Now that the pre-holiday product update, product release, Black Friday and other associated things are over, the market is calming down again. As a result, those little things that mean a lot are back in focus.

This week we have talks of iTunes starting a streaming service, iPhone going to Verizon plus Apple offering free iTunes downloads for 12 whole days to celebrate the festive spirit. But things are not all that pretty as patent vultures continue to circle around Apple’s treasure chest. Get over to the other side and get updated.

Free iTunes Downloads For Christmas

Apple UK has just declared that they will celebrating Christmas by offering 12 days of free iTunes downloads. This celebration start on Boxing Day and end on January 6^th. Each day will bring a new free download that is good for the following 24 hours. But it does not end there. Participants also get the chance to win an iPod Nano to make their Christmas even better.

So if you are looking for some free stuff to fill up your iPod with, checkout the www.itunes12daysofchristmas.co.uk website. Free content will go beyond just songs. Apple will also be offering apps, TV shows, movies, etc. as part of this 12-day long event. [source]

iTunes To Stream Music In The Near Future [?]

Apple has seen the light and it resides in the midst of a newly emerging model for en mass digital media consumption – streaming services. With steps like the Chrome OS being taken, more and more things are being relegated to the Cloud. As this continues to happen, the business models of online stores like iTunes are bound to change.

Apple recognizes this and hence they have taken their (visibly) first step towards this seemingly inevitable future. They have acquired successful startup Lala – an online service that allows you to stream music.  You can choose to stream all the music you want and you can then buy the track for 10 cents. How much Apple paid for this is still unknown but it definitely did not hurt them much. [read]

Vodafone (UK) iPhone Settings Are Now Live

Vodafone will start selling the iPhone next year but the settings for it are live right now. So you can technically use an iPhone on Vodafone’s network right now. All you have to do is get hold of an unlocked iPhone and download the setting from iTunes. The question to ask here is if Vodafone will start selling the device ahead of schedule. [read]

Apple Buys TabletMac Trademark

Now don’t get all too excited. Apple would never name something as seminal as the Apple tablet TabletMac. The trademark was originally owned by a company that sold modified MacBooks that were turned into tablets. There was no dispute involved, Apple simply bought the trademark to keep it with them. It is clear that this is a preemptive step in order to prevent any confusions about the final product that is launched. After all, with today’s average attention span, Apple would do good to ensure anyhow that all our attention is focused on them.

Well Apple, you know you got my undivided attention. Tell me – when is the tablet coming out, what are the specs and most importantly – are you getting me one or what? [read]

Apple Tops October Sales Lists

Research firm NPD has confirmed that Apple has topped the sales charts in the month of October this month. It’s computing products have been amongst the best and the top sellers for the month of August.

According to the study, the 21.5” iMac has been the top seller in its segment and 13” MacBook pro led the laptops list. Although, October was the time when companies were pushing old inventory towards to the crowd in anticipation of the Windows 7 launch. [read]

Patent Vultures Are At It Again

Buying patents to non-existent products and then sitting quiet until some big company does something remotely similar so that that company can be sued for big money has become big business. Apple has been hit by this over and over again. It has just been defeated in the district court which has ordered it to pay $21.7million in damages to the company claims Apple has violated its Pre Snoop patent.

Now, some firm called St. Clair Intellectual Property Consultants is suing Apple for enabling multi-format file saving on their digital cameras. The ones that are on the iPods and the iPhones. The firm bought the patent from a failed start up for $100,000 and now seek to get much more than just 10 times that amount. This is blatant abuse of the US patent laws. [read]

Second Cupertino Campus Allotted Space

The Cupertino planning committee has voted in favor of rezoning around 7 acres of land on a 50 acres of assemblage area that Apple owns. This decision allows Apple to build its second Cupertino campus only miles away from its iconic existing one. This growth spurt comes as a surprise to no one who has been following Apple’s growth over the past couple of years. [read]

Apple Might Sell iPod Touch PoS Systems To Others

Apple has just finished changing its in-store checkout system from Microsoft’s EasyPay to an iPod Touch based system. The system works through an accessory jacket that goes over the iPod Touch and comes equipped with a barcode reader, a battery and card reader. A special app does all the processing.

A lot of companies have expressed their interest in it and Apple is hence pondering the possibility of licensing this technology out. According to industry sources, Apple is currently compiling a list of possible customers for this technology should it decide to start selling it in the future. [read]

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