Instead of going against the flow that iTunes has set up over the past few years, RealNetworks' Rhapsody has decided to take a different approach to compete against Apple's leading digital music distribution service - by embracing the iPod's MP3 format. Find out what Rhapsody's new "Music Without Limits" strategy is all about by reading our full article after the jump.

We posted an article one month ago that invited readers to do a little thought exercise. Here's what we said: "On the 5th of November we're going to post an article or two about video games, gadgets, technology, and general geekness ... the things about video gaming and technology that ought not be forgotten."

So here's our list of some video gaming and technology moments worth remembering. Hope this gets you thinking (and feeling nostalgic too!). And we look forward to your comments (and arguments). What do you remember and wish that the world will never forget?

A bit of bad news for Google Video users: the media you rented or bought from the web giant's online store will no longer be viewable after the site is shut down by the parent company.

Google said there will be no refunds for any of the transactions, but compensation will come in the form of credits in Google Checkout, the company's online paying service.

The decision to shut the site down came after top officials decided that the Google Video service has become irrelevant due to the success of YouTube, which it also owns and uses to sell videos.

The move was branded as a big mistake by analyst David Card of Jupiter. He also added that the shutdown and the no-refund policy are making consumers more wary of digital media purchases.

"We've seen a physical format-device combo go out of manufacture before: wax cylinders, 8-tracks," says Card. "But can you think of any consumer-purchased medium that actually becomes unusable while there are players that still work?"

With the high base price of the iPhone and AT&T deciding not to subsidize the cost of the phone, the cost of owning one when it comes out is pretty steep. If for some reason you decided to cancel your subscription early, it gets even more expensive. How expensive? Try an additional US$ 175.

It was recently announced that AT&T has decided to place a US$ 175 fine for those who decide that they want out of the two-year contract with the company. This move has sparked the outrage of many an iPhone fan interested in picking up a unit.

As most would know, when people cancel their subscription to a cellular service they have to pay a fine. The reason for this is because the company sells the phone for a cheaper price and subsidizes the cost over the two years or more as dictated in the contract.

AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel gave word that these termination fees pay for more than phone subsidies. His exact explanation for this is that "there are certain fixed costs we incur in serving every customer who establishes service with us." However, he declined to specify exactly what these costs were.

The Vice President of Jupiter Research in New York Michael Gartenberg spoke about this issue and gave a theory on why this was the case. Considering that other networks do sell music through their wireless service, iTunes will be getting revenue that AT&T could have gotten.

However, he also noted that while this may be the case, those who will be adopting the iPhone are those who will most likely be using more data and voice services, which would give a nice boost to AT&T as well.

Is AT&T trying to milk more money out of this deal? It wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't charge such a huge amount for the cancellation considering the simple fact that you're already paid for the entire phone out of your pocket. I believe it's time for AT&T to decide on having one or the other. If they choose to subsidize it, I doubt many will complain but asking for both is pretty excessive in my book.

Apple may already be aware of the fact that not all the mp3 files that folks listen to on their iPods actually come from iTunes store. It has to be accepted that digital music didn't really alter much of people's buying habits since everyone still checks out filesharing sites to download free music. Others just simply rip the files from a friend's CD.

Jupiter Research reports that on the average, only around20 of the tracks on an iPod were bought via iTunes, and the rest are from the free sources that were mentioned earlier. The report also showed that 83% of iPod users don't buy from iTunes at all, and those who do so only buy single tracks at a frequency of around once a month.

But then again, it doesn't take statistics to tell us that digital music fans still prefer free stuff, digital or otherwise. Despite the success of iTunes, it is inevitable that music files will still come from somewhere else, and this is an issue that Apple can't take for granted and would probably have to eventually come to terms with.

Who knew that an iSight Camera could be combo'd with a telescope to produce a contraption that would be perfect for star gazing with your significant other? This was actually done before with the aim of taking a smoking picture of Saturn, but the problem was the camera had to be held still and holding something still for a long time, could be quite a challenge. So with that, the guys responsible for this decided to embark on a mission-- produce an iSight Telescope Mount and capture the biggest planet in the Solar System-- Jupiter.

Mounting an iSight camera is no easy and cheap task...it takes tremendous amounts of patience, time, and money. When the mounting part is over, you'd have to slave for quite a while as you locate celestial bodies that you may want to capture, and sometimes the weather is a bit uncooperative so you'd have to wait for a proper time to take 'em photos.

This is the finish product of the iSight Telescope mount. As you can see it is plugged into the PowerBook and ready to take pictures. Fortunately, their hard work paid off as they were able to take a picture of the giant planet. Kudos to these guys!

 

Is there an MS iPod Killer or isn't there? That's the question. Recently Reuters cited deep throats close to MS claiming the company has plans of selling its antidote to the iPod epidemic by Christmas. Well, Microsoft said reports of its mysterious MP3 music and video player are based on "speculation and rumours." This despite unnamed music industry execs squealed to the New York Times that they have received briefings about the product.

If such a product exist, the iPod rival is said to have wireless internet capabilities for downloading music without a PC. Why does MS need an iPod Killer in the first place? Nate Elliott, a digital home analyst at Jupiter Research, said it was out of  frustration because "Microsoft... have made no significant headway into Apple's dominance of the market." Elliot added that if MS wants its software to be the dominant music platform it needs to get a product out in the market ASAP. "Microsoft is not a hardware company but they have shown that when they really want to make a success of something they are willing to do it themselves...example is the Xbox."

Elliott also said Microsoft would have a challenge breaking Apple's hold on the market.