Sirius and XM Satellite Radio are fantastic platforms that offer wireless, satellite-based forms of radio. Unfortunately, the two companies haven’t prospered. They continue to suffer losses and subscription rate decreases. One of the major reasons has been the poor economy, but even more disruptive to these satellite companies has been the problem of user accessibility.

They have car receivers, home receivers, portable devices–You’d think they cover the whole gamut. But they haven’t really been successful at marketing their portable devices since they’ve been expensive, small storage capacity, and no universality between computer platforms (PC and Mac).

The iPhone has come along and made application development a booming tycoon of business opportunities. Fortunately for the satellite radio companies, a basic program was created to allow consumers to login to their satellite radio account (subscription required). From there, users can scroll through the entire list of satellite programming.

Download the program at: uSirius

iTunes 7.7 is only a few days from being released. A special pre-release version was seeded to developers tonight.

Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 or later. Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home — a free download from the App Store. — Source

So, in a free app, Apple will be giving users the ability to control Macs, Apple TVs, iTunes, etc. with the touch screen of the iPod Touch and iPhone. Look forward to this app coming with the next update of the iPhone firmware.

A few years back, Starbucks founder and CEO Howard Schultz sat in on one of Steve Jobs’ keynote speeches, presaging a vital computer/caffeine partnership. It wasn’t long before those little iTunes download cards starting showing up on the Starbucks counter, and iTunes was featuring a specially designated iTunes + Starbucks feature. iTunes cards often feature music of the month and the download cards are for a full album. It’s saved a vast amount of space and made the search for music an entirely different experience. The larger the selection of iTunes cards, the more Starbucks will seem less like a coffee shop and more like a record store of the past. But that’s not the end of the story; it becomes even further intertwined when a third party comes into the mix.

Around the time of the launch of the first generation iPhone, Apple decided upon AT&T to provide wireless service. It was highly publicized that Apple was looking for a company that would allow them to get royalties off monthly cell phone payments on the iPhone. As we all know, Apple priced the iPhone at $599, with no savings by signing on for two years. Without a doubt, Verizon Wireless missed the boat here when they declined the opportunity to work with Apple, citing that they could make a phone of their own, without having to pay third party royalties. And so it evolved that Apple and AT&T teamed up to provide service for the iPhone.

Perspective consumers were dismayed when discovering that the device would be running on AT&T’s slower “EDGE” network, known for having notoriously abysmal data service. Add into the equation that 3G technology was already working and delivering close to Wi-Fi speeds. In preparation for the major launch of the original iPhone, AT&T prepared their EDGE network lines and markedly boosted speeds. Without a doubt, these preparations were all tailored for the iPhone.

Eventually, AT&T’s CEO (and rumors around the blogosphere) acknowledged the development of Apple’s next iPhone: the iPhone 3G. AT&T delivered again, by upgrading the EDGE network to 3G. Apple was now ready to release the iPhone 3G on the network.

Right before the announcement of the new iPhone 3G on June 9th, Starbucks was in hot water with T-Mobile, which initiated a lawsuit as a result of Starbucks’ sudden jilting of T-Mobile, in preference for AT&T. Starbucks was preparing to have iPhone/iPod Touch + Starbucks content and music ready for their Wi-Fi consumers. And who does Schultz choose for cafe wireless? None other than AT&T. The new AT&T wireless internet at Starbucks allows 2 hours of free internet when connected to a Starbucks Rewards registered card account. Registration is free, and has made a trip to Starbucks even more appealing.

There have already been a number of rumors about iPhone users receiving unlimited free Wi-Fi service inside every Starbucks. Now more than ever, the probability of the two products working in tandem seems a given. Apple, AT&T, and Starbucks are collaborating so closely these days that one can envision these three companies developing an even closer partnership to serve their niche consumers.

This year Apple got an early start to their Back to School promotion that’s usually just a free iPod Nano after rebates. Fortunately, this year’s deal also applies to iPod Nanos and Touches.

