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Apple's cloud music hang-up

Apple has deals with three of the big music labels to license a new cloud music service. And it is in talks to close a deal with holdout Universal Music Group, the world's biggest music company.

But when Apple gets its Universal deal done, it still won't be ready to launch.

That's because Apple has yet to nail down terms with the big music publishers, who own a separate set of rights. And Steve Jobs will need their sign-off, too.

While Apple came to terms with Warner Music and EMI Music weeks ago, and has now struck … Read more

Playboy offers every issue of the magazine online--for a price

For those of you who like to keep abreast of the latest developments in the digital magazine world, hold on to the respective garment of your choice.

Starting today, for 8 bucks a month (or $60 for the year), you can get online access to every issue of Playboy (does anyone still even read it?), thanks to the company's new Web-based subscription service, i.playboy.com.

This isn't the first time Playboy has offered the magazine in bulk. Last year, it released a portable hard drive with every issue up to December 2009. So if you bought that, … Read more

As iFlow Reader app closes, harsh words for Apple

Update 5/12: CNET has posted an expanded Q&A with BeamItDown co-founder and iFlow Reader developer Dennis Morin.

Some interesting news from the world of e-reading apps in the land of iOS: BeamItDown is shuttering its iFlow Reader app on May 31, saying "Apple has decided that it wants all of the e-book business in iOS for itself and it has has made mid-game rule changes that make it impossible for anyone but Apple to sell e-books at a profit on iOS."

Just like the Kindle, Nook, and Kobo apps for iOS, the iFlow Reader app for iPhone and iPad has an integrated e-bookstore. Apple has reportedly set a deadline of June 30 for developers to alter their apps to reflect the new terms for subscriptions in the Apple Store, which requires companies to give Apple a 30 percent cut on sales their apps generate.

In the past, e-reading apps like iFlow, Kindle, and Nook have avoided paying the cut by sending customers to a Web-based interface outside the app. Starting in June, however, Apple has said it will require developers to sell content from only within the app.

Fear of reprisals from Apple has kept most companies mum on the looming issue, but the folks at BeamItDown Software who make the iFlow Reader let their anger--excuse the pun--flow freely. It is one of the harsher public condemnations of Apple we've seen. … Read more

Time Magazine for iPad: A real treat for subscribers

In case you missed the news, Time Inc. recently struck a deal with Apple to give the iPad edition of the magazine to print subscribers--no extra charge.

As a longtime subscriber myself, I was delighted. I'd never so much as installed the Time app, because there was no way I was going to pay twice for the same magazine. (Are you listening, other publishers?) My thinking: a print subscription should include a digital subscription, end of story.

While traveling this week, I spent my first quality time with Time Magazine for iPad, bouncing between coverage of the Royal Wedding and the Navy SEALs who ended Bin Laden. And, of course, reading every word penned by Joel Stein.

You know what? This app is fantastic. It does a perfect job recreating the print edition's content while augmenting it with iPad-friendly features (including embedded videos and swipe-able slideshows--though not nearly enough of either). It's easy to navigate and thoughtful in its design.

It also makes certain kinds of content more accessible. For example, many stories in the print edition I just skim through, usually because of their intimidating length. Blame my blogger mentality, but I find page after page of mostly text to be daunting. But in the app, long stories scroll vertically; you're not flipping pages, not faced with what looks like a textbook chapter's worth of material. Thus, I now find myself reading, and enjoying, longer stories.… Read more

PlayStation Network still down

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Things just keep getting worse for the PlayStation Network.

Apple is now the world's most valuable brand.

Wired, GQ, and more mags coming to the iPad.

HP jumps into the 3G data market.

HP line of laptops refreshed.

LinkedIn goes public.

New Yorker for iPad gets in-app subscriptions

Fewer than three months since Apple's introduction of in-app subscriptions for the iPad, publisher Conde Nast has hopped on board with the digital version of The New Yorker.

A new version of The New Yorker app, which went out as an update last night, adds the capability to subscribe to either a month or a year of the publication through Apple's recently-introduced subscription program. This option joins the existing $4.99 per issue option that's been available since the app was introduced in October, and now lets current print subscribers of the weekly magazine plug in their … Read more

Rdio offering direct carrier billing through Verizon

Rdio, the subscription-based social music service, today announced the addition of its Rdio app to the Verizon V Cast Apps storefront. Available only to customers with select Android devices, the app is one of the first in Verizon's app store to offer subscriptions via direct carrier billing.

While the service remains the same, the new option to lump your monthly subscription fee in with your Verizon Wireless bill is sure to entice at least a handful of new subscribers. "Our new relationship with Verizon Wireless makes the Rdio social music experience available to millions of mobile subscribers and … Read more

MLB.com offers smartphone-only subscription plan

Calling all baseball junkies! Major League Baseball just lowered its subscription prices, at the same time introducing an even less expensive plan for smartphone owners.

The new MLB.TV Mobile Phone Only subscription lets you watch unlimited live out-of-market (meaning non-home) games on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or Android phone for $49.99 per year. That breaks down to just over $4 monthly, which strikes me as pretty cheap for that much baseball.

It's also a nice alternative to the $89.99/year and $109.99/year standard and premium plans, respectively, (which, incidentally, also include smartphone streaming), especially … Read more

Time Inc., Apple reach deal on iPad subscriptions

Magazine publisher Time Inc. has reached a deal with Apple to make all of its iPad editions available for free to print subscribers, signaling a possible resolution to an impasse between Apple and publishers.

Beginning tomorrow subscribers to Sports Illustrated, Time, and Fortune magazines will be able to access iPad content via apps that will authenticate them as subscribers, a Time Inc. spokesman told CNET, confirming a story first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Previously, subscribers to most of the print editions had to pay an extra fee to access iPad content.

Representatives for Apple did not immediately respond … Read more

HBO Go, why do you spurn me so?

Dear HBO,

Hey. It's me, Scott. Remember me? I used to be an HBO subscriber, back when I had cable. That was about a year and a half ago. It's been a while. I miss you a little. Hope you're doing OK.

I mean, I hear you are. Everyone's talking about your latest shows. "Game of Thrones" sounds great. I used to follow some of the others. Now, I've sort of lost track. I've been doing great, by the way. I'm watching TV on Hulu Plus and Netflix, and getting by. … Read more