Thursday Apple Rumors: Amazon Launches iOS Music Store

by Christopher Freeburn | January 17, 2013 2:43 pm

daily apple rumors AAPL[1]Here are your Apple rumors[2] and AAPL news items for today:

Compatibility: Owners of Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL[3]) iPhones and iPod Touches who are looking for an alternative to iTunes for digital music purchases[4] can surf over to Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN[5]), the Wall Street Journal notes. The Internet retail giant has unveiled a version of its online MP3 store that permits iPhone and iPod Touch to buy music directly from their devices though the Safari browser. MP3 purchases are also saved to users’ Amazon Cloud Player accounts and may be downloaded to their devices, or streamed online. Many songs at Amazon’s store are priced at 69 cents, significantly below iTunes pricing. Amazon’s MP3 store offers a selection of 22 million songs for U.S. users and 29 million for users around the world.

Eclipse: Over the holidays, sales of Google‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG[6]) ASUS-made Nexus 7 tablet beat the combined sales of all iPad models in Japan[7], AppleInsider notes. That report comes from industry research firm BCN, which says that the iPad lost its top-selling position in the tablet market for the first time since 2010. The iPad’s higher prices were cited as the driving motivation that pushed Japanese consumers toward the Android tablet. The Nexus 7 is priced about $100 less than the iPad Mini. According to BCN, the Nexus 7 accounted for 44.4% of tablet sales in Japan during December, while the iPad comprised 40.1%. Tablets made by Japanese companies, including Sony (NYSE:SNE[8]), made up between 2% and 3% of all tablet sales.

Digital Stone: iPad users can now read the latest edition[9] of The Rolling Stone on their tablets, TheVerge notes. The digital edition of the iconic music magazine arrives less than two years after its publisher criticized other magazines as “crazy” for agreeing to Apple’s in-app subscription rules. The iPad version of The Rolling Stone comes with song previews integrated through iTunes, allowing users to hear clips of the music covered in the magazine, and purchase tracks by tapping on their tablets. The Rolling Stone is available on the iPad for $1.99 an issue, or $19.99 a year; it is not available on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[10] stories.

Endnotes:

  1. [Image]: https://investorplace.com/hot-topics/apple-rumors-stock-news/
  2. Apple rumors: https://investorplace.com/search/?q=Apple+Rumors&searchsubmit=Search
  3. AAPL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AAPL
  4. looking for an alternative to iTunes for digital music purchases: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323968304578247581221018150.html
  5. AMZN: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AMZN
  6. GOOG: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GOOG
  7. the combined sales of all iPad models in Japan: http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/01/17/googles-nexus-7-outsells-apples-ipad-in-japan-over-holidays
  8. SNE: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SNE
  9. can now read the latest edition: http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/17/3886242/rolling-stone-finally-available-for-ipad-in-newsstand
  10. Apple Rumors: https://investorplace.com/2012/04/hot-topics/apple-rumors-stock-news/

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