'New Moon' Soundtrack: iTunes Launches Preorder, Four Bonus Tracks

 Posted 11 hrs ago by Amy Wilkinson in Movie News, Movies, Music News, Twilight Forever!

No doubt you were already super psyched about the October 20 release of the hotly anticipated "New Moon" soundtrack, but now you have four new reasons to be excited: four just-announced bonus tracks!

Pre-ordering for the soundtrack launched today on iTunes and when you purchase the album, you'll also receive four extra songs: Lupe Fiasco's "Solar Midnite," The Magic Numbers And Amadou & Mariam's "All I Believe In," APM Orchestra's-Die Fledermaus's "Duettino: Ach, ich darf nicht hin zu dir" and Ulf Bastlein's "Wandrers Nachtlied II, Op. 96, No. 3, D.768," in addition to the music video for Death Cab for Cutie's "Meet Me On The Equinox". Along with your iTunes order, you'll receive an immediate download of Anya Marina's track "Satellite Heart."

Anya debuted her melancholy ditty yesterday on her MySpace page, and we're digging it. Our first impressions of the soundtrack's sixth song? To be honest, we giggled! The opening lines—So pretty/so smart/what a waste of a young heart/What a pity/what a sham/what's the matter with your man?—sound like they came straight from the wolf's mouth, no? In my opinion, this is a "Jacob song" for sure. Anya's whispery vocals and plucky guitar playing make this quiet song the perfect backdrop for a tender Bella- Jacob moment, methinks.

The track is nestled snugly between The Killers' "A White Demon Love Song" and Muse's "I Belong To You ('New Moon' Remix)," and though we have yet to hear either track (you can listen to an un-remixed version of "I Belong To You" here), we bet Anya's sweet song will be a bit of a palate cleanser between the two (likely) more rousing numbers.

"New Moon" is not the first soundtrack to feature Anya's name in the liner notes. If you're a fan of the soapy medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," you've likely heard her song "Miss Halfway" off of the second volume of the series' Grammy-nominated soundtrack. It's no coincidence Anya's appeared on both albums, since they share the same musical supervisor—Alexandra Patsavas—who's also known for her work on "The O.C." and "Gossip Girl."

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Let me know if you'll be among the first to download these bonus tracks.

JonQBX

iTunes App Store hits 2 billion "apps" download

IPhone and iPod touch owners have downloaded 2 billion "apps" from Apple's iTunes App Store, the Cupertino company reported today.

More than 85,000 software applications, or apps, are available for downloading, Apple said in a statement. Some of the apps can be downloaded for free, and others for a fee.

"The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate with users downloading a staggering 2 billion apps in just over a year, including more than half a billion apps this quarter alone," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in the statement.

According to a Bloomberg News report today quoting Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi, Apple pulls in $60 million to $110 million in revenue a quarter from its App Store.

Apple launched the App Store in July 2008. Since then, makers of rival smart-phones including Palm, which makes the Pre, and Research In Motion, which makes BlackBerry phones, have started their own app stores.

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iPod has not only  revolutionized the music industry but even the way portable apps exponentially boomed. The market is really going-gaga on this small technology.

JonQBX

Can You Hear Me Now? iPod Volume Restrictions On The Way

Have you heard? iPods in Europe are about to get a lot more quiet. Regulators have released a new set of standards governing how loud portable music players can go, and that means the default max volume is going take a big dip from where it currently sits.

The EU's New MP3 Player Policy

The European Commission's new policy will require iPods and other MP3 players to have a default maximum volume of 80 decibels. That's considered a "very loud" level by most sound rankings; anything above that mark can be potentially dangerous. Presently, most MP3 players go as loud as 115 to 125 decibels.

For some fun comparisons, we turn to the U.S. National Institute On Deafness And Other Communications Disorders (apparently, every shorter agency name was already taken). According to the, er, USNIODAOCD:

• 80 decibels is equivalent to the level of noise you'd hear on a busy city street;

• 90 decibels is lawnmower-like loudness;

• 110 is as ear-shattering as a loud rock concert;

• 120 to 130 matches the level of an airliner taking off -- or, in less technical terms, "GET USED TO PEOPLE ALWAYS HAVING TO SHOUT AT YOU!"

