Friday Apple Rumors: No iTunes Touchscreen App for Windows 8

by Christopher Freeburn | May 10, 2013 12:37 pm

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

Rebuff: Users of Microsoft‘s (NASDAQ:MSFT[3]) Windows 8 tablets won’t get a touchscreen-friendly version[4] of Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL[5]) iTunes app any time soon, CNN notes. Though Apple routinely develops Windows versions for most of its Mac applications — and has released an iTunes application for use on desktops and laptops running Windows 8 — it has so far declined to develop an iTunes app that works with Windows 8’s touchscreen interface. That means that users of Windows tablets that don’t have a keyboard or mouse handy find the existing Windows 8 app hard to navigate. iTunes will not run at all on Windows RT. Microsoft has made no secret that it would like to see an iTunes app for its touchscreen devices. A Microsoft executive said that “the welcome mat has been laid out” but that Apple has balked at the offer. Windows 8 has 60,000 apps available for its mobile device users, compared to more than 700,000 for iOS.

Unlocking: Police departments across the country must now get on a waiting list to have seized iPhones decrypted[6], CNET notes. The waiting list now has a seven day delay. The company is awash in requests from law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, who want to take a look at data contained on iPhones seized in criminal investigations. Last year, it emerged that the encryption technology used in the iPhone 4S had proven difficult for even the FBI to break.

Snag: Apple’s plans to launch a streaming music service continue to face headwinds from record labels[7], the Financial Times notes. Apple has raised the royalty fee it is prepared to offer from 6 cents to 12.5 cents per 100 tracks streamed. That makes Apple’s offer competitive with fees paid by Pandora (NYSE:P[8]), but some record companies were continuing to hold out for higher rates. Apple has reportedly reached an agreement with Universal Music. However, talks with other record labels continue.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[9] 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. MSFT: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=MSFT
  4. won’t get a touchscreen-friendly version: http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/07/technology/windows-8-itunes/index.html
  5. AAPL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AAPL
  6. must now get on a waiting list to have seized iPhones decrypted: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57583843-38/apple-deluged-by-police-demands-to-decrypt-iphones/
  7. continue to face headwinds from record labels: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b139ee3e-b8af-11e2-869f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2SpqDFg6Q
  8. P: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=P
  9. Apple Rumors: https://investorplace.com/2012/04/hot-topics/apple-rumors-stock-news/

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