By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Apple has been adamant about pricing of videos on iTunes, and in fact that’s one of the reasons that NBC left the iTunes store and eventually wound up at the Zune Marketplace. But now it appears they have become more flexible, as HBO and Apple announced on Tuesday that HBO shows are now available on iTunes - and some are priced above the $1.99 price Apple had previously set as a ceiling.

In a press release, Apple said:

Television shows purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store can be viewed on a Mac or PC, iPod nano with video, iPod classic, iPod touch, fifth generation iPod, iPhone or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV. “Sex and the City,” “The Wire” and “Flight of the Conchords” are $1.99 per episode, and “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood” and “Rome” are priced at $2.99 per episode. iTunes customers can also choose to purchase entire seasons of their favorite programs.

So, Apple has broken their glass ceiling of $1.99. Hey, NBC, are you watching all this drama?

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Let’s face it: smartphone news nowadays seems to center on the iPhone, even if some analysts don’t label it a smartphone. And with the iPhone’s upcoming Exchange support, RIM has to be feeling some heat, despite its dominance in the Enterprise market. The BlackBerry Bold (known during development as the BlackBerry 9000) has been labeled by some as an “iPhone killer,” but it’s not really that so much as a device aimed at keeping BlackBerry on top of the Enterprise game.

From their press release:

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone’s support for tri-band HSDPA and enterprise-grade Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g) networks and its next-generation 624 MHz mobile processor make short work of downloading email attachments, streaming video or rendering web pages. The BlackBerry Bold also includes 128 MB Flash memory plus 1 GB on-board storage memory.

Note that unlike the T-Mobile Pearl, Wi-Fi can be used only for data, not voice calls. More:

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone comes with the most vivid and bold display ever introduced on a BlackBerry smartphone. Its half-VGA (480×320 resolution) color LCD is fused to the undersurface of the lens, making images leap out with stunning definition and clarity.

While it has the same resolution as the iPhone, the display is (quite obviously) smaller. The hard keyboard is a plus for Enterprise users, though.

For off-business hours, the Bold has a 2-megapixel camera with video recording capability, built-in flash and 5x digital zoom. It has built-in stereo speakers. According to RIM, when using wired headphones or external speakers, the media player gives the user an equalizer with 11 preset filters.

What else? Integrated GPS, so you can’t say you were lost if you miss an important business meeting.

The big question? When. The somewhat vague answer: summer. I’m thinking sometime close to the 3G iPhone launch, which many feel will be sometime between mid-June and mid-July.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Another lawsuit, more cash out of Apple’s pockets. I wrote earlier about the credit being offered to Canadian owners of older iPods. This case involves faulty power adapters for Powerbooks and iBooks.

A class-action suit, filed in 2006, alleged that Apple misrepresented problems with the power adapters. In 2001, Apple recalled about 570,000 adapters sold with PowerBooks after reports of overheating and sparking.

In court filings, plaintiffs said “the adapter dangerously frays, sparks and prematurely fails to work.”

Apple will pay customers who bought replacements made by Apple or a 3rd party $25 - $79 depending on the cost of the item. It’s unclear as to whether or not you’ll need a receipt, and since it’s been some time since this all happened, it’s unclear if that would truly be fair anyway.

The settlement, which was granted preliminary approval by U.S. District Court Judge James Ware on March 24th, still requires final approval. A hearing on final approval is scheduled for September 8th.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Rumored since last week, and revealed by the typical Apple Store outage, updated iMacs are here. Same prices, better specs.

And what are those better specs? Well, as Apple trumpets in their press release, for starters, buyers can now get the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors (up to 3.06 GHz), a faster 1066MHz FSB and optional nVidia GeForce 8800 GS graphics.

In the release, Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing said:

“The iMac’s gorgeous aluminum and glass all-in-one design has been an incredible hit with our customers and is just one of the reasons Mac sales are growing three and a half times faster than PC sales. With the latest Intel processors, a faster new graphics option and more memory, customers now have even more reasons to love the iMac.”

The same $1,199 for the low-end model nets you a a 20″ iMac, 2.4GHz CPU, ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128 MB memory, 1GB of RAM and a 250GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

The high-end 24″ model starts at $1,799 with a 2.8GHz CPU, ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory, 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

Move to the higher-end 24″ model (starting at $2,199) and you add a 3.06GHz CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512MB GDDR3 memory, and a larger 500GB hard drive.

Here are the specs for the lower-end models at each screen size:

The new 20-inch 2.4 GHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,199 (US), includes:

• 20-inch widescreen LCD display;
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 1GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 4GB;
• 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• a slot-load 8x SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB GDDR3 memory;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• the Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse and infrared Apple Remote.

The new 24-inch 2.8 GHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), includes:

• 24-inch widescreen LCD display;
• 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 4GB;
• 320GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• the Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse and infrared Apple Remote.

Naturally you can add more RAM and other upgrades. Also naturally, the Apple Store is back up and these babies are available now.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Despite all the skepticism from the media, Psystar has produced a video that purports to show “the triplets,” three Open Computers running Ubuntu Linux, Windows XP and Mac OS X Leopard.

