Jungle Disk, one of the slickest ways to access your Amazon S3 account, has officially updated to version 2.0. I have two words to say: compatibility and bucket. Compatibility buckets are by far my biggest cause for celebration. You see, I have a disorder that doesn't allow me to do things with just one utility or application, I have to make use of every tool available. I guess it's similar to more mechanically inclined folks who fetishize power tools. I digress. The long and short of it is that compatibility buckets no longer store my files in a flat, proprietary file system. Not only does this mean other tools can access my Jungle Disk buckets, I now have the ability to move and rename files, which I didn't previously. Upgrading your buckets to the new format is optional, and in my experience can ruffle a few feathers if you use it in a shared environment. For reasons noted previously, I was willing to take the flak.

I've only toyed with -- but never used seriously -- the offsite backup features of Jungle Disk. I would say from my brief forays, though, that they rival CrashPlan's abilities. As noted by our friends at the Download Squad, the interface is much nicer now on every platform (Jungle Disk is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux -- there's even a USB version). There are also new command-line tools included, which is great for scripting and automation. If you use Amazon S3, or if you're looking for cheap and massive storage options, Jungle Disk has officially become worth looking at, in my book. The release notes shed light on quite a few improvements I've neglected to mention.

The program is $20 and is a one-time purchase with free upgrades for life. You get licensed versions for Windows, Mac and Linux, and free reign to install on as many machines as you like with a single license. For $1/month more, you can get Web-based file access, block-level file updates and upload resume features. The storage pricing itself is direct from Amazon and runs about 15 cents per gig with additional charges for transfers ($0.10/gig upload, $0.17/gig download). Jungle Disk is free to try.

If you have been waiting for the announcement of MobileMe (which, who hasn't), then you might like to know about two deals we discovered that allow you to get MobileMe on the cheap.

Deal 1
Apple is running a promotion for new Mac purchasers. This deal allows you to get a $30 discount on a new Mac + MobileMe purchase. The discount is applied at checkout, so you won't have to worry about sending back a rebate form.

Deal 2
Amazon is still offering .Mac box purchases at a discount. If you don't want to buy a Mac to get the discount, Amazon is the place to buy .Mac/MobileMe. Since .Mac users will be switched over in "early July" this will save you some money.

Thanks, Nick!

I don't think anybody likes DRM. Customers certainly don't like it: they want to listen to music and watch video where and when they please. I don't think it's that popular with the content providers, either, because it's not a perfect solution. It might cut down on some piracy, but by no means eliminates it entirely.

DRM has come up recently in a few places, and companies have set up camps at two ends of the spectrum. Amazon.com is doing a booming business selling DRM-free music, sometimes for better prices than at the iTunes Store. On the other hand, we have NBC, who may or may not be partnering with Microsoft to create device software that (somehow) determines if a particular music or video file has been stolen.

As much as I'm sure that both Zune users would appreciate having access to NBC's video library, the problem remains of how exactly Microsoft would do that, aside from splashing giant watermarks across everything. My money's on unicorn tears.

How much more investment will there be in DRM before content providers realize it's an inefficient, ineffective way of deterring piracy? Sound off in comments.

Amazon has started selling the iPod touch 32GB model. You might be asking, "What's so special about that?" Well, if you read the page carefully, you will notice that Amazon also is offering up a free iPod shuffle with the purchase of an iPod touch 32GB. That's right, you get a free 1GB iPod shuffle when you purchase an iPod touch.

The ad reads: "You qualify for a free 1 GB iPod shuffle with the purchase of this 32 GB iPod touch from Amazon.com. Eligible 1 GB shuffles include the blue, green, silver, and purple. Just add both items to your cart and you will not be charged for the shuffle."

As you may recall, Apple lowered the price of the iPod shuffle to $49 last week. Amazon is currently selling the 32GB iPod touch for $494 while Apple is selling the same thing for $499 -- seems that Amazon is wanting your business. Do you plan to use this opportunity to get a free iPod shuffle? Be sure to sound off in the comments!

[via iPodNN]

At 15¢ per gig, Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Solution) is rapidly becoming an online storage standard, with companies like 37Signals and SmugMug storing information adding up to terabytes. On a slightly smaller scale, I transfer a few gigs on S3 every month, both to and from my Mac and server-to-server, and my bill is usually under $10. I'm always on the lookout for new ways to take advantage of this inexpensive yet massive storage system.

Several Mac applications have already added S3 support, including Transmit, Interarchy and Forklift. That's a cool step for such applications because it integrates your various file transferring tools (FTP, SFTP, S3, etc.) into one app, which I would love... if it worked reliably. But the only application I've consistently had luck with – as in not constantly crashing – is JungleDisk, which uses a webDAV system for filestorage that allows an S3 bucket (a subsection, or folder, in your S3 account) to be mounted as a local filesystem, but makes the filesystem on the web inaccessible to other programs. And you can't make files public outside of your local network. I've generally resorted to S3Fox - a very capable Firefox addon - and a command-line ruby script called s3sync.

