Playlistmag.com discusses the efforts of a company called Navio. The company, which specializes in digital-rights managment, has announced plans to reverse engineer Apple's FairPlay Digital Rights Management format that is used to protect songs sold from the iTunes Music Store.
The plan is to allow other online stores to sell FairPlay encoded songs to allow playback on the popular Apple iPod.
Schaaf described Navio as "DRM-agnostic," adding that the company was only providing the technology that its customers are asking for. "Whether it's Helix, WMA or FairPlay, our customers indicate what kind of DRM encoding they want and then we provide them with a solution," he said.
Navio is not the first company to do this. RealNetworks Harmony technology accomplished the same feat, and despite some sparring with Apple, continues to provide iPod compatibility.
Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:39 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is developing an all-new operating system that is essentially a mix of tvOS, watchOS, and iOS, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In a report this week, he said the operating system will feature a grid of icons, widgets, and apps, along with customizable clock faces.
The new software platform is intended for Apple's long-rumored smart home hub. With built-in facial recognition,...
Wednesday July 29, 2026 12:03 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple this year acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014.
This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019.
Q.ai...
Thursday July 30, 2026 3:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
We're less than two months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a dramatic change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year,...
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
