MacRumors

Ahead of Apple's planned announcement scheduled for about half an hour from now that has been expected to see content from The Beatles finally come to the iTunes Store, that content has already gone live. The offerings are headed by The Beatles Box Set, offering a total of 256 songs and other items, including iTunes LP mini-documentary features and a video of the band's first U.S. concert, all for $149.00.

Individual albums featuring enhanced iTunes LP content are also available, with the majority of them priced at $12.99 and a few others including "The White Album" and several greatest hits collections available for $19.99. Songs are generally also available on a per-track basis priced at $1.29 each.

Update: Apple has now updated its homepage to reflect availability of The Beatles' catalog on iTunes, and issued a press release about the release.

Apple Corps, EMI and Apple today announced that the Beatles, the most influential and beloved rock band in music history, are now available for the first time on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com). Starting today, the group's 13 legendary remastered studio albums with iTunes LPs, the two-volume "Past Masters" compilation and the classic "Red" and "Blue" collections are available for purchase and download on iTunes worldwide as either albums or individual songs. Fans can also get a special digital "Beatles Box Set" featuring the "Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964" concert film, a worldwide iTunes exclusive which captures the Beatles' very first US concert.

Apple has also posted a dedicated page on its site highlighting The Beatles and offering video streams of new ads promoting the release and footage of the Washington Coliseum concert.

Update 2: According to All Things Digital, Apple has exclusivity on digital distribution of The Beatles' catalog "into 2011".

The big news of the day has been Apple's iTunes-related announcement scheduled for tomorrow, and one of the rumors that has been gaining traction in the hours since the news broke is that Apple may finally have struck a deal to bring The Beatles to the iTunes Store.

For starters, the sources in the past that quashed any rumors of an impending Beatles launch are today very quiet, and strangely so. Next is the wording of the teaser on Apple's website. The first line is, "Tomorrow is just another day." As noted earlier, "Another Day" is a Paul McCartney song released on his solo record "Ram," but written during the Beatles' "Let it Be" sessions.

Also, for those into hunting for more clues, Apple's teaser page features four clocks, each with the arms in different positions, (denoting the time of the announcement in California, New York, London and Tokyo time zones). Pretty unnecessary unless you compare it to the cover of the Beatles' "Help!" album, featuring all four members side by side with their arms also in different positions.

The report from Billboard hints at other reasons may finally be the day that The Beatles come to iTunes, although it is unable to share all of its information.

The rumor of course leads some to question whether such an announcement would be worthy of a hype-filled front-page teaser on Apple.com, but there is no special media event accompanying tomorrow's announcement, and it is unclear if any other news besides The Beatles would be included if it is indeed in the works.

On one final note, MacRumors yesterday did receive an unconfirmed tip that The Beatles would be coming to the iTunes Store on Wednesday, November 17th. Such unconfirmed rumors are not uncommon (although things have been relatively quiet with regards to The Beatles since the lead-up to Apple's September 1st music-focused media event) and this one included no details we could use to follow-up or verify, but perhaps is worth noting in light of today's events.

Update: The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times are now confirming that Apple has in fact finally struck a deal with The Beatles and their rights owners and is preparing to announce that The Beatles' music will soon be available in the iTunes Store.

Speculation and rumors regarding tomorrow's iTunes-related announcement are continuing to come in from all directions, and the latest bit of speculation relies on some bits of information pulled out of the iTunes 10.1 release from last Friday to suggest that Apple might be looking to launch some kind of "iTunes Live Stream" service. Details on what exactly the service might be, however, remain sketchy.

The Apple Lounge reports [Google translation] that translation entries in a property list file included with iTunes 10.1 contain references to an "iTunes Live Stream URL" that appears to be a type of file or service that could be handled by iTunes. This reference is new in iTunes 10.1.

Meanwhile, as noted in a series of Tweets from @dustinrue, other references to "iTunes Live Stream URL" in iTunes 10.1 files suggest the ability to handle "itls" as a URI scheme in much the same way that iTunes uses "itms" to handle requests to connect to the iTunes Store.

As noted, however, it is unclear what iTunes Live Stream actually is, with speculation ranging from live streaming of existing television content to something more along the lines of user-generated streams of live video or audio content.

