Kevin Rose (Digg, Revision3, Pownce) may have an inside source at Apple - which wouldn’t be surprising given his elite status amongst the digerati and Bay Area location. He’s heard that the entire iPod lineup will see a refresh and iTunes 8.0 will be introduced by the end of September. (Apple’s free iPod promotion ends 9/15…) I’m not extremely fond of the Nano Fatty and wouldn’t mind seeing it replaced with the rendering Rose provided (above) - similar in form to the previous Nano that I’m a fan of.

Supposedly, iTunes 8.0 provides new features and functionality worthy of something more than just a point upgrade designation. Which lines up nicely with our quarterly iTunes music subscription service rumor and iPhone 2.1 update. This time around the claim is $129.99 for a year of unlimited downloads and playback. Works for me if it pans out - cheaper than satellite radio without the continuous network connectivity requirement of a Pandora.

Taking a page from Slacker’s book, Internet music service Pandora is augmenting their paid service offerings with ad-supported streaming - think audio commercials. Thus far, home audio hardware (Sonos, Squeezebox) had required a subscription ($36/yr) for service. Now, a free ad-supported Pandora service offering is being made available as an option for the Squeezebox platform. Given the massive number of downloads, and presumably usage, of Pandora’s new iPhone application it’s a safe bet that we’ll see similar service models for mobile devices introduced at some point. Quite a few of us are partaking and Pandora’s got royalties to pay - so I’m fine with them selling (a reasonable amount of) ads or charging me a modest fee for ad-free music.

The WSJ is out with a story that Dell may be re-entering the portable music player market (and perhaps more) later this year by leveraging their Zing acquisition - the folks behind the Sirius Stiletto and Sansa Connect. While it’s pre-mature to discuss any potential products, services, or strategies in detail, I’ve been cleared to acknowledge some hands on time with a prototype. And where these guys are taking things has me extremely fired up. Stay tuned…

While the throngs of iPhone and iTouch users were trying out the new mobile Pandora Radio, one of the most popular free applications, I was testing out a new Pandora Radio Application on my SageTV Home Theater PC. Pandora radio is one of the more popular internet radio services and is a perfect match for the HTPC - it’s a very welcome addition to my home.

The plugin allows users to extend their personalized radio stations from their Pandora username onto their SageTV HTPC. Select a station to listen to and as you’re listening to a song you can give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down to help “teach” the station your preferences. Songs you don’t want to hear can be skipped without giving them the thumbs down just like in the Pandora web application. It’s a fairly simple interface, but very easy to use and extremely functional.

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If your iTunes collection is anything like mine, you’ve been importing music over a period of years and are stuck with missing or inaccurate track data and album art. TuneUp purports to help by analyzing your library on demand and filling the gaps, as you can see from the demo above. The software, which appends itself to iTunes, is Windows-only for the time being, though OS X support is expected later this year - when I’ll be giving it a whirl. The demo app cleans up a 500 track labels and seeks out 50 album covers… And if you’re pleased with the results, an annual subscription of unlimited usage runs $12/yr or you can opt for a $20 lifetime license.

In the past, I’d used a program (that I can’t recall) to import missing album art (from Amazon?) with limited success and I’ve read of MusicBrainz, a community driven option for album/track tagging. Assuming the TuneUp trial trial works reasonably well, I’d rather just pay the $12 and get it done in one fell swoop using legit sources.

MobileScrobbler was possibly the most polished jailbreak app. So, it’s comes as no surprise that Last.FM’s ready with a blessed iPhone client shortly after the iTunes App Store launch. Though, like all “official” apps, this one isn’t permitted to run in the background - meaning no music playback while checking email or browsing the web. Despite that limitation, I’m still digging my suddenly-much-more-capable audio device and I highly recommend both Pandora and AOL Radio.

In fact, my hunt for two speaker docks has been reduced by one. I recently unloaded a portable XM Helix, though hadn’t yet recycled the Altec Lansing iM4… In conjunction with the iPhone cradle lineout, I’ve found a decent solution for at least one room. (I’ll ultimately find a better home for it, rather than leave it perched on the edge of my AnthroCart as pictured above.) With the expert guidance of iLounge’s Jeremy Horwitz, I’ve possibly identified my second dock - the (much sleeker and with remote) next generation Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere ($130).

Apple products are the gifts that keep on giving. Right before the July 4th holiday, AppleInsider reported on how first-gen iPhone buyers can still operate their handsets as iPod Touch devices - Wi-Fi and all - if they decide to buy the new 3G iPhone. This met with some derision on the AppleInsider forum as an iPhone costs more than an iPod Touch, but the realists in the group pointed out that for year-old technology, it’s not such a bad deal.

In the meantime, the story got me thinking about the options for old iPhones and iPods. What to do when you’re ready to move on to the next-gen product?

1. Sell your old iPhone or iPod on eBay. It’s an obvious choice, but one that many may be too lazy to take advantage of. For those folks, try an iSOLD It store. Drop off your old product, let them sell it for you on eBay, and reap a portion of the profits. Dave likes this method.
2. Pass it down to a child or up to a parent. Again this is an obvious choice, but you can turn it into a true gift by loading your old gadget with personalized music for the recipient. Think mix tape without the romantic connotations.
3. Keep a travel version. Like to work out on the road? Keep an iPod or iPhone-cum-iPod-Touch topped up with workout tunes in your travel bag. You’ll have no excuse to avoid that run around the hotel grounds.
4. Raffle off for a local community group. Got a kid’s extracurricular club that’s looking for prizes to raffle? What could be better than that old iPod Mini?
5. If your old iPod or iPhone is totally trashed, there’s always the recycling option. Apple has its own recycling program, and it’s completely free, including shipping. No better way to end-of-life an Apple music player.

Jeremy Toeman received an extremely thought-provoking YouTube non-takedown notice regarding his January 2007 video upload containing a U2 soundtrack. Here’s the excerpt:

UMG has claimed some or all audio content in your video Pussycat Dolls @ Microsoft CES Party - basic Muvee w/U2. This claim was made as part of the YouTube Content Identification program. Your video is still live because UMG has authorized the use of this content on YouTube. As long as UMG has a claim on your video, they will receive public statistics about your video, such as number of views. Viewers may also see advertising on your video’s page.

I experienced the same reaction sequence as Jeremy: Outrage initially, followed by acceptance. All in all it seems like an entirely reasonable compromise - Universal Music Group has vetted the content and asserted their rights (to possibly make a few bucks) while leaving Jeremy’s creative content available. Our initial agitation could probably have been reduced if YouTube had presented the info somewhat differently… Perhaps prefacing the note by thanking Jeremy for his contributions the community and then giving him a choice of resubmitting or removing the video as alternatives to UMG’s eminent domain claim.