MacRumors

NYTimes reports that Universal Music is planning to sell a significant portion of its catalog without copy protection (DRM) "for at least the next few months" according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Universal, the worlds biggest music conglomerate, is set to announce that it will offer albums and songs without the software, known as digital rights management, through existing digital music retail services like RealNetworks and Wal-Mart, nascent services from Amazon.com and Google, and some artists web Wites, these people said.

Universal is specifically not expected to offer DRM-free music through Apple's iTunes service.

This plan is described as a "test" and is expected to run from August 21 to January 31 to gauge user demand and to determine if there is any effect on online piracy. The exclusion of iTunes is seen as a push to leverage power away from Apple's iTunes which currently leads the digital music industry.

It was clear that trouble had been brewing between Universal and Apple, with the recent announcement that Universal would not renew their long term iTunes contract and instead be continuing "at will."

EMI was the first label to adopt DRM-free music distribution in a joint announcement with Apple. EMI's DRM-Free tracks are called "iTunes Plus" and cost $1.29/song for the DRM-free, but higher quality tracks.

According to the New York Times article EMI's sales results have been "promising". APNews reports that the tracks will be offered from Universal in MP3 format and expected to sell for 99 cents "in a variety of bit rates".

Apple has released yet another software update. The MacBook Pro Software Update 1.1 was released today:

This update provides important bug fixes and improves stability with Motion 2 and Motion 3. It is recommended for all 2.2/2.4GHz MacBook Pro models.

It requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later.

Apple filed for a continuation on a 2004 patent about a "wide touchpad" for a laptop.

The patent application, however, now gets an interesting perspective with the recent interest in multi-touch technology and the Multitouch dictionary described last week.

Apple notes in the patent application that as notebook screens become larger, there tends to be a larger space on the bottom half of the housing. Typically the trackpad is placed in the center to avoid unintentional taps and to provide space for palm rests.

They propose implementing an enlarged or wide touchpad which "may be a cursor control device having the capabilities of conventional computer mouse devices, such as the ability to point, drag, tap, and double tap objects on a graphical user interface, as well as more general purposes such as scrolling, panning, zooming, and rotating images on display screen."

The touchpad would be located in the area normally reserved for the palm rests and be intelligent enough to ignore unintentional contact (when being used as a palm rest).

Fingerworks, the multi-touch company that Apple bought in 2005, offered several multi-touch gesture pads and input devices before they ceased operations.

When questioned about the possibility of a multi-touch Mac, Jobs replied that it "doesn't make a lot of sense right now on the Mac" and they'd classify it as a "research project".

Arstechnica posts a review of the new iMac, and had an overall positive impression.

My biggest areas of concern with the iMac going into this review were the new keyboard and glossy display. Both take some getting used to, but the adjustment period was briefat least for meand after awhile the changes with the keyboard and monitor didn't really register with me.

Meanwhile, Apple has already issued a software update for the new iMacs. Apple released iMac Software Update 1.0 yesterday.

This update provides important bug fixes and is recommended for 20-inch and 24-inch iMac models with 2.0, 2.4, or 2.8GHz processors.

Update: CNet also posts a review of the iMac, and gives it an Editors Choice.

The bottom line: With its super-elegant new design and a strong configuration, Apple's new iMac competes with the PC desktop market better than perhaps any previous Mac to date. Unless you're a gamer or an upgrade enthusiast, we can think of very few reasons not to make an iMac your next desktop.

Apple has posted a firmware update for Mac Pro users.

"The SMC Firmware Update adjusts fan behavior in Mac Pro. The updater application will be installed in the /Applications/Utilities folder and will launch automatically. Please follow the instructions in the updater application to complete the process."

After this update has completed successfully, your SMC Version will be:

- 1.7f10 (Mac Pro)
- 1.5f3 (Mac Pro 8-core)

With the new .Mac updates offered on Tuesday, it appears Apple is prepping an update to their Backup software.

Apple's .Mac Backup page shows a screenshot from a newer version of Backup which provides some new backup options called "Essential .Mac", "Complete Archive" and "iPod Safety Net".

iPod Safety Net appears to allow you to backup data to your iPod.

Kodawarisan posted a set of disassembly photos of the new aluminum iMac released yesterday:

Meanwhile, Gizmodo has posted some first impressions about the new iMac. Some highlights are provided:

- The keyboard cable is just high enough that it won't bump into the metal base of the iMac if you push them together on your desk.
- The iMac's aluminum chassis is stamped from a single piece of aluminum.
- The speakers are on the bottom, pointing down at the desk, where the sound bounces off nicely. (They're loud.)
- Can't wall mount the 20". The 24" has an optional VESA mount.
- Screen is extremely glossy

MacRumors readers are discussing the iMac in our iMac forum.

One point of discussion about Apple's new keyboard is the absence of the Apple logo on the Command-Key of the keyboard. It seems it may not have been decided upon until late in the release (or reserved for international keyboards?)

Interestingly, Apple's Spanish site (and other international sites) has a photo of the iMac keyboard with the Apple logo still on the Command key. Apple's U.S. site shows the proper image.

Update: Apple has corrected the keyboard to reflect the "Command" labeled button.

With yesterday's product releases, we've seen the conclusion to several long running rumors.

iMac

We first heard of new iMac designs back in March of this year with Appleinsider claiming that iMacs would see "striking new industrial designs".

Meanwhile, we heard of possible "brushed aluminum" iMacs in June with initial predictions by ThinkSecret and 9to5mac suggesting a WWDC release. iMacs, of course, were not released at WWDC, but ThinkSecret and 9to5mac later pinpointed August 7th as the likely release date for the iMacs. 9to5mac added that the iMac keyboard would be "razor thin" with "media controlling functionality".

Appleinsider first described what was to be a new "super slim" external keyboard based on Apple's laptop keyboards. In what was the biggest leak in recent history, actual images of the iMac keyboard were leaked onto a Chinese forum in late July. Discussion of the keyboard generated the usual debate. Most significantly, however, this represents the first time Apple has let leaked images stand without any efforts to surpress their distribution.

iLife '08 / iWork '08

Very few recent rumors about iLife/iWork were available prior to their release. Many had expected these updates at Macworld San Francisco in January. [Update: ThinkSecret did have a number of reports from last year that contained accurate information: Pages 3, Keynote 4, iWeb 2, iWeb 2b ]

First indication that Apple would skip the '07 designation altogether came from Apple themselves with an accidental web description which revealed "Keynote '08". [Update: Appleinsider hinted at the '08 designation first in early July]

Of note, Thinksecret's early spreadsheet screenshot does appear to be from a preliminary version of Apple's spreadsheet application. Apparently, Apple has been planning "Numbers" for some time now. In June 2005, Apple applied for trademark protection for the "Numbers" name.

Finally, a last minute rumor from 9to5mac did pinpoint iWork '08 with spreadsheet for an August 7th release.

Summary... iPods Soon?

Based on their circulating rumors, it appears clear that newcomer 9to5mac.com has access to legitimate sources of information on Apple's upcoming products. They were the first to describe the use of aluminum in the new iMacs and also provided some accurate descriptions of the keyboard. Their reports weren't perfect, as they also expected that the 17" iMac would remain, and a few other inconsistencies.

Most useful, however, is that their predictions for upcoming iPod revisions now have more credibility. Their most recent report claimed that iPod nanos would use the shorter proportioned design as well as the leaked UI videos. More intriguing, they claimed that a full-screen touch iPod is coming at $299 and $399 price points. Though they initially expected an August 7th release for the iPods, they are now hinting at a September release.