Some Volume Limit Limitations

Now, the new European MP3 volume policy won't make it impossible to pump up the jam (even if you do make dated references to subpar dance tunes) -- it'll just make it more difficult.

With the new restrictions, MP3 player-makers will only have to preset their devices' default max volumes. They will, however, have the option of allowing users to disable that default and venture into deafening territory, albeit with some sort of warning about the eardrum-puncturing delights that may occur.

So what would this warning actually entail? Per the EU statement:

"A dequate warnings for consumers on the risks involved, and on ways to avoid them, including the situation when the original set of earphones is replaced with another type and this causes higher unsafe sound levels. The mandate is not prescriptive in terms of how this is done. Industry solutions could include, for example, labels or digital information on the screen."

(I'm pretty sure they meant "adequate," not "a dequate." Because, I'll be honest, I have no idea what "a dequate warning" would be.)



source:  PCworld
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Frankly, I think this is just gonna be ending to deaf ears (no pun intended).  There's no clear cut restrictions on harming oneself.  Just take smoking for example, nobody is jailed for over-smoking, but maybe from smoking on non-smoking zone. 

But the warning is legit.  One could really harm his auditory sensors with misuse, especially when used by children.  In any case, you can always use an amplifier to soothe your raging ear-shattering craving for music. You hear that?

JonQBX

Ferrari 430 Spider in Fuji Speedway shot with iPod Nano video taped on front bumper

Courtesy of Hideki Francis Onda comes the best demo of the iPod's camera that I've seen to date. The iPod was taped to the front bumper of a Ferrari, and the resulting video (taken at Fuji Speedway) is below. Keep an eye out for the spinning Porsche at the 2:45 mark.

New iPod Nano With Camera Banned From Many Gyms

Ah, the humble iPod Nano. Choosen by many athletes because of the ability to carry tons of songs anywhere without having to carry a heavy and bulky device. Two of the new features that are appealing to many athletes and everyone for that matter is the pedometer and the built-in video camera. Alas, the latter feature is causing somewhat of a controversy in gyms. Due to the Nano’s subtle way [it's a small device] of capturing video, it has been banned from many gyms. It’s reasonable, gyms are just trying to respect the privacy of all those naked people walking around. They’re probably making a big deal out it though. How are all these athletes going to work out without their precious music?

Has your gym asked you to stop bringing your iPod Nano with camera?

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Hmmm... I gotta be a little bit careful in the gym now.  I don't want to be a YouTube sensation. LOL.

JonQBX

Bug fixes for the new iTunes 9 -- version 9.0.1 released

ITunes 9 released 2 weeks ago, has a number of new features and improvements such as Home Sharing support, allowed iPhone and iPod Touch users to organize their iPhone home screens directly in iTunes and lots more.. However, the version has encountered some minor setbacks which Apples has promptly addressed in their new bug fix version.

Today Apple released a minor update to iTunes. The new version is iTunes 9.0.1 and is available now for download.

The update brings some minor enhancements listed below:

Resolves issues browsing the iTunes Store.
Addresses a performance issue where iTunes may become unresponsive.
Fixes a problem where iTunes may unexpectedly quit.
Fixes a problem syncing Podcasts in playlists to iPod or iPhone.
Fixes a problem sorting albums with multiple discs.
Addresses an issue with the Zoom button not switching to Mini Player.
Improves application syncing for iPod touch and iPhone.
Genius is now automatically updated to show Genius Mixes.
The update is available on Apple’s website, the Apple Software Update tool or through Mac System Update.

Jailbreakers and Unlockers should avoid the update to iTunes 9.0.1 until further notice.

iTunes 9 works with Jailbroken iPods

Apple has released iPhone OS 3.1 and iTunes 9 on their Mega event. With the release of each new iPhone firmware, the most frequently asked question by the users who have jailbroken and/or unlocked their iPhone is whether it?s safe to update to the latest firmware or not? Will the new iTune play well with the new iPhone OS?