Apple has been testing some aspects of live video streaming in recent months, rolling out its own HTTP Live Streaming technology based on open standards to deliver live video of its September and October media events. And with the company's new data center in North Carolina set to open by the end of the year, the company would seem to have ample backend capacity for such technology to be deployed on a broader scale.

The speculation remains, however, merely guesses about whether the new hints included in iTunes 10.1 are related to Apple's announcement tomorrow and what exactly those hints might mean.

Update: It appears that the localization translation evidence may have been first published by Consomac.

With Apple's teaser posted today regarding an "exciting" iTunes-related announcement scheduled for tomorrow, there has been a considerable amount of speculation about what exactly the company is planning to reveal.

One of the most popular topics of discussion for some time now has been a cloud-based iTunes that would allow users to have their purchased iTunes Store content hosted on Apple's servers and streamed to Internet-connected devices rather than having to manage local content libraries on each machine or on a user's home network. Another popular rumor dating back many years is a subscription-based music service that would allow users to pay a monthly fee to be able to listen to an entire catalog of music.

But according to All Things Digital, both of these possibilities appear unlikely given the lack of any inside reports of new contracts with major music labels that would be required for such plans.

But the music industry sources I've talked to so far today don't know of any new deals between Apple and the big music labels. So that would rule out a new subscription service, which would definitely require a new rights deal.

And that also makes it very unlikely that Apple does the next best thing: Letting users upload their iTunes catalog to the cloud, and letting them access it anywhere they want.

The report notes that Apple could try to announce such services without deals in place, but that Apple would likely not be interested in antagonizing content providers with such a move as it continues to try bring them on board with its digital initiatives.

Apple today updated its homepage with an announcement teasing a major iTunes-related announcement to be made tomorrow at 10:00 AM Eastern time.

Tomorrow is just another day.
That you'll never forget.

Check back here tomorrow for an exciting announcement from iTunes.

There have been no specific hints as to what the announcement might entail, but Apple has of course long been rumored to be moving to a cloud-based iTunes where users' music would be stored on Apple's servers and streamed to a variety of Internet-connected devices. Apple has also been rumored to be working on a subscription-based music service that would complement the existing pay-per-download service.

Either of those services could be supported by Apple's massive new data center in North Carolina that is set to go online by the end of the year.

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking a close look at the proposed deal between cable giant Comcast and film and television company NBC Universal, reportedly looking to impose restrictions on what would be a Comcast-controlled NBC company that would prevent it from favoring Comcast's online video distribution services over those of third parties such as Apple's iTunes Store and Netflix.

Few observers expect either the Justice Department or the Federal Communications Commission to block outright the roughly $13.75 billion deal to purchase 51% of NBC Universal from General Electric Co. One reason: Because the two companies aren't direct competitors, it's harder to mount an antitrust challenge.

Both agencies, however, are likely to impose significant conditions to prevent Comcast from withholding, or threatening to withhold, NBC Universal's programming from competitors, including companies that distribute TV shows and movies over the Internet, such as Apple Inc. and Netflix Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

NBC and Apple have had a rocky relationship in the past, with the two companies facing off in a pricing dispute that saw the iTunes Store stop offering downloads of new NBC shows in the fall 2007 season and not resume offering new content until a year later.

More recently, NBC declined to join Apple's pilot program to allow TV show rentals for 99 cents, with NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker claiming that such a move would "devalue" the network's content.

Over the weekend, Apple turned on access to its Ping social networking service via the iPad, adding a new tab within the iTunes application to allow users to quickly access the same functions available through the desktop and iPhone/iPod touch iTunes application.

Just like the iPhone version of Ping, the new iPad version offers three tabs, an "Activity" tab showing the latest posts from artists and friends the user has chosen to follow, a "People" tab to view and manage artists and friends following and being followed by the user, and a "My Profile" tab to show the user's own activity along with a link to a "Concerts" panel showing upcoming concerts from Ping artists in the user's area.

The new iPad functionality for Ping comes just days after Apple and Twitter teamed up to offer integration between their two social services, allowing Ping users to automatically Tweet their latest activity and integrating the display and previewing of iTunes Store content directly on Twitter.com.

Rumored release dates for iOS 4.2 continue to fly fast and furious, with The Telegraph now reporting that the update is set to launch on November 24th, the day before Thanksgiving in the United States.

