If you’re planning your holiday shopping but want to get a good grasp of the budget available to you in advance, it helps to know what kind of deals you’re going to get. Luckily, Apple’s Black Friday discounts have been leaked early, so you can factor in those price reductions while you’re figuring out how pinched you’re going to be financially come January.

Boy Genius Report got the early tip-off, from an anonymous source. It comes in the form of what looks like a flyer image, detailing some pretty significant discounts on all things Apple, basically. They’re deep enough that you’d probably do well to hold off any Mac or iPod-related purchase for at least another 10 days just in case.

Here’s what we’re looking at, if the rumors prove true:

• Up to 30 percent off all iPods (excluding iPhone and iPod shuffle)
• Up to 25 percent off all Macs
• Up to 15 percent off all accessories, Apple software and Apple hardware

The sales seem to be available in Apple retail stores only, since the poster also states that “Select Apple stores open at 6 am,” and a line at the bottom advertises the new availability of in-store gift-wrapping. Last year we saw online Black Friday discounts, though, so it’s possible we’ll see them again.

If these deals do indeed come to pass, they would be pretty significant compared with previous Black Friday sales by the Mac maker. Twenty-five percent off of all Macs is a very good discount, for example, and would result in a $500 discount on the Core i5 27-inch iMac, or a $250 discount on the entry-level MacBook. Compare that to a $101 discount on the MacBook last year, and a $101 discount on the top model iMac.

The teaser image leaked by BGR is fairly convincing, in that it does seem to use design cues and aesthetics currently favored by Apple in its marketing materials, but it’s hard not to be skeptical in the face of sound business sense — considering Apple’s previous Black Friday discounts, and the fact that last time I checked, it really wasn’t in a position to need to offer big price cuts to bolster sales.

If these do prove true, I’ve been putting a new Time Capsule or Airport Extreme purchase on the back burner for quite some time now, and that 15 percent off is nothing to sneeze at, given Apple’s usual reluctance to offer any kind of price cut at all. Anyone else planning on making a purchase if these discounts really do apply? Something you wouldn’t buy otherwise, perhaps?

Apple has released its Form 10-K (PDF) for the fiscal year 2009, the annual report providing a summary of the company’s performance. A number of interesting details can be found within the long and tedious document, but the biggest news is the increasing importance of the iPhone to Apple’s bottom line.

Apple sold 20.7 million iPhones in the fiscal year, $6.75 billion in net sales, which includes accessories and carrier agreement revenue. Comparing that with just $123 million in 2007 shows just how important the iPhone is to Apple. The iPhone now accounts for about 18 percent of Apple’s sales revenue, but that’s using subscription accounting to spread the revenue over 24 months. Using non-GAAP numbers, the Mac and the iPhone now each account for about a third of Apple’s net sales.

As for the Mac, during the fiscal year Apple sold 10,396,000 computers, a new base-ten record, while the iPod continues to sell around 54 million units a year. However, unlike the iPhone, both the Mac and the iPod apparently have been affected by the recession. Of the other product categories, the iTunes Store, or “other music and product related services,” and software continue to show steady growth.

Browsing the rest of the Form 10-K, a few other points of interest for fiscal year 2009 include:

• Net sales were $36.5 billion for the fiscal year, $5.7 billion in net income, bringing Apple’s cash on hand to $34 billion.
• Apple has 34,300 full-time employees.
• R&D has grown from $782 million in 2007 to $1.3 billion in 2009.
• Apple spent half a billion dollars on ads, up slightly from the previous year.
• Regarding the patent lawsuit with Nokia, Apple “intends to defend the case vigorously.”
• An investment of $100 in AAPL in 2004 would be worth $957 today.
• The Americas account for 44 percent of net sales.
• Unit sales of Macs were up 40 percent in Europe.
• The total number of Apple Stores was 273, up from 247 and 197 for the previous two years.

2009 was an amazing year for Apple by pretty much any metric. However, the introduction of the iPhone in China and possible end of carrier exclusivity in the U.S., the addition of a tablet product, and continued growth in Mac sales all suggest 2010 will be even better.

Pascal Cagni, Apple vice president and general manager for Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, did in an interview with Katie Allen of the Guardian. Speaking after Apple’s earnings report for the fourth fiscal quarter, Cagni was optimistic on the Mac in Europe, guarded about the iPod, and enigmatic about “surprises” in the future.

Questioned on Apple’s success in Europe during the recession, Cagni responded that the Mac is “typically above 20-25 [percent] market share in each of the countries.” That’s about twice the market share in the U.S., and you have to wonder how the numbers add up to worldwide figures that put the Mac under 5 percent. Still, at Monday’s conference call, it was noted that Mac growth was around 40 percent in Spain, Germany and France, so the Mac is doing very well indeed in Europe. Less so, the iPod.

On declining sales, Cagni stated that Apple needs “to carry the message out there much better” regarding the new iPod nano, and that the decline has not yet hit Europe. Again, this is in keeping with comments from the conference call, in which it was stated that the iPod is gaining market share year over year in nearly every country tracked. While Apple does not break out iPod sales by geographic region, 40 percent of all revenue comes from North America, so it would seem then that the decline is largely in the U.S. It’s possible the iPod has hit a saturation point, though another possibility would be cannibalization of iPod sales by the iPhone.

As for the iPhone, the question was whether multiple carriers in the UK will affect pricing in the future. Again, the response lined up with the conference call. Apple does not “dictate” price. Personally, I wonder if AT&T feels that way.

Besides a non-response to the Beatles for Christmas at the iTunes Store — “nothing to announce” — the most interesting comment was another oblique reference to new products in 2010. While Apple executives routinely talk about the great and mysterious “product pipeline,” chief Steve Jobs elevated that hype in Apple’s press release for the fourth fiscal quarter. Cagni echoed that in the interview:

And guess what, as Steve stated, we are going to continue to surprise you in the year to come.