MuscleNerd from the Dev-Team says that it is safe to update iTunes to iTunes 9 even if your iPhone or iPod Touch is jailbroke and/or unlocked. So, if you have a jailbroke/unlocked device? go ahead and updated iTunes.

However, do not update to firmware 3.1 via iTunes. We haven?t heard anything official on the 3.1 firmware update and how it affects jailbreaking and unlocking yet. We will keep an eye on the Dev-Team for more info.

The iPhone OS 3.1 updates the iPhone Baseband (modem firmware) from 04.26.08 in iPhone OS 3.0 to 05.11.07. So iPhone you want to jailbreak and unlock your iPhone and yet update to OS 3.1 then wait for iPhone Dev team to release their updated version PwnageTool that let you update to the latest firmware without updating the Baseband.

MuscleNerd has confirmed that the Dev Team will release PwnageTool for iPhone OS 3.1, "PwnageTool lets you make custom-made mix+match IPSWs, so we?ll be updating that for 3.1".

iPod nano's pedometer

Apple announced a new iPod nano that has a video camera, FM radio and a for the sport enthusiasts -- a pedometer.


A pedometer or step counter is a device, usually portable and electronic or electromechanical, that counts each step a person takes by detecting the motion of the person's hips. Because the distance of each person's step varies, an informal calibration performed by the user is required if a standardized distance (such as in kilometres or miles) is desired.  Used originally by sports and physical fitness enthusiasts, pedometers are now becoming popular as an everyday exercise measurer and motivator. Often worn on the belt and kept on all day, it can record how many steps the wearer has walked that day, and thus the kilometres or miles (distance = number of steps × step length). Some pedometers will also erroneously record movements other than walking, such as bending to tie one's shoes, or road bumps incurred while riding a vehicle, though the most advanced devices record fewer of these 'false steps'. Step counters can give encouragement to compete with oneself in getting fit and losing weight. A total of 10,000 steps per day, equivalent to 5 miles (8.0 km), is recommended by some to be the benchmark for an active lifestyle, although this point is debated among experts. Step counters are being integrated into an increasing number of portable consumer electronic devices such as music players and mobile phones.


Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that the step counts and estimated calories burned data collected by the iPod nano can be sent to the user’s Nike+ iPod account for tracking.

“iPod nano is the world’s most popular music player with over 100 million sold,” Jobs stated in a company release. Despite the additional features added to the new iPod nano, it will still cost between $149 and $179.

“iPod nano is also now an even better workout companion with the new built-in pedometer,” the company’s release explains. “iPod nano can keep track of your steps taken and calories burned, helping you meet your short and long-term fitness goals.”

Introducing the new iPod nano

Among the iPod models that Apple has launched this week, iPod nano got the most upgrade and feature-packed.  The new version of the iPod Nano crams into the little player a video camera, FM radio, microphone, speaker and even a pedometer.

Wow! If it's doesn't make your head turn, I've listed below the details of the new iPod nano




Capacity

    * 8GB or 16GB flash drive
    * Holds up to 2,000 or 4,000 songs in 128-Kbps AAC format
    * Holds up to 7,000 or 14,000 iPod-viewable photos
    * Holds up to 8 hours or 16 hours of video
    * Stores data via USB flash drive
 

Accessibility

    * Spoken menus allow listeners to hear many of the names of menus, song titles, and artists without viewing the screen.
    * An alternative large font can make menus easier to read.
    * A high-resolution LCD display with adjustable contrast and backlight settings makes it easier to read in low light.
    * Captions in video are displayed when they are present using a legible, high-contrast white-on-black font.

