If anything new comes up I’ll update this post.

Turn on the setting ‘Allowing auto-syncing for all devices’ in Preferences, and then turning automatic syncing off for the device in Summary, corrects the problem and prevents iTunes from auto-launching when the device is connected.

Yes you have to do it for each device, but it works.

For major publications like the Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, and other subscription magazines, demanding in-app subscriptions and taking 30% of the sale is fairly major. Also, Apple refuses to give any information about those subscribers, which is usually combined into generic demographics and used to attract advertisers.

Other subsequent changes to the rule seem to indicate that this will also apply to all in-app payments as well (such as the Kindle app), although Steve Jobs said in another pseudo-statement that this will not apply to SaaS apps, and will only apply to publishers. However, the line between “publisher” and SaaS is definitely blurry, as in the Netflix app which could easily be considered either.

The point is developers are confused. And frustrated. Apple’s app store already suffers from a severely ambiguous approval process (though it was getting better). Honestly, the latest subscription changes impact only a very small number of apps, but they aggravate past frustrations and create future uncertainty for the entire market. This reduces the confidence of small-time publishers the app market and reduces the incentive to invest in future apps.

There is nothing wrong with rules and guidelines in general, but they should at least be based on some objective principle and universally applied. According the press release, Apple’s reasoning is that this creates a better user experience, and will make Apple more money (that’s what it says). However, if that is the goal that Apple is trying to accomplish, why are these rules only selectively applied and seemingly designed to target the apps that could hurt Apple the most if they pull out?

If Apple wants to create a good user experience and increase its developer community, it needs to create clearly defined rules so that developers can work within those bounds. Apple’s vague rules have frequently forced developers to remove key features of apps just to be accepted into the store, which clearly is not good for users or the long-term health of the market.

This already has many apps giving heavy consideration to other options, and wishing there were more viable alternatives to Apple’s large market of people willing to buy apps and digitals services. Nobody is abandoning Apple of course, as it is usually still the best market for an initial app launch before it expanding to other platforms, but that divide is quickly diminishing, and changes like these have many reputable apps hoping for an alternative.

Both Android and Windows Phone 7 are promising in the near future, and Windows Phone seems they have the best balance of freedom and regulation, but both have weaker markets in terms of being able to make a profit and reach a target audience. That is slowly changing as people seem to always trend towards a free market. For better or worse, there is simply more consistency and reliability in freedom, and that is attractive from both a consumer and developer standpoint.

Apple is certainly no dictator, and its attempt to control the market may be a sincere and effective effort to maintain quality and provide a great user experience. But the ever-changing rules, comparatively long approval time, and uncertainty of the approval process can be very frustrating from a developer point of view.

Moreover, as Apple creates additional rules for specific businesses, governments may reciprocate by applying increased regulation to Apple’s app business. It will be fascinating to watch Apple argue against regulation while simultaneously imposing regulations on others, but that remains to be seen.

Todd McMurtrey is a blogger and marketer for Amadeus Consulting, a software company that develops, among many other things, iPhone apps for a wide range of companies and clients.

So now I read in techcrunch that we are back to long sync times again.  What is it with Apple?  Doesn’t anyone test this stuff before they release it?  Here is an except..

“… One main culprit is what should be a nice, new feature in iTunes 9 called “Automatically fill free space with songs.” It does exactly what it says, finds songs to put on your iPhone to fill it up. This is great for people like me with too large of a music library to sync it all with the iPhone, and who don’t really use playlists (the main way to sync music to the iPhone). Unfortunately, if you click this “Automatically fill free space” option, it seems that sometimes it wants to remove and replace much of the random music. If you have a 32 GB iPhone, that is going to take a while. …”

Siegler goes on saying that even with this option turned off, it still takes too long.  Around 5 min.  If its taking him 5 min, then odds are my sync will be 10.   I was holding off on iTunes9 for the same reason I hold off on every iphone/iTunes update.  Just to make sure I would not regret my decision.   Seems like that caution is appropriate in this case.

Do note; if you are unlocked, do NOT upgrade to 3.1 till the untrasn0w and redsn0w are ready.

