John Paczkowski

Recent Posts by John Paczkowski

iTunes 8 to Feature Slide-Out Keyboard, Dual Batteries?

The Apple rumor mill has such a hair trigger, that even passing mention of an unreleased product can set it into yammering motion. As happened today after Digg founder Kevin Rose offered up some purported insider information about the focus of Apple’s “Let’s Rock” media event in San Francisco next Tuesday. If Rose is correct–and his record on handicapping Apple (AAPL) announcements is decidedly mixed–Apple will announce updates to its entire iPod line, including the rumored “tall” iPod Nano. Not exactly a tough call considering that XSKN is already selling cases for them and purported photos of the device — like the one below — are showing up on Alibaba.

More interestingly though, Rose says that Apple will uncrate iTunes 8, the first major overhaul of the software since iTunes 7 launched two years ago. Rose claims that iTunes 8 will boast some significant enhancements, among them HD-quality TV show downloads, a new “grid view” browsing feature and a playlist recommendation engine called Genius. “iTunes 8 includes Genius, which makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together,” Rose writes. “Genius also includes Genius sidebar, which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don’t already have.”

Notably absent from Rose’s list of new features: iTunes Unlimited–the $129-a-year all-you-can-eat subscription service that Apple has been rumored to be considering for some time now.

Like all such reports, Rose’s should be taken with a grain of salt, if not an entire salt lick. Rose was, after all, the guy who erroneously claimed Apple’s first iPhone would feature a slide-out keyboard, dual batteries and CDMA, and GSM support.

Twitter’s Tanking

December 30, 2013 at 6:49 am PT

2013 Was a Good Year for Chromebooks

December 29, 2013 at 2:12 pm PT

BlackBerry Pulls Latest Twitter for BB10 Update

December 29, 2013 at 5:58 am PT

Apple CEO Tim Cook Made $4.25 Million This Year

December 28, 2013 at 12:05 pm PT

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Just as the atom bomb was the weapon that was supposed to render war obsolete, the Internet seems like capitalism’s ultimate feat of self-destructive genius, an economic doomsday device rendering it impossible for anyone to ever make a profit off anything again. It’s especially hopeless for those whose work is easily digitized and accessed free of charge.

— Author Tim Kreider on not getting paid for one’s work