It doesn’t take 20 questions to get to the tablet, the only question now is when?

If you’re like me, you have so many white plastic Apple Remotes scattered around your living space that visitors ask if they’re part of the decor. And they were quite stylish, once upon a time. But Macs started being less about plastic and more about aluminum long ago, and the Remote has languished at the back of Jonny Ive’s design studio, disregarded. Until today, that is.

Along with new iMacs, Mac minis, mice and MacBooks, Apple also quietly unveiled a made-over Remote. It still does the same thing it always has, which is control you Mac or dock-connected iPod remotely, but now it does it with a different aesthetic and improved usability.

The new remote, as you can see from the picture accompanying this post, has an aluminum enclosure and black plastic buttons, borrowing a cue from the design of recent iMacs and MacBook Pros. Note also the button layout change. The Play/Pause button now resides beneath the directional/volume/skip radial button, a new neighbor for the Menu button. The positioning should be better for folks who use Front Row, in which they activate back/forward functions, but I think I prefer the old layout myself, being strictly a VLC guy.

I am happy about the change in the battery door location. You can now use a coin to swivel out the battery cover, sort of like you do on an Apple wireless keyboard. Much better than old bottom-loading batter drawer on the plastic model, which was prone to popping open and just felt generally unstable.

I’m surprised by Apple, which has demonstrated a clear distaste for buttons recently with the iPod shuffle and the new Magic Mouse. It’s only be a matter of time before the Remote gets redesigned as a touch-sensitive slap of nondescript solid aluminum, mark my words.

Capping the most profitable quarter ever with the most Macs sold in a quarter, the conference call to discuss Apple’s fourth fiscal quarter for 2009 may have been the most boring ever, too. However, distilling the tedium into bullet points is more interesting.

iPhone

• Total sales for the year were 21 million, up 78 percent, average selling price around $600. There are more than 85,000 apps in the App Store, 2 billion downloads, 500 million in the last quarter.
• The iPhone 3GS, available in 64 countries last quarter, will match the iPhone 3G with availability in 80 countries by year’s end.
• China gets the iPhone on October 30 with approximately 1,000 points of sale to begin with. Plans will range from the equivalent of $18 to $85 per month, the phone being free at the higher end.
• Korea will be getting the iPhone soon, and there will be multiple carriers in Canada and the UK.
  The iPhone 3GS shortage over the summer may have been the result of sales exceeding Apple’s expectations. Changing the inventory mix between the 3G and the 3GS may have caused component issues, but those were solved as of early October.
  According to Apple, “people are trying to catch up with first iPhone,” so apparently no worries about Droid, Storm2, and the Pre.
• In some instances, the benefit of exclusive carrier agreements allows for greater levels of innovation, like visual voicemail, and in some cases exclusive carriers “invest more.” Apple execs must be using jailbroken phones on carriers besides AT&T.

Mac

• 3.05 million Macs sold, up 440,000 YOY. For 19 out of the last 20 quarters, the Mac grew faster than the rest of the market. For the quarter, 74 percent of Macs sold were portables, up 35 percent YOY — wow.
• Snow Leopard has twice the upgrade rate of Leopard over its first five weeks. In response to a comment about the lower price working for Snow Leopard, the reply was, “yes, it did.”
• The Back-to-School promotion was the strongest ever for the Mac.
• Due to demand for the new portables last quarter and Snow Leopard being launched, it wasn’t quite hinted that sales of Macs might be down for the holiday quarter.

iPod

• The iPod controls over 70 percent of the media player market, and is gaining YOY in every country tracked.
• 50 percent of buyers are purchasing their first iPod.
• iPod touch sales were up 100 percent YOY — again, wow.

Finally, there were two interesting comments, the first being about the Apple Stores and Mac sales. For the first time I can recall, an Apple executive did not say “half or more than half” of Mac buyers were new to the platform. This time it was “about half.” Interpret freely.

Besides that, the most interesting comment came regarding expected margin declines. The rationale included the seasonality of greater iPod sales, fewer Snow Leopard sales than the previous quarter, higher component and other expenses, and this quote:

For the new products we have and will announce, we are delivering greater value to our customers, and these products have lower gross margins than their predecessors.

That would be in keeping with rumors about price reductions on some Macs, including the Mac mini. Start refreshing your browser window on the Apple Store tomorrow, early.

Reporting results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2009, Apple sales and profits continue to defy a moribund economy, and for the first time in the company’s history ten million Macs have been sold in a fiscal year.

Apple reported revenue of $9.2 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.67 billion, or $1.82 earnings per share (EPS), handily beating consensus estimates with the most profitable quarter ever. Apple CEO Steve Jobs issued the expected statement high-five.

“We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010.”

While the great financial news is the primary indicator of the strength of the company, for the consumer the strength of a platform is in the number of units sold. For Mac and iPhone owners, the fourth fiscal quarter was great, but iPod numbers are more nuanced.

While the 3.05 million Macs sold was a record number for Apple in a single quarter, there is another milestone to ponder. For the fiscal year—and likely calendar year—of 2009, laptops account for two out of three Macs sold. Considering that it was only 2002 when that ratio was reversed, the conclusion that we are nearing the end of the desktop era, at least for Macs, seems inescapable. Another apparently inescapable conclusion is that the iPod has peaked.

Unlike the iPhone with vast arid wastes of China to sell to, and the Mac with vast arid wastes of Windows market share to take from, the iPod already owns somewhere over 70 percent of the portable media player market. Where do you go from there? Nowhere, hopefully. Even taking into account last quarter’s numbers, Apple will sell more than 50 million iPods in 2009, just like the last two years. One could even argue that potential iPod sales lost are becoming actual iPhone sales. In that scenario, lost iPod sales are actually a benefit to Apple, as the average selling price for the iPhone is higher than the iPod. If that is the case, there was much of such benefit to be had in the fourth quarter.

More than any other Apple product, iPhone sales rise and fall with new models. As the chart shows, after the introduction of each new iPhone sales surged, then dropped, albeit at significantly higher sales levels after each cycle. The question now becomes whether iPhone growth is leveling off, like the iPod, or whether the apparent plateau in sales is a pause before continuing the climb with the release of the iPhone in China.

Regardless, only the most pernicious of anti-Apple hater can see these results as anything but the staggering success they are for a company that nearly went out of business just over a decade ago. What’s more, 2010 is shaping up to be even better, with what was hopefully a thinly-veiled reference to the tablet by Steve Jobs. Expect analysts to futilely attempt to pry more information from Apple during the conference call, and TheAppleBlog to duly report the obfuscations.

If you have a first-generation iPod nano (the one that looks like a slimmed-down version of the iPod video and comes in only black and white), you may be able to get a replacement or a fix from Apple, depending on what kind of symptoms your device is exhibiting.

Specifically, Apple acknowledged via a knowledge base article that the early nanos have a tendency to display battery overheating problems, an issue that it seems like every one of its production mobile devices is accused of at one time or another. The article posted by Apple does admit to the problem in the 1G nanos, but it sure goes out of its way to downplay its significance, as is evident from the following passage:

Apple has determined that in very rare cases, batteries in the iPod nano (1st generation) sold between September 2005 and December 2006, may overheat and prevent the iPod nano from working and deform it.

Apple has received very few reports of such incidents (less than 0.001 percent) and the issue has been traced to a single battery supplier. There have been no reports of serious injuries or property damage. Additionally, there have been no reports of such incidents with any other iPod nano model.

Discoloration, overheating, and case deformity near the battery are all symptoms of the problem, so it should be fairly easy to tell if your model is affected. Remember, though, that there’s overheating and then there’s just plain heating, which is something all Apple devices do even when in fine working order.

Interestingly, if you do a quick and dirty Google search for nano overheating woes, you find no shortage of pages like this that seem to indicate that Apple users were well aware of the tendency a full four years before Apple decided to acknowledge them. If you bought your device in 2006 and you paid extra for extended AppleCare service, you may still be covered, but it’s unclear whether devices not under warranty will be eligible for replacement.

If I was the suspicious type, I’d think it highly unusual that Apple would wait this long to acknowledge a problem that seems to be fairly well-documented in the past. Even if it is providing replacements for those without AppleCare, which seems to me unlikely without an official announcement of an extension of eligibility, the timing means that many nano owners will already have ponied up for a newer model, or an iPhone.

If you have an affected model iPod nano, do us a favor and contact AppleCare and let us know how Apple responds.

With the end of September comes the end of fiscal year 2009 for Apple. While the company won’t be releasing the numbers for another two weeks or so, consensus estimates from Wall Street for the fourth quarter will fill in the blanks, as Apple always beats estimates. For 2009, during what is arguably the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Apple will have its best year ever.

For FY 2009, Apple can expect sales of approximately $36 billion, up from $32.5 billion last year. While the increase will only be half that from 2007 to 2008, that’s against severely curtailed consumer spending. Conventional wisdom suggests premium products like those from Apple would be hit hardest in such an environment, but Apple has been selling strong since 2005. However, looking at net income over the long term, the picture is a little different.

That bump during the late 90’s is largely due to the original iMac, introduced in May 1998. The iMac probably saved the company. It’s hard to imagine Apple losing money or barely profitable until 2004. That year the company earned net income of a quarter of a billion dollars. The next year it was more than $1.25 billion, beginning that nice linear trajectory to $5.5 billion for FY 2009, but enough about the money. For those who use the products, the real numbers are in the success of the platform, and the Mac is about to have its best year ever.

Fiscal year or calendar year, it just doesn’t matter, either way 2009 will be the first year the company sells 10 million Macs. Sales estimates for the quarter ending September 30 are for 2.7 million Macs, putting Apple just over that magical base-10 for the fiscal year. That will top last year’s record of 9.7 million Macs, which was also a new record, but then every year since 2006 has been a new record. The question then becomes whether this year’s “slowing” sales are due to economic conditions, or a plateauing of the Mac like the iPod has seen.

The bad news is that the phenomenal growth the iPod enjoyed from 2004 through 2007 appears to be over. The good news is that’s still more than 50 million iPods per year. For FY 2009, projections are for just under 54 million iPods to be sold, which would be just under the record of 54 million sold last year. However, further solace can be had in the theory that iPod sales are being cannibalized by iPhone sales, and iPhone sales are looking a lot like iPod sales used to look.

Analysts are all over the place on iPhone sales for FY 2009, with somewhere in the range of six to seven million iPhones sold in the fourth fiscal quarter. Splitting the difference at 6.5 million means iPhone sales for the year will come in just under 20 million. That would nearly double last year’s total of 11.6 million. With the imminent introduction of the iPhone into China, it’s a safe bet that iPhone sales won’t be leveling off anytime soon. The iPhone is undeniably the biggest success in a record year, but what brought that success?

Two words, one name: Steve Jobs.

That’s the biggest earner for the year past, and every year going back to 1996.  Although Jobs became “iCEO” in the summer of 1997, Apple acquired NeXT in late 1996 for what would become OS X, and got Jobs for free. It was the best deal the company has ever made. Just look at the numbers.

After months of software updates by the respective companies to disable and enable the Pre syncing with iTunes, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has ruled on the issue.

Palm loses.

