Depending on your perspective you may be chagrined to learn that the latest version of Apple iTunes 7.02 does not function with Microsoft’s new Vista OS.  Apple is recommending that iTune users should not upgrade to Vista yet.

The first question is just who is incompatible with whom?

Is the new iTunes incompatible with Vista?

or

Is the new Vista incompatible with iTunes?

The answer to that question probably depends on your perspective and priorities in life.  If iTunes is more important then the second and if not then the first.

The second question though could be more interesting.  Is this some type of anti-trust move by Microsoft to block out iTunes from its market dominating Operating System base.  This would then allow Vista to potentially make way for more Microsoft OS users and fewer Mac users, while simultaneously opening the door a crack for Zune?

or

Is this some type of anti-trust move by Apple to block out Vista from its market dominating iPod user base?  Could they be opening the door to convert more people away from Microsoft’s Operating system and over to Apple’s OS and machines.  Will Apple make iTunes compatible with Vista prior to the release of Apple’s new Operating System expected this summer?

Prediction

Both companies are playing a game of chess against each other and the answers to all of the questions above would be the same, Yes!

Technorati tags: Microsoft v Apple, Microsoft, Apple, iTunes, Vista, Zune, Antitrust

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Cisco and Apple revealed this week that they have reached a type of cease fire in their trademark battle over the term iPhone, which Cisco owns.

Cisco launched a product called the iPhone in December and wants to come to terms with Apple on an agreement that would allow the Cisco iPhone to ‘ interoperate ‘ with the Apple iPhone in some form or fashion. Apparently the companies continued negotiations on the topic right up until the night before MacWorld at which point Apple walked out on the talks, launched their iPhone at MacWorld hoping that Cisco was bluffing only to learn that Cisco wasn’t bluffing when they filed a lawsuit against Apple.

Now they are back at the tables trying to work things out. Many companies would jump at a chance to avoid a Trademark lawsuit, but Apple is not a company to be troubled by someone else’s trademark. Plus, they are not normally known for opening up their proprietary systems to allow interoperability with other platforms.

Therefore, they may be talking but they may have a long way to go before a settlement is presented. Even then it looks likely that both companies will exact a pound of iPhone flesh from the other.

Technorati tags: Cisco, Apple, iPhone, Trademark litigation, ineroperable iPhones, proprietary systems

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In 1967 A.E. Feldman Associates, Inc. founded and created a staffing and recruiting firm which has become dedicated to providing service across the nation for firms and corporations looking to fill executive positions from the associate level to the partner level and from the top executive level down to the middle management level.

They cover many different roles and positions within an organization from legal services, to communications, technology, finance and risk management.

They focus on providing services for industry leading clients and high-quality candidates. According to their latest release their forty years of experience helps them to find a way to place the best candidates for the roles targeted by their clients.

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A teenager whose mother and sister have been separately targeted by the RIAA in lawsuits is fighting back against their lawsuit against himself.  The boy is sixteen years old and accused of acts of music piracy when he was 11.  He is counter suing the record industry for collusion.

The RIAA had previously sued the boys mother, who refused to settle becoming somewhat famous in her own right until the suit against her was dropped in December.

Unfortunately for the family the sister of the brother and daughter of the mother did not file paperwork fast enough and is ordered to pay over $30k in a default judgement against her.

Little brother however is fighting back and fighting hard in a counter suit that could set precedents and have an impact around the world. His suit accuses the recording industry acting through the RIAA of violating antitrust laws, conspiring to defraud the courts and making extortionate threats.

The boy also claims that he never pirated music and that the record companies can not prove that he did pirate music.  He and his attorney also claim that the statute of limitations has passed and that all of the alleged music downloaded was actually owned by his sister on store bought CDs, which would insinuate that the recording industry sued one of its few paying customers and won a judgement against a paying customer for $30+k.  That’s sure to win them some customer loyalty!

The boys lawyer Robert Santangelo claims that the record companies have filed more than 18,000 piracy lawsuits in federal courts in a ‘conspiracy to defraud the courts of the United States.’  If he were to win against the record industry that victory might make for one of the most ironic class action lawsuit formations in history.

Technorati tags: boy sues record industry, record industry collusion allegations, antitrust, piracy lawsuits, RIAA sues paying customers and wins

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Pulling in leads off the internet and turning them into sales is no easy task if you do not have the right technology.  More often than not this technology is sold at an enterprise level and is cooked into a server solution that drives the cost up into the 5 digit price range.

AIM Promote is one of our newest sponsors.  They offer a full service functionality with a price level charged at a per user basis of just $33 per user.  Their lead management is setup in a package that does not give their customers less functionality for a lower price.  Instead it gives full functionality for the same price and then leverages that against the number of users that a customer needs to equip.  At a price of $33 per user, that price point is very affordable and the functionality they provide is comparatively very high.

Check out AIM’s lead management demo!

Technorati tags: lead management system, lead management

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