It looks like reports of iTunes’ death were premature, despite Forrester’s controversial report that suggested that iTunes sales were plummeting.

Apple today announced that more than two billion songs, 50 million television episodes and over 1.3 million feature-length films have been purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store.

“iTunes has crossed another major milestone by selling over two billion songs—with over a billion of them sold in the last year alone—making it by far the world’s most popular music store,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “And by selling 50 million TV shows and over 1.3 million movies to date, iTunes is already the largest online video store in the world as well.”

Apple’s control over the world of digital music retailing is near complete. Apple’s nearest competitor is eMusic, whose sales are less than 1% of Apple’s, in spite of the fact that eMusic’s service offers unrestricted MP3 files at a fraction of the cost of iTunes tracks.
Apple also announced that iTunes has added more than 100 movies from Paramount Pictures priced at $9.99 including “School of Rock,” “The Italian Job,” “Mean Girls,” “Zoolander,” “Coach Carter,” “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life,” “Chinatown” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

Macworld Update: Apple today premiered Apple TV, a media router that can wirelessly play iTunes content from a Mac or PC on your widescreen TV, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts. Users can quickly browse and view their entire collection of digital media from across the room using the simple and intuitive Apple Remote. Apple TV connects to most modern widescreen televisions, and will be shipping in February for $299.

“Apple TV is like a DVD player for the 21st century—you connect it to your entertainment system just like a DVD player, but it plays digital content you get from the Internet rather than DVDs you get from a physical store,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Apple TV plays the same iTunes content that users enjoy on their computers and iPods, so now they can even watch part of a movie in their living room, and watch the rest later on their iPod.”

Apple TV delivers Internet media to the home theater. This represents a milestone for podcasting, because it delivers video podcasts and other Internet media to peoples’ living rooms.

Macworld update: Apple today introduced iPhone, a new device that combines a state-of-the-art mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and an Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, searching and maps—into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting users control iPhone with just their fingers. According to Apple, iPhone also ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones.

“iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We are all born with the ultimate pointing device—our fingers—and iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse.”

The iPhone features WiFi support and integration with iTunes, which could make it the ultimate device for enjoying audio and video podcasts.

Computerworld has an interesting take on Microsoft’s decision to abandon PlaysForSure with the Zune.

“The release of Zune means Microsoft is turning its back on its PlaysForSure digital rights management software and all those who use music services that use that scheme.

I say this for two reasons. First, last night I asked an executive at one of those music subscription services point blank whether his company, which uses PlaysForSure, was being shafted by Microsoft and his answer was a blunt yes. Others involved in the industry who I’ve spoken with agreed.

Need more proof? I subscribe to Rhapsody software, which I stopped using temprorarily when I reviewed Zune. When I was finished with the review, I shipped the Zune back to Microsoft but forgot about the Zune software on my system. I went back to using Rhapsody but … Rhapsody didn’t work. I couldn’t transfer music downloaded to Rhapsody to my media player. It did start working, however, when I uninstalled Zune.

PlaysForSure isn’t dead, but it is becoming very apparent at CES that it will die a lingering death. For Microsoft’s part, it is either unrealistically confident that Zune will be a big success over the years despite a sporadic ‚Äì at best ‚Äì start or it is burning bridges that it really shouldn’t be burning.

MacWorld Update: Griffin Technology today announced Evolve, a speaker system with a flat charging base that holds your iPod in a Universal Dock. On either side are charging stations for two cube-shaped speakers, each housing its own long-lived Lithium-Ion battery pack. To charge these speakers, all you have to do is place them on the charging station — nothing to plug in, nothing to unplug.
The Lithium-Ion batteries will give you up to 10 hours of music, and each speaker cube features its own on/off power switch and automatic sleep mode for power conservation.

Evolve’s speaker enclosures are engineered for stellar sound, ease of use, and bang for the buck. The sound you get from this speaker system will knock your socks off — and so will the sleek industrial design that will look great in any decor.

Evolve features a wireless range of more than 150 feet, allowing users to listen wirelessly, and control the sound wirelessly with the included remote.

