Ambrosia Software has released iToner 1.0, a simple utility that lets you add MP3 or AAC audio files to an iPhone for use as custom ringtones. What's notable about iToner is that it doesn't require any iPhone hacking software to work.

Instead of resting on its laurels, Apple continues to break new ground in the iPod world, releasing the iPhone-like iPod touch, putting a 160 GB drive in the new iPod classic, enabling the new iPod nano to play video, and giving the iPod shuffle new colors. Other announcements included the capability to purchase custom ringtones for the iPhone from the iTunes Store, the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store for the iPhone and iPod touch, and a price drop - $200! - for the iPhone.

Apple releases a new version of iTunes, once again without specifying what changed, although there is some speculation that it's related to the iPhone.

Apple has updated QuickTime and iTunes, resolving issues with the H.264 video codec and fixing bugs. The primary changes in QuickTime 7.2 are fixes for several potential security vulnerabilities related to playback of malformed movie files and visiting maliciously crafted Web sites

Congratulations to Barbara LHeureux of charter.net, whose entry was chosen randomly in last week's DealBITS drawing and who received a blue 4 GB iPod nano (refurbished) along with a Mophie case, worth a total of $136.99

Apple has released iTunes 7.3, which enables support for the iPhone. iTunes acts as the hub between the computer and the iPhone (much as it does with the iPod), handling synchronization of contacts, calendars, music, and movies

The New York Times is reporting that Universal Music Group (owned by the French media giant Vivendi), the largest of the record companies, has refused to renew its two-year contract to sell downloadable music through Apple's iTunes Store

As the iPhone nears release, Apple has unveiled another previously unannounced feature: a YouTube application that will download and play back YouTube videos directly on the iPhone

If you haven't been reading the top of each TidBITS issue carefully, you may not realize that our sponsor Small Dog Electronics regularly offers an exclusive deal for TidBITS readers

Thanks to the Internet, it's becoming possible not just to communicate with people around the world but to see what they're thinking, or at least what they choose to share with the world

We're in the middle of a sea change in how we acquire and watch video, whether serialized television shows, must-see sporting events, blockbuster movies, quirky documentaries, or even homemade video clips

Call me a rainmaker. Just a few days after I sent my latest book ("The Apple TV Pocket Guide") to be printed, Apple announced upgrades to the Apple TV

Apple has released iTunes 7.2, which is notable for only one thing - the fact that it now lets you preview and purchase "iTunes Plus" music that is both higher in quality and free of Apple's FairPlay digital rights management

Two New Ebooks Improve Your TV Experience -- Whether the video you see on your TV screen is too blurry, too jagged, too small, too old, too new, too boring, too weird, or just too much, you can make it better with the advice in two new ebooks

In the fun category, Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University has created a video review of copyright principles. You're probably thinking, "How could anyone make a video about a legal concept even mildly entertaining?" But Faden's truly inspired video works on many levels because it consists entirely of extremely short clips (often no more than one word) from a wide variety of animated Disney movies