The product is not even released yet and Daniel Eran Dilger of AppleInsider already has an in-depth review for it. Amazing!

The three-page review goes into details on how to convert movies for Apple TV using the new Roxio Crunch. Using it in combination with Handbrake or MacTheRipper, Daniel went into details on how to use these rippers to first rip the DVDs and then using Crunch to convert the resulting files.

After reading this, you will be an expert at ripping your DVDs to Apple TV.

Read more via AppleInsider

Big fan of They Might Be Giants? You are in for a treat. Their upcoming album "The Else" will be released on May 15th on iTunes: two months sooner than the physical album. The real album will be a deluxe package that will "include a full length bonus disc that compiles some new rarities as well as some hi-fi versions of some podcast favorites".

So you have two choices:  get the iTunes version on May 15th or wait for the deluxe version in July.  Oh, decisions, decisions.

Read more via macenstein.com  

One of the main reasons why iTunes is so wildly popular is probably because of its pricing structure:  99 cents/song.  And we all know that Steve and the recording industry have been butting heads on this pricing scheme for years.  This may change, however, as the two giants go on another round of negotiations .

Jobs mentions that he would allow higher prices as long as the record industry lets Apple sell the songs without DRM.  According to Jobs, this would "tear down the walls" and let songs downloaded from iTunes be played on other MP3 players.

Read more via msnbc.com

We reported on the Apple TV Podcast Showcase page on iTunes yesterday but we didn't feel that the list was nearly as complete as we wanted it to. So what did we do? We had to start our own. The list is available under the "Downloads" menu.

We did our best to compile the list of HD podcasts on iTunes. If you think we have omitted some major podcasts out there, let us know. We'll gladly add them to our list.

We all know how tedious it is putting those rating stars on each song in your iTunes collection. What if you don't have to do that and have this done automagically based on your listening pattern? Well, Michael Tyson has writting a little plugin to do all the rating for you. Nifty!

The plugin is only for the Mac right now though. We sure hope there is a Windows version in the works.

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There are many movie download services out there but how do they stack up?

Steve Praino of Gear Digest attempts to answer that question by comparing the 4 main movie download services: Movielink, CinemaNow, iTunes Store and Amazon Unbox. In the end, Steve was impressed with the video quality of the downloaded movies but if you want the full theather experience, you should sill stick with the discs. He recommended CinemaNow and Amazon Unbox, while mentioning that iTunes was fun and easy but the movie format was just not compatible with the others.

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It's a sad fact that there are no HD movies available for purchase from the iTunes Store yet. The good news is that podcasters are rushing to get their podcasts out in HD.

Now, Apple has put together a showcase page on the iTunes Store that features these HD podcasts. Just go to the Podcast section on the iTunes Store and there should be a big button right in the middle that says "Apple TV Podcast Showcase" (yeah, you can't miss it). Just click on it.

We highly recommend a short film by Jerome Olivier called "Missing Pages (amended version) ", available in 3 separate parts. Your Apple TV is made to play this movie.

Richard, a blogger at Smart Like StreetCar, ponders if Apple TV would ever be a success in Canada given the lack of content on iTunes Canada. He thinks that the idea is just the lamest thing since ... Apple's dot mac service.

The article is pretty entertaining. Go read it.

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Roxio previewed its upcoming video conversion utility, Roxio Crunch, yesterday. The new utility allows users to easily convert videos to Apple TV- and iPod-compatible formats. Based on the screen shots presented in the article by MacNN, its user interface is far superior than any of the converters out there. But then it also costs $50. We look forward to its release. Maybe we might even have a chance to review it.

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Ready to put down the remote and actually learn something?  Open Culture reports that Stanford University now offers 5 free courses via Podcast.  These courses are:  The Historical Jesus, Modern Theoretical Physics: Quantum Entanglement, Virgil's Aeneid: Anatomy of a Classic, Geography of World Cultures. and The Literature of Crisis.

You can also check out Open Culture's other free university courses here .  Now go learn something!

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