iPhone Hill

Cult of Mac claims a source has told them Apple is live streaming today’s special music event as a way to test their massive new, North Carolina data center, set to go fully operational later this year.

Apple’s first live video broadcast in years is a test of the server farm’s ability to stream a future version of iTunes for iOS devices, our tipster says.

“The goal is to monitor traffic load and quality,” says our tipster, who asked to remain anonymous to preserve their connections at Apple.

Apple product events are the Oscars or Superbowls of the Internet, with traffic numbers high enough to take down the biggest sites, and sometimes entire data centers (plural). So if they’re going to test something as bandwidth intensive as video, does it make sense to test it under the harshest conditions imaginable?

Either way, we’ll find out soon enough how it holds up. Hey, why not watch along with us?

[Cult of Mac]

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“People familiar with the situation” (yes, them again) have told the Wall Street Journal that both Fox and ABC are good to go on $0.99 iTunes TV show rentals, and will be announced later today at Apple’s special music event. Since ABC is owned by Disney, whose largest shareholder is Steve Jobs, their getting on board isn’t a huge surprise. Likewise, Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox, introduced Jobs at D8 and is all up in Apple rescuing print media (like the Wall Street Journal) and TV alike.

NBC, recently sold to Comcast — whose cable empire would compete with iTunes — and CBS, who likely isn’t sure what these new fangled ‘puters and gizmos are all about anyway, is disappointing but also not surprising.

How this will mix and match with Netflix and other, similar apps already on iPad and iPhone — and rumored to be coming to a new Apple TV — is also unknown. $0.99 a pop might not be enough for myopic media companies, but compared to a far bigger Netflix pipe at $10-$15 per month, it’s likely too much for high volume consumers.

[Wall Street Journal]

Fox, ABC to offer $0.99 iTunes rentals, CBS, NBC to keep heads buried in sand? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Citing “two people who asked not to be identified”, Bloomberg is reporting that Apple may indeed be ready to drop an all new Apple TV (iTV?) tomorrow at their annual special music event.

Netflix would, as usual, require a monthly subscription. Whether or not the new Apple TV would run iOS as previous rumors have suggested, and whether or not Netflix would be an app, like it currently is on iPad and iPhone, or a built-in service like YouTube isn’t made clear.

Would you have a preference?

[Bloomberg]

New Apple TV with Netflix integration coming tomorrow? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog