Apple announced today that new movie releases will be available for purchase the same day as their DVD release. The film studios involved in this are 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios.

For a limited time, you can get a free $15 iTunes gift card with the purchase of a refurbished 4GB or 8GB iPod nano (current generation). In order get this offer, you must use the link below or the link to the right. The refurbished iPod nanos are already a terrific deal, but to get free music with your iPod is an even better deal.

This offer has expired. Check out the deals on refurbished iPods.

I just stumbled across this today while looking at some 512px x 512px icons. While the subject of the detail is nothing special, it is the attention to detail that amazes me. Around the inner ring of the CD is the text:

iTUNES 7 120806 APPLE 2006

click the image for larger view

24 hours to watch a movie rental from start to finish is way too short, in my opinion. I don’t know how many times I have fallen asleep before a movie is over, and only get back to the movie at the same time the next night. By then, my time would be expired on an iTunes movie rental.

(cc) You have thirty (30) days after downloading a movie to begin viewing. Once you begin viewing, you have twenty-four (24) hours to view the movie (the “Viewing Period”). You may view the movie an unlimited number of times during the Viewing Period. Movies are not viewable after the thirty (30) day period. Stopping, pausing or restarting a movie does not extend the available time for viewing.(#)

Over 5 million copies of Leopard have been sold so far making it the most successful Mac OS ever.

Apple announced Time Capsule, a wireless backup drive available in 500GB ($299) and 1TB ($499) versions. Backup your laptop without wires.

In addition to being the best way to back up a Mac, Time Capsule is also a full-featured Wi-Fi base station with the latest 802.11n technology. Delivering up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g, 802.11n* is built in to Apple’s iMac® desktop and the entire Mac notebook line up, including MacBook®, MacBook Pro and the new MacBook Air. Time Capsule features a sleek design with a built-in power supply and connections to print wirelessly to a USB printer. With Time Capsule, it’s very easy for users to create a secure, wireless network for up to 50 users and set security restrictions such as Internet access limits for children’s computers. (#)

Time Capsule will begin shipping in February.

4 million iPhones have been sold to date (200 days since release). That is 20,000 per day.

iPhone firmware v1.1.3 is announced. It includes web clips, new interface for maps, customizable home screen, bulk SMS, chapters and subtitles in videos, lyrics.

Users can now create Web Clips—icons on the home screen that take you directly to your favorite websites, including to the exact spot you have zoomed into. Web Clips are a great way to easily track websites that you frequently check such as news, blogs, sports sites and movie listings. In addition, users can now customize their home screen by repositioning any of the icons, and even create up to nine different home screens that they can easily flick between. (#)

Skyhook wireless and Google allow positioning on the iPhone.

With just the tap of a button, iPhone can now triangulate your position using nearby Wi-Fi base stations or cellular towers. You can use this as a starting or ending point for directions or to find local points of interest. The new hybrid map view combines map view and satellite view so you can see major street names overlaid on satellite imagery. (#)

Five apps are available today for the iPod touch: Mail, Maps, Stocks, Notes, and Weather.

Current iPod touch owners must pay $20 for this upgrade.

iTunes movies rentals are announced. Studios participating include: Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, Lionsgate, New Line Cinema, Fox, Warner Brothers, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Sony Pictures.

Over 1,000 movies available to rent and watch anywhere.

Once you rent, you have 30 days to start watching the movie and 24 hours to finish the movie once you start it. Movie can be transferred to another device before you complete it.

Library titles are $2.99 and new releases are $3.99 starting today (in the US).

Apple announces Apple TV take 2. No computer required. View movies in HD with Dolby 5.1 sound. Rent movies directly from your widescreen TV. Rent in DVD quality ($3.99) or HD quality ($4.99) starting today. 100 titles are available today in HD.

Connect to podcats, Flickr, YouTube, etc with the Apple TV take 2

New interface for Apple TV take 2.

Included is a search tool for finding movies, music, music videos, and podcasts.

.Mac photo screensavers can be viewed on Apple TV take 2.

New Apple TV software is a free upgrade.

Apple TV take 2 drops in price from $299 to $229.

Apple unveils the world’s thinnest notebook, the MacBook Air. MacBook Air is 0.76 inches thick to 0.16 inches thick on the thinnest side. The thickest part of the MacBook Air is still thinner than the Sony TZ series.

So thin, it fits inside a manila envelope.

MacBook Air has a full 13.3 inch widescreen display, LED backlit display, built-in iSight, full-size backlit keyboard, ambient light sensor, multi-touch trackpad.

Standard hard drive is the same 1.8″ drive as in iPods, but there is an optional 64GB solid state disk.

The MacBook Air comes with 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo processor. Intel shrunk the size of the Core 2 Duo chip by 60% in order to fit.

