itunes store

Many of us spend hours playing free video games online, whether it's by downloading them through the Apple iTunes Store, Google Play Store, or some other site / service. But the ability to enhance that gaming experience with "premium" upgrades can ... make "free" games very expensive. The Kitchen family of Bristol, England, recently discovered just how pricy "free" games can be. Mom Sharon was recently stunned to receive an Apple iTunes Store bill for 1,700 pounds, or roughly $2,500. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) Premium Purchases Rack Up Fast Sharon racked her brain for hours trying to figure ... (view more)

Apple has threatened that if royalty rates for digital downloads increase, as is likely to happen this week, it might shut down the iTunes store. But analysts say the firm is highly unlikely to follow through on the threat. Apple first made the ... stern warning at least 18 months ago in a written submission to the Copyright Royalty Board but has only just emerged. iTunes vice president Eddy Cue wrote that if the store " were forced to absorb any increase in the mechanical royalty rates, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss -- ... (view more)

A music service run by MTV and the creators of RealPlayer is launching a digital download store that could be the most credible challenger yet to Apple's iTunes store. Rhapsody America offers five million songs in MP3 format and mirrors the iTunes ... pricing structure of 99c per track and $9.99 per album. But unlike iTunes, the songs are available without the shackles of Digital Rights Management. That's a restriction designed to fight piracy by limiting or preventing users from copying the file to multiple computers or handheld devices. Rhapsody has signed deals with all four major record ... (view more)

Many consider Apple to be a leading innovator, so finding out what's next on the company's plate can be quite salivating. Today, one user got a taste when an iTunes glitch revealed that renting movies may be next on the horizon. "I was trying to ... report a problem via iTunes, and this pop-up for selecting a reason contains some interesting/revealing strings," said David Watanabe, the user who discovered the glitch. "[It] looks like 'RentalMovies' will be coming to the iTunes store." When Watanabe was trying to notify the iTunes Store of his quandary, he was confronted with a menu of options on ... (view more)