Starbucks will be handing out free iTunes "Song of the Day" cards in over 10,000 store locations, from October 2nd to November 7th.

Starbucks estimates it will give away 1.5 million songs per day - that's over 50 million in all - to promote the iTunes WiFi store to which Starbucks will grant free access over its WiFi network.

Thirty-seven artists with featured songs include Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell (the first two to sign on with Starbucks' Hear Music label) along with Joss Stone, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Annie Lennox and Band of Horses.

The first song will be Bob Dylan's "Jokerman."

This is all part of the strategic partnership between Starbucks Corp. and Apple Inc. to integrate iTunes purchases into Starbucks' WiFi network. Participating Starbucks stores - starting with New York and Seattle in October, followed by San Francisco in November and many more locations in 2008 - will allow iPod Touch and iPhone users to find the song currently playing in store, and purchase it directly on the devices.

The "Song of the Day" promotion will not be limited to these stores, however.

Starbucks also will offer a limited-edition reloadable purchasing card that includes two free iTunes downloads when customers register their cards online.

[via Gizmodo]

Amazing, Apple just announced that they've sold 1 million iPhones.

It's been almost 6 years since the iPod was launched, and it took Apple two years to reach the one-million-mark. With the iPhone, they've reached that milestone in 74 days.

That's either an amazing figure, or a disgusting one. It depends on who you work for.

Remember that a majority of those iPhones sold were at the $599 pricetag. People said that a $600 phone would never change the mobile audio industry, obviously they were wrong. Note to Sirius, XM: remember this moment when you're shaking your head in disbelief the next time you look to cut costs in the design department. For consumer electronics, design is everything.

[Apple]

Yesterday's announcement of the Polk I-Sonic ES2 with iTunes Tagging support was promptly followed by a press release over the wires by iBiquity singing the praises of HD Radio.

And indeed, it's something that HD Radio can celebrate over for the time being. There's several marketing related benefits to the partnership - mostly bragging rights - which they will be doing in a 13-week multimillion dollar HD Radio ad campaign this October. The association with Apple also holds value, as it positions HD side-by-side with a "premium" brand. But the benefits really go to Apple, who gains another outlet for which people can tag and eventually purchase iTunes.

The implications of the iTunes Tagging technology itself is something deeper though. We don't know exactly how it works, but with the tagging functionality now available at select Starbucks over WiFi, and now over HD Radio, that means that Apple has built a tagging platform.

And I can guarantee that it's not going to stop at HD Radio.

With iTunes Tagging, Apple has built a platform that will read embedded metadata transmitted over various formats of digital encoded audio. So this very likely could spread to XM and Sirius. And as suggested by Wired, spread to Internet Radio outlets who embed the Apple metadata.

More than anything, it's a way for iTunes to be embedded in other devices that receive audio, and feed back into the Apple eco-system. Apple grows its tentacles, while manufacturers get the benefit being associated with the ubiquitous iPod.

Brilliant.

(See iBiquity's press release after the jump...)

Yesterday's Apple event included the news that they would be dropping the price of the 8Gb iPhone by $200, and this enraged many early adopters who paid the original $599 pricetag.

But in a move that is pretty amazing for a technology company, Apple has announced that they will give iPhone owners a $100 in store credit (online or in meatspace). That's an incredibly decent move when they very well could have just ignored the complaints and moved on.

Apple, as a result, has not only appeased their most dedicated (and affluent) customers, but created a second round of buzz, excitement and undoubtedly massive press exposure - just 24 hours after the big unveiling of a new product line.

XM and Sirius should take note, because this is the perfect example of how to turn customer service complaints into a positive PR move.

[Open Letter to All iPhone Customers]
Thanks Tyler!

According to Inside Radio, Polk Audio will announce the next generation of HD Radio tuners this afternoon that will establish a direct connection between HD Radio and the iPod. They're billing it as a "breakthrough for radio."

In what Inside Radio says is "an alliance with Apple," Polk Audio's new I-Sonic ES2 HD Radio will include an iPod docking station that features a "tagging button" - allowing users to buy songs they hear on HD Radio stations via iTunes.

The advancement requires HD stations to encode their signals and insiders say eight radio groups have committed to encoding.

