“Steve Jobs has his own idea and he’s a brilliant guy,” says Yoko Ono of that guy with the sweater. “There’s just an element that we’re not very happy about, as people.” She’s referring, of course, to the Beatle’s continued absence from the iTunes Store. It’s almost ludicrous that the band’s catalog hasn’t reached the store – this is the goddamn Beatles we’re discussing. But Yoko doesn’t sound very optimistic. “Don’t hold your breath… for anything,” she says. Frankly, one has to wonder: it’s safe to say at this point that the Beatles’ appearance in the iTunes store would primarily benefit…

Confession time: I am an elitist, judgmental, hoity-toity snobbish audiophile. I reject mainstream music. I buy 400 dollar headphones without a second thought. I have never once purchased music from the iTunes store, because as far as I’m concerned, the sound quality is garbage. And, that being said, if you’re content listening to top 40 hits through Skullcandy headphones hooked up to your 4gb iPod Nano, stop reading. This isn’t for you. Come back when you’re serious. For those of you who get it, you might get a kick out of this: Sony Music is gearing up to unleash an online store that will cater to…

You’re one of the five people in the civilized world who own a Zune, right? Well, good news – you may soon be able to sync it with iTunes. Seriously. This is a thing. In an attempt to save the world and all its inhabitants, three Mortal Kombatants have been chosen the European Union has drafted up a document it’s calling the Digital Agenda, the function of which is to serve the cause of interoperability, openness, and innovation in the tech world. I, for one, am precisely the opposite of not all for that. Behold, an excerpt: Since not all pervasive technologies are based on standards the benefits of interoperability…

Hurrah – HP’s recently-acquired Palm unit has updated its webOS software, unleashing a whole new world of handheld gaming. Well, not quite, but with HP already saying it intends using its newly-acquired webOS to spark a whole new period in connected device development, then we’ll be watching the Palm OS for some time to come. In future expect printers and all manner of other digital devices to speak to each other using webOS. Beyond this, HP has also confirmed plans to unleash a whole new wave of webOS-powered netbooks and slates. And in a sign that it isn’t all going to be Apple versus Google…

He may have written some classic hits, but Prince has no ‘Kiss’ to give in his latest ‘Purple Rain’ of vitriol against ‘teh internets’, which the diminutive pop star says ‘is finished’. Is this a ‘Sign of the Times’, or simply an attempt by the artist to propel sales of his latest album, 20TEN, which isn’t going to be made available in shops, instead it is to be given away in the UK with copies of the Daily Mirror. Speaking to the Mirror, Prince slammed, like, this whole Internet thing, saying it is over, finished, dead, last year’s number. At the risk of being a rock ‘n’ roll…

Google seems set to stick it to iTunes in an attempt to carve out its own slice of the music market, hoping that by linking music sales up with its dominant search engine it will be able to achieve a content ecosystem designed to support sales of devices powered by its browser-based Android-one-day-Chrome OS. The company is thought to be closing in on launching a music download service, offering tracks for sale and download. This will be followed by the introduction of a subscription-based music service next year (2011), at least, that is what the Wall Street Journal claims. Negotiations aren’t…

As the big boys in tech continue to eat into each others business models, is it really that surprising to hear Google is considering getting into the music distribution business? Apple’s iTunes Music Store has been the poster child for showing the music industry that suing and harassing its customers might not be the only way to make money in the 21st century. But the record labels have been nervous about putting all their eggs into Apple’s basket, always looking to spread the risk amongst digital distribution services, such as Napster, Coke’s iMusic effort and a number of other largely unsuccessful…

With over a million sold in the US alone, the iPad hits nine more countries later in the week. We’ve taken a look at some of the insanely interesting apps available for the new Apple product, and here’s our weekly run-down of five of the most interesting iPad apps around. 1. Pro Keys $0.99 Want to play a little piano? You can, with an iPad and rather lovely app, Pro Keys Piano. This seems to be a lot of fun and has many different modes – there’s a variety of pianos, including a grand and an electric, an organ and many more. There’s fifteen instruments in all. The two visible keyboards can be set differently,…

We’ve been casting our eyes around for cool iPhone apps this week, and have come up with some stunning apps, including some which vastly improve iPhone photography and a few others which just couldn’t help but catch our eye — including one superb music-creation solution. 1. Twitter for iPhone Free Formerly Tweetie 2 and now produced by Twitter itself, the official Twitter client is an essential tool for anyone who is into the 140-character idea sharing service. Twitter for iPhone will let you browse users, check trends and write tweets. You can download it here. This version (released last…

Everyone seemed skeptical at first, but over a million sales later and it seems pretty clear everybody is getting more and more interested in trying out Apple’s iPad. We bounced some ideas around the office to come up with six great apps we think every iPad user’s going to want to have installed on their new toy. 1. Marvel Comics Free, cost of comics varies This beautiful app seems set to change the way we consume comic books. It’s almost as if the iPad is built for them — now Marvel intends making new comic titles available digitally first. New titles are sold through an online store that works…