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CNN unveiled a new iPhone application that will bring its branded content to the iPhone. The new app, which costs $1.99, will also give users iReporter status, letting them update and break stories via iPhone on CNN’s iReport network. The new app finds CNN giving users subscription access for the one time only price of $1.99, a model for paid content it hopes will prove more successful than weekly or monthly subscription rates.
Apple announced that over 2 billion applications have been downloaded from the iTunes App Store. The announcement comes only six months after Apple reported that one billion applications had already been downloaded. Download reports confirm what Steve Jobs recently noted: “The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate” and presumably will not slow down any time soon.
President Obama has appointed Victoria Espinel the United States first copyright Czar. Espinel, who prior served as the Assistant US Trade Representative for Intellectual Property and Innovation, will be charged with the task of protecting Intellectual Property in the United States. With filesharing, peer-to-peer networks, and rampant other Internet related copyright issues at hand, Espinel is sure to have her hands full.
While cellphone usage on planes in the United States is still illegal, many international flights are now giving passengers the option of making calls from cellphones. Analysts believe that currently 93 routes, serving over 15,000 flights a month are currently allowing passengers to use mobile phones. However, in the US, a hard lobby by flight attendants wants to ban in-flight calls completely, despite the fact that consumer survey’s demand the opposite.
Yesterday Xerox unveiled plans to purchase Affilated Computer Systems for $6.4 billion in cash and stock. The deal, which Xerox hopes will be “a game-changer,” gives Xerox an outsourcing services company that could bolster business with corporate clients. It also comes just after both Dell and H-P purchased similar computer service companies.