TWICE has reported that Polk is unveiling the I-Sonic ES2 (Entertainment System 2) which they confirm includes an iPod dock. But there is no indication of the added iTunes tagging system. The I-Sonic ES2 with the integrated iPod dock is expected to be available for $499.

UPDATE: A source has confirmed this rumor to Orbitcast. More details shortly...

At today's "The Beat Goes On" event, Apple announced that they will be refreshing the entire iPod lineup for the 2007 Holiday Season.

The iPod Shuffle will get an update of colors, including the new iPod Shuffle (RED) edition which will help aid in the prevention of disease in Africa (roughly speaking). Featuring the same 1Gb of storage, MSRP for $79, the new device is shipping today.

Also introduced today was the new iPod Nano, which also will be available in various colors. The big feature added to the Nano is (as rumored) video capabilities. Sporting a larger 2-inch screen, it has the same QVGA resolution as the traditional iPod Video creating a screen with the highest pixel density Apple has ever shipped. The new Nano also features a new UI including "Cover Flow" from the iPhone, as well as a suite of games.

The new iPod Nano has incredible battery life (how do they do that?!) with 24 hours of audio playback and 5 hours video playback. Two versions will be available, a 4Gb ($149) and 8Gb ($199) version - 4GB version comes in silver, the 8GB will come in all the colors.

The new nanos will be in stores by this weekend. Apple is using the slogan "A little video for everyone" to promote the nano.

Apple also announced a new iPod. Renamed to the "iPod Classic" it features a full metal design and is even thinner than before. It too will come in two versions: an 80Gb ($250) and 160Gb ($350) version. Yes, 160Gb - or 40,000 songs - in your pocket. Battery life also continues to amaze: 40 hours audio playback, and 7 hours video playback.

But Steve Jobs didn't stop there. Apple today also unveiled one additional iPod... the iPod Touch.

The iPod Touch uses the same multi-touch interface from the iPhone, and as a result, it (unsurprisingly) closely resembles the iPhone. Except, it's thinner. 8mm thick to be exact, using the same 3.5" screen from the iPhone.

And yes, it has WiFi.

The big difference between Apple's use of WiFi and other consumer electronics devices is that the new iPod Touch also has the Safari web browser built in (just like the iPhone). This allows you to log in to WiFi networks outside of the home.

The iPod Touch's battery life is at 22 hours of audio playback, and 5 hours video playback. Again, two versions will be available: a 8Gb version for $299 and a 16Gb for $399. As Engadget's Ryan Block puts it, "this really is the phone-less iPhone."

The iPod Touch will be shipping this month.

...but there's one more thing. The iTunes WiFi Music Store.

Using the iPod Touch - and now the iPhone - users can search, preview and purchase songs from iTunes in a completely seamless and wireless experience.

Included with the iTunes WiFi Music Store, Apple has also announced a partnership with Starbucks. Now this is pretty incredible (and probably annoys the heck out of XM)...

When you approach a Starbucks a fifth button will display, allowing you to locate - and purchase - a song you've just heard at any Starbucks location. If you missed the song, you can still find it. And if you're curious about the need to pay for WiFi while at a Starbucks, this partnership allows for free access to the music store while at Starbucks locations. And yes, that's an exclusive partnership with iTunes.

[Engadget]

An exclusive sneak-peek at the upcoming Microsoft zunePhone...

Tomorrow is the big Apple announcement, let's see if they can compete.

As we gear up for the special Apple announcement tomorrow, which is expected to unveil the latest generation of iPods, a new rumor has emerged stating that the device will be sporting digital radio as one of its features.

A "reliable industry insider" told vnunet.com that Apple plans to bring digital radio to the iPod. The new device is also rumored to feature a "buy now" button that will allow the user to purchase tracks offered on the iTunes music service.

While it's not clear from the vnunet.com report whether the "digital radio" will be limited to Internet Radio over WiFi, that seems like the most likely scenario. Rumors of a Satellite Radio equipped iPod have been circulating for nearly 3-years now, and all have been unfounded, so I wouldn't even give that a second thought.

But iTunes has had Internet Radio functionality since I can remember, so feeding that via WiFi to the iPod isn't too far of a stretch.

And then again... these are iPod rumors... so who the heck knows anyway. Thankfully, we have one more day before we find out for sure.

[vnunet.com via Engadget]