The iOS 4.2 software update had been expected today, but Apple has delayed it release until Nov 24, a reliable source has told the Telegraph.

Apple has refused to comment on the speculation, stating only that it had said the software update would be released in November.

But a source that works closely with Apple said that the company had shelved its original plan to release the software update today, and had instead pushed back the launch until later this month.

The report comes as Apple appears to have pushed out a tweaked version of the iOS 4.2 golden master for iPad to developers, moving from Build 8C134 seeded to developers on November 1st to a new Build 8C134b.

Apple had been rumored to be releasing iOS 4.2 today, but a pair of reports published late yesterday indicated that a public launch would not occur until at least next Tuesday. Rumors had pointed to issues with Wi-Fi connectivity on the iPad as reasons for pushing the public release back from Apple's initial internal plans, and the appearance of a new iPad build today could lend some credence to that claim.

Apple today released iTunes 10.1, bringing compatibility with AirPlay and support for iOS 4.2.

What's new in iTunes 10.1

- Use AirPlay to instantly and wirelessly stream videos from iTunes to the all-new Apple TV.
- Sync with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.2.
- Provides a number of important stability and performance improvements.

iTunes 10.1 is available for Mac OS X 10.5 and higher and Windows (32-bit and 64 bit).

There is no sign yet of iOS 4.2 being available for download, and rumors have suggested that it may not come until at least next week.

The Wall Street Journal reports that many of Apple's competitors in the mobile advertising business, rather than seeing declines since the introduction of the iAd program, are instead seeing surges in their business as Apple's entry into the market has dramatically increased awareness of and interest in mobile advertising on the part of advertisers.

Apple has "brought sexiness to mobile ads," said Carnet Williams, chief executive of San Francisco-based Sprout Inc., which helps create and deliver interactive ads. Mr. Williams said it has gotten roughly four times as many calls from publishers and agencies since Apple turned the spotlight on iAds.

In particular, mobile advertising companies are finding significant business opportunities with companies unwilling or unable to meet Apple's reported $1 million commitment to participate in the primary iAd program or who are unsatisfied with the iAd program and Apple's demands for creative control in the process.

New York-based Medialets, for one, benefited when luxury brand Chanel SA dropped plans this summer to launch an iAd. Medialets, which sells mobile ads with video and other interactive elements, stepped in and said it was able to offer Chanel the same experience as an iAd plus more.

Apple is not standing still, however, as the report claims that the company is increasing iAd staff, streamlining the ad development process, and loosening some of its grip on the entire process to allow more freedom for advertisers and their partners.

9 to 5 Mac reports that iPhone 3G owners have been struck with yet another blow, this time with the apparent removal of AirPlay functionality in the golden master version of iOS 4.2. The feature had been functional on the iPhone 3G in earlier developer builds, but appears to have been removed in the homestretch.

After speaking to multiple developers and users testing out the iOS 4.2 betas, we have determined that AirPlay did in fact work on the iPhone 3G at one point, meaning the AirPlay functionality was definitely removed from Apple's two-year-old iPhone at its GM stage.

The report notes that Apple's product page for the Apple TV claims that AirPlay functionality is coming on "all iOS 4 devices", but the company has apparently changed its mind about iPhone 3G compatibility for unknown reasons.

The change is not the first to see the iPhone 3G lose access to a feature that had been enabled in the development process. Early developer builds of iOS 4.1 offered access to Game Center functionality for all iOS 4-compatible devices, but Apple later disabled the feature for the iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod touch before finally restoring compatibility for the second-generation iPod touch but leaving it out of the public release for the iPhone 3G.

Apple and Oracle today announced a partnership to bring Oracle's OpenJDK project, and thus a Java SE 7 implementation, to Mac OS X.

Oracle and Apple today announced the OpenJDK project for Mac OS X. Apple will contribute most of the key components, tools and technology required for a Java SE 7 implementation on Mac OS X, including a 32-bit and 64-bit HotSpot-based Java virtual machine, class libraries, a networking stack and the foundation for a new graphical client. OpenJDK will make Apple's Java technology available to open source developers so they can access and contribute to the effort.

Apple also noted that it will continue to support the current Java SE 6 on Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion.

