Phil Schiller today outlined Apple's new pricing scheme for iTunes music, and announced additional music that will be available DRM-free.

In April, depending on the label, songs will be available at three price points: 69 cents, 99 cents, and $1.29. Apple says many more songs will be priced at 69 cents than $1.29, but new releases will likely cost more. Albums will mostly remain at the $9.99 price point.

69 cent songs will have greater restrictions on how they can be used: For each song, users will only be able to download it to one Mac, burn it to one CD, and copy it to one iPod. Turns out this was idle speculation from one of our colleagues, and not part of the changes today. Sorry about that. -- RP

More songs will be also be made available as part of the iTunes Plus program, which features higher-quality, DRM-free music files. Eight million (of 10 million total) songs will be available through iTunes Plus today, and every track will be available DRM-free by the end of March. (Thanks, Chris!)

iPhone users that connect to the Internet via 3G also got good news: They will be able to connect to the iTunes store via both WiFi and 3G starting today. Update: Others with first-generation iPhones here in the Media Center report that the iTunes store appears to work over EDGE, too, but weren't able to test it.

As many expected, Schiller announced new sales figures for the iTunes store, saying Apple has 75 million accounts, and is now the number-one music retailer in the United States.

All day on December 25, TUAW presents "Now What?" We've got first steps and recommendations for all the Apple gifts you (hopefully!) found under the tree today. Happy holidays!

The Apple TV launched almost two years ago and has yet to really "take off." That's OK, with more and more downloadable HD content, improved support for stuff like podcasts and Airtunes and some awesome third-party solutions, the Apple TV can easily become a great media center.

Did Santa bring you an Apple TV this year? These are my tips for making it even more awesome!

Boxee It

I've made no secret about my unabashed love for boxee, the awesome media center with a social kick that can run on your Apple TV. It should be no surprise that my first piece of advice is that you set-up boxee on your Apple TV as soon as you get it connected to your TV and home theater.

Need an invite? If you don't have a friend to ask, check out the boxee forums, hit up the boxee Twitter feed or pester me (@film_girl) and you should be able to get one pretty quickly. On January 8th, 2009, boxee will be opening up the alpha for everyone.

After you've updated your Apple TV to the latest firmware, follow my instructions or take a look the information at the ATV USB Creator project page for the the details on making a patchstick. The process is extremely easy and you just need a USB stick (1 GB or more recommended) and a few minutes to get everything up and running.

Once boxee is installed, you can enjoy Hulu (if you live in the US), streaming video from other services, last.fm and playback of other file types that won't natively play on the Apple TV; you can store those files either on the Apple TV, or that you access from another hard drive.

Learn about the other cool software add-ons

I really love the Awkward TV Wiki, which is a great way to stay abreast of the latest programs and hacks users have created for the Apple TV. Most of these plugins can be installed via a patchstick -- like boxee -- and they run on-top of the existing Apple TV interface. Some of the coolest utilities, like Couchsurfer, have recently been updated for firmware 2.3.

Although modifying your Apple TV does come with some risks (you might have to do a factory restore if something goes wrong), the methodology of applying said modifications has become much, much easier and you really aren't putting your Apple TV at risk. Still, keep in mind that Apple won't provide any technical support for a modified Apple TV (which means, restore it to factory settings before sending it back :-)).

Try out a new remote, ore the iPhone/iPod touch remote app

One of the most usefulf feature additions in firmware 2.3 is the ability to program a universal remote to work with the Apple TV. If you have a really nice programmable remote, like the Logitech Harmony, you've already been able to use it with the Apple TV -- but now you can do the same thing with your TV or receiver remote.

Even better, if you have an iPhone or iPod touch, the Remote app [iTunes link] is pretty awesome. The Remote app let's you control music from your Apple TV -- which is fantastic if you want to use the ATV as a music center.

Rent some holiday movies or buy a holiday TV show

'Tis the season! Rent or buy a Christmas movie directly from the Apple TV! You can also peruse some holiday TV classics, like The Best Christmukkah Ever from the first season of The O.C.

