American Idol now on iTunes

Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Interactive Media, 19 Entertainment, FremantleMedia and Apple, for the first time, have partnered to bring music fans all of the contestant performances from Season Seven of television’s most popular show exclusively on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com). Kicking off with the “American Idol” Top 24 semifinalists this week, customers can purchase music performances for 99 cents per song, and viewers will be able to purchase the full video of Top 12 finalist performances for $1.99, starting March 11. In addition, beginning today, fans can pre-order performances of their favorite contestants from the iTunes Store, which will be automatically downloaded the day after the show airs.

“We have some truly outstanding talent this year, and by working with Apple and iTunes, we’re giving viewers another great way to enjoy America’s brightest new stars from ‘Idol,’” said Simon Fuller, creator of “American Idol” and Founder of 19 Entertainment. “I’m sure there will be many memorable performances that viewers will want to relive from this 2008 season.”

“We’ve created a special section on the iTunes Store for ‘Idol’ fans with an incredible array of music and video performances from television’s most popular show,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We think ‘American Idol’ viewers are going to love the ability to purchase and download ‘Idol’ performances from iTunes.”

iTunes will also provide exclusive direct links from the free streaming performance videos on americanidol.com (www.americanidol.com), the official website of the show and home to MyIdol, the Internet’s largest “American Idol” fan site. Fans will be able to simply click through to iTunes if they want to purchase their favorite performances to own and enjoy on their iPod, iPhone™ or Apple TV.

The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular online music store with over four billion songs sold, and has the world’s largest catalog with over six million songs. With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as new iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.

Pricing & Availability
iTunes 7.6 for Mac and Windows includes the iTunes Store and is available as a free download from www.itunes.com. Purchase and download of songs and videos from the iTunes Store requires a valid credit card from a financial institution in the country of purchase. American Idol music and video content is available in the US and Canada only. Music performances are 99 cents (US) and video performances are $1.99 (US) per episode and can be viewed on a Mac or PC, iPod nano with video, iPod classic, fifth generation iPod, iPod touch, iPhone or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.

Aperture 2 just landed

Apple today introduced Aperture 2, the next major release of its groundbreaking photo editing and management software. Featuring an improved interface, faster browsing, and enhanced image processing, Aperture 2 delivers more than 100 new features that make it faster, easier to use, and more powerful than ever. Thanks to its new low price of $199, anyone can easily organize, edit, and publish photos like a pro. Owners of previous versions of the software can upgrade to Aperture 2 for just $99.

Apple Adds New iPhone & iPod touch Models

Apple today added new models of the iPhone™ and iPod touch which have double the memory, doubling the amount of music, photos and videos that customers can carry with them wherever they go. The revolutionary iPhone now comes in a new 16GB model for $499, joining the 8GB model for $399. iPod touch now comes in a 32GB model for $499, joining the 16GB model for $399 and the 8GB model for $299. This will certainly boost Apples profit as the overall cost for the upgrade are much less then Apple charges.

Apple is shipping MacBook Air now.

Apple today announced that MacBook Air, the world’s thinnest notebook, is now shipping. MacBook Air measures an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, while its maximum height of 0.76-inches is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks. Apple also announced that the new Apple TV software update, which allows users to rent high definition movies directly from their widescreen TVs, is not quite finished. Apple now plans to make the free software download available to existing Apple TV customers in another week or two.

MacBook Air has a stunning 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing, and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support so users can pinch, rotate and swipe. MacBook Air is powered by a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and includes as standard features 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1.

Apple TV’s software update will allow movie fans to rent movies on the iTunes Store directly from their widescreen TV. With iTunes Movie Rentals and Apple TV, users can just click a button on their remote to effortlessly rent movies from a catalog of over 1,000 titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, with no computer required. DVD-quality iTunes Movie Rentals are $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 and new releases at $4.99. Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to iTunes on the user’s computer for enjoyment on their computer, all current generation iPods* or iPhone™. Apple TV easily connects to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports.

Pricing & Availability
The new MacBook Air is now shipping and will be available through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), and includes:

• 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with 1280×800 resolution;
• 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache;
• 800 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM;
• 80GB hard disk drive with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100;
• Micro-DVI port (includes Micro-DVI to VGA and Micro-DVI to DVI Adapters);
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• one USB 2.0 port;
• one headphone port;
• multi-touch TrackPad with support for advanced multi-touch gestures including tap, scroll, pinch, rotate and swipe; and
• 45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options and accessories for MacBook Air include the ability to upgrade to a 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor; 64GB solid state drive, MacBook Air SuperDrive, Apple USB Ethernet Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter, Apple Remote and the AppleCare Protection Plan. Additional build-to-order options also include pre-installed copies of iWork™ ‘08, Logic Express 8, Final Cut Express 4 and Aperture 1.5.

The new Apple TV software will be available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers within two weeks. Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote, is available from the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $229 (US) for the 40GB model and $329 (US) for the 160GB model (US and Canada). Apple TV requires an 802.11g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV. iPod games will not play on Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only.

Golden Apple makes another record in revenue and profit

Best Quarterly Revenue & Earnings in Apple History

Mac, iPod & iPhone Sales Break Previous Records

Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2008 first quarter ended December 29, 2007. The Company posted revenue of $9.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.1 billion and net quarterly profit of $1 billion, or $1.14 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.7 percent, up from 31.2 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 45 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple shipped 2,319,000 Macintosh® computers, representing 44 percent unit growth and 47 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 22,121,000 iPods during the quarter, representing five percent unit growth and 17 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone™ sales were 2,315,000.

“We’re thrilled to report our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We have an incredibly strong new product pipeline for 2008, starting with MacBook Air, Mac Pro and iTunes Movie Rentals in the first two weeks.”

“Apple’s revenue grew 35 percent year-over-year to $9.6 billion, an increase of almost $2.5 billion over the previous December quarter’s record-breaking results,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Our strong results produced cash flow from operations of over $2.7 billion during the quarter, yielding an ending cash balance of over $18.4 billion. Looking ahead to the second quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $6.8 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $.94.”

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