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08.15.05
Music May Be The Apple Of Google's Eye
 By David Utter
Reports last week contend Google will disclose a deal with Apple that sees the
iTunes Music Store available from the Google site.
The report from TheStreet
says iTunes will be available through Google. Currently, Google rival Yahoo allows
users to purchase songs from iTunes and other providers via results returned for
music from Yahoo Audio Search.
Neither Apple nor Google would comment on the rumor, according to the article.
Should it be true, the deal would broaden iTunes' presence to everyone with a
web browser. Users currently have to download the iTunes software in order to
have access to the music store.
The proposal raises a couple of interesting questions. First, what's in it for
Google? At 99 cents a song, 70 cents and possibly more goes to the record label.
That doesn't leave much to split between Mountain View and Cupertino.
And Apple has been known for not sharing its technology with others. Record companies
want to license Apple's Fairplay DRM so their CDs will be compatible with the
iPod music player, but Steve Jobs has so far rejected those requests. It's likely
Apple sees licensing Fairplay as potentially damaging to its iTunes business.
Hackers Unveil OEM PC Version Of Mac OS X
By David Utter
Several sources dedicated to all things Macintosh have cited reports of the Mac
OS X being modified to work on any Intel-based PC.
It's a good thing iTunes and iPod have been propelling Cupertino-based computing
legend Apple to record profitability. Mac hardware sales may take a slight hit
in the future when Apple completes its transition to using Intel processors in
its PCs.
TechWeb.com and others have been discussing the issue, where developer-only versions
of the Mac OS X for Intel have slipped onto the Internet. Those versions have
went from Apple-only hardware to cracked in short order, despite Apple CEO Steve
Jobs' public declaration that the software will only be available for Apple-made
hardware.
It appears the discussion about whether or not the Mac OS X could run on typical
PC hardware has been answered. That begs a new question: what does Apple do now?
Changing their position on the OS and non-Apple hardware would be tantamount to
waving a bloodied flag in Microsoft's face.
Apple's OS X wasn't supposed to work on hardware that lacked Intel's Trusted Platform
Module. May as well call that module Totally Proclaimed Moot. Lots of wild theories
have been tossed around: Apple intended this to happen, John Dvorak wrote in his
most recent column; Apple and Intel will merge, and the Mac OS will be available
to all the OEMs, as Robert X. Cringely wrote two months ago.
Maybe it was Occam's Razor-simple. Maybe the TPM mechanism was no more well-suited
to limiting Mac OS to Apple-only hardware than Windows Genuine Advantage was suited
to keeping illicit XP users from obtaining software updates from Microsoft.
About the Author:
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.
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