All day on December 25, TUAW presents "Now What?" We've got first steps and recommendations for all the Apple gifts you found under the tree today. Happy holidays!

Hopefully a lot of you reached into your Christmas stockings and pulled out a lump of coal fully-loaded iTunes gift card. In case you haven't been presented with one of these gems before, they come in denominations of $10, $25, $50, and $100 in the USA -- check your country's Apple website for the availability of cards in your local currency.

Turning this card into tunes or iPhone apps is simple:

1) Check the back of the card first. If you see a list of numbers and letters instead of the words "Scratch off gently with coin", then your card has been used before. Take the giver off of your Christmas list for next year.

2) If the scratch-off material is intact, grab a coin and gently scratch off the material to reveal the code.

3) Launch iTunes. Make sure you're logged into your iTunes account and not somebody else's.

4) In the upper right part of the iTunes screen you'll see an area marked "Quick Links" (see screenshot at left). Click on the "Redeem" link.

5) You're almost there. A screen appears that will ask you to enter the code exactly as it appears. Note that if you mistype even one number or letter, the card will be rejected, so make sure you're reading the letters and number properly.

6) Click the "Redeem" button. You may want to read the Terms & Conditions, but I seriously doubt it. There's more legalese in that document than you'd find in a bank bailout plan.

7) If everything has gone as planned at this point, you'll have a credit in your account. Exactly how much money you have to play with will be listed just to the left of your iTunes account name in the upper right side of the iTunes window.

8) Buy tunes and apps until you're filled with the joy of the holidays!

Talks between Apple, Inc., Apple Corps, and EMI to bring the Beatles catalogue to the iTunes Store have "stalled," according to a statement by Paul McCartney to the Associated Press.

McCartney said, "The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process." He told the BBC that "heavy negotiations" were in progress with EMI, who said they were "working hard to secure agreement with Apple Corps."

My ill-informed, Captain Obvious guess? Someone's holding out for more money. The AP oddly suggested that the holdup is related to a trademark dispute between Apple Corps and Apple, Inc. which was settled in court last year.

McCartney continued, "I really hope it will happen because I think it should."

[Via Cult of Mac.]

• Terminator 2
• Total Recall
• The Last Action Hero
• Red Heat
• Air America
• Basic Instinct
  
• St. Elmo's Fire
• The Karate Kid
• Air Force One
• A Guy Thing

Apple's annual SEC 10K filing showed that music-related sales increased by US$844 million (or 34%) to $3.34 billion in fiscal 2008, up from US$2.5 billion in 2007. Apple cited "heightened consumer interest in downloading third-party digital content" as the reason for the hefty increase.

Apple noted increased net sales from the iTunes Store in each of its geographic regions. An increase in the amount and types of content available at the iTunes stores was pegged as part of this growth.

Apple issued a press release today saying over 200 million television episodes have been purchased through the iTunes store, one million of them in high definition.

High definition episodes have been available since Apple's "Let's Rock" event on September 9. That averages out to over 27,000 HD downloads per day.

The press release also said the iTunes store is offering America's four major networks' fall prime-time lineup in HD for the first time.

Apple was a little late to the HD download game, however. The Xbox 360 introduced HD via Xbox Live way back in November of 2006.

[Via IGM.]

YouTube has added links from promotional and music videos to the iTunes store and AmazonMP3, where you can buy the song featured. The links appear on its website, beneath videos like this one.

Currently, EMI appears to be the only major music label participating in the deal. Electronic Arts has links related to its Spore game to Amazon.com, where you can purchase a copy.

Google (whose CEO, Eric Schmidt, is on Apple's board of directors) has been looking for ways to earn money from YouTube, its $1.6 billion purchase from 2006. YouTube probably already earns some revenue from Apple via a partnership that includes a YouTube player on the iPhone and Apple TV, but the financial details are unknown.

[Via Macworld.]