The standards group has not only rejected Palm’s claim of anti-competitive behavior by Apple, but says that it is Palm that’s violating the USB-IF Membership Agreement, John Paczkowski at Digital Daily reports. The Pre’s touted “feature” of
media syncing with iTunes is accomplished by spoofing Apple’s USB vendor ID, in effect making the Pre appear to be an iPod.

In its letter to Palm and Apple, the USB-IF noted that “Palm may only use the single Vendor ID issued to Palm for Palm’s usage. Usage of any other company’s Vendor ID is specifically precluded.” Further, the USB-IF has asked Palm to clarify its “intent and respond to this potential violation within seven days.” Palm’s immediate response was to pontificate, asserting that the company believes “consumers should have freedom and choice in how and where they use the non-rights managed media they already own.”

And they do. The Pre is perfectly capable of managing media by drag-and-drop all by itself, and if Palm is all about “freedom and choice,” then where is the support for Zune software? Clearly, this has never been about consumer choice, but rather a beleaguered Palm maximizing its potential customer base with minimal development effort on its own part.

iTunes U (iTunes Link), part of the iTunes Store, is an amazing venue for top-notch educational content from the world’s greatest universities, institutions, museums and other public educational foundations. From language lessons to audiobooks to lectures and more, iTunes U is a great place for those who love to learn. With the release of iTunes 9, Apple has put an even bigger spotlight on this great content by featuring it prominently inside the application.

When iTunes U first launched, many of the top universities, such as Stanford, Cambridge and Carnegie Mellon, jumped onboard to provide engaging content. As the original institutions first began producing content for the free service, some implemented their content as podcasts that would download into the “Podcasts” section of iTunes whereas others would implement their content so it would download in the “Music” section. Furthermore, as more engaging content was added to the service, it became problematic to keep this content organized. Some universities would automatically create playlists for their content, and others would just create multiple podcasts.

iTunes 9 attempts to solve this disarray by providing a specific iTunes U section inside the application and a specific iTunes U tab for iPods and iPhones to sync the content. This allows users to specifically choose which content they wish to sync, by a particular topic from an iTunes U content provider, or a specific “episode” within that topic. The iTunes Store redesign itself also prominently features iTunes U content accessible via a button across the top navigation bar. Though this section of iTunes still physically resembles the iTunes Store pre-version 9, Apple is in the process of updating it to match the look and feel of the rest of the redesigned store.

The 3.0 Software Update for the iPhone and iPod touch also brings about a specific section for iTunes U in the mobile iTunes store. Much like traditional podcasts, users can browse this section to view top downloaded content or content organized by category. Due to the flexibility that Apple gives institutions in organizing and presenting their content, navigating all of this directly from an iPod or iPhone can be a bit daunting, though.

As mentioned earlier, iTunes U content is completely free and currently features over 200,000 educational audio and video titles available for download, even including content on how to get started creating your own iPhone applications. It’s a great resource to further your learning whether you’re at home or on the go.

With the new iPod nano featuring a built in video camera, Apple’s latest commercial really highlights how easy it is to use. Entitled “Nano Shoots Video,” the spot makes it look super easy and trendy to shoot video, but does the commercial really tell the truth?

Looking at the structure of the iPod nano, the camera is actually found in the lower left corner of the backside. For some, this would be be a bit awkward when holding it, to ensure not covering up the camera.

Generally speaking, Apple’s commercial takes this into account, with careful positioning of holding the iPod. But in reality, is the location of the camera the best possible place? For those of you who have already purchased one, what are your thoughts?

A Few Goofs?

We know Apple’s award winning ad campaigns are creative, inspirational and very memorable. (How many of you have bought songs on iTunes because they were featured in an iPod commercial? Consequently, this song in the latest ad is called Bourgeois Shangri-La, by Miss Li.)

Sometimes though, a close look at the commercials can reveal a bit about how they are made, and show a few goofs. For example, look close at the screen grabs from this commercial below. You’ll see things like video that isn’t quite centered on the screen correctly (indicating it was added after the fact, something Apple actually admits in fine print at the end of the spot). At first, I just thought this was a result of motion blur, but going frame by frame, it’s fairly inconsistent throughout the entire piece.

The very last scene of the commercial showcases all of the nanos in a row. Here is another example of where the video shifts inside the blue nano as it is added to the group. Look at the vertical alignment of the video. As the nano comes into the frame, it’s more aligned towards the bottom of the iPod and when it sits into place, it becomes centered (most obvious when you compare frames 1 and 2 to frames 3 and 4).

Another interesting catch is around 19 seconds in when the guy who is moonwalking is being filmed by an iPod nano that is being held up by just a thumb. Have you noticed anything like this in Apple’s ads before? If you’ve bought the new nano, is this commercial a realistic representation of the video quality, color accuracy and the like? I’d love to hear what you think.

This week’s arrival of Spotify in the App Store (right now limited to UK, Sweden, France, Spain, Norway and Finland stores) could be the ideal opportunity for us all to throw iTunes in the trash and experience the freedom that Spotify has to offer.

Speculation was rife as to whether Spotify would even make it into the App Store. However, Apple’s somewhat unexpected approval of the all-you-can-eat music service means that iPhone and iPod touch users can now listen to anything and (almost) everything, wherever they may be.

For the moment, Spotify is available exclusively in Europe. Released initially for both Mac and PC, the desktop version of Spotify looks and functions quite similarly to iTunes, except with one major difference: everything in the store is free.

Users of Spotify are granted the freedom to cherry pick their favorite tracks, nibbling on morsels of music and sampling the latest flavors, and the tools to legally share them too. You’re able to select any song and instantly generate a URL linking back to the full track, making sharing music a breeze.

The Spotify iPhone app has changed everything. I’m no longer tied to its desktop application. With the iPhone app, I’m able to download and listen to thousands of tracks on the go, which gets me to thinking, is it time I threw iTunes in the trash?