Environmental requirements

    * Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F
      (0° to 35° C)
    * Nonoperating temperature: -4° to 113° F
      (-20° to 45° C)
    * Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
    * Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet
      (3000 m)

Environmental Status Report

iPod nano embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:

    * Arsenic-free glass
    * BFR-free
    * Mercury-free
    * PVC-free
    * Highly recyclable

Display

    * 2.2-inch (diagonal) TFT display
    * 240-by-376-pixel resolution at 204 pixels per inch

VoiceOver Kit

    * Chinese (Cantonese)
    * Chinese (Mandarin)
    * Czech
    * Danish
    * Dutch
    * English
    * Finnish
    * French
    * German
    * Greek
    * Italian
    * Japanese
    * Korean
    * Norwegian
    * Polish
    * Portuguese
    * Russian
    * Spanish
    * Swedish
    * Turkish

VoiceOver icon.

Audio

    * Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
    * Audio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
    * User-configurable maximum volume limit

Headphones

    * Earphones
    * Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
    * Impedance: 32 ohms

Languages

    * Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Cantonese (Traditional Chinese), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, and UK English
    * Additional language support for display of song, album, and artist information: Bulgarian, Serbian, Slovenian, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese
    * iPod nano supports 20 VoiceOver languages:
      Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (Mandarin), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (U.S.), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish; other languages are available with the purchase of a supported third-party text-to-speech engine
    * iPod nano supports 20 spoken menu languages:
      Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (Mandarin), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (U.S.), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish; other languages are available with the purchase of a supported third-party text-to-speech engine

Video Capture

    * H.264 VGA video, 640 by 480 pixels, up to 30 frames per second with AAC audio
    * 15 real-time special effects: Sepia, Black and White, X-Ray, Film Grain, Thermal, Security Cam, Cyborg, Bulge, Kaleido, Motion Blur, Mirror, Light Tunnel, Dent, Stretch, and Twirl

External buttons and controls

    * Hold switch
    * Click Wheel

Input and output

    * Dock connector
    * 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack

Battery and power

    * Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
    * Playback time
          o Music playback time: Up to 24 hours when fully charged
          o Video playback time: Up to 5 hours when fully charged
      Audio: 24 hours. Video: 5 hours. Recording Video 1.5 hours.
    * Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter (sold separately)
          o Fast-charge time: about 1.5 hours (charges up to 80% of battery capacity)
          o Full-charge time: about 3 hours

Mac system requirements

    * Mac computer with USB 2.0 port
    * Mac OS X v10.4.11 or later
    * iTunes 9 or later7
    * iPhoto 6.0.6 or later recommended for use with Mac OS X Tiger8
    * iPhoto ’09 recommended for use with Mac OS X Leopard or Snow Leopard8

Windows system requirements

    * PC with USB 2.0 port
    * Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3 or later
    * iTunes 9 or later (should there be upcoming updates)

What's inside the box

    * iPod nano
    * Earphones
    * USB 2.0 cable
    * Dock adapter
    * Quick Start guide

...and now the price of iPod nano and iPod Classic

iPod Nano

The latest fourth generation iPod Nano is really skinny as rumoured before, with a curved aluminum design, curved glass. It is much durable than before with enhanced UI and new features. now supporting 8GB for $150 and 16GB for $199.

New features in iPod Nano inlcludes a voice-recorder, integrated accelerometer for music shuffle and new headphones that also now have a micro remote and microphone. Battery life doesn’t seem to have improved: 24 hours of music, 4 hours of video.

You will also be albe to create Genius playlist creation right from the Nano, even when not created in iTunes.
iPod Classic

For all the storage junkies, iPod Classic has been bumped from 80GB to 120GB storage space for the same price we all know of $250.

The new iPod Classic will be offered in two models, one of them is the 120GB which will be sold for $249 in two colours, black and silver. This new iPod is much thinner than its predecessors and you will be able to hold 30,000 songs in your pocket.

Look and Feel of the new iPod nano

Greg Kumparak reports in CrunchGear.com that he was able to get hold of the new iPod nano.  Let's hear it from him:

We just got our hands on the new iPod nano.

As you can probably tell from the shots, it’s a nearly inch-for-inch match with the last generation. That said, the new colors are absolutely gorgeous. Even in the fairly dim demo room, the colors popped.

We didn’t get to spend very much time with the camera, but the camera quality seemed on par with that of the iPhone and significantly better than what we would have expected.

