Trekkies rejoice! Apple is bringing back the original Star Trek series to its online iTunes music store and is available on a season set basis. All the episodes are true to their classic glory and have been digitally remastered to satisfy even those with eyes only for the high-end visual quality of today.

Relive memories in the star ship with Spock, his trusty crew and all those wonderful Klingons.

Let your imagination fly to distant worlds as the heroes explore the far reaches of the galaxy and do everything to preserve interstellar order.

The iTunes favorite was dropped from the marketplace last month for some unexplained reason but is now back for good at the friendly price of US$ 56.88 per set.

And you can tell everybody, that this is your song... I hope you don't mind (I hope you don't mind) that I put down in words...

Starting March 26, the whole back catalog of Elton John's songs will be exclusively available for download on iTunes. That's around 400 plus tracks among his 30-something albums, spanning nearly 40 years of his musical career, as far back as his 1969 album, Empty Sky.

The deal was struck in light of the release of his latest compilation, Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits - and all this, right in time for his 60th birthday! Here's what the singer/songwriter had to say:

I've wanted my music to be available for digital download worldwide for some time, but I knew that the entire catalog - not just the hits - needed care and attention to be released in this way. Now that it's happening, I'm pleased for the fans' sake. The world has certainly changed since Philips Records issued my first single on seven-inch vinylÂ?39 years ago this month.

This Apple-exclusivity deal will only run through until April 30 though. After that, his songs would be available via digital download through other download services. As to which services specifically, the singer didn't specify.

Complaining of the stability status of your iPod? Apple has the fix ready for you. The Cupertino company has released the iTunes 7.1.1 to address the aforementioned issue and to expand its overall compatibility as well.

The update is available for both Macintosh and Windows platforms. The software is used in conjunction with the iPod  to rip and import songs from Cds, download media and organize files.

Apple proudly describes the application as "the worldÂ?s best way to organize and enjoy your personal digital music and video collection with your Mac. iTunes is also the easiest way to sync music, videos, and more with your iPod." The update is applicable to OS X 10.3.9 or higher and current Windows XP versions.

Download the update from the product's official site and let the music flow once more.

Concert fanatics should get a kick out of iTunes' latest offering. According to MacNN, the Palms Casino Resort today announced that it has teamed up with iTunes to bring exclusive "Live from Las Vegas" videos and music to the iTunes Store.

The first offering from this new deal will be the US$ 80-million Pearl concert theater's grand debut itself, where Evanescence will be performing on March 17. "Evanescence: Live from Las Vegas" will be available for purchase and download exclusively through iTunes in the coming weeks. It will also include extended song lists and behind-the-scenes interviews.

"We are thrilled to offer live performances from Grammy-winning artists such as Evanescence at The Pearl on the iTunes Store," said Palms owner George Maloof. "Not only is The Pearl the most stunning concert venue in the country, but it's the first major live music venue to be built from the ground up with iTunes in mind."

"They won't advertise your album unless you give them extra material" Lily Allen says of Apple, the computer company behind iTunes. Apparently, Apple has pushed the outspoken British pop singer to quickly produce a new version of her song for sale on iTunes. The musician responsible for the hit single Smile wont' let the Silicon Valley giant get away with it - she now plans to give Apple a "rubbish remix".

Record labels pay for good in-store placement of albums, a practice which Apple shuns. Instead, Apple wants to enable unbiased music recommendations. In order to gain visibility on the front page of iTunes, labels must negotiate with Apple. Apple offers good iTunes placement to artists who offer exclusive material.

But such good placement, as offered by Apple, is the key. We heard from Wall Street Journal that during a week when an album is featured on the iTunes home page, it can sell about five times more copies than its average sales when that album is not featured. Torn between two figures we really like: Apple and Lily Allen, we wonder whose side of the story holds more weight.

Germany, France, Finland and Norway have decided to put together a collective stand against Apple's policies on iTunes songs being playable only on the IT giant's popular iPod mp3 players.

The four nations say that the download system used by Apple does not give way to the liberalization of the digital content market and threatened to take legal action if Apple refuses to budge until October 1.

"Do you think it's fine that a CD plays in all CD players but that an iTunes song only plays in an iPod? I don't. Something has to change," said Meglena Kuneva, EU's Consumer Protection Commissioner. He seconded the argument of the European countries that Apple's digital rights protection system prevents the copying of audio files between consumers and bars them from using their iTunes on other mp3 players.

Apple has not been available for comments on the matter. We'll keep you posted for the latest developments.

 

If you're one of those people who are making the switch from one comp format to another, then you know how hard it could be to go from Apple to Windows and vice-versa. Of those problems, moving your iTunes library can also be a pain in the butt.

Well, Lifehacker has a nice tutorial up for those who are making a switch and who want to take their iTunes with them. They'll teach you how to move your library from one to the other with as little hassle as possible.

Some reminders though. It requires changing some settings on both your computers as well as the file names for some stuff. It's technical but quite doable if you follow their instructions carefully. In any case, make sure you back up your library in advance. Enjoy!

In case you're not aware, there's an iTunes rankings for game podcasts. Now, Europe-based FM-broadcast gaming radio show One Life Left has been reported to top the iTunes rankings, even besting established podcasts such as that of gaming site 1UP and Microsoft's Major Nelson.

One Life Left is broadcasted on Resonance FM which, by the way, is funded by London's Arts Council. The program is presented by "gaming miscreants" Ste Curran and Robert Howells with newsreader Ann Scantlebury. Over a dozen British industry veterans contribute to One Life Left regularly.

In its 33 weeks of existence, this is actually the first time that One Life Left has topped the iTunes charts. The latest issue will be titled "The Danger of Words" and will feature bits about the Kotaku-Sony hoopla over PlayStation Home (recently revealed at the Game Developers Conference 2007), GTA IV, Crackdown, GRAW 2, and even travel and telephones.

Since the software update of Quicktime and the accompanying Apple media suite, iTunes received AppleTV support for Internet streamed television. It came with fixes to security issues, too, plus new upgrades to features that makes navigating through music, shows and movies a piece of cake.

But what struck many iTunes users odd was that particular AppleTV ratings preference that included Australia and New Zealand. So does that mean that Kiwi and Ozzy TV shows could be legally downloaded off the Net? Given Steve Jobs' reputation and antics, it's difficult to predict what Apple has planned for iTunes this time.

But a big question looms over which channel they're going to get the shows from. Word around the Net is that ABC's Channel 9 is a big bet. We think it's highly unlikely, as some forums claimed that a particular TV service from nineMSN (Channel 9), Catch-up TV, is closing down and will be replaced by something else. While this should be supportive of the rumor, let's get real for a moment: Microsoft is willing to have their service replaced by one from Apple? Riiiighhht.

We think it's safe to say that we've all played around a bit with iTunes' EQ settings at one time or another. Some knew exactly what they wanted and how to do it, while others were just trying to find something that makes the music sound halfway decent.

Thanks to Method Shop, we now have a guide that can show us exactly how to get the most out of iTunes' EQ settings. If you don't even know where to find it, the EQ can be activated by enabling "Show Equalizer" under the View tab. Once it's up and running, you can whip out Method Shop's handy guide and voila! You're well on your way to better sound.

The guide itself is actually quite short and simple, just the way we like it. It gives a brief overview of iTunes' graphic equalizer system, paying attention to the details such as what exactly those little numbered bands mean. It also touches on the EQ presets included in every copy of iTunes, as well as giving a few pointers on how to make your own iTunes EQ presets.

Check out the guide by clicking the "read" link below.