Apple already has its users attention on the computing, television and music fronts. Judging by patents filed by the company it is looking to add the gaming front to its conquests as well. Apple has filed a patent for a 3D gaming controller to go with its AppleTV.

Apple has assured its loyal fan base that there will be no more waiting for their movie fix on iTunes. The company has announced that from now on, movies will be released to the public for download on iTunes the same day they are released on DVD.

Apple quietly released an update for Apple TV; Apple TV 2.0.2. This update has added a new feature along with some bug fixes. If you are looking for an update on the Apple support website you won’t find it. With the last update genres were added and just like the Apple TV 2.0.1 update 2.0.2 was released with little fanfare. You won’t find the update listed on the Apple support page.

If you are an iTunes Season Pass user, you know how the strike affected you - you didn’t get your subscription filled while the shows were off the air. Since users of Season Pass pay for it upfront, Apple decided to show them some love. This is a good PR move on Apple’s part.

Sure, the BBC has its very own iPlayer service to worry about but that hasn’t stopped Apple.  Nothing can stop Apple.  The BBC may be close to announcing a deal with Apple to sell its content in the iTunes store.  No word on an official announcement so until that happens consider this a rumor.

Apple likes to have at least a 50% profit margin on most of the hardware it sells but that’s not happening with the company’s AppleTV.  The price on the 40GB model was dropped from $299 to $229 and on the 160GB model from $399 to $329.  There is a greater profit for the company in selling the 160GB model.  Both models still have a lower profit margin than some of its other products.

Apple may have just updated its AppleTV by lowering the price of both the 40GB and 160GB model.  By doing so, it has also forced companies that make competing products to lower their prices as well.  Specifically, the Vudu media box.  How does it stack up against the AppleTV feature wise?  Read on to find out!

Apple rolled out iTunes movie rentals recently. They got a lot of initial criticism from their users on the length of time the movies would remain active on a users system. Many movie watchers said that a 24 hour movie viewing period was not enough time to watch a movie and keep up with a hectic schedule.
Apple answered the call of their customers with little fanfare, extending the rental time slightly. What has been happening to users who download rentals now is that the countdown screen will appear as usual, but it now offers the viewer a chance to finish the movie once they’ve hit play.

Don’t you want to make Skype calls and message people while you watch your AppleTV? Thanks to a resourceful hacker, now you can. This hack joins a few others to add capability to the AppleTV, which is really a CPU for your TV which makes it very adaptable and programmer friendly.

The company that was doing so swimmingly last year has seen a drop in stock prices, just as Steve Jobs announced these seemingly great products that would be joining the Apple lineup.  The future isn’t looking bright for 2008, but there might be a few saving graces for both Apple and the shareholders.