The U.S. is recovering from a long Fourth of July holiday weekend, which means it’s the perfect time to declare the death of the Internet, wirelessly track down your car keys, and dabble with yet another “Beatles and iTunes” rumor. These are the remainders for July 6, 2010.
Prince declares the Internet “completely over” (The Daily Mirror)
Yes, that Prince—the artist formerly known as… well, not Prince—declared the death of the Internet in an interview with The Daily Mirror. He has a new album coming out, and he is so upset with the Internet as a whole that he’s banned his own music from YouTube and iTunes, and he even shut down his own Website. Here is the entire relevant quote, in case you were wondering what the Internet and MTV had in common:
The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it. The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.
AT&T users complain of slowing 3G upload speeds (Electronista)
Who would have thought that AT&T’s network could withstand the force of 1.7 million new iPhone 4s (minus the international sales)? AT&T customers, apparently. Across blogs, forums, and discussion threads, users are speculating that AT&T may be throttling network bandwidth—particularly upload speeds—due to the increased load that the iPhone 4 demands of it. The carrier has yet to respond to requests for comment, but a quick couple of tests in Chicago with Speedtest.net Speed Test in Chicago show a healthy upload speed during peak traffic hours of about 1Mbps. Look on the bright side: maybe it’s a good thing after all that FaceTime doesn’t work over 3G—yet.
Apple Studies User Downloads to Fine-Tune Mobile Ads (Bloomberg)
Apple launched iAds on July 1 in a handful of apps (and even let you opt out), and the advertising world is watching the program quite closely. One thing that may give Apple a significant leg up on its competition, especially Google, is the iTunes Store. According to Rachel Pasqua, a mobile marketing director who spoke to Bloomberg, our proclivities for downloading music and movies, installing apps, deleting apps, and reading books become sweet information ammunition with which Apple can nail the targeted iAds bullseye.
PhoneHalo for your iPhone helps find your keys (TUAW)
Are you the type of forgetful person that you wish someone made a “Find my iPhone” for your car keys? Soon, there may be an app for that (nope, it’s not dead yet). PhoneHalo, an app on its way to the App Store, pairs with a Bluetooth dongle that you attach to your car keys. If the little buggers go missing in your immediate vicinity (after all, we are talking about Bluetooth, a wireless technology with very limited range of about 30 feet), you can use PhoneHalo to literally ping your keys.
Apple Records moves closer to online with non-Beatles albums (Electronista)
Resurrected rumors of a Verizon iPhone must not be enough for the unicorn-tear enthusiasts among us, as the “Beatles on iTunes” meme is back. Again. Apple Records ( not to be confused with The Company Formerly Known As Apple Computer) has announced that it is preparing to release 15 remastered albums on the Internet—all of them of non-Beatles bands, such as James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston. Last we checked, Sir Paul McCartney was still pointing the finger at EMI for holding up the Beatles, but as far as this upcoming Apple Records release is concerned, you can look for it on October 26.