The largest bank in Australia compared the price of the 2 Gb iPod nano in 26 countries and has made it in to a chart.
The country where it is the cheapest is in Canada, where one can acquirer it for $144.20 versus $149 in the United States. In France, it costs $205.80. It is one of the most expensive places to buy one, but far behind Brazil where it is priced at $327.71.
However, there is something surprising in this chart. It quite simply forgot to take into account the taxes that are applied.
So, the American price of $149 is without tax. For example, in the state of New York, there is a sales tax of $12.50. For France, on the other hand, the VAT is included in the price as well as the private copy royalty.
Thus there is a disparity in the data which skews the classifications.
After setting up a
RAID5 with G4, Gotchi has revived an old Apple Network Server and recycled it to host his RAID5 system. In this new article, Gotchi provides numerous details and photo to explain the procedure. If you like tips/tricks and "bidouille" about the Mac, it is a must read:
RAID5 in an Apple Network ServerAccording to
tech.co.uk, Apple might consider to license out FairPlay to third-parties but under quite strict conditions, and mostly aiming to make it easier for other companies to produce devices able of playing FairPlay-protected files. It would be dedicated to:
- USB devices, allowing them to stream FairPlay-protected audio. Currently, this is only possible via the Airport Express and the forthcoming Apple TV station.
- License out FairPlay to other companies manufacturing devices able to play DRM-protected music tracks, but not aiming to compete directly with Apple products. Such companies might be Netgear, D-Link, and those developing peripherals for the iPods and already enrolled on a business agreement with Apple for the "Made for iPod" label.
Why is this information coming today? Well one can imagine that it follows the recent introduction by Netgear of a digital box, the EVA8000 capable of streaming HD and protected music from iTunes for Windows only! Not clear how Netgear can do that... either they got a special agreement with Apple but did not want to talk about it till Steve does it, or they have been using DVDJon's hacking solution to be able to play FairPlay-protected tracks.
This rumor about Apple opening FairPlay to third-parties appears the same day than the launch of the
105th NAMM Show, the giant musical instrument trade show where Apple is present.
This potential initiative from Apple could also be the perfect way to stop on-going legal actions in Europe against DRM-protected music tracks, as Apple might claim that third-parties have now the possibility to buy a license to get their devices compatible with iTS protection system.
Last but not least, ADSL ISP in Europe with their own Video-on-Demand offers might be interested to get a FairPlay licensing agreement with Apple, as they could keep selling video from their own stores, but users will then gain the possibility to play those video files on their computers via iTunes.
Thanks to Thierry to report that Roxio offers for a short time a special offer to upgrade your current version to Toast 8 for 59.99€. To be eligible to this offer, you need to get a valid license of Toast 7 Titanium, Jam 6 or Popcorn.
To take advantage of this offer, go to Roxio's dedicated webpage (you can change the language/geographical location via a the "Country" menu):
Toast 8 download version
You can read our review of Toast 8:
here