"We are excited to welcome Apple as a significant contributor in the growing OpenJDK community," said Hasan Rizvi, Oracle's senior vice president of Development. "The availability of Java on Mac OS X plays a key role in the cross-platform promise of the Java platform. The Java developer community can rest assured that the leading edge Java environment will continue to be available on Mac OS X in the future. Combined with last month's announcement of IBM joining the OpenJDK, the project now has the backing of three of the biggest names in software."

Apple made waves last month with the revelation that is planning to deprecate its own line of custom-ported Java packages, sparking fears of a complete discontinuation of support for the platform. In an email response to a customer's question, Apple CEO Steve Jobs reportedly noted that Apple's Java version was always a step behind the latest version from Sun/Oracle and that the status quo "may not be the best way to do it."

Contradicting a report from earlier this week that correctly predicted the release of Mac OS X 10.6.5 yesterday and also claimed that iOS 4.2 will be released tomorrow, iPhoneHellas reports [Google translation] that iOS 4.2 will not launch tomorrow and may debut next Tuesday, November 16th.

iPhoneHellas has offered correct information on iOS releases several times in the past, including accurately pinpointing the release of iPhone OS 2.2 ten days ahead of time and iOS 4.0.1 several hours before its launch.

iOS 4.2 will finally unify Apple's iOS devices on iOS 4, bringing such features as multitasking, home screen folders, and Game Center to the iPad for the first time while also delivering AirPrint, AirPlay, and a number of other enhancements to the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

Update: MacStories reports that iOS 4.2 may be seeing delays due to issues with Wi-Fi connectivity on the iPad.

Basically, even if the iPad manages to successfully connect to a local network, the connection is lost after a few minutes. This seems to be the most common problem among users, although some can't simply use Safari at all. The bug has been reported to Apple, and they apparently decided to delay the release of iOS 4.2 to fix the bug.

According to the report, Apple may release a new golden master version of iOS 4.2 as early as Friday, but a public release would come later than the previously-rumored Friday debut.

With today's announcement of integration between Twitter and Apple's social networking service Ping, some observers have noted that the Tweets being generated from Ping are including awkwardly-long URLs.

One MacRumors reader realized that the new integration with Twitter could make a good opportunity for Apple to deploy its own link shortener to help fit its links into the character restrictions imposed by Twitter. The reader let us know that he had discovered that iTun.es forwards to Apple's site and theorized that the domain could be used by Apple for just such a service.

We dug into the situation a bit further and determined that the iTun.es domain is in fact registered to Apple via MarkMonitor, the brand management firm Apple uses to handle all of its domain registrations. The domain was registered to Apple in December 2006, meaning that Apple has not just recently moved to lock down the domain as a link shortener, but the new tie-in with Twitter does provide an excellent opportunity for Apple to roll out a service using the domain.

Since yesterday's release of Mac OS X 10.6.5, users have been testing out the updated version of Snow Leopard to find out what has changed, and we've collected a few notes on what has been found.

- exFAT Support: Apple began including support for the exFAT file system in builds of Mac OS X 10.6.4 shipping on some of the company's latest iMacs and Mac minis with SDXC card slots, but Mac OS X 10.6.5 extends compatibility to all Macs.

- AirPrint: As had been rumored, Apple at the last minute removed support for printing via AirPrint from iOS 4.2 devices to printers shared on Macs running Mac OS X 10.6.5. The feature had been touted by Apple in its initial AirPrint press release and was present in early developer builds of Mac OS X 10.6.5, but was removed for unspecified reasons. Note that the basic AirPrint functionality, including direct printing to compatible HP printers, is included in Mac OS X 10.6.5.

We've heard claims of technical or legal/patent issues being behind the removal of support for shared printers, but have not received confirmation of any single reason for the change. Notably, those developers who installed earlier developer builds of Mac OS X 10.6.5 have retained access to the shared printing feature even with the public release, and one developer has outlined a process by which users can add the capability.

- Flash Player Vulnerabilities Fixed: Apple's attempts to distance itself from Adobe's Flash technology are well-known, and the list of security issues addressed in Mac OS X 10.6.5 is only adding fuel to that fire. Of a massive 134 security issues addressed in the update, 41% of them are directly attributable to Flash, the largest single source of security holes patched in the update. The second largest source of security flaws patched in Mac OS X 10.6.5 is X11, the optional install that allows Macs to run certain windowed Unix applications, with 12% of the total fixes.