Playlists Versus Libraries

Shifting over from iTunes to Spotify has been a more difficult transition than I expected. Making use of the iTunes “keep my music folder organized” option, my own iTunes library is stored on an external HD where each track is properly named, tagged, numbered and even dated. If I could, I’d wear a top hat and monocle while showing guests around my immaculately maintained iTunes library.

When I’m at home, it’s all about the album experience. I prefer to consume music as the artist originally intended, whether it be the epic tones of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon and Sigur Rós’s Ágætis Byrjun, or the bloops and glitches of Kraftwerk’s Computer World and Aphex Twin’s Chosen Lords.

Out and about however I don’t even tend to listen to music anymore. Over the past couple of years I’ve succumbed to the joys of podcasts via iTunes, subscribing to The Bugle, Answer Me This and Totally Rad Show amongst many others. As a result of this, I’ve increasingly felt as though I’m losing touch with my music collection.

The Album Is Dead

Listening with Spotify is an entirely different experience, though. Like many Europeans who are lucky enough to have a Spotify invite, or affluent enough to pay for a €9.99 premium account, I’ve begun to focus on consuming and sharing music exclusively via playlists.

It’s been a tough transition over to Spotify for me, specifically because there’s no iTunes-style music library. With Spotify, the album is dead, felled by his younger and more agile counterpart, the playlist.

Without the personal music library, the heart of iTunes, there’s none of the satisfaction of flicking through your collection in Cover Flow. And with Spotify managing its vast selection of tracks, never again will you glow with pride after correctly tagging, naming and selecting cover art for your latest procurement.

The App Effect

The Spotify iPhone app doesn’t attempt to ape iTunes or the iPod, rather it plays to its own strengths. In effect, the app further establishes Spotify as an entirely new platform for discovering new music. Although the app is available for free, the service can only be accessed on iPhone by premium subscribers.

The €9.99 monthly subscription fee (equating to roughly $14.50) is worth it though. You’re granted unlimited access to Spotify’s growing library, consisting of almost 4 million tracks. And while there are occasional disappointments in both the mainstream and esoteric departments (there’s currently no Immaculate Collection and very little Boards of Canada), more frequently you’ll find yourself overwhelmed at the breadth and depth of what’s on offer.

Imagine having a free-pass to access everything in the iTunes Music Store. It’s just like that. In the past day I’ve tried a little bit of The Breeders, delved into some classic Radiohead, sampled the delight’s of Jason Schwartzman’s Coconut Records, and, via Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour collection, discovered the joys of Gene Harris, Roy Brown and J.B. Lenoir. It feels liberating and exciting.

Using the desktop app, you’re able to design elaborate and lengthy mixes or, as I do, build playlists out of individual albums. You can then wirelessly sync your playlists to the iPhone app. And here’s the best bit: all of the tracks that are synced to the iPhone are actually downloaded to the device, you can take them with you wherever you go and listen offline.

Life Without iTunes?

The freedom that Spotify offers encourages you to spend more time digging deep, inevitably discovering mountains of new music. No longer can I derive pleasure from pruning my tracks and tending to my albums, but then who cares? With Spotify, I spend more time actually listening to music.

It’s not quite time for me to throw iTunes in the trash though. While I imagine Spotify will have podcasts covered in due course, until they do, iTunes is all but essential. Plus there’s all the albums and artists in my collection that just aren’t available in Spotify, meaning I won’t be wiping my iTunes library just yet.

Until Spotify integrates seriously expands its library and integrates podcast subscriptions, iTunes will be afforded a stay of execution. In the meantime, I’ll be leading a dual life, enjoying podcasts and a few select albums via iTunes, while exploring the vastness that is everything else with Spotify.

While Spotify is currently only available in Europe, stateside readers should be able to try the service soon as Spotify is pegged to arrive in the U.S. before the end of 2009.

September 9 is indeed the day for the next official Apple press event, according to Apple itself via press invitations that were sent out today. The event will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco, CA at 10AM Pacific. That’s 1PM Eastern for those of us over here on the other coast. Other time zones will have to do their own fancy math adjustment.

The tagline for the event is “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it,” and the image being circulated with the invitation features a traditional dancing silhouette with white iPod and headphones. All of which makes it seem very likely that people expecting a tablet announcement will be somewhat disappointed, but that those looking forward to new iPod models will probably have something to celebrate.

The title is a riff on British rockers The Rolling Stones’ track “It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It).” There has been speculation that fellow British rock sensation The Beatles would finally be coming to the iTunes Store at this event, since it’s the same day Beatles Rock Band ships, but so far that remains up in the air.

Another possible reason for the September 9 date, which falls on a Wednesday instead of following the traditional Apple-event Tuesday pattern, is iTunes 9. Recently, there have been many rumors surrounding the next major point upgrade of Apple’s music and media management software, so expect to see it arrive next Wednesday, complete with added social networking capabilities and possibly additional features that take advantage of new iPod hardware improvements.

Details regarding the fast-approaching Apple iPod event in September are beginning to firm up, as is the norm when we draw closer to the anticipated date of these kinds of Cupertino media circuses. By firm up, of course, I mean that various online sources appear to agree, but that’s often as close as we get to confirmation before Apple opts to spill the beans.

The date of the event is set for Sept. 9, according to AllThingsD, and the rest of the blogosphere seems to have accepted this as solid fact, despite the deviation from the usual pattern Apple has of holding press events on a Tuesday. Sept. 9 is a Wednesday, but 9to5Mac points out that it also happens to be the day Beatles Rock Band ships. They don’t see that as a coincidence, and instead suggest that the Beatles catalog could finally come to iTunes at the event.

More definite rumors include the much-publicized iTunes 9 update, which is expected to be bringing a lot of new features to the Mac media workhorse. One of those improvements is the “Cocktail” music format, which could be poised to be the album of the digital age, and includes lyrics, photos, and video in addition to music.

