Apple Dismisses Beatles On iTunes Reports
March 12, 2008
We certainly hope we won’t have to wait until we’re sixty-four in order to see the Beatles catalog appear on iTunes, but it looks like those reports that it’ll happen within the next few months are incorrect.
Multiple reports have surfaced within the last few days stating that the collection of Beatles tunes would be making their way to Apple’s iTunes within months, not years, and the sources were allegedly individuals who were ”close to Sir Paul McCartney”.
Paul McCartney did say in an interview with Billboard last November that “It’s down to fine-tuning, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be happening next year, 2008.”
Apple does not agree. The company referred to the talk as “unsubstantiated speculation” and told Reuters that ”this is not news nor is it a scoop.”
The Beatles are considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, bands of all time. It may not happen tomorrow, or even within months, but it’s only a matter of time before this deal does go down.
It’s Official: Google Acquires DoubleClick For 3.1 Billion
March 11, 2008
Google announced today that the company has finally closed the deal to acquire DoubleClick, which specializes in online ad serving and management.
The Federal Trade Commission okayed the agreement back in December 2007, but it took substantially longer for EU antitrust regulators to give the thumbs up.
“The Commission’s in-depth market investigation found that Google and DoubleClick were not exerting major competitive constraints on each other’s activities and could, therefore, not be considered as competitors at the moment,” the group concluded.
Competitors Microsoft and Yahoo had sought to block the acquisition, expressing concerns that it would give Google too much of a monopoly on the online advertising market.
And with great power comes great responsibility.
“Today’s acquisition of DoubleClick will provide Google with unrivalled access to consumer data and a foothold in the display media space,” said Wayne Arnold of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA).
Analyst: Xbox 360 Price Cut Means PS3 Under New Pressure
March 10, 2008
Microsoft’s rumored Xbox 360 price cut has come to pass.
The Xbox 360 Arcade is being slashed down 80 Euros to 199.99 (£159.99), the Core will see a hefty reduction to 299.99 Euros (£199.99), and the Elite console will come down from 370 Euros to £259.99.
This brings the Arcade down to below the price of the Wii in Europe, and now the analysts are focusing on Sony’s PS3. According to David Mercer at Strategy Analysts, the pressure will be Sony to do likewise with their PlayStation 3.
”Sony will be nervous that the PS3’s recent sales surge may fizzle out now that the premium Xbox 360 undercuts the PlayStation 3 by £40, and the cheapest Xbox model is almost half the price.”
However, don’t expect to see any price movements any time soon, says Mercer.
“Sony will be scrutinising the daily sales reports, but will probably try to hold out until later in the year before making its next price move,” he said.