However, I also discovered the JetS3t Java toolkit today. In addition to the toolkit, the JetS3t download also includes an application suite. Of primary interest to me was the Cockpit application, which provides an S3 browser with upload and download capabilities, as well as ACL control. There are also apps for setting up gateways and providing a secure, distributable client.

I'd like to begin by saying that I loathe Java applications on a Mac, not least because they're ugly. But Cockpit is one of the fastest S3 browsers I've ever used. Looking past the fact that you have to launch it from the command line (yes, you can fix that), it has no integration with other Mac apps, and its underwhelming aesthetics, I have to admit that it really does get the job done. It even has little extras, like the ability to generate Torrent URLs or a temporary URL that which allows people to download a file for a specified period of time. It probably won't replace my current tools, but it was worth a trip to the dark (Java) side. I hope it inspires some Cocoa browsers that are faster, more flexible and more stable than what we've got.

The tie between spoken-books merchant Audible and iTunes has always been strong. Audible's catalog forms the backbone of iTunes' audio book offerings, and there's a history of Audible offering iTunes-exclusive content. So it came as a surprise to me when Amazon bought Audible for $300 million, announced today. I'd imagine that the deal includes provisions for Apple's existing contracts, but I'm curious as to how this will affect future negotiations. The Amazon/Audible deal is projected to close in the 2nd quarter of this year.

We've covered Amazon's entry into DRM-free music sales previously on TUAW.

This is probably one of the coolest freeware applications on the Mac that I've seen in a while. Have you ever placed a disc in your Mac's drive, only to shut it down with the disc still in there? I know I have a couple of times. Now you will never do that again, thanks to DiscTop. When you load a CD or DVD into your Mac, DiscTop displays a disc-like icon on the desktop, letting you know that you currently have a disc inserted. When you eject the disc, the icon zooms off the screen.

The coolest thing about DiscTop is that when you insert a known DVD (say, The Simpsons Movie) you can set the artwork via an Amazon search and display it over top of the DVD icon. DiscTop even asks you what type of Mac you use and then positions the disc accordingly. For instance, I have an iMac Core Duo (early 2006 model), so when I use that profile DiscTop will make sure the disc's icon is positioned where the optical drive is located. Very cool!

If you want to give DiscTop a spin it's freeware and available at the developers website.

It's Amazon Day and nobody told me -- more news from Big Beige concerning Apple products, as the annual Best Of Amazon list was announced earlier. The MacBook & MacBook Pro topped two computer lists, as the most-gifted and most-loved computers respectively; meanwhile, the iPod Nano was the top electronics product both gifted and wished-for -- some karma alignment at work there. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard made the most-loved list as the top software product evoking an emotional connection with users; this is unsurprising, although the relationship of some users to Leopard might be described by Dr. Phil as passive-aggressive.

Interestingly, Apple products were absent from the actual best-sellers list (top software: Office 2007 Students & Teachers; top DVDs, Planet Earth complete series) despite the love-list and wishlist smackdown. Weirdly, the top computer item by total units sold for 2007 was the Nokia tablet, not exactly a computer (unless you count the iPhone too) and having a bit of sales leverage for being available 11 months out of the year.

[via Engadget]

You'll be hard pressed to find anyone outside of the Music Industry who thinks that DRM is a good thing, and today it looks like more people in the Music Industry are seeing the error of their ways. Warner Music Group has announced that starting today people can buy their entire digital catalog via Amazon MP3 (see our review of Amazon's digital music store front here). The unique thing about Amazon MP3 is, as you might have guessed , they only sell music in the MP3 format sans DRM. That's right, all those lovely Warner Music Group tracks are yours to have without DRM and, generally, for less than what you'll pay in the iTunes Store (Amazon MP3 has a sliding scale of prices but most tracks cost $.89 or $.99).

Some might say, 'Why should I care about this? I'm on a Mac!' The beauty of this is that these MP3 files will play on your Mac, your iPod, your iPhone, and even that Zune you got in a box of cereal. No DRM means more flexibility in how you can consume your media, and we all like that.

[via Engadget]

I don't know about you, but I have a little bit of the Leopard fever. And while you might be immune to all the wonders that Leopard has in store for us, Amazon shoppers seem to be as gaga over Apple's big cat as I am. Leopard is currently sitting at the number one and two spots on Amazon's Software Bestseller list (the Family Pack comes in second to the single license) due, in part, to Amazon's aggressive pricing on Leopard ($109 for the single OS license and $189 for the Family pack). The next highest OS on the list is Windows XP home edition which is at number 28 at the time of this writing (though to be fair, XP and Vista have both been out for awhile, so it makes sense that a brand new OS would garner more attention and buyers).

It is also interesting to note, in light of the new marketshare numbers, that Mac software has 6 of the top 10 spots on the list (Office 2004 is at 4, iLife '08 is 6th, .Mac is 7th, and Parallels is 10th) and that 10 of the top 20 spots are inhabited by Mac software.