The video is posted on their website, but a copy has also been uploaded to YouTube.

The Open Computer running OS X is shown running Quake 4. There’s not a whole lot of detail or close-ups in the video, which lasts about one and a half minutes. According to the narrator, the video was created using Final Cut Pro on one of their own Open Computers.

Things like this make me feel this operation is less vaporish than I originally thought, but it would be great if a reputable site could get their hands on one of the “bad boys,” as Psystar calls them, and reviews them. Or even if an end user could confirm having received one of them!

Watch the video and judge for yourself.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

You’ll recall the Mac clone maker Psystar, which not only says it can sell you a computer, it says it will install Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) on it as well. Which not only violates the Mac OS X EULA, it also requires tweaks to do it.

It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? And many times, if something sounds too good to be true …

At any rate, it’s strange that the company seems to have moved three since their announcement. Perhaps, as they indicate on their website, it was just a site error, but they started at 10645 SW 112th St. in Miami, then changed their contact info to 10481 NW 28th St., then to 10471 NW 28th St., and now they’re at 10475 NW 28th St. Unfortunately, no Google Street View of that address.

Either they have a really bad webmaster or something’s fishy.

Both the Guardian and Gizmodo have done some poking around, and nothing seems all that positive in terms of investing your hard-earned money with these guys.

• The address problem (though admitted to as an error in an interview with Tom’s Hardware).

• They can’t take orders by phone (see their site).

• They either have a really bad phone system or no one’s there.

• No response to emails.

• The principles are Rodolfo and Roberto Pedraza, who are officers or agents on a whole host of companies, only one of which, besides Psystar, appears in operation (FloridaTek). Oh, and if you click on the “Remote Desktop Technical Support” link on the upper LHS of the page you get an .EXE download - which I wouldn’t trust.

So, is this deal just “rotten to the core?” Can’t be sure yet, but it’s so fishy I’d be worried about mercury poisoning. Stay clear of this company until further notice.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

When we last visited Wal-Mart’s attempt at DRM-free music, they had only managed to get EMI and Universal Music Group signed up for the DRM-free portion of their store. They’ve now decided to go all-MP3, but they’re still stuck without Warner Music Group and Sony BMG, which are unfortunately the top two record labels.

Most likely they will eventually match Amazon MP3, which has all four major record labels signed, but it’s surprising that Wal-Mart made this move without working out deals - and that they haven’t been able to work out a deal since August. When Amazon MP3 launched it was understandable that they were missing labels, as they vowed to be all MP3 from the start, but Wal-Mart?

The store redesign means that only those with IE can use the new store; others using, for example, Firefox are greeted with the following message:

We notice you’re not using Internet Explorer. Other browsers may be able to access our original Music Downloads store which has fewer user features than our latest version but offers the same music. We will be making enhancements to our updated version in the future to support the Firefox browser. If you want to take advantage of all the features in our updated design now, please get the latest version of Internet Explorer.

Of course, since Firefox is my browser of choice, I fell back on IE Tab.

No Mac or Linux support for their download app; in fact, Linux isn’t even mentioned, and for Mac their site says:

At this time, it isn’t possible to shop and download songs directly from Wal-Mart Music Downloads to a Macintosh computer. However, you can transfer the MP3 files from a Windows computer to a Macintosh using a CD or other storage device.

How convenient for end users!

We Say: I suppose Wal-Mart isn’t all that worried about the challenge presented by iTunes; if they were, they might have pushed the store out when it was fully formed, instead of rushing it out; the lack of a) two major labels, b) alternate browser support, c) Mac and Linux support is pretty behind-the-times in this day and age (all right, all right, I know lack of Mac / Linux support is pretty common).

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Reports are circulating that iTunes has surpassed Wal-Mart in music sales, closely following a February report which showed them passing Best Buy to reach #2 in music sales. According to Ars Technica, they have received a copy of an internal Apple email which trumpeted the news to employees, sent yesterday.

The email contains a screenshot of NPD data (above) which shows iTunes in first with 19%, Wal-Mart in second with 15%, Best Buy in third with 13% and Amazon.com fourth at 6%.

However, others questioned the validity of the data, or rather, the staying power of iTunes. A couple of assertions led to the questions.

• Gift cards. There were probably a ton of iTunes gift cards sent around during the Christmas season. While it was pointed out by Ars in a rebuttal that everyone else had gift cards as well, it’s a lot easier to send electronic gift cards (and redeem them) than physical ones.

• Why no press release? This is big news; you would expect a huge Apple press release.

Unfortunately, all that “evidence” is circumstantial and conjecture, and wouldn’t stand up in court, as Gil Grissom would say.

My take?

Yes, the gift cards had something to do with it. If there’s no press release forthcoming, it’s because Apple realizes that fact and is waiting for the February numbers. Of course, who knows; we could see a press release later today.

At any rate, even if it’s a temporary bump, there’s no denying two facts:

1. A permanent changing of the guard is going to happen eventually, anyway.
2. It’s a great feat, no matter what.