A longstanding trademark dispute between Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Apple Corps LTD., the record label responsible for the distribution of the Beatles' music, could finally be over after Apple, Inc. says they've FINALLY reached an official agreement.

For those not familiar with the fruit fight, Apple, Inc (then Apple Computer, Inc.) reached an agreement for use of the Apple trademark, saying as long as the computer company stayed out of the music space Apple Corps LTD wouldn't pursue any further legal action. Um, then Apple, Inc. kind of ... entered the music space ... and released an MP3 player you might have heard of before ... the iPod. With both the iPod and iTunes music store heading out of the gates in 2001, Apple Corps LTD started the fight up again.

Lucky for Apple, especially with the recent shortening of the name to Apple, inc., everything is now resolved. Today's new agreement replaces the earlier 1991 agreement, but terms of the deal weren't released.

In what's no doubt another attempt to take some PR away from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: APPL) announced a new version of the iPod shuffle.

Now, you can get your smallish music playing needs fulfilled by a range of different colors. Just in time for Valentines Day, get your pink, green, orange, blue and silver shuffles for $79. Noticeably absent? The (product)RED version for AIDS research ... guess you gotta keep those margins on some products. As always, if you order from Apple's own site, you can laser engrave a two-line message on the itty-bitty exterior.

Again, nothing revolutionary, but with the release of Windows Vista, you gotta get your name in somehow, right?

[Via Engadget]

Currency conversion is one of those abstract concepts that's often hard to truly conceptualize. Sure, I realized the dollar is weak, but while one of my UK friends was visiting the states, I had a difficult time understanding exactly how strong the pound or Euro was, and when attempting to translate it into a "real world" situation, pricing disparities between countries make it difficult still.

Now, an Australian securities firm takes that metric and standardizes it using one of the most pervasive devices of the moment, the iPod. Commonwealth Securities, Ltd. uses the two gigabyte version of Apple, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPod Nano to measure wealth disparity across the globe, creating the iPod index.

In theory, my friend shouldn't be so excited to come to the U.S. and purchase an iPod for "cheap," but rather the iPod's price should equate around the globe, according to currency conversions. Of course, that's not the case. In fact, Brazilians pay the equivalent of $327 for the flash-based device, while our Canadian neighbors to the north pay a mere $144 for what costs us here in the U.S. $149.

We all saw how fast Napster caught fire, then was swiftly extinguished by the long arm of the RIAA. Who could turn down the alure of free music? Five years later, YouTube caught fire. Many industry pundits expected a similar fate for the company. But wait! Unlike the draconian music industry, television producers figured out YouTube was actually a positive marketing tool. Could the record industry backpedal on years of lawsuits and start restricting consumers less?

Of course, peer2peer services are essentially dead now, at least for the general public. P2P is replaced with another acronym, DRM. Digital Rights Management helps you be honest, and helps prevent rampant piracy, but it also restricts where, how and how often music can be played. Until recently, DRM-ed music like Apple Computer Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iTunes was the only place to get music. But now DRM-ed track sales are starting to flatten out, and the music industry can't point to protected track sales increasing sales numbers as a way to justify their existence. Instead, selling less restrictive tracks could be a way to stimulate growth. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) already struck a deal with Jessica Simpson's label, and sold an unrestricted version of her single "Public Affair" for $1.99. Now, Yahoo! says it's following suit with two more tracks this year, and expect other online music services to follow suit.

As the age of the iPod continues, expect more consumers to become savvy consumers and realize all their iTunes Music Store tracks aren't playable anywhere except their iPod. Perhaps we'll see a subscription model, such as Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT) PlaysForSure initiative, gain more traction in the marketplace, and stir something up. PlaysForSure ensures device compatibility between music services and devices. DRM stays, but so does your music, as long as you switch to another PlaysForSure approved device.

In addition to PlaysForSure and Yahoo!'s experiment, Billboard Magazine lists a few other companies to watch. Among them, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), News Corp's (NYSE:NWS) MySpace, LimeWire and eMusic.

It's 2007, and that means a couple mainstay stories in January. You've got to hear stock predictions, that's a must; you'll probably hear about how great January is for gyms and how fast consumers lose their new year's resolve. But the other mainstay is the annual Super Bowl ad prices. This year they're up again, like it's some sort of shock. Now that 30-second spot you've been eying for your new Web2.0 startup will cost about $2.6 million. At that rate, a four second ID (the minimum length for an advertisement of any sort on television) costs about $86,000. Two and a half decent cars for the equivalent of "buy my product, it's really awesome, and I know you'll be happier if you do!" Those high prices net great commercials though, and I'll tune in for the annual ad showcase, and that little footie game ... or whatever.

(Oh, and the interest of full-disclosure, I work for a CBS O&O affiliate in Salt Lake City, Utah, when I'm not blogging here.)

Today, Apple (NAS: AAPL) throws some hype fuel on the fire with the new teaser appearing on their website...

...and the hype machine moves forward. Marketers and business folks take note: This isn't a case of over-promise and under-deliver as is so common in the consumer electronics industry, it's genuine excitement about a company that has a track record of rolling out products that consumers buy and apparently enjoy.

Much could be said of Apple, and the tenure of notoriously low-key CEO, Steve Jobs. Look at the massive success of the iPod, the transition to Intel-based computers, not to mention the original and subsequent iMacs. Oh yeah, and there's that little black mark dotting the headlines as of late, you know, the whole improper options granting thing.

Among all the headlines, two things are certain with the house that Jobs built: Secrecy and hype. Virtually every product launch since the iPod has a massive amount of hype surrounding every event, with Appleheads spreading rumor after rumor, and Photoshopped picture after picture, and with next week's Macworld, this event is no different.

Those crafty kids from Cupertino say they sold 1.8 million units in the holiday retail quarter ending 2006. The strong sales figures put earnings at $2.85/share, beating the Street consensus of $2.76/share.

Seems a pretty positive week, after clearing CEO Steve Jobs of those improper options grants, and with all the hype surrounding next week's MacWorld expo, looks like a pretty positive time for Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shareholders.

[Via TUAW]

Kodak's had a hard time over the past ten years. With the advent of the digital camera, Kodak's tried and true business model of cheap cameras and expensive film didn't translate too well. With lackluster digital offerings, especially when compared to its European and Japanese competitors, some worried Eastman-Kodak's (NYSE: EK) financial future wasn't exactly a "Kodak Moment." Now, it looks like Eastman-Kodak is kicking off a new digital push. Their new "fully featured" cams feature facial recognition, intelligent color metering, and integrated GPS.

Taking a page from "viral marketing 101," the company produced a pretty funny internal video, then posted it on YouTube.

It's definitely a refreshing video. Nice to see someone else hated the Advantix system... plus a resurgence of the "Kodak Moment" wouldn't be so bad. Although, I'm not sure the schmaltz really goes to 11 just yet; we'll have to see at next week's Consumer Electronics show.

[Via Engadget]