Apple Mulls All-You-Can-Chew

Citing un-named music industry sources, the Financial Times reports Apple may be considering revamping its iTunes business to allow for unlimited free access to the music library. The caveat? A higher upfront cost for the iPod and iPhone. Some analysts pooh-pooh'd the idea, saying Apple would risk creating an "accounting nightmare," but the ongoing rumors have yet to fizzle. Just how much extra the iPod and iPhone would cost in such a scenario, the Financial Times didn't say. And of course Apple had no comment. More here.

Best Buy Gives Gift Cards to HD-DVD Adopters

Helping to ease the pain for early HD-DVD adopters, those who purchased their players from Best Buy before February 23, 2008 are eligible to receive a complimentary in-store $50 gift card. Earlier this month rival electronics retailer Circuit City also threw a bone to HD-DVD owners by extending their return policy to 90 days. But what of those who bought their now-obsolete hardware elsewhere? You can continue to use the player as a standard DVD upconverter, or exchange it for in-store credit through Best Buy's Trade-In center. The new service also accepts a wide range of electronics.

AMD Downsizing?

Word on the web is that AMD will begin shipping its B3 stepping quad- core Phenom 9050 series within the next two weeks, with the top-end model hitting 2.5GHz. Tri-core variants are expected to follow shortly thereafter. But despite the deluge of new processors, the Inquirer reports AMD plans to cut its workforce by a whopping 5 percent, with pink slips having already been handed out. According to the report, the layoffs represent preemptive measures to cope with worse than expected numbers this quarter. Not so, says AMD, who told DailyTech they "did not have a workforce reduction."

Crysis Hotfix 1.21

Hot on the heels of the anticipated Crysis 1.2 patch comes hotfix 1.21. The 37MB download "fixes the known security hole in the game code which causes client and server crashes when playing online." EA also has released server documentation v1.4, which includes the names of 40 additional cheaters that have been caught since the release of patch 1.1. More here.

YouTube Video Lands Man in Jail

Let's get straight to the moral: If you're going to commit a crime, don't post it on YouTube. Or better yet, don't steal. Those are the lessons Robert Echeverria, who Rialto police allege is a known gang member, and his two accomplicies, Ian Roman and Brian Fawcett, are finding out after posting a video of themselves scamming Del Taco out of $15 worth of food. After seeing the video, local detectives obtained felony-degree commercial burglary warrants for the three men, who now face a maximum seven years in prision if convicted. But hey, we hear the food's free behind bars.

Game Developer 'Gets It'

We've long bemoaned the implementation of draconian copy protection schemes, and would like to see this practice go by the wayside. A developer should be fairly compensated for their work, but many copy protection schemes end up creating hurdles for the paying customer rather than keeping pirates at bay. That's what makes Brad Wardell's approach so refreshing. The outspoken CEO of Stardock recently blogged The reason we don't put copy protection on our games isn't because we're nice guys. We do it because the people who actually 'buy' our games don't like to mess with it. Our customers make the rules, not the pirates." Spread the word, Wardell!

Futurama Movie

Futurama fans will be stoked to learn Fox Home Entertainment plans to release a second feature-length film based on the popular cartoon. With a straight-to-DVD release, Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs will land on store shelves June 24. For those who missed the first movie, Bender's Big Score will air on Comedy Central in four installments starting March 23 at 8pm. At least two more Futurama movies are planned from series creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen.