Are iTunes Subscriptions Inevitable?

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has said in the past that consumers are not interested in subscription music services. He may be wrong: NPD has conducted a survey and found that as many as 7 to 8 million iTunes customers could be willing to pay $10 or month or more for access to their music libraries or to stream music.

Add this one up and you see a potential $840 to 960 million (or more) annual business could be sitting right underneath Apple’s nose. “[This] is roughly two-thirds the revenue garnered by the current pay-per-download model,” NPD analyst Ross Crupnick said.

Such numbers could propel Apple even further ahead of Microsoft in market capitalization, and give it more cash to continue its stratospheric growth. How could Apple turn that down?

There are some indications that Apple’s position on subscription music may be changing a bit. Rumors swirled earlier this year that the company had approached the labels about some type of cloud-based music service, but apparently details have not yet been discussed. That would mean any service probably would not appear for quite awhile yet.

Increasing interest in subscriptions and streaming could have a lot to do with the changing technological capabilities of the consumer. With increasing smartphone usage and fairly widespread coverage now of 3G (and faster) wireless data, the consumer has the capability.

Services like Pandora are nice, however the user cannot control what plays: accessing their own libraries or songs on demand looks increasingly enticing.

Whatever Apple decides to do, it should act fast. Google is said to be working on its own music service to debut later this year. It also apparently will include some type of streaming component, using its strength in search to help it drive business.

Microsoft Cancels 1 vs. 100, Xbox Live’s First Game Show

One of Xbox Live’s most innovative features, the online game show 1 vs. 100, won’t return for another season.

If you missed it, 1 vs. 100 was a trivia show in which one contestant would try to outlast a “mob” of 100 others, each of whom face elimination with wrong answers. Players who weren’t competing could still answer questions from the sidelines, with a chance to rotate into the main game. Semiweekly live shows, hosted by comedian Chris Cashman, offered prizes to the winners.

The game was included with an Xbox Live Gold subscription, and at one point attracted more than 60,000 players to the live show. Microsoft didn’t say why it canned the show, only noting that the development team will move on to other projects. It’s rumored that the original 1 vs. 100 television show, hosted by Bob Saget for two seasons on NBC, could return, so maybe that was an issue for Microsoft.

Whatever the reason, I hope Microsoft comes up with a suitable replacement. As several commenters on Kotaku wisely point out, 1 vs. 100 is a social, casual game that draws in exactly the same crowd Microsoft will try to capture with the Kinect motion-sensing camera. And Kinect support seems like an obvious choice for game shows; imagine waving your arms in celebration and seeing an avatar do the same, or raising your hand to answer a question and speaking the answer.

Kinect aside, the idea of a massive multiplayer online game show is just plain cool. Half the fun of watching game shows on television is trying to answer questions yourself, and 1 vs. 100 let spectators do that by sectioning non-players into small groups to compete amongst themselves. I think 1 vs. 100 had a chance to revolutionize game shows, but like an anxious TV network, Microsoft pulled the plug too soon.

Enter the Politicians

US Senator Charles Schumer steps in to solve the iPhone antenna mess. While he’s at it, can he do something about the Blue Screen of Death?

Playstation Plus Gets Hulu Plus Early, That’s All

Sony’s finally ready to talk about Hulu Plus for Playstation 3. No price advantage for Playstation Plus subscribers, just a chance to get a preview invite and to pay $10 per month for early access.

Whither HP Android Tablet?

Forget about the HP Windows 7 slate–All Things Digital’s John Paczkowski says that the company is having second thoughts about its Android tablet. too.

Apple’s Friday Press Conference: Predictions, Please

What’s Apple going to talk about at its Friday press conference? According to Jim Dalrymple of The Loop, the topic is the iPhone 4. Wanna guess about the details?

Technologizer Turns Two

A year ago, I declared July 14th as Technologizer’s birthday–which means that we’re turning two today. I almost forgot.

When people ask me what my job is like, I have a standard response: It’s both the toughest gig I’ve ever had and the most fun. I’m not one of those journalists who seethes with doom and gloom about the media business. I choose to be an optimist about the amazing changes this industry is going through; I find new reasons to get excited every day, and can’t imagine a better place to ply my trade than right here.

This is the first era in journalism history in which a paperless, not-many-resources-required microbrand like Technologizer is even plausible, and I feel fortunate that I happen to be around to give it my best shot.

The best thing about my job by far is hanging out with smart people–by whom I mean the community that comments on our stories, chatters with me on Twitter, and visits our Facebook page. Thanks to all of you. I’m in awe of the quality of conversation that goes on around our content, and am immensely grateful that you choose to share your insights and knowledge with us.

I’d also like to thank…

• …all of our contributors, especially the prolific and venerable Benj Edwards, Jared Newman, Ed Oswald, and David Worthington, plus Christian Johnson, who’s helped out behind the scenes with proofreading;
• …Steve Bass of TechBite and Dave Zatz of Zatz Not Funny, both of who let us borrow some of their stories;
• …the fine folks at Federated Media who handle the advertising side of Technologizer and otherwise help make it a sustainable business proposition;
• …the tech wizards at Automattic’s WordPress VIP hosting service, who make sure that Technologizer doesn’t choke even when a popular story leads to a 60X spike in traffic;
• …my old pals at PCWorld, who syndicate our articles and get them in front of an even bigger audience.

These first two years have been a blast. There’s lots more to come, and I hope you’ll stick around as we continue this little experiment over the next couple of years and beyond.

Apple to Hold Friday iPhone 4 Event

Apple is inviting journalists to a press event on Friday at its Cupertino campus. The topic is the iPhone 4; the company is presumably going to address the controversy over the phone’s antenna. No matter what it says, it’ll be fascinating to see how it deals with this.

PlayOn Plays On iPhones, Warts and All

Starting tomorrow, PlayOn lets you watch basic Hulu on an iPhone for less than the cost of Hulu Plus, but you get what you pay for.

Multiple Google Account Sign-Ins Tested on Some Lucky Users

Google’s quietly testing the much-needed ability to sign into multiple user accounts within a single browser session, according to the folks at the unofficial Google Operating System blog.

The multiple sign-in feature applies to Google Docs, Calendar, Reader, Code, Sites and Gmail. Other services will default to the account that signed in first, and using multiple accounts will disable offline mode. There’s no indication of when multiple sign-ins will roll out to everyone; a Google representative told Lifehacker that there’s nothing to announce at this time.

Surely I’m not the only one who would love multiple sign-ins for Google services. If you’ve got separate Gmail or Docs accounts for work and personal matters, switching back and forth is a hassle. Aside from manually signing out of one account to access another, your options are to use a private or incognito session in browsers that allow it, open different web browsers for each account or install a Greasemonkey script in Firefox.

And none of those solutions nix the nuisance I’ve been running into lately: My wife and I share an iPad, and every time she checks her e-mail on the device, I’ve got to sign her out once it’s my turn. Switching between browsers is too bothersome, and enabling private browsing in Atomic Web doesn’t allow for multiple log-ins. I hope Google extends multiple sign-ins to its mobile sites, or else I’m still out of luck.

Verizon: Droid X Will Be In Stock Thursday

The nation’s largest wireless carrier has had one hell of a time keeping the Droid Incredible in stock. In fact, those ordering the device today may end up waiting until this time next month to actually receive it. For whatever reasons — be it poor planning or just unexpected demand — that’s just the way it is.

Verizon isn’t about to let the same thing happen to its highly anticipated Droid X. Checks by several blogs indicated average stocks of between 50 and 100 units. While not a lot, it certainly means in most cases if you’re there early, you’ll be taking home the phone that day. Boy Genius Report added that the company also has backup stock in its warehouse, so stores would be able to replenish the ones they sell.

With all the negative publicity surrounding the iPhone 4 right now, this is not the time to have supply issues, and Verizon knows this. If the reception issues of Apple’s device continue to spread through the mainstream media as they have, there’s no doubt that some may choose to purchase another phone.

I think it’s also fair to mention the two Android phones with the most serious supply issues — the EVO 4G and the Incredible — are both from HTC. The X is produced by Motorola, and with their last big hit being the Droid, they’ve obviously had more time to focus on manufacturing this latest device.

For those interested, the Droid X will become available Thursday at a price of $299.99 with a two-year agreement out the door, but a $100 mail-in rebate would put it on par with the iPhone 4.

Lance Armstrong, Meet Lance Armstrong

Department of unfortunate editorial/advertising adjacencies, from NYTimes.com:

iPad Alternatives

[UPDATE: Looking for an up-to-date list of iPad alternatives? I tried my hand at compiling one here]

Yes, the iPad has competitors. Sort of. CrunchGear’s Matt Burns rounds up its rivals–the available, the delayed, and the dormant. (The JooJoo–the device formerly known as the CrunchPad–isn’t on the list, even though it’s among the most iPaddish tablets that’s actually for sale. Maybe it’s taboo to mention it on TechCrunch network sites…)

Ouch!

Is the iPhone 4 Apple’s Windows Vista? Yes–according to…Microsoft’s COO.

New Xbox 360 Arcade May Have More Storage

Microsoft has gone quiet on the fate of Xbox 360 Arcade, a cheaper, feature-barren version of the main console, but that’s not stopping Amazon Germany from sharing some secrets.

The online retailer now lists an “Xbox 360 Arcade System Bundle 4 GB.” There aren’t any other details available besides that one line, which is at least enough to tell us that Microsoft could significantly boost the low-tier console’s storage capacity.

As the Xbox 360 gained better specs over the years, the stripped-down model improved as well, going from wired to wireless controllers and gaining an HDMI output while dropping in price, eventually to $200. But the Arcade console was held back by a mere 256 MB to 512 MB of storage capacity. The main console’s 120 GB hard drive and wired headset was worth the extra $100 if you planned to download games or play online.

The latest Xbox 360 model has a 250 GB hard drive and built-in wireless. That’s a pretty good deal, but with Microsoft now allowing Xbox 360 storage on USB sticks, it’s possible to have plenty of storage on an HDD-free console for cheap. Put together a 4 GB console and a 16 GB USB stick, and you’ve got the same amount of room as my late 2007 model, which has served me well so far.

Three things will be worth considering when Microsoft actually confirms a cheaper console: Will it have built-in wireless, will this bundle include Kinect, Microsoft’s motion-sensing camera, and of course, how much will it cost?

For now, Microsoft has scrubbed all mention of Xbox 360 Arcade from its Xbox landing page. If you want a bargain on what could soon be outdated goods, Amazon and Target are both selling old Xbox 360 Arcade bundles, with two games, for $150.

Doing the Math on Online TV

Thinking about dumping cable and doing all your TV watching on the Web? Web TV guide Clicker crunched the numbers on how much network programming is available online. It isn’t everything–American Idol and Law & Order are two notable holdouts–but an awfully high percentage of stuff is there. It would be interesting to see similar data for major cable networks.