On top of iTunes 9, expect to see new iPod models introduced. The iPod touch is well overdue for a refresh, and with cases, pictures and videos popping up all over the place purporting to show a new, camera-toting model, it’s unlikely this event will pass without an unveiling of at least that device and a new iPod nano with similar features.

Less than likely is the possibility that Apple will unveil its tablet device at the event. Its existence at this point is not often debated among the blogging community, but release timelines continue to be fuzzy, and seem more likely to extend into 2010.

As we discussed yesterday, there have been quite a few instances where Apple’s retail plans have been re-evaluated or changed to meet the needs of the business or traffic in the store. Without further ado, here’s the final installment of my Top 10 Apple Retail Flops. If you missed the first half, you can read it along with the great commentary here.

One to One

This service, originally called ProCare when it was launched many years ago, has evolved and evolved and evolved more times that we can count. Originally offering simple one hour personal training sessions on whatever a customer wanted, the service transitioned into more outline oriented topics, including generic Getting Started and Moviemaking Basics type sessions.

Customers were eventually limited to one appointment per week and were given a nice book to track all of their notes from the sessions. The cost of these notebooks were expensive and were eventually replaced by a series of cards containing the One to One curriculum.

In yet another attempt to go green, or save money, Apple moved the curriculum online and now limits customers to renewing their One to One membership two times (for a total of three years of service). This is similar to AppleCare, but leaves many users upset because it must be purchased at the same time your Mac is purchased. Upsetting? Read some of the feedback from our readers.

Rhonda

Many were unaware of the existence of Rhonda, which was ultimately the reason for its failure. As a solution for missing customers who are unable to get the attention of a Mac Specialist, Rhonda was a system that allowed, upon activation, the desktop background of the Mac to turn a bright red, alerting the attention of any nearby employees. (Think about the Beach Boys song “Help Me Rhonda.”)

Many customers were scared off by this sudden color change and even more didn’t know the system even existed. If you were using a Mac and you clicked a button and the screen suddenly turned red, would you run away from it? Adding insult to injury, a timer also started when Rhonda was launched so a Mac Specialist knew exactly how long it had been since the system was launched. When the screensaver would activate, employees would have no idea if Rhonda was on or not, leaving them to eventually find timers that had been running for hours at a time. Rhonda quietly disappeared about half a year after it was launched.

The Welcome Desk & Cash Wrap Removal

Around 2006, newer stores experimented with the idea of a “welcome desk” or a central place when you first walk in where visitors could register or check in for Genius Bar appointments. An evolution of the cash wrap, the welcome desk was designed to house several stowaway portables to be used as a cash wrap during busy times. As the stores shifted towards more EasyPay usage, these portables were used less frequently (unless the EasyPay devices failed).

Eventually, many stores were remodeled to remove their cash wraps and welcome desks, leaving the only POS besides an EasyPay to be at the Genius Bar, which is often already crowded as it is. Customers are often quite confused and they tend to congregate towards the crowded Genius Bars anyway where a Mac Specialist will ring them up.

Mac Express

During the 2004 holiday season, Apple introduced the idea of an iPod Express area, where visitors could quickly purchase an iPod and the most popular accessories without having to wait in long lines. For the 2005 holiday season, this concept evolved into also having a Mac Express area. The only problem is that for most, the process of buying a Mac is more than just a quick five minute process and the Mac Express area really was a dead part of the store. Some say that Apple championed this concept into Personal Shopping (as you could always find a lone Mac Specialist over in the Mac Express area to show you all about a Mac), but it was still quite a failure and a waste of space.

Acrylics

The acrylic displays found in the Apple Stores are quite iconic and specialized, from older displays that showcased the AirPort Express to newer acrylic displays that house iPods. One of the biggest blunders in Apple’s retail history were these iPod acrylics which made an easy target for shoplifters to quickly run off with thousands of dollars in iPods. The stores kept the acrylics stocked to show customers that plenty of iPods were in stock, but even this became problematic for Specialists to stay on top of because they never knew if a customer had removed an iPod to purchase it, or if someone had simply stolen it. Eventually Apple began using locking acrylics, which would allow only employees access. Still many stores had issues with thieves simply taking the entire acrylic unit and running away. Much to the happiness of employees and after an untold, but likely staggering, amount of product loss, Apple decided to remove the acrylics.

A big thanks for all the commentary and follow up that many of you provided for part one of this series. Once again, this list is purely my opinion and commentary on Apple’s retail initiatives and if you agree, or disagree, I would love to hear what you think.

As Microsoft proudly ventures into the retail world that has already seen quick entrances and exits by other vendors like Gateway and Dell, many Apple fans are looking towards the new Microsoft stores with mixed feelings.

Some of the more dedicated fanboys are quick to call Microsoft a copycat (and perhaps rightly so), but one thing that is certain is that retail is a tricky environment where you can quickly sink or swim. With Microsoft’s first retail stores right around the corner, I wanted to look at some instances in Apple’s retail history where it, for better or for worse, missed the mark.

EasyPay

With the stores seeing more traffic every year, Apple devised an innovative way to maintain more personal experiences with Specialists while also keeping traffic moving as quick as possible. The EasyPay solution, based on Windows CE, is a mobile device that functions as a Point of Sale (POS) for Specialists to use in completing a customer’s transaction.

While more advanced functionality has been added to these devices over time, including support for education discounts, split tender, and the like, the devices are still plagued by their lack of speed and reliability. Turning a negative into a positive, these devices were the first to allow customers to receive their receipts via email, which for those who have tried it, is super convenient. The question remains though, why has Apple not embraced the iPhone or iPod touch as a device to replace the bulky EasyPays?

