Leading online music shop hits another major milestone with the sale of the 10 billionth song, offering one lucky customer a prize for making the right purchase at the right time.

This news is from Kenneth Corbin from internetnews.com

Apple’s popular online music store iTunes has hit a major milestone, with the 10 billionth song downloaded sometime on Wednesday.

The landmark download was Johnny Cash’s “Guess Things Happen That Way,” Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) said.

The 10 billion mark comes a little more than a year and a half after iTunes sold its 5 billionth song.

Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Ga., stands to receive a $10,000 gift card to the iTunes store for downloading he 10 billionth song, Apple said.

“We’re grateful to all of our customers for helping us reach this amazing milestone,” Apple Vice President Eddy Cue said in a statement. “We’re proud that iTunes has become the number one music retailer in the world, and selling 10 billion songs is truly staggering.”

As part of its 10 billion countdown, Apple ranked the most popular songs of the iTunes era. The most downloaded song is the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeing.” The group also took the No. 3 spot on the list with “Boom Boom Pow.” Checking in at No. 2 on the list was Lady GaGa’s “Poker Face,” with Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” and Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” taking the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

Apple debuted its online music shop seven years ago, selling 1 million downloads in its first week. In the time since, iTunes has galloped to the top of the digital music realm, outselling by a large margin competitors such as Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Walmart.com (NYSE: WMT).

In the meantime, iTunes has been looking to expand its offerings beyond online music. The site has reportedly been in talks with entertainment studios to roll out a TV service based on a $30 monthly subscription model.

Apple began offering Web TV content in 2005 through a deal with Disney-ABC. TV shows are currently available on iTunes for $2.99, and Apple also offers season-long subscription passes to certain programming.

Apple iPad Adds to Pressure on AT&T

As AT&T prepares to provide high-speed connections for the new tablet-style computer, it’s redoubling efforts to make its network more reliable

By Cliff Edwards and Olga Kharif from BuisnessWeek

As Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled the tablet-style iPad computer Jan. 27, many of his pronouncements were greeted with cheers. In contrast, his revelation that AT&T (T) would be the exclusive U.S. provider of high-speed wireless connections for the Internet-capable device was met with audible sighs.

The reaction reflects dismay with the performance of AT&T’s wireless network and concern that adding the iPad will only add to the strain. AT&T is the exclusive U.S. carrier of Apple’s iPhone, a device that already places heavy bandwidth demands on AT&T’s equipment. Even executives of the phone company concede the network isn’t up to snuff in New York and San Francisco. “Consumers may expect more from their iPad than the network can deliver at this point,” says Shira Levine, an analyst with Infonetics, a telecommunications market research firm. “There’s potential for more consumer dissatisfaction.”

If Cupertino (Calif.)-based Apple (AAPL) has its way, iPad users will consume a lot of bandwidth-hogging media. The iPad lets users purchase and download books, movies, and other large files. Marketers may also find ways to deliver multimedia ads and other content wirelessly to the device. If the iPad is successful, “the volume of data would be the same the iPhone consumes plus another 50%,” says Mike Manzo, chief marketing officer at Openet, a maker of software that helps carriers manage network traffic.

Only 25% of iPad Buyers May Get Data Plans

Not everyone who buys an iPad will use AT&T’s network. Three iPad models that work with AT&T’s 3G wireless-phone network will go on sale in April for $629 to $829, with an additional $14.99 or $29.99 a month for a service plan. In all, Apple may sell 3 million to 4 million iPads in the first year, and 8 million in 2011, says Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray (PJC) in Minneapolis. As few as one-quarter of new iPad purchasers will add a wireless data plan, predicts wireless-industry consultant Chetan Sharma.

Many iPad users will instead access the Internet using Wi-Fi networks in homes and other locations, AT&T executives said on a Jan. 28 conference call discussing the company’s fourth-quarter results. Three iPad models will be Wi-Fi only. The iPad “will be used a substantial amount of time in a Wi-Fi environment,” AT&T Chief Financial Officer Richard Lindner said on the call. While the iPad’s 1.5-pound frame makes it easy to carry from place to place, the device’s 9.7-inch screen makes it too big to fit into a pocket.

AT&T’s data-plan pricing may go part of the way toward alleviating network strains. Users who pay $29.99 a month can consume unlimited data. That plan “certainly could tax an already taxed network,” says Gerard Hallaren, director of research at TownHall Investment. Those who opt for the cheaper plan may deliberately consume less data for fear of exceeding caps. Because they’ve spent less, they’ll also feel less obligated to use big allotments.

