Remember when iTunes climbed on the second position in the top of the best music retailers in the US? This happened only about two months ago, in February. At that time, we talked about it, and you can read that article here. In the meantime, iTunes became the market leader, and now its lead is increasing. Really impressive, if you ask me, but let's find out more about Apple's music store current status, shall we?


In an interesting season, where CD sales and MySpace are going down, iTunes is going stronger than ever, and the fourth annual TEMPO Digital Music Brandscape study has shown some additional facts, such as:

- iTunes awareness increased to 82 percent, while Napster awarness reached 76 percent of all US downloaders.

- While most brands got increased awareness, only iTunes' usage got up accordingly - 24 percent, up to 16 percent, back in 2006.

- At last, it should be noted that half of US downloaders consider iTunes the best fee-based digital music service, up from 41 percent, two years ago, and only 33, back in 2005!

Need I say more? While the iPhone is going up, and the iPods are going slowly down, exactly because the iPhone can do what they do, and a lot more, iTunes is the big winner, and now it can't go higher than 1st place, so...congratulations, Apple!

No matter the fact that China probably has a dozen iPhone clones available already, and even original Apple iPhones, which can be found through gray imports, Apple will release this phone there officially sooner or later, but before that...let's take a look at what they should expect to encounter in the Chinese market, and what's the opinion of consumers regarding the iPhone!


Despite the fact purchasing power in China is lower than in most other parts of the world, think about the fact they have no less than 565 mobile phone users! Even more, Chinese consumers are trend-conscious, and the iPhone is pretty well known to them already, as a recent study has proven...

In Pearl Research's study, interesting facts emerged, and I will only quote a few:

- Obviously, the high price tag of the iPhone is the main reason for disinterest in purchasing it, as well as Apple's lack of experience in the mobile phones field, but...

- ...around 68 percent of those intereviewed heard of Apple's mobile already.

- Leaving aside "trendiness" and "design," quoted by women as reasons to grab the iPhone, and "utility," quoted by men, it seems the ease to use the Internet on the iPhone won't make many Chinese users go "Wow," because local carriers have "WOW!!!" prices for such services.

- At last, almost 90 percent of the iPod owners have shown their interest in the iPhone, so Apple managed to have some loyal followers in China, too!

Unfortunately, considering the $200-$300 iPhone clones available on the local market, Apple is going to face a really serious challenge, once they release the iPhone in China, but I guess we should wait and see what happens, and when.

We all know Apple is a company that opened so many roads in computing so far, and despite the claims their latest products didn't come with as many innovations as before (and I can't totally disagree with that, unfortunately), it seems every "best brand" or "most innovative company" top has Apple in the first positions. Today, I found out about an interesting top about people, not companies, and you definitely have to find out more about Steve Jobs' position!


Ziff Davis Enterprise editors named the people shaping the future of technology, and the results of this "100 Most Influential People in IT" top are very interesting. Larry Ellison, Oracle's CEO, gets first position, followed by our beloved Steve Jobs, and Microsoft's Steve Ballmer(!?!).

Other interesting IT personalities that can be found in this top are Marissa Mayer, Vice president, search products and user experience at Google, ranked 5th, Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's Chief software architect (13th), Brendan Eich
CTO, Mozilla Corp. (30th), or the 24 year old Matt Mullenweg, WordPress Co-founder (I love you and hate you at the same time!).

To see the entire list and draw your conclusions, go to this page, but remember to get back here and tell us who got too high, too low, or no position at all in this list!

Did you miss iPod accessories we talked about here some time ago? I don't know about you, but I know I did, and after all, it's more than just spending some money for another useless piece of plastic, leather, or other material - it's about keeping your favorite music player safe, and that's what really matters, after all. Today, I'll tell you about a silicone case for the 3G iPod Nano, coming from GizMac, under the "DuraSport" label...


As you can see in the image above, the GizMac DuraSport case is a discrete case, so it won't shadow your player's beauty at all. In fact, each DuraSport case comes in two different colors, so you shouldn't get bored with this case anytime soon. Other than that, you get a clear polycarbonate shield for the front side of your iPod Nano, while the silicone skin will take care of the rest of your player, including the scroll wheel.

For now, the price of the DuraSport is $30, but you won't simply get the case for your money, because the package also includes an armband, a carabinier clip, as well as a lanyard, so you can secure your Nano the way you like it. If you want to know more about these cases, or even order one, feel free to visit the official product page, here. That's it, folks!

No matter how you put it, the iPhone is still pretty expensive, especially for some markets Apple keeps in its viewfinder. Even in the Western markets, cheaper products have more chances to grab market share, especially when prices get ridiculously low, compared to only a few weeks before applying the new price tags. For example, today we have the iPhone, and Germany...


...where the local telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG decided to push down the prices of its Apple iPhones from $629 to an amazing $156. Now, that's what I call "price cut"! Obviously, I am sure for telecomm companies, selling iPhones is more about mid- to long-term profits, rather than just getting money for the device itself and running away with it.

Even more, this move from Deutsche Telekom AG ignited the rumors concerning the launch of the 3G iPhone, which everyone is expecting, but the date of its launch is still shrouded in mist. Last time I heard such rumors and predictions, the 3G iPhone was expected to emerge in June, but...maybe we'll get it earlier, who can tell? Steve Jobs, probably, but I am sure he won't tell us such things now...