What is it with the Beatles and nines?

As my colleague Caroline McCarthy pointed out in March when the launch date (September 9, 2009) for The Beatles: Rock Band was announced, the band's song "Revolution 9" ends with the words, "number nine, number nine, number nine."

So clearly, the date 09/09/09 has at least some symbolic significance for the band. And now, in addition to that date being the launch of the Rock Band title, it was announced Tuesday that on that same day, the Beatles will release a CD box set of … Read more

Faced with heat from iTunes and other digital downloads, the nearly-three-decade-old music CD is slowly melting away.

iTunes-purchased songs now account for 25 percent of the overall music market--both physical and digital--in the U.S., says an NPD Group report released Tuesday. However, CDs are still the most popular format for music lovers, winning a 65 percent slice of the market for the first half of 2009.

Digital music downloads have jumped in recent years, said NPD, hitting 35 percent of the overall market for the first half of this year, compared with 30 percent last year and 20 percent … Read more

It looks like the annual Apple music event will be held on September 9 this year, according to AllThingsD.

Though it had been reported earlier that the event would take place sometime that week, a source now tells AllThingsD that the exact date will be September 9, and that it will focus on music, meaning no tablet announcement.

If the date is correct, holding an event on a Wednesday would be a departure from Apple's habit of holding these types of events on Tuesdays. The date also gives more credence to the rumor that it might be the day … Read more

commentary As Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs has transformed the way we think about computers, portable music, and mobile phones. So I read with great interest a profile of Jobs in the Sunday Times of the United Kingdom this morning.

While there are a few interesting bits of information about how hard Jobs is to get along with and how driven he is, the piece missed the boat on a couple of very important points.

The story labels Apple's secrecy as "the mafia code of silence" that is "ruthlessly enforced, with employees sacked for leaks and … Read more

This story was updated Tuesday with some clarification about the origin of the iPad reference. See details below.

There are a gazillion rumors swirling out there about a forthcoming Apple tablet of some sort. And while we certainly don't feel the need to point you to each and every supposed leaked photo or tip from a super-secret inside source, this potential clue is too interesting to pass on.

MacLife appears to be the first to have noticed that a survey Borders e-mailed to customers, for which those willing to participate earn a coupon for 20 percent off, referenced a … Read more

Psystar lawyers have begun deposing Apple executives in the copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Apple last year, the Mac clone maker announced.

Surprisingly, it seems that Psystar executives are actually enjoying themselves. In a Thursday post on its Web site called "A taste of their own medicine," Psystar seems to gloat over the fact it is now deposing several Apple executives. "For the past week and for the following ten days we will be doing depositions of some of Apple's highest level people. After numerous depositions of Psystar employees and associates the shoe is finally on … Read more

According to rumors, the release of Mac OS X 10.6, Apple's operating system also known as Snow Leopard, might arrive a bit early. Though Apple announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June that Snow Leopard would hit stores in September, tech blogs became overly excited when it was whispered that it might be ready to debut on or about August 28.

How much does it matter that it could arrive five whole days before September officially begins? It doesn't. Regardless of when the operating system ships, here's what to expect from Snow Leopard, and why … Read more