After signing up for the free service, users can search for friends that are using the application and follow them like on social networks. They have the option to attach location information to any post via the Foursquare API, and upload an unlimited number of photos. Instagram allows users to upload and share pictures on Flickr, Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook. Friends and followers can be imported from the iPhone contact list or Facebook and Twitter. "I have been waiting for this for a while now and I'm exceedingly happy for the results," says Andres Henry on the iTunes preview webpage.

The Instagram website advertises the free services as a "… fast, beautiful and fun way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. Snap a photo with your iPhone, choose a filter to transform the look and feel … it’s all as easy as pie. Its photo sharing reinvented."

The current version 1.0 was released on October 6, 2010.

To be eligible for the award, a person has to be at least 13 years old and needs to be a resident of any of the participating countries that have an iTunes Store. However, each person will be allowed only 25 entries in one day.

In addition to announcing the giveaway, iTunes released a list of its all-time best-selling songs, making that information available for the first time ever. The top song right now is the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling."

Digital album downloads grew 5 percent in December 2009, down from 10 percent growth in the September quarter and 11 percent growth in the June quarter.

Apple plans to launch the service next year, The Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday. Currently, the company is pushing TV networks to sign licensing deals, but it is unclear whether any of them have signed on yet.

CBS is considering offering programs from both the CBS and CW networks, and Disney is doing the same for content from ABC and the Disney Channel, according to the Journal.

An initial bundle of programs from CBS, Disney and other networks would be sold as a "Best of TV" package, and would cost US$30 a month, according to the report.

Apple would pay the content providers $2 to $4 a month per subscriber for a broadcast network like CBS or ABC, and about $1 to $2 a month per subscriber for a basic-cable network, according to the WSJ.

The new video strategy is part of an overhaul the iTunes store. Apple recently acquired online music streaming company Lala, but was secretive about its plans, only saying that it from time to time buys smaller technology companies.

The TV push could also boost sales of Apple's $229 TV box, which has been struggling compared to other Apple products. Streaming content from services like Hulu or Apple TV could make some cable companies to re-configure their current offerings or rethink their distribution strategy altogether.

Apple is in a constant battle with unlockers. It recently succeeded in killing iPhone jail-breaking for the time being and cutting off the Palm Pre from iTunes. Typically, users purchase more affordable machines and then install a version of Snow Leopard, essentially getting a Mac or OS X multi-boot machine without Apple's luxury prices. Mac OS X 10.6.2, the forthcoming update for Snow Leopard, will update almost 150 components of the operating system. The latest beta addresses issues with the Dock, ColorