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."

When the biggest names in the tech world showed off their latest gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Steve Jobs decided to grab a share of the attention by showing off the iPhone in San Francisco. He did get his share all right, a free publicity share worth US$ 400 million. Says a business expert, "No other company has ever received that kind of attention for a product launch."

How does the "best marketing CEO in the business" do it anyway? Here are the notes that we found on Apple's marketing manual. Everyone should take on Apple's cue and make big bucks like the computer giant does.

1. Make innovative products. It may be simple, but it brings Apple to the spotlight.
2. Keep it simple. Having too many options confuse people.
3. Create truly memorable ads. No need for extensive advertising.
4. Find an enemy. This will keep you improving.
5. Work the taste makers. Be very PR-centric.
6. Offer surprises. It's all about mystery keeping the love alive.
7. Put on a show. Publicity is the rule of the thumb.

Check out some memorable Apple moments below.

More images await after the jump!

We've got more news today on Apple's upcoming special events, thanks to Macworld. Apparently, the company will be hosting a special event at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) trade show on April 15.

Details are still scarce (actually, more like "nonexistent") regarding whether or not Apple will be making any announcements at the event, but precedent states that such announcements are likely.

Apple has used NAB events in the past to announce significant product launches such as Final Cut Studio and Soundtrack Pro, both of which were launched at a NAB event in 2005. Motion was also launched at a similar event in Las Vegas. Whatever it will be, we're expecting it to have at least something to do with the whole "broadcasters" vibe of the event. A new Final Cut version maybe?

Macworld also reports that Apple will be sporting a large booth at the show. Finally expanding its horizons at the said event, Apple has moved out from their usual spot at the first booth in the South Hall, relocating to a bigger area, to accommodate the booth's larger size for this year.

The Apple MacBook wireless device driver is clear from any weaknesses.

This is what has been proven, contrary to the sensational claim made by two security specialists back at the August Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. There, they demonstrated how to "hack" an Apple MacBook wirelessly. But as it later on turned out, the demonstrators did not use the native MacBook wireless driver.

While hacker demonstrators David Maynor and John Ellch of SecureWorks did not outright say that the vulnerability was a Mac problem per se, but rather was a weakness with wireless device drivers in general, they did not, however, clarify that they were using a third party wireless device driver in their demonstration. Because of this, it sent alarm bells ringing off, particularly from the upset Apple party.

In response, SecureWorks released a statement through its website, saying that "This video presentation at Black Hat demonstrates vulnerabilities found in wireless device drivers. Although an Apple MacBook was used as the demo platform, it was exploited through a third-party wireless device driver - not the original wireless device driver that ships with the MacBook. As part of a responsible disclosure policy, we are not disclosing the name of the third-party wireless device driver until a patch is available."

So obviously, the demonstrators really had nothing bad to say about the MacBook's native wireless device driver. But then again, they probably thought it would make for a great dramatic effect to bring in the brand of Apple.

While demonstrations such as these may offer benefits in terms of promoting and providing further securities against hacking, it is best for the security experts to stick with real-life scenarios rather than exploiting a particular brand to jump up publicity, without even offering a caveat that the brand is being used for demonstration purposes only, and not to identify it as one of the problems they are discussing. It is not only some form of cheapshot, but it can also prove to be very detrimental not only for the exploited brand's image, but also to the security expert company who may be inviting legal action because of their negligence.

If you're like me, you already have a bunch of wires cluttering up your desk. I've switched over to a wireless keyboard, wireless mouse, wireless headset, I've got wireless phones, wireless Xbox 360 controller, wireless PS2 controller, Wi-Fi router, two computers connected by wi-fi, wireless Xbox controller, my PSP is wireless and my DS is wireless, not to mention my Palm, and I still have a bunch of wires splattered all Natural Born Killers style on the floor, dead.

Well, even though the interference from all those devices is about to drive me damn wild, and I think I picked up a signal from beyond the dead last night while I was chomping down on turkey, I still like not having wires connected to all my stuff. Wireless is the wave of the future, man. And I'd like my iPod to be, too.

The fine folks over at ZDNet feel the same way. With two MP3 devices being unveiled at the CES in Las Vegas, they wonder if Apple might be close to announcing wireless compatibility for its next generation of iPods. Though the article said it would be convenient to be able to purchase music on the fly, I would actually be more interested in being able to transfer songs by wi-fi.

"I like the idea. The fact of a mobile device requiring a user to be stationary - such as being at home to sync- is counterintuitive. I mean, consuming music through a portable player is something usually done when you are in motion, right?"

Here's hoping that Apple has more than one trick rolled up its sleeve come Macworld next week.

[Via, ZDNet]

At CES in Las Vegas Clarion introduced their car multimedia unit with iPod connectivity. According to Clarion the new device gives full featured control and functionality of the ipod interface. There isn't a lot of information on this unit yet but we will write updates as we get them.

Clarion's single-DIN VRX765VD ($1100; Feb.) has a 7 inch flip out touch-screen with video playback from the iPod and offers touch-screen control of the DVD menu options.

Clarion's MAX675VD ($TBA; mid-2006) is a double-DIN multimedia system with a 7 inch color widescreen LCD with on-screen control pad and full iPod control of music functions, also with the video playback feature.

[Via, ilounge]