Keep in mind these rankings are valid while I am writing this post, and might change given the nature of Amazon's Bestseller lists.

Being the intrepid blogger that I am, I thought I would go ahead and give Amazon's new MP3 store a whirl, since it works with iTunes and offers up high quality DRM-free MP3 files. What better way to compare and contrast the Amazon experience to the iTunes Store experience than purchasing the same song? The song in question is Rehab by Amy Winehouse (mostly because it was the first song that caught my eye on Amazon's page, and I enjoy it whenever I hear it).

Amazon today unveiled Amazon MP3 Beta (because if it isn't in beta, it isn't cool), a music download service that offers up music as it was meant to be: DRM free. EMI is onboard, as well as iTunes hating Universal, and a host of smaller record labels. Prices for single tracks vary but most are between $.89 and $.99 with most of the top 100 tracks going for $.89. Album prices are also variable ranging from $5.99 to $9.99.

Thanks to the lack of DRM, and the fact that these files are MP3s (encoded at 256 kilobits per second which is the same bit rate as iTunes Plus but for less money) you can save money (in most circumstances) and enjoy this music in iTunes and on your iPhone and iPod.

I hope Apple is ready for some healthy competition in the digital downloads market.

Here's a quick recap of the NBC/Apple tussle, for those who are tuning in late:

1. NBC says Apple is mean and won't renew their contract ('These shows are my toys and I'm going home!').
2. Apple says NBC is a stupidhead, and NBC's shiny new shows won't be available in iTunes ('How are those toys now? Taste a little better with the salt from your tears, NBC?').
3. NBC and Amazon become BFF's. NBC no longer makes eye contact with Apple when they meet in the hallway between classes.

That's right, NBC's upcoming season of shows may not be available via iTunes (pending contract negotiations), but they will be available at Amazon Unbox. What's Amazon Unbox you ask? It is ok not to recognize it, since few people actually use it (and even fewer Mac users, since it is PC only). Unbox is Amazon's video download service that allows you to rent or buy movies and tv shows which you can then play back on authorized devices (rentals can play back on one device, while the things you buy can be played on two computers and two portable devices but no iPods since they aren't supported).

NBC went with Amazon, reports the New York Times, because Amazon agreed to be flexible with pricing. This translates to higher prices for more recent shows, with the back catalog being cheaper (which is what I assume NBC wanted Apple to do all along). Amazon Unbox will also offer up free previews of NBC's upcoming shows, as well as a discount for people buying whole seasons worth of shows (does any of this sound familiar?).

The coolest part of all this is that you can download these shows to your Tivo, though if you have a Tivo why wouldn't you just set it to record these NBC shows for free, like Nik suggests?

This is yet another moment where I wish I was cool enough to get Erica's iPhone screenshot utility working, because this is pretty impressive: visiting Amazon.com in MobileSafari on an iPhone will display a small alert at the top of the page, prompting you to visit their new beta iPhone portal. The customized site is pretty slick and offers a healthy array of navigation options. The top of the page has a search box, with side-scrolling image thumbnails of the top selling music albums just below. Next in line is a pull down menu of top selling products across what looks like the entirety of Amazon's category selections, including Baby, DVD, Electronics, Health, etc. Next is a big fat 'iPhone beta site feedback' button - a great idea if I do say so myself - and finally, a list of links for the basics such as signing into your account, viewing your shopping cart and the Help section.

For a beta site it's a nice first offering, but I am a bit more surprised by the fact that Amazon - the King Kong of online retail - has introduced a shopping and searching portal specifically for the iPhone. Could they have started a trend, inspiring other retailers to make it easier than ever for you to spend money with one of the most expensive gadgets you've ever bought? Only time will tell.

[Update: Thanks to commenters reminding me about iPhoney, I was able to snap an actual screenshot of the site on an iPhone.]

Thanks Jamie

After just over four years, the addition of movies and TV shows, and a name change, Apple today announced that the iTunes Store has sold over three billion songs. With a catalog of over five million songs, 550 TV shows and 500 movies, these sales numbers have also propelled the iTunes Store past Amazon and even Target to become the third largest music retailer in the US.

While this is great news and all, I'm getting a bit bothered by the fact that music is gaining more and more of the bragging rights from Apple lately. TV shows seem to be selling pretty well, but just seeing '500 movies' printed in this press release makes the iTunes Store's selection sound like it's about on par with that crappy rental department at that run-down grocery store up the street. Hollywood typically seems happy to hop on any and every bandwagon that rolls into town, and with the reportedly unprecedented profits that record labels and TV show networks make from digital downloads, it still baffles me as to why the iTunes Store isn't able to give Blockbuster and Netflix a run for their money.

Still, three billion songs sold over the world's most popular (and still most DRM-flexible) digital music store is good news, so I tip my hat to Apple on the success of the little jukebox application that could.