In a recent addition to the iTunes store, Apple has added a new, “Discovery Download.” First noticed under the Alternative section of the iTunes store, it’s another way for users to get their hands on some free music.

While the addition of more free music is a pleasant thought, it appears as though iTunes is continuing to pump seriously horrible music that it is sub-par by even the most generous standards. iTunes users shouldn’t expect any more from the “Discovery Downloads,” than the already present free downloads of the week at the iTunes store home page.

This week’s first Discovery Download is: Two Times by The Blakes.

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.

Apple has just released updates for iTunes, Quicktime, and Front Row. All three updates are related to the ability to Rent and Download iTunes Movies.

Stay Tuned for More!

Picture Below.

As was expected, Steve Jobs has just announced the addition of iTunes Movie Rentals to the iTunes store.

“Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, Lionsgate, Newline, FOx, WB, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Sony all on board”

“Over 1000 movies (available 30 days after DVD release)”

“Watch anywhere (Macs, PCs, all current iPods and iPhone)”

“Watch instantly (30 seconds with modern broadband)”

“Rules: 30 days to start watching. 24 hours to finish”

“Library titles: $2.99, New Releases: $3.99″

“iTunes Movie Rentals launches today in the U.S. International will launch later this year. Software updates for iPods and iTunes will be forthcoming”

“HD rentals are $4.99. 100 titles today”

Look for more updates soon!

Apple.com has just released a sneak peek advertisement for visitors of the site. It reads, “There’s something in the air.” The blogosphere has been inundated with rumors and speculation over this latest hint.

Two of the most likely rumors appear to be the possibility that Jobs could announce a new wireless capability or device for the Apple/Mac platform. The second, and somewhat more covered rumor has been the addition of iTunes store movie rentals.

The keynote presentation will be live on Apple’s website Tuesday afternoon, sometime after the actual presentation. Feel free to comment with your own speculation below!

It’s that time of year again, time for Steve Jobs to take the stage at MacWorld and captivate us with his newest additions to the Apple/Mac line. The conference starts January 14th and runs until the 18th. One thing in particular is keeping consumers and investors actively intrigued with this upcoming media event.

Yes, consumers have been well rewarded by some of Apple’s latest product creations, and it has becoming a regular occurrence to hear fantastic news when Steve Jobs steps onto the stage at MacWorld. This year most of the media is focusing on a rumored creation of iTunes movie rentals.

The move will allow Apple to capitalize on consumers’ desires to watch full-length movies on their Apple devices, but not pay a permanent, hefty fee of $9.99 to $14.99 for current movie releases.

A rental feature is expected to fill that gap and offer the movies at a more reasonable price, while also adhering to Apple’s standard for innovation in portability. The rental movies need to be available to the consumers for long periods of time.

Current online rental standards follow a pattern of a 30-day viewing period from purchase, but the videos often expire 24 hours from the first click to watch. Expect Apple to follow these standards, while also evolving the rental period to better suit multiple viewings of a movie over a longer period of time with iPods. (Perhaps a set number of full-length viewings of rental movies)

C’mon Steve! Surprise us!

Today, Apple released a new music video for the iPod + iTunes line. Video is a move towards higher definition of contrast and features Mary J. Blige.

The song, “Work That,” can be found here on the iTunes store.

Steve Jobs and his creative team in Apple always dazzle us with their innovations. Mac revolutionized the computing world and from then on they never looked back. Apple impressed us with their hardware and with Tiger they literally went in for the kill. Back then, it’s not surprising to meet Mac fans getting loans just to purchase the latest Apple hardware.

The highly anticipated and well-selling Leopard operating system has been getting some fabulous reviews from the professionals, but will the regular user really notice the difference?

We’re Mac fanboys here, and we’d like to think that everything Apple produces is the best. Unfortunately, Apple’s newest operating system doesn’t live up to its hype. Across the Apple/Mac rumors and new websites, Mac OS X Leopard has been getting fabulous reviews. Many have highlighted the new Spaces and Time Machine features, but here’s what we found.

The installation took a bit longer than one and a half hours. The upgrade makes a disc check that takes about 45 minutes (thankfully it’s optional). Then, a long process of installation begins. A calculating time feature doesn’t even show the estimated time until about one hour. After a stop and start installation, the installer says that the upgrade is complete.

The computer then restarts into the new Leopard operating system. A slow initial startup begins. Afterwards, the installation process is complete. After the install, you may want to do a “Software Update…” under the Apple icon. We found about 16 to 17 MBs of new updates after the installation of Leopard.

For most Mac users, the bottom bar of icons holds every application that they’ll ever use. There are noticeable changes in the design of the desktop, a translucent top bar and a 3D reflective bottom bar. Both changes are minimal and are neither positive or negative. iCal is cleaner and operates slightly quicker, but isn’t any major upgrade. Apple Mail gives users templates for creative e-mail design that is a practical feature. iChat allows for greater compatibility with chat applications and now incorporates Google Talk accounts. The Finder is interesting, as the upgrade makes the finder more like cover flow in iTunes.

One of the most functional and pleasant upgrades was the upgrade to iTunes. Now, when files are dragged onto an external music player, like an iPod Shuffle, users can operate iTunes without waiting for a short freeze in the program. This change not only saves time, but doesn’t result in the annoying hassles like before.

Time Machine’s features are quite revolutionary, allowing the user to backup files and literally go back in time to when certain files were deleted or added. In order to backup the entire computer’s file systems requires ample hard drive space or a well-sized external drive.

Unfortunately, the operating system’s new Spaces program is a semi-pointless feature. The different “Spaces” are really only a way to “hide” (Apple Command + ‘h’) programs. The new visual spots assign different Spaces for programs and as you switch between different programs, the computer switches to different desktops. All in all, it’s interesting, but by no means a necessary part of Leopard.

Leopard is definitely an interesting upgrade, but hardly worth the $129 it costs to upgrade. As stated before, most users will find the upgrades fun and interesting, but hardly necessary or time-saving.