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Ever since the acquisition of LaLa, Apple has been rolling out web-based previews for their iTunes products. Until today, there was only the web-based preview for music, leaving everyone that has an iPhone or iPod Touch behind without any web-based preview for iPhone apps.

Today they rolled it out for iPhone apps. Copying a link from the iTunes store and pasting it into a web browser will get you a page that looks like the screenshot above. 

You can view the icon, description of the app (clicking More... will expand the description), price, ratings, developer info, customer reviews, screenshots, and what other customers also bought at the bottom. However, clicking 'View more by this developer' will take you to iTunes.

Pretty functional web-based preview for iPhone apps, and this has been much needed, since people may be shopping for iPhone apps on a computer that does not have iTunes installed.

Apple bought out the cloud music streaming service LaLa earlier this week at $17 million. Lala is a service that allows users to stream music and create streaming playlists from the web - another form of 'cloud computing.'

With Apple's acquisition of LaLa, this could mean that Apple will have some sort of 'in the cloud' version of iTunes, where users are not required to have the continuously-growing bloatware installed on their computers in order to play music. This has already started with the web 'previews' of albums available in the iTunes music store.

According to the Wall Street Journal, it appears that Google was also in serious talks with the Lala Media for a possible acquisition, but Apple managed to win the bid for the service. Apple also was in talks with Admob before Google snatched up the startup for themselves.

The twin pursuit of the start-ups reveal that the two tech titans have further plans to move deeper into each other's business: Apple wanted to get into advertising, while Google sought a music service.

The growing competition between these two giants began after Google CEO Eric Schmidt left Apple's board of directors. Both companies are trying to move in on each other's turf, and it's hard to tell what is different about both companies at this point.

via Macrumors

Source: MacLife.comIn addition to the iTunes 9.0.2 software update today, Apple has released the 3.0 software for the Apple TV. This update will allow the device to have the current iTunes features, iTunes LP and Extras, and Genius Mixes.

So if you have an Apple TV, go update the thing. Unfortunately, I don't, so I'll be out for the count.

Here's Apple's press release:

Apple Introduces Apple TV 3.0 Software With Redesigned User Interface




Enjoy iTunes Extras, iTunes LP & Genius Mixes on Your HD TV


CUPERTINO, California—October 29, 2009—Apple® today introduced new Apple TV® 3.0 software featuring a redesigned main menu that makes navigating your favorite content simpler and faster, and makes enjoying the largest selection of on-demand HD movie rentals and purchases, HD TV shows, music and podcasts from the iTunes® Store even better on your TV. You can now enjoy iTunes Extras and iTunes LP in stunning fullscreen with your Apple TV, as well as listen to Genius Mixes and Internet radio through your home theater system. The new Apple TV software is available immediately free of charge to existing Apple TV owners, and Apple TV with 160GB capacity is available for just $229.


“The new software for Apple TV features a simpler and faster interface that gives you instant access to your favorite content,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “HD movies and HD TV shows from iTunes have been a huge hit with Apple TV customers, and with Apple TV 3.0 they get great new features including iTunes Extras, Genius Mixes and Internet radio.”


The redesigned main menu on Apple TV gives you instant access to your favorite content. Recently rented or purchased movies, as well as other content including TV shows, music, podcasts, photos and YouTube, are accessible directly from the new main menu. The new software also allows Apple TV users to enjoy stunning fullscreen iTunes Extras and iTunes LP, including great new movie titles such as “Star Trek” or classics like “The Wizard of Oz” and albums such as Taylor Swift’s “Fearless (Platinum Edition)” and Jack Johnson’s “En Concert.” iTunes Extras gives movie fans great additional content such as deleted scenes, interviews and interactive galleries. iTunes LP is the next evolution of the music album, delivering a rich, immersive experience for select albums on the iTunes Store by combining beautiful design with expanded visual features like live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos, album credits and more.


Now Apple TV users can enjoy Genius Mixes through their home theater system and listen to up to 12 endless mixes of songs that go great together, automatically generated from their iTunes library. Customers can also enjoy Internet radio, allowing them to browse and listen to thousands of Internet radio stations, as well as tag favorite stations to listen to later. Apple TV’s support of HD photos is enhanced with iPhoto Events, which simplifies finding your favorite photos on Apple TV, as well as iPhoto® Faces, which gives access to photos organized by people identified in iPhoto.


Apple TV users have direct access to a catalog of over 8,000 Hollywood films on iTunes including over 2,000 in stunning HD video available for rent or purchase. Users can also choose from a selection of 11 million songs, 10,000 music videos and over 50,000 TV episodes to purchase directly from their Apple TV or browse and enjoy the iTunes Store podcast directory of over 175,000 free video and audio podcasts. Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to iTunes on the user’s computer for enjoyment on their Mac® or PC or all current generation iPods or iPhones.* iPod touch® or iPhone® users can download the free Remote app from the App Store to control their Apple TV with a simple tap or flick of the finger.


Pricing & Availability 
The new Apple TV software is available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers. The 160GB Apple TV is available from the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $229 (US). Apple TV requires an 802.11b/g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV. Video availability varies by country.


Apple TV easily connects to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed Wi-Fi, Apple TV automatically plays your iTunes content without setup or management.