The rebate can be applied to either iPod and is good for a $299 total cost for the iPod. That’s essentially the cost of the 8 GB iPod Touch.

Buy a qualifying Mac and iPod with your Apple education discount from June 3, 2008, through September 15, 2008, while supplies last, and be eligible for a rebate up to $299.

The free iPod deal each year before school is a great deal, but this one creates the most bang for your buck when buying your Apple computer. For instance, the basic MacBook costs $999 with the educational discount and the $299 Mail-in-rebate will apply to an iPod Touch purchase. Looking on eBay, one would say a brand new iPod Touch (8 GB) would sell for about $230. This essentially brings the purchase of a Mac to $770 (before all fees and taxes). Not a bad deal!

Click here for link to Back to School Promo.

The iPod Touch has continued to captivate me. I’ve been increasingly interested in purchasing one for quite some time. The ability for the iPod Touch/iPhone/OS X software to become more complex and developed, alongside 3rd party app development, is making it an enticing buy. But what’s holding me back?

For starters, there’s a hefty price tag–$299 for an 8GB model. I have a relatively large music collection, but an even larger (size) of TV Shows and Movies that I’ve downloaded from Apple’s iTunes store. By all means I don’t have to have my entire iTunes library with me at all times, but sometimes I want to rock out to some punk and sometimes I want to listen to some indie rock. I go through different music moods and I want to easily switch between my whole library.

What occurs to me is that every sign is pointing me towards the iPod classic. It’s got the size, ability to play TV Shows and Movies, and is even slighty smaller than the iPod touch. Unfortunately, I don’t want to part ways with the iPod touch’s features and larger viewing screen.

I want the touch interface and web capabilities of the iPod touch with the storage capacity of the iPod classic. Oh and one more thing, I’d like to see the device’s size shrink down to that of an iPod nano.

iPod touch interface, iPod classic storage size, and iPod nano form factor. Bring me that Apple, and I’ll hardly think twice about dropping $299.

Both the iPod Touch and iPhone have received major updates in storage capacity today on the Apple store. Unfortunately, the upgraded storage capacities have come without major price cuts to the baseline models.

As of today, “Now there’s even more to touch.” The iPod Touch now includes a top-of-the-line 32 GB model. The new version is priced at a steep $399. Although there was a major upgrade to the line, the 8 GB model is still priced $299.

The iPhone also got a modest increase today, with the introduction of a 16 GB model. The new iPhone costs $499, with the older model still priced at $399.

Engadget.com recently published an article discussing the recent “jailbreak” that has set the iPod Touch free. Now, the iPod Touch, through the power of Wi-Fi, can run mail programs, Google Maps, and much more.

From the beginning of Apple’s creation of the iPhone, and now the iPod Touch, hackers have been looking for a way around the company’s stronghold on their products. Users have demanded instant messaging capabilities, a full-function mail application, and various other ways to take advantage of the Wi-Fi enabled devices. Unfortunately, Apple has yet to respond and create their own programs of this nature. In the meantime, hackers have officially accomplished their goal of opening the device to 3rd party apps.

The hacking of any of the Apple products means only one thing for the company, more money. Once these devices are hacked, there’s always an increase in sales. Potential customers like the idea of “hacking” the products, as well as using considerably more features then the regular user. Heck, having a more advanced mail system is just one more reason to consider an iPod Touch a little more worthy of our attention.

Keep an eye out for Apple over the next few days, they’re set to report earnings on October 22nd.Estimates: 0.99 | 0.84 | 0.72

Apple (AAPL), in what has been well-rumored for quite sometime, has officially launched the Apple.com Webapps Directory. While these apps are often very interesting and offer a wide variety of choices, they’re still Safari based.

The Webapps Directory is an enormous leap over having no method of downloading any free Safari-based webapps. The Webapps Directory can be found at: http://www.apple.com/webapps/