MacBook Air has WiFi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1.

No optical drive in the MacBook Air, but an optional USB drive is available for $99.

MacBook Air features “Remote Disk” to enable it to “borrow” the optical drive from other computers in the vicinity.

MacBook Air has a claimed battery life of 5 hours.

MacBook Air pricing starts at $1,799. Available for pre-order now, and will ship in two weeks.

There are two options which may be selected independently: 64GB SSD ($999) and 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo upgrade ($300).

The micro-DVI port supports external display resolutions up to 1920×1200.

Steve Jobs also touted the environmental conscious build and packaging of the MacBook Air. Its aluminum case is fully recyclable and the display is Apple’s first fully mercury-free and lead-free display. The circuit boards are BFR-free and there is 56% less packaging than a regular MacBook.

InformationWeek writes that on December 31, 2007, a lawsuit was filed against Apple that charges the company with maintaining an illegal monopoly on the digital music market.

The complaint takes issue with Apple’s refusal to support the Windows Media Audio format. “Apple’s iPod is alone among mass-market Digital Music Players in not supporting the WMA format,” it states, noting that America Online, Wal-Mart, Napster, MusicMatch,Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) Music, FYE Download Zone, and Virgin Digital all support protected WMA files.

So Apple chose not to license the WMA format from Microsoft. That is totally within their right to license (or not) particular technologies in their own music players. Apple’s iPods will play MP3 files, the most ubiquitous of all formats, as well as their own FairPlay protected files. Apple chose to license MP3, but didn’t deem WMA is important or even worthwhile. Honestly, I don’t see anything wrong with that.

Would you like to create your own ringtones for your iPhone? Here’s how Apple recommends to do that.

Here’s what you need to do it:

• GarageBand 4.1.1 or later
• iTunes 7.5 or later
• iPhone with software version 1.1.2 or later

To create a custom ringtone

1. Set up a cycle region that covers the area you wish to use in the GarageBand song. Note: This area must be 40 seconds or less in length.
2. Once the cycle area has been set, choose Share > Send Ringtone to iTunes.

For troubleshooting information, visit Apple’s support page.

An Apple press release states:

Apple® today announced that hit television programming from Canada’s top networks, US broadcasters and the National Hockey League (NHL) is now available for CAN$1.99 per episode from the iTunes® Store in Canada (www.itunes.ca). iTunes customers can choose from Canadian-produced favorites such as the top-rated, award-winning “Corner Gas” from CTV, smash hit comedy “Little Mosque on the Prairie” from CBC, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning “South Park” from Comedy Central and the NHL Games of the Year.

“We’re thrilled to bring television programming to the iTunes Store in Canada in time for the holiday season,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We’re off to a great start with hit shows from CBC, CTV, Comedy Central and MTV Networks, along with the best of classic and current NHL action.”

Television shows purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store can be viewed on a PC or Mac®, iPod® nano with video, fifth generation iPod, iPod classic or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV™. Television programming on the iTunes Store in Canada includes:

• CBC’s comedy programs “Little Mosque on the Prairie” and “The Rick Mercer Report,” reality programming “No Opportunity Wasted” and “Dragon’s Den;” • CTV’s smash hit comedy “Corner Gas,” dramas “Instant Star,” “Degrassi: The Next Generation” and “Robson Arms;” • Comedy Central’s “Drawn Together,” “The Sarah Silverman Program” and Emmy and Peabody Award-winning “South Park;” • MTV Networks programs “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “The Hills;” and • NHL Games of the Year, including top NHL games in their entirety for the 2007-2008 season, as well as Stanley Cup Classics, a five-game bundle of great Stanley Cup Final games.

With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, seamless integration with iPod and the ability to turn previously purchased songs into completed albums at a reduced price, the iTunes Store is the best way for PC and Mac users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.

Apple announced today that Led Zeppelin’s complete discography is available for pre-order exclusively from iTunes Music Store for $99.

“The Complete Led Zeppelin” is a 165-track collection of all 13 of the legendary group’s albums, including the new career-spanning “Mothership” retrospective, for only $99.

Led Zeppelin on iTunes Music Store

One more thing. Those who pre-order “Mothership” or “The Complete Led Zeppelin” will be entered into a sweepstakes for a chance to win tickets to a reunion concert at O2 Arena in London.

If you’re looking for something a bit more tangible, you might check out this box set from 1993 — Complete Studio Recordings [BOX SET] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED], but keep in mind that this will be missing some albums, most notably “Mothership”.

Apple has added over two million DRM-free songs to the iTunes Plus portion of the iTunes Music Store. In addition to the added songs, Apple has drop the price of the DRM-free tracks from $1.29 to $0.99 each.

iTunes Plus Now Offers Over Two Million Tracks at Just 99 Cents