone,” Jobs told the New York Times. “You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers.” Jobs told Newsweek something similar. “You don’t want your phone to be an open platform,” he said. “You need it to work when you need it to work. Cingular doesn’t want to see their West Coast network go down because some application messed up.”

“These are devices that need to work, and you can’t do that if you load any software on them,” Jobs continued. “That doesn’t mean there’s not going to be software to buy that you can load on them coming from us. It doesn’t mean we have to write it all, but it means it has to be more of a controlled environment.”

During the unveiling of the iPhone, which runs a scaled down version of Mac OS X, Jobs showed off applications for email, web browsing, photos, SMS text messaging, and Google Maps, as well as widgets for weather and stocks. Other icons on the iPhone prototype include Calendar, Camera, Calculator, Notes, Clock, and Settings.

Choose Your Own Adventure has announced its first interactive children’s book for the iPod. “Unlike the typical ‘one way only’ story in a narrated audiobook, the CYOA download goes in countless directions as ‘you’ in the role of main character click on links to select the story’s direction,” explains the company. “The video screen allows the user to view full color illustrations, albeit in miniature. R. A. Montgomery, CYOA author and founder, narrates the story in which ‘you’ are a skilled mountain climber on an expedition through the Himalayas in search of the elusive Yeti. Sound effects like the whirl of a helicopter or howling winds enhance the sense of immersion.” Choose Your Own Adventure #1 - “The Abominable Snowman” audiobook is available as a free download until January 25, 2007.

Mophie has announced the Mueva Wraptor case for Apple’s second-generation iPod nano. The silicone case features a clear polycarbonate collapsible cord wrap for iPod earbuds, “putting an end to the dangles and tangles forevermore.” The case also provides full-screen protection and a play-through click wheel guard. The Wraptor case will be available in five colors—black, frost, pink, blue, and green—in February for $25.

The iPhone will require a two-year Cingular service plan, according to reports. “We spoke with Cingular and confirmed that Apple’s new iPhone will require a two-year cell phone plan and will not be sold without it,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle’s Ellen Lee. At a CES press conference in Las Vegas following the iPhone’s introduction, Cingular confirmed that customers must agree to a two-year contract in order to buy the iPhone, even if that requires customers to renew their current service plan with the company. Cingular also said that the company’s exclusive rights to sell the iPhone is a “multi-year agreement in the U.S.,” meaning the device won’t be offered by other carriers anytime soon.

Cisco Systems filed suit against Apple today, claiming that the company is using the iPhone name without permission. The suit comes after an apparent licensing deal fell through this week following years of negotiations over the iPhone trademark, which Cisco has owned since 2000.

“Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco’s iPhone name,” Mark Chandler, Cisco’s senior vice president and general counsel, said in a statement. “There is no doubt that Apple’s new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without permission.”

As of yesterday, Cisco said it was confident Apple would agree to its latest terms, noting that it was expecting to receive a signed agreement from Apple. Cisco said the paperwork never arrived, and today filed a lawsuit, asking a U.S. district judge for Northern California to order Apple not to use the iPhone name during this week’s Macworld Expo.

Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, dismissed Cisco’s suit. “We think Cisco’s trademark lawsuit is silly,” she said. Several companies already use the name “iPhone” for Voice-over-Internet products, Kerris said. “Apple is the first company to ever use the ‘iPhone’ name for a cell phone. We believe that Cisco’s trademark registration is tenuous at best. If Cisco wants to challenge us on it, we are very confident we would prevail.”

iLounge has just announced the winners of its Best of Show 2007 Awards:

Alpine X001 Digital Media Receiver
Altec Lansing iM600 Portable Speaker System
Apple iPhone
Belkin Bluetooth Dock Adapter for iPod
Belkin Clear Acrylic and Brushed Metal Case for iPod nano
Belkin TuneStudio
Elgato EyeTV 2.3.3
Griffin Evolve Wireless Speaker System
Harman Kardon Drive + Play 2
iSkin Cerulean Bluetooth Earphones
Lenntek Hookup-Lanyard
Macally TunePro Flat Panel Stereo Speaker with AM/FM Alarm Clock
Power Support Silicone Jacket for iPod shuffle
Roxio Toast 8 Titanium

Congratulations to the winners! Full details are now available in this linked article.