Colored Shirts

One of the unique things many realize when visiting an Apple Store is how the employees stand out. For the first six years, Apple employees wore similar colored shirts that sometimes were differentiated by phrases or titles pertaining to an employee’s speciality. Though in more recent times, as Apple has shifted towards segmenting their store into different “zones,” Apple has moved towards having employees wear colored shirts that are unique to their position.

Specialists are found in light blue shirts while Creatives and Geniuses are prominently wearing dark blue. The rhyme and reason behind this could be one of two paths, making it easier for managers to quickly see where employees are located and/or to allow customers to easily determine which employee might be best to assist them based on their situation.

The truth of the matter, however, is that the colors are utterly confusing for many visitors. When stores are crowded, customers rarely seek out the “right color” employee, but rather are just happy to find any employee who might be capable of helping them. Teaching customers to recognize the difference between the colors and the corresponding roles in the store does take time and can be very hard to do, especially when many visitors to the store are still first time customers.

The iPod & Studio Bars

A few years ago, the “big picture” of Apple’s retail plans were to envision the store as divided into two areas, the “Red Zone” and the “Family Room.” The Family Room, located at the rear of many of the stores, is an area where returning customers come back for services like the Genius Bar or personal training. Along with the launch of the “Family Room” came the idea of giving stores a dedicated “Studio” bar and a dedicated “iPod” bar.

Similar to the comments expressed above about “training” customers to realize the right type of employee they need to find in the store, it was very difficult to show customers which bar they needed to visit for their needs. On top of this, the stores still face many customers who just “show up” at the bars (the Genius Bar especially) and are still unaware of the need to or process of making an appointment. Personally, I loved the idea of the dedicated bars as they provided a great resource and focus, but as time passed and space constraints became another problem for Apple to deal with, both of these bars got the boot.

The Red Phone

When the retail stores first opened, the Genius Bar featured a simple white back counter with one lone red telephone in the middle. This red phone, inspired by the original red phone during the Cold War, was to allow stumped Geniuses a quick connection to the Apple mothership where a definitive answer to any problem could be found. In reality, many stores never used the red phone (after all, the idea was the Geniuses are supposed to be geniuses, right?) and it was simply relegated to a more iconic status as it sat on the counter. Eventually the phones were removed.

The Theater

Another staple item found in the original retail stores was the theater, a large area in the back with a large rear projection screen and bench seating for customers. The theater was used often for product presentations and special events, including live streams of the MacWorld Keynote addresses for several years. Eventually the theater’s usage dropped and the area became a place to sit and wait for a Genius Bar appointment while enjoying looping product demo movies.

During remodels in 2006, many stores removed their theaters (though a few still have theirs, besides the flagship stores). The removal resulted in a dramatic increase in the brightness of the stores and allowed for more Genius Bar expansion. This was probably a good move, as Apple could still offer close interaction with large groups of customers via its Studio Bars, but the removal of those has made large product demonstrations more difficult.

Some may see these examples as instances where Apple has put business interests ahead of the customer experience that it prides itself on. Others may see these examples as instances where Apple has learned from mistakes and came out with a better experience in the end. With Microsoft opening its first stores soon, it will be interesting to see the trials and tribulations it experiences and how its retail strategy, like Apple’s, will evolve to sustain growth and profitability.

Stay tuned to the next part of this list tomorrow.

The question isn’t whether there will be another Apple event in 2009. The release of Snow Leopard and the introduction of new iPods guarantees that. The real question is whether there will be two events.

Not surprisingly, predicting what will happen with Apple has a lot to do with what has already happened. A good way to visualize Apple events and product updates is to imagine us all living on planet iEarth revolving around the sun that is Apple — really more like a collapsed star, so little information about new products escapes Cupertino, but still a solar mass. Apple events and Mac updates occur with (mostly) seasonal regularity. What follows this year follows from previous years, and that makes the remainder of 2009 very interesting indeed.

Until Apple effectively ended Macworld Conference & Expo in 2009, it always took place in January. The World Wide Developers Conference has taken place in June for six out of the last seven years, the last three of which featured new iPhones. Since 2005, Apple has held a music event every September to introduce new iPods. The last two years have seen an iPhone OS event in March. Updates to Macs most often occur in spring and fall, often March and October, and this is where stating the obvious becomes more interesting.

While the 13” MacBook Pro was praised by many in June, more than a few may have felt a little disgruntled. Unibody MacBook buyers from as late as May saw their shiny, silver laptops depreciate an extra $100 with the 13” MacBook Pro price drop, probably more considering the FireWire port and improved battery life. Of course, the Apple obsessed knew something was coming as soon as the unibody MacBook was passed over during the March update for Macs. Now, all the laptops have been updated, which brings us to the update history of Apple’s flagship desktop, the iMac.

Looking at the calendar, the spring/fall update cycle for the iMac is pretty obvious. 2006 was an outlier, that being the introduction of the Intel iMac. Also, last year the iMac missed an update, possibly because of the focus on the major redesign of the MacBook. Coincidentally, that redesign came a little over two years since the first MacBook was introduced. It’s now two years since the polycarbonate iMac was replaced with glass and aluminum model.

It’s time for the next major revision of the iMac. Rumors of Blu-ray drives and secret features aside, the announced release of Snow Leopard in September would seem to indicate an Apple event for Macs is imminent. The only problem is the imminent Apple event for iPods, and possibly a tablet, too.

While past performance is not necessarily an indication of future Apple events, there has been a pattern of iPod updates taking place after Labor Day. Whether this has been because Steve Jobs has been busy prepping for his tofu barbecue on the holiday weekend, or because there has been no Tuesday in September before Labor Day, has not been tested, until now.