The FM radio interface was great. While it initially couldn’t pick up a signal, all was well once they sunk a pair of headphones into the jack. The Shuffle uses the headphones as an antenna, and the radio started ticking away.

There are a few things within the FM player that weren’t mentioned during the presentation but that are quite neat. For one, you can scrub back up to 15 minutes. Additionally, you can tag songs that are playing over the radio, reminding you to purchase them next time you drop into iTunes.

We didn’t put the pedometer to the test as we weren’t about to sprint around the packed demo room, but the Nike+/Pedometer interface was in place and jampacked full off gradients. It’s about as flashy as it comes – but it looks great.

Apple's iPod Event - Launches iPod Nano with FM Tuner and Camera

iPod Nano which sold 100 million units, now comes with an FM tuner --- how's that!  But there's more.  It also has a built-in camera, 2.2 in display.  The two models, 8GB for $149, 16GB for $179.


Need more space? Apple launches it's first 64GB iPod Touch for only $399.  Still can't get enough... try the iPod Classic with 160GB for $249!

Apple's iPod Event - Let the games begin!

Steve Jobs is discussing the high prices and bad experience of buying standard console games... and that leads into some props on the App Store. Rightfully so, it is revolutionary for this kind of content. "There are 21,178 entertainment titles in the App Store."

"And people are starting to see what a great gaming device this is. When you think about the companies that came before us... when you played those other systems, they seemed so cool, but now when you look at them, they don't stack up against the iPod touch."

"We're going to ask some devs to come on stage and show you some things. First off, we're going to bring up Ubisoft." as Steve introduces Ben Mattes, Assassin's Creed producer.  Mattes announces "Apple has created a world class gaming experience on this platform." He showed off the sequel to AC.

The crowd cheered when games are demoed with some rock and roll .....

 Then EA's Travis Boatman took the center stage and announced  "We're excited to be back to talk about one of the largest franchises. It's coming to the App Store... Madden NFL 2010."

Phil says, "The touch is the most affordable gateway to the App Store. And there's something for everyone there. For anything you want. It's affordable at $229, and there are no monthly fees." 

"We learned something a few years back in the iPod business. We asked engineering to get the costs down -- when we did that, the sales doubled. We learned that $199 is a magic price point... so that's what we're going to do with the iPod touch.", he added.

Apple's iPod Event - unveils iTunes 9

Steve Jobs unveils iTunes 9, "I want to cover a few features of 9. First off, we're applying Genius to another area. People have submitted over 27m libraries. Over 54b songs. The Genius database has gotten smarter and smarter. They've enabled us to make Genius playlists. Well, we're applying that same tech to something new called Genius Mixes."


"Imagine a genius DJ that plays endless mixes of songs from your library that go great together. You just click on one of the mixes, and start playing it -- and it will go on and on and on. It's like a great radio station."

Steve mentioned the improved syncing of the new iTunes 9, "When you want to sync, we can make it better. When you sync music now, you can say I want to sync a particular playlist, but you can also sync everything by Dylan, or everything in the rock genre."

Apple's iPod Event - Announces iPhone OS 3.1 is FREE!

Apple's iPod event started around 10AM today, with Steve Jobs opening, "I'm very happy to be here today with you all. As some of you know about 5 months ago I had a liver transplant, so I now have the liver of a mid-20's person who died in a car crash. I wouldn't be here without such generosity. I hope all of us can be as generous and become organ donors."

Steve reported that iPhone sold reached 30 million in just as little as 2 years.  He added, "During the last year, one of the reasons has been the App Store. We have over 75000 apps in the store. Users have downloaded 1.8bil apps. Isn't that incredible?"

Here are the other news:

• there are 30,000 ringtones, sold for $1.29 each.
• iPhone OS 3.1 is free!
• they sold over 8.5 billion songs
• iTunes9 is introduced
• 100,000,000 account with credit cards
• 54 billion songs submitted

Apple just announced iPhone OS 3.1, which includes Genius recommendations for the App Store. The update also brings a ringtone store, with over 30,000 ringtones at $1.29 a pop. 3.1 is available today for free to iPhone users and iPod touch users with 3.0.