AT&T to Spend $2 Billion on Upgrades

For those who opt for AT&T’s 3G service plans, the company says it’s working on upgrades designed to reduce the number of dropped calls and poor connections. AT&T will spend about $2 billion to improve its ability to deliver wireless calls, John Stankey, CEO of AT&T Operations, said during the Jan. 28 conference call. AT&T is adding twice as much capacity to its network in 2010 as it did last year, he said. The company is also adding 2,000 cell sites, which play a role in delivering wireless calls, and says it will extend 3G coverage by 400,000 square miles through the acquisition of certain wireless assets.

AT&T spent $21 billion improving its network between 2006 and September 2009, Ralph de la Vega, president of AT&T’s wireless division, told attendees of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January.

Network improvement plans by AT&T have met with Apple’s approval, Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, said during a Jan. 25 conference call. “We have personally reviewed these plans, and we have very high confidence that they will make significant progress toward fixing them,” Cook said.

Now, AT&T will need to get the message across to users.

The iPad Threat to PCs

Apple’s new computer could erode sales of netbooks and tablet devices sold by PC makers, analysts say

By Arik Hesseldahl from businesweek

Apple’s (AAPL) new iPad, a lightweight device that browses the Web and delivers media, may serve as an alternative to netbooks and pose a threat to PC makers.

While the iPad is not a full-fledged PC, it’s capable of handling many of the tasks consumers deem important in netbooks, stripped-down notebooks that have surged in popularity in recent years. In a lightweight package, the iPad provides access to e-mail, the Internet, and digital media such as electronic books. The cheapest version of the iPad will sell for $499, compared with about $400 or less for many kinds of netbooks. “People who are looking at netbooks will also take a very serious look at the iPad,” says Charles Smulders of market research firm Gartner (IT).

That could spell trouble for computer makers such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Acer (2353:TT), and Dell (DELL), which relied on netbooks for growth in recent quarters as consumers and companies delayed purchases of more expensive machines. The number of PCs shipped rose 15.2% in the fourth quarter, compared with a decline of 0.4% a year earlier, according to research firm IDC. “A substantial portion” of that growth came from the sales of netbooks, says IDC analyst David Daoud.

Silver Lining: Margin Squeeze May End

If there’s a silver lining in the iPad’s introduction, it’s that PC makers may need to boost their reliance on higher-priced devices, analysts say. Sales of netbooks can put pressure on average selling prices that if unchecked can lead to narrower margins. “The netbook market has created a race to zero margins,” Forrester (FORR) analyst James McQuivey says. “It has created a market where higher-priced, higher-margin notebooks have a harder time selling because consumers think they can get essentially the same experience in a netbook with a lower price.”

So if netbook growth slows, PC vendors may need to refocus their efforts on selling higher-margin traditional notebooks, says Daoud of IDC. “It will bring some needed sanity and new alternatives for the PC industry,” Daoud says. “For so long, all they could do was drive down prices. Now they can think outside the box and bring out devices that will compete with Apple at prices they can live with.”

Sumit Agnihotry, a vice-president at PC maker Acer, which sells several netbooks, says the smaller computers will probably keep their place in the PC industry. “The industry has proven that the netbook is an important category,” he says. “We think they’re here to stay.” Still he says Acer is working on a tablet product that will compete head-to-head with Apple’s iPad. It’s due to be announced in the second half of 2010.

iPad Will Tempt PC Tablet Users

Apple’s iPad may also make a dent in sales of existing tablet-style computers, a category that has been available for the better part of a decade but failed to catch on with consumers. Only about 1.03 million tablets were sold in 2009, down from 1.3 million in 2008, according to Gartner. Tablets are generally aimed at businesses that have a specific need for a PC that accepts input from a pen-shaped stylus. Though the iPad doesn’t use a stylus, there’s a good chance that its thin, lightweight body could lure some business users away from their tablets.

Harry Labana is chief technology officer of Citrix Systems (CTXS), which makes software that gives mobile devices, including Apple’s iPhone, the ability to access software and files on other computers remotely. He sees opportunity for sales of the iPad in areas such as medicine. For example, doctors who want to view patient records or X-ray images can do so from a device like the iPad that connects remotely to another computer where patient files are stored. “Not everyone who spends their work day walking around needs a full-power laptop or a PC to read certain data or to send mail,” he says.

Hewlett-Packard introduced a tablet it calls the Slate at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January. “The slate category is exciting and will be the focus of multiple efforts on several platforms in the industry,” says HP spokeswoman Marlene Somsak. “We’ll have a number of products in this space this year and beyond.” She declined t comment specifically on the iPad. A spokeswoman for Dell declined to comment.

Apple says it expects to start shipping the iPad by the end of March. The company may sell 3 million to 4 million in the first 12 months it’s available, says Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray (PJC). It may sell 8 million iPads in 2011, he says