Evolve, priced at $349.99, is expected to be available by this Summer.

Soundcast Systems has introduced two products – SpeakerCast and OutCast – designed to offer the highest-quality wireless transmission from digital music players or personal computers to any room in your house or even outdoors. Soundcast’s SpeakerCast, above, is a high performance stereo speaker system using Soundcast wireless technology to receive music from an iPod when it is placed in the included Soundcast iCast wireless dock. The OutCast is an all-weather full-range, battery/AC operated wireless speaker system for outdoor use. It also includes the Soundcast iCast wireless dock.

Belkin has announced TuneStudio for iPod 5th generation (video), the first four-channel audio mixer that lets you create high-quality digital recordings directly onto your iPod. This mixer lets you input up to four different instruments or audio sources, and record the audio directly onto your iPod for instant playback.

Features:

• Records directly to iPod in 16-bit, 44kHz quality
• Streams audio through built-in USB interface to and from a PC or Mac computer
• Each channel is equipped with 3-band EQ, pan and level controls
• Phantom-power-enabled XLR inputs provide up to 60 dB of microphone gain
• High-quality stereo compressor with makeup gain enhances audio dynamics and keeps audio levels within recording limits of the iPod
• Features one-knob compression control
• LEDs indicate master audio level, power status, peak indication, compressor activity, and recording status

SolidSpace has announced that new features have been added to SolidCasts, a business-centric enterprise podcast management system for both audio and video.

SolidCasts is a free, easy-to-use multi-platform, cross-format system that offers:

• Secure Password Protection- Businesses can arrange for podcasts to be released in a secure environment.
• Futurecasting- Users can arrange podcasts to “go live” at a programmed time.
• Authoring Tools- SolidCasts let users attribute a podcast to another author.

Mastro Auctions recently began using SolidCasts to create a more dynamic auctioneering process. With items ranging from Elvis’ hair to Rosa Parks’ bus, podcasting offers collectors an in-depth look at items up for bid, more effectively illustrating the true nature of the items than still photos.

For example, Mastro Auctions sold the Cook County gallows during a recent auction that utilized SolidCasts. Due to the item’s uniqueness, podcasting gave bidders a better understanding of what the gallows entailed, leading to its purchase by Ripley’s Believe It or Not for $68,000.

“Broadband is finally at the point where people can sufficiently stream video to their desktops,” said Doug Allen, president of Mastro Auctions. “Also, people are now truly using their iPods as a business tool. We have found that an overwhelming number of collectors are subscribing to RSS feeds, automatically receiving video highlights of the latest items that have been added to the next auction, and placing higher bids than ever before. We directly attribute this success to SolidCasts and look forward to watching this trend grow.”

At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), being held in Las Vegas, IntelliTouch today announced Eos, the world’s first digital wireless “whole home” audio speaker system for iPod.

Using WiFi technology, the Eos system links up to four stereo remote wireless speakers, delivering “CD sound quality” (48Khz). Eos’ GigaWave technology employs error correction and a frequency-hopping scheme for a range of up to 150 feet (50 meters) through walls and ceilings in both indoor and outdoor environments.

“The Eos system broadcasts impeccable CD quality sound throughout the home,” said IntelliTouch Executive VP Jeff O’Shea, “without the expense and hassle of tearing up drywall and running wires all over. Forget everything you’ve ever experienced with wireless speaker systems of the past; Eos’ wireless technology has to be heard to be believed.”

Melodeo today announced the first on-demand mobile podcast and radio listening service in the UK with British wireless operator 3.

Melodeo’s Mobilcast mobile podcast and radio listening service is immediately available to almost 4 million wireless customers in the UK and more than 40 million wireless customers in North America through distribution deals with Cingular Wireless and Alltel Wireless in the United States and Rogers Wireless in Canada.

“Podcasting has revolutionized radio by putting the listener in control — they decide when and where to listen to a show,” said Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong. “3’s new mobile podcasting service takes the genre to the next level; with instant access without a computer, expect to see millions more people jumping on the podcasting bandwagon.”