According to the Financial Times, Apple, Inc., is in discussions with movie studios to offer movie rentals beginning fall 2007. Such a service would operate much like those from Xbox Live, Unbox, MovieLink and CinemaNow. The rentals would cost $2.99 for 30-days and would be able to be moved to at least one other device such as an iPod, iPhone or Apple TV.

We mentioned in our recent review of the Apple TV,  we believe that in order for Apple TV to be relevant, this is exactly what Apple needs to do.

As promised, today, Apple, Inc., launched DRM-free music from EMI. While still a limited selection, it's a solid first step. The AAC (.mp4) 256Kbit audio files are $1.29 instead of the standard $0.99. Albums are the same prices as they were previously.

We tried the .mp4 files in a few different players including iTunes Mac and Windows, Windows Media Player, VLC player, Sonos and Squeezebox. All software and hardware players had no trouble playing the DRM-free iTunes. In order to purchase the new DRM-free music, you must upgrade iTunes to version 7.2.

If you previously purchased songs from the iTunes Store that are now in the iTunes Plus (DRM-free) format, iTunes will offer a $0.30 upgrade to the DRM-free version. We found it worked even if the purchased track had been deleted. Additionally, Apple has provided an iTunes Plus Quick Link in the iTunes interface and a checkbox for iTunes Plus in Power Search (also a Quick Link).  We noticed that iTunes was a bit busy today and experienced a few errors that required restarting downloads.

We now look forward to a larger selection and more labels.

Nicely done Apple.

Sonos has updated their music system to version 2.2. The primary change in version 2.2 is the addition of the Pandora streaming music service.

In our Sonos review, Pandora was one of they key additions we wanted to see. Pandora provides a personalized radio service based on the Music Genome Project which analyzes popular music. The result is that you can create your own Pandora stations based on artists and songs you like.

Sonos' implementation of Pandora is nicely done. From both the hand-held and computer-based controllers you can rate songs, listen to any of your 100 Pandora stations, create a new station based on any artist or song, create a new station based on the currently playing track or artist, bookmark a track or artist and tell Pandora not to play a song again for 30-days. The only thing you can't do from Sonos that requires the Pandora website is setting up the initial account and deciding which stations make up your mix (a multistation mashup). We wish that Pandora would allow multiple mixes, especially with Sonos.

Getting house-wide, unlimited music with the advanced matching system used by Pandora for $36 per year is an excellent deal. We like the Pandora interface on Sonos better than Rhapsody. If you have Sonos, you really need to give it a try. If you are a fan of Pandora and want it throughout your house, it may be time to pull the trigger on a Sonos system. With Sonos' new Bundle 130, which includes a ZonePlayer 80, ZonePlayer 100 and a Controller, $999 gets you quite a bit.

Sonos users can trial Pandora free for 30-days.

Unfortunately, Pandora is only available for U.S. users.

Pandora on Sonos

Following in the footsteps of Apple, Inc., today Amazon announced DRM-free music including music from EMI and more than 12,000 minor labels.

Launching later this year, the DRM-free Amazon store will include music in the MP3 format. There was no mention of pricing or encoding bit-rate. Based on other Amazon services, the Amazon offering should be competitive and that's great news for all.

The cracks in the DRM dike are growing larger. We only hope that such a story would seem trite in three years.

Amazon Press Release

Today, NETGEAR announced the acquisition of Infrant Technologies, maker of the very popular ReadyNAS line of network attached storage devices. As part of the $60 million cash transaction, Infrant CEO, Paul Tien, will become the NETGEAR VP and General Manager of Storage Products. 

In general, we think this is great news for Infrant fans. Hopefully, this move will speed up new product development, increase distribution and drive prices lower – all without sacrificing the quality we've come to expect from Infrant.

Today, Onkyo, along with video processing chip maker Silicon Optix, announced two new Onkyo home theater receivers that contain the Reon-VX HQV video processor. The TX-SR875 (MSRP $1,699) and TX-NR905 (MSRP $2,099) will ship in June and August respectively. With HDMI 1.3a, component, S-video and composite upscaling video inputs, both of these will be compelling receivers when they hit the street.

We love the Silicon Optix Reon processors. Products based on the Reon do some of the best upscaling and de-interlacing out there. We're hoping that Onkyo's home theater receivers are also in that camp.

Silicon Optix

Onkyo  

MGM and Apple, Inc. announced today immediate availability of selected MGM titles at iTunes. Unfortunately, the offering is a bit more of movie history than history making. If you've been waiting to see Mad Max, Robocop, Rocky or Chucky on that new shiny Apple TV, then this news is for you.

For those counting, that brings the number of studios at the iTunes store to four. Now if Apple would only offer 720p movies and movie rentals.

In what we consider a major announcement, EMI and Apple today announced that EMI music will be available DRM-free on iTunes beginning in May.

The DRM-free EMI tracks will be available at twice the bitrate (audio quality) of standard iTunes tracks for $1.29 each. Complete albums will also be DRM-free and higher quality at no additional charge. Additionally, iTunes users can upgrade existing tracks to DRM-free tracks for $0.30. All EMI music videos will be DRM-free at current prices.

Our disdain for DRM runs deep. It limits how you can use the music you purchase and affects your buying decisions. We believe that by removing DRM and doubling audio quality, Apple and EMI will increase online music purchases. iTunes users who also use other devices such as Sonos and Squeezebox will now be able to play DRM-free EMI tracks on all their devices.

Based on all the strong words in favor of DRM from the other big record labels, it's hard to predict if they will follow suit. When DRM-free EMI iTunes songs are made available in May, let your $$ do the talking and show EMI and Apple that their decision is a good one.

EMI Press Release  

Just a quick note to shamelessly plug TechDigs.net publisher Greg Keene joining Rickey Spero and Jeff Gamett on The Mac Observer's Apple Weekly Report podcast.

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