I’ll update this post as needed in case a later announcement is made.

Spotify is currently only available in Europe but the company plans to roll out in America by the end of the year. To do so, it must first sign deals with copyright holders, but founder Daniel Eks said he “feels very comfortable [about that], in that the labels want to see Spotify in the U.S.”

So I have to wait…  I really thought this would have been available through jailbreak at some point, but I guess if you ever plan to get the Apple seal of approval, you have to avoid jailbreaking.. Ah well.  I guess I keep waiting.  That or get a hacked version and install it myself..  Hmm…  would have to spoof my IP …  Hmm….  Has anyone is the US got it to work?

For now, enjoy the video and dream.

Here are a list of features from their site…

ipod copy music
Copy iPod music, playlists, podcasts, audiobooks and video to your PC.
Backup your iPod music and video in a couple of mouse clicks.
ipod transfer
iPod to iTunes transfer of music, playlists and videos. Also transfers your Album Art, Ratings, Play Count and other song data.
ipod backup
iPod Backup of all your Music, Movies and Playlists at the touch of a button. Backup to your PC or iTunes.
ipod photo copy
Copy iPod Photos. View and save Photos on your iPod to your computer. View and copy photos taken on your iPhone.*
ipod games
Copy iPod Games back into your iTunes library.*
contacts button
Copy and manage Notes, Contacts and Calendars on your iPod – all from within TouchCopy.*
File Manager
Use your iPhone or iPod Touch like an external hard drive. Store any type of data, move your files between your home and office. Use your iPhone as a backup device. (iPod Touch and iPhone Only )*
iPod backup
Search for music on your iPod . The search results can be saved to your computer or transferred into iTunes as a playlist.
ipod ripper
Play music and video on your iPod through your PC without having iTunes installed. Use TouchCopy to change your music rating.

..from iPhoneOverdose

The problem is that the Mac does not recognize the iPhone when it restarts on how DOMs, the amendment needed to install the operating system’s iPhone.

Unable to recognize pwnage tool can not send the amendment, so the only thing you have left is to restart the iPhone and restore a backup.

Now I have read a comment from somewhere saying its a new subversion of iTunes on not the OS itself. Bloody annoying, but such is war. To get iTunes to read the amendment will mean fooling the iphone into thinkings its an upgrade or restoring a backup. Should be interesting. 

So just to be safe till we understand this more, I would not update iTunes anytime soon.

From the authors site:

Key features include:

– For Linux, iSlsk users and iTunes haters: File system playback. PwnPlayer reads any folder inside your iPhone/iPod file system and will play mp3s the same way MobileMusicPlayer does, with playlist, artwork and add/remove/tag edit support. Simply drag and drop your mp3 files using your favorite file browsing app such as WinSCP, CureFTP, CyberDuck or iPhoneBrowser… Or download them using iSlsk or any other music download app!

– Music Library compatibility: if you still want to keep using iTunes *vomit*, PwnPlayer is fully compatible with the internal music library

– Search: type in the first letters of the song/artist/album/file you are looking for, tap search and it will appear right there for you.. works both with music library and file system songs.

– Lock-Screen gesture controls: this is one of my favorites. You can control your PwnPlayer by swiping your finger on the lock screen, for easy handling from your pocket.. without having to unlock the device. If you haven’t seen it already in the video above, here’s a screenshot:

– Playlist managing: Create, edit, and remove playlists on the fly easily.

… plenty more on the site.  Go here.. 

I check Cydia everyday, so as soon as I see it, you will see it.

iTunes 8.0 iPhone Jailbreak Detection Thwarted from iphoneFAQ web site.

Basically, what they are trying to do is force a compromised sync (perhaps sync lock in the future?) if jailbreak is detected. Give me a break. I’m soooo grateful that I almost never use itunes for my iphone. I manage getting images using the PC camera sync and I could do mp3 by hand if I needed to. Based on the article, the jailbreak people will have a patch to get around it. Yup, I would bet on it. So even more, I’m not going to update anything for awhile!  

Read more on this here

http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/97464