That’s the first possibility, that there will be an Apple event on the first Tuesday or Wednesday of September, in which case the event will be announced around August 24. The best reason for an early September event for iPods, and possibly a tablet, would be a late September event for Snow Leopard and the iMac. It’s hard to imagine two events in September with the first one occurring on Wednesday, September 9, leaving just three weeks until the second. That’s a lot of preparation in a short time for a company as image-obsessed as Apple.

The other possibility would be a single event combining iPods, Snow Leopard, a new iMac, and possibly a tablet. This would be the mini-Macworld option, but if there is a tablet that seems unlikely. The tablet is a big, big deal, and more of a device for media consumption, like the iPod, or the Apple TV. The Apple TV was introduced at the Apple event for iPods in September 2006.

Of course, the third possibility is that Snow Leopard will be a silent update. Instead of an Apple executive introducing “the world’s most advanced operating system” on a brand new iMac, maybe with Blu-ray, the company will just quietly ship it to the stores. After all, it’s not like any other operating system will be launched this year.

So, two Apple events, first and last Tuesday in September, you heard it here first.

Do you own 20 iPhones or iPods? Do you need a bulky beast of a charging solution for them? Then set aside your energy-related woes, as we’ve found just the device for you.

Designed by Parat Solutions, the Parasync is a multi-port charging hub. The mammoth device can simultaneously recharge up to 20 iPhones or iPod devices, supporting the iPod touch, classic and even 4G nano. Although it’s not an official Apple device, the Parasync is available in a traditional Macbook white.

Oddly enough, the portly power device works just like a traditional sync cable, connected to your Macbook via USB. Once plugged in, you’re able to open iTunes and view every single device that is plugged into the giant dock. While the iPhones and iPods are charging, you’re even able to drag and drop content from the iTunes library to the devices and sync as normal.

Notably, Para Solutions has also designed a big brother for the Parasync, the clumsily named Paradidact. This humongous device can simultaneously charge up to 24 Macbooks. It’s also designed to provide a safe method of storing and transporting multiple devices. For the doubters, Parat has produced a wonderful demonstration video for this “computer room on wheels.”

It may look like the Parasync has been designed especially for over-enthusiastic Apple fanboys, but there’s actually a legitimate use for this huge dock. The manufacturers suggest that it could be used to charge multiple iPhones or iPods at a multitude of venues, including museums, universities, service centers and tourist resorts.

While most iPod and iPhone users certainly won’t have a need for this gargantuan charging machine, it’s certainly a viable charging-solution for corporate and public use. Check out the promotional video below, and enjoy the dreamy trance soundtrack.

More than six years after the iTunes Music Store launched in the U.S., the iTunes Store has finally opened in Mexico. Everything is DRM-free, and most songs are priced at 12 pesos (approximately 91 cents). Albums range from 90 to 170 pesos, and music videos are 24 pesos. Popular Mexican artists include Paulina Rubio, Vicente Fernández and Zoé.

“The iTunes Store in Mexico is off to a great start with music from all of the majors and hundreds of indie labels,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “And the revolutionary App Store in Mexico gets bigger and better with great new apps using amazing new features, and we can’t wait to see what developers come up with next.”

So says Apple’s press release, but the iTunes Store in Mexico appears to be at best a belated good start. The press release notes only “millions of songs,” instead of a catalog size. There are more than 6 million songs available worldwide in the iTunes Store. Browsing the Mexican App Store, there are a lot fewer titles, and this isn’t just an issue of language, as there are lots of apps in English available.

However, more interesting is what is not there. The four store sections are: Music, Music Videos, App Store, and Podcasts. Forget about the lack of iPod nano and classic games and audiobooks, there are no television shows to buy, and no movies to rent or buy. No doubt, video will be coming soon, but this still seems like a weak opening.

Lately, Apple has been paying a lot of attention to China. With a middle class of at least 100 million, that makes sense, but Mexico has a potentially large market as well. With a middle class of around 10 million families, Mexico has a potential customer base larger than the entire population of Canada. It seems like a little more effort might be warranted on the part of Apple in Mexico, as six years is a long time to wait for a store without video.

Umair Haque, writing for Harvard Business Publishing, posits what Apple’s iPods would cost if they were made in the U.S., and it turns out it’s not as much as you might think.

According to Haque, “an American made iPod Classic costs just 23 percent more than a Chinese made iPod Classic: $58 more, to be precise.” That is surprising, and in light of Apple’s perennial troubles with manufacturers in Asia, worth thinking about further.

Claims of “iPod sweatshops” have been around for years, with some of the more damning accusations likening manufacturing facilities with worker dormitories to prison barracks. At best, the pay is low and workload high. More recently, Apple manufacturing contractor Foxconn came under scrutiny regarding the apparent suicide of a worker over an iPhone missing from a sample shipment. Since then, both Apple and Foxconn have expressed regret for the death, with Foxconn compensating the family of Sun Danyong. However, beyond that compensation, it’s unlikely anything will change in labor practices abroad.

That’s where Umir Haque’s thought experiment for building a “good” iPod in the U.S. comes in. The estimated costs of labor in the U.S. and China are $24.59 and $1.47 per hour. The estimated amount of labor required for final assembly is 2.7 hours, creating a difference in manufacturing cost of $58.19. Using that number, Haque extrapolated the costs for iPod categories. I took that a step further, listing every model of iPod and iPhone, iPhone cost being the subsidized price.

Obviously, the lower the price, the greater the differential. The shuffle would likely be hurt the most in the eyes of the consumer. That’s who the chart is really for, in my opinion. It’s a rhetorical question concerning whether you would pay more for an iPod or iPhone built with a living wage, as there is no chance Apple is going to move its manufacturing to the U.S. This isn’t to say Apple is bad. After the death of Sun Danyong, the company reiterated its stance that suppliers “treat all workers with dignity and respect,” and the company has broken no laws, least of all the Iron Law of Wages.