The key implications and announcements for mobile entertainment.
As one commenter on our liveblog noted, a couple of years ago ME wouldn't be getting excited about an Apple iPod launch. The iPod touch and App Store have changed all that.
Tonight's 'It's only rock and roll but we like it' event had plenty for mobile entertainment firms to chew over, so we've pulled out the relevant announcements, and some of the equally interesting stuff around the edges.
Stats. Apple has now sold more than 30 million iPhones and 20 million iPod touches. There are now more than 75,000 apps in the App Store, which has generated more than 1.8 billion downloads. More than 8.5 billion songs have been sold through the iTunes Store, and 100 million accounts (with credit cards) have been registered.
Devices were refreshed, not revolutionised. The top-spec iPod touch now has 64GB of memory, but the rumoured camera failed to materialise. However, the 8GB model is dropping in price to $199, which could be more significant in getting it into the hands of more users – and thus getting the App Store into their hands too.
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There was also a new iPod nano. Its main innovation is a video camera, with Jobs saying Apple plans to take on entry-level devices like the Flip HD. However, it's not wireless – it has to be plugged into a computer in order for the videos to be uploaded to YouTube.
App Store Genius. Apple's Genius music recommendation technology has been extended out to the App Store. It works on the iPhone or iPod touch itself – users can tap on an option for a list of apps they might like based on their previous purchases. Good news for developers.
Equally big was the launch of a 'Top Grossing' chart for paid apps on the App Store, which will allow the apps that make most money to rise to the top, rather than those that generate the most downloads. Again, good news for developers of premium games chafing at the dominance of 99-cent titles on the App Store.
Apple is selling ringtones. More than 30,000 of them from all four major labels, for $1.29 each. Again, this is handled on the iPhone and iPod touch itself rather than on the desktop iTunes Store – users will buy them just as they buy music. Both ringtones and Genius are in the iPhone 3.1 software update, which is available today and includes other bug fixes.
Games were huge for Apple tonight. A big section of the event was devoted to showing new games from Ubisoft, Tapulous, Gameloft and EA, while Apple's Phil Schiller smack-talked rival handheld gaming devices PSP and DS. “When these things came out, they seemed so cool. But once you play a game on the iPod touch, you think 'hey, these things aren't so cool any more..."
An intriguing sidenote was the fact that console publisher Ubisoft is making Assassin's Creed 2 for iPhone – the first game was licensed out to mobile partner Gameloft. Were the latter's strong numbers from iPhone – it's sold six million games – enough to persuade Ubisoft to take back its licences to handle iPhone in-house?
However, we wouldn't portray this as a crushing blow to Gameloft – it's far from dependent on Ubisoft licences these days, and has been busily developing its own rich 3D games and console publishing business. But Gameloft and Ubisoft as direct rivals is a fun prospect.
The long-rumoured Project Cocktail was unmasked tonight as iTunes LP. It bundles interactive and static content with digital albums. That means lyrics, artwork, photos, videos and other stuff – with labels able to create this content themselves and choose whether to charge extra for it. However, ME has learned that for now, this iTunes LP content WON'T be able to be synced with an iPhone or iPod touch – it's accessible within iTunes on a PC or Mac only.
Apple has released iTunes 9. Its desktop software has a number of mobile-relevant features, including something called Genius Mixes – an automatic DJ feature which chooses and plays mixes from a user's song library. It works on iPhone and iPod touch too. Users also have more choices about how to sync music and other content to these devices.
iTunes 9 also has a very nice drag'n'drop interface to manage the apps that are installed on a user's iPhone or iPod touch. It mirrors the actual menu screens on the device, allowing users to move the icons around or drag apps onto or off of the device.
There's an intriguing Home Sharing feature that lets iTunes users share movies, music and other content between five authorised computers in the house. Games and apps weren't mentioned explicitly, but talking to developers at the event tonight, they were under the impression that these CAN be shared too – so one person in a family can buy a game and share it with their children, for example.
Apple has its eye on India. This information came in a pre-event pep talk in London from Apple's European boss Pascal Cagni, who talked about the mobile opportunity there. Apple's plans for iPhone in India will be worth watching.
Steve Jobs is back. Apple's CEO led the event, and dealt with the subject of his liver transplant at the start of his speech, urging attendees to register to become organ donors. But there was a no-show from the Beatles – sorry folks, no Fab Four on the iTunes Store for the time being.
