A videotaped deposition from late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs was viewed in court on Friday as part of the ongoing "iPod iTunes" trial, while lawyers for the class attempted to add a new plaintiff after dropping one earlier in the day.
In what could prove to be a major development in a class-action lawsuit involving Apple's iPod and iTunes, new court documents filed on Thursday reveal Apple is questioning whether a class even exists.
Testifying in an antitrust lawsuit on Thursday, Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue said the initial success of iPod and iTunes was reliant on digital rights management due to an onslaught of attempts from hackers to crack the ecosystem.
During in-court proceedings of Apple's iPod/iTunes antitrust lawsuit on Wednesday, plaintiffs' lawyers claimed Apple surreptitiously deleted songs not purchased through the iTunes Music Store from users' iPods.
A video deposition from Steve Jobs recorded as evidence in a long-running iPod/iTunes antitrust lawsuit was shown for the first time in court on Tuesday, revealing not only Jobs' thoughts on the case, but also a rare glimpse behind the scenes of a former Apple run by its cofounder.
Though plaintiffs are seeking $350 million in damages in a case alleging that Apple created an unfair monopoly with its iTunes Music Store, U.S. antitrust laws say the final damages could be triple that amount, exceeding $1 billion.
Though Apple and record labels abandoned digital rights management protection in iTunes Store music purchases years ago, an antitrust lawsuit on the matter first filed in 2005 is set to go to trial this week.
Calling it "challenging" and "unfamiliar," Nine Inch Nails rocker and film composer Trent Reznor has revealed he is deeply involved in a secretive music delivery product in the works at Apple.
Sales from Apple's iTunes Store have fallen significantly thus far in 2014, helping to push forward the company's alleged plans to revamp the recently acquired Beats Music and make it part of the iTunes brand.
Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue on Thursday said U2's "Songs of Innocence," which was offered for free to iTunes users, has been downloaded 26 million times since its release on Sept. 9.
Apple on Monday denied rumors that it is planning to shut down the Beats Music subscription service, but a new report claims the company is looking into a branding change to more closely align the property with other first-party offerings.
U2's new collaboration with Apple appears to run deeper than the recent exclusive release of the band's new Songs of Innocence album on iTunes, as the Irish rockers are said to be working alongside the iPhone maker to create a new digital music format.
Once users are running iOS 8 on their iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, they'll be able to share all iTunes account purchases, including apps, music and movies, between up to six people in their family.
With hordes of iTunes customers loudly voicing their displeasure at having received 22-time Grammy-award-winning rock group U2's latest album for free in recent days, Apple responded to the cacophony on Monday with a new single-purpose web portal that will allow disgruntled users to remove the album from their iTunes accounts.
More than 2 million copies of Irish rock band U2's new "Songs of Innocence" album have reportedly been downloaded through Apple's iTunes Music Store since the record's release earlier this week, enough to push it over the threshold for "double platinum" status, and have driven strong sales of U2's previous discography.
For iTunes Store customers who purchase content via discount season passes, Apple has begun sending native push notifications in the latest beta of iOS 8 when new content is available — a change from its previous email alerts.
Apple on Thursday began offering customers in the U.S. and elsewhere the ability to replenish their iTunes Store credit through its Passbook digital wallet application for iPhone when visiting an Apple Store. AppleInsider offers a first look at how it works.
The latest data from Nielsen shows that sales of digital albums are down 11.6 percent, while purchases of individual tracks are down 13 percent, as on-demand streaming audio has surged 50.1 percent, helping to provide some insight into why Apple purchased Beats Music.
When recent reports suggested Apple was considering bringing iTunes to Android to help boost flagging music sales, skeptics scoffed at the thought of the iPhone maker supporting a competing platform. But with its $3 billion purchase of Beats, Apple has now revealed it plans to keep the Beats Music subscription apps alive not only on Google's Android, but also Microsoft's Windows Phone.
Apple's newly announced $3 billion acquisition of Beats Music and Beats Electronics has received a generally warm response from prominent analysts on Wall Street, who believe the purchase could help Apple compensate for shrinking digital music sales on the iTunes Store.
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Mikey Campbell
Katie Marsal
Neil Hughes
Sam Oliver
AppleInsider Staff
