iLounge

“‘We’ve been running around for the past couple of days trying to find it,’ said 16-year-old Joey Balinski, looking downcast after coming up iPod-less at another store. ‘I would have asked for it for Christmas a couple of years ago, but I figured by now it would be easier to find. [...]

‘It still beat our overestimating expectations,’ said Kawika Holbrook, assistant manager at the Apple Store at Westfield Shoppingtown Valley Fair, noting his store had sold thousands since Thanksgiving. Plus, fate may have conspired against a few iPod lovers. A large FedEx MD-10 airplane that caught fire Thursday in Memphis had a load of iPods on it, Holbrook said. ‘The picture was being passed around the Net, and we were like, ‘No!’ ‘Apple has not said whether any iPods were damaged, or whether that affected late-season availability.”

“When Apple Computer Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs takes the stage at MacWorld next month, analysts expect him to unveil smaller, cheaper iPods and hope he will detail the company’s strategy to move into the digital living room.

The lower-end iPods, which are expected to carry a price tag of about $100 and will hold 400 to 800 songs, are a necessary answer to the bevy of MP3 digital music players now on the market that cost $100 or less, analysts said. [...]

In addition to the lower-cost iPods, the Cupertino, California-based Apple is also expected to unveil them with different colors and even in stripes, as well as variously colored cases for Apple’s traditional iPods, according to Enderle and Mac rumor Web site Thinksecret.com.”

“The makers of Kazaa, the world’s most popular computer file-sharing program, cannot be held liable for copyright infringement of music or movies swapped on its free software, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled Friday. [...]

‘This victory sets the precedent about the legality of peer-to-peer technology across the European Union, and around the world,’ Kazaa founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis said in a statement distributed on the Internet. They called the ruling a ‘historic victory for the evolution of the Internet and for consumers.’”

“John Lewis had also sold out of the iPod, and was warning customers they may have to wait until mid January to get their hands on the product. Dan Knowles is the company’s director of buying for electrical goods.

He said: ‘We have sold over 2,500 iPods in the run-up to Christmas, which is a lot for such a highly priced product. It just seems to have that cool factor somehow, it’s a truly iconic product already. I don’t think there is a secret to it, it’s just a really, really good product.’

However, those in the industry are unsurprised by the success. Gadget magazine Stuff voted the iPod its number-one gadget from a list of 100 products. Gary Parkinson, deputy editor, said: ‘There has been phenomenal interest in the iPod. I don’t think we have ever experienced anything like it for a gadget.’”

“In the new year, some of the world’s biggest brands will promote their products and services by doling out millions of free downloads through alliances with digital music services.

‘You’re going to see lots of free music given out via third-party companies,” buymusic.com founder Scott Blum says. “It’s not going to be Apple and iTunes driving the business. It’s going to be companies like Pepsi and other third parties that are promoting digital music on bottle caps and on labels.’

Indeed, Apple Computer has inked a deal with Pepsi to give away 100 million iTunes downloads in a promotion that kicks off in February with a Super Bowl ad.”

“I recently installed the Soundgate SNHOND3 into my brand new ‘04 Honda Accord EX V-6 so that I could use my iPod in the car. I’ve been using an FM transmitter for a long time in my old car and was tired of hearing static and trying to find stations that worked.

Here you will find step-by-step, picture-filled instructions on how to install the SNHOND3 unit into your ‘03 or ‘04 Accord. They are identical installations.”

“Mike Khalfey, central buyer for electronics at John Lewis department stores, said so many people wanted an iPod they were having to take orders for delivery after Christmas.

‘The demand is certainly outstripping supply,’ he said, adding that the most popular model was the middle of the range 20GB iPod for £299.

‘We are getting shipments once or twice a week but we are selling them almost as fast as they come in.’”

“A federal appeals court on Friday rejected efforts by the recording industry to compel the nation’s Internet providers to turn over names of subscribers suspected of illegally swapping music online.

The ruling from a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia was a dramatic setback for the industry’s controversial anti-piracy campaign. It overturned the trial judge’s decision to enforce a type of copyright subpoena from a law that predates the music downloading trend.”

“Round Rock-based Dell Inc. stopped reselling Apple’s iPods in mid-November, about two weeks after the company launched its own competing MP3 player.

“We’ve stopped selling them permanently,” said Mary Fad, a Dell spokeswoman.

Both Apple and Dell declined to explain why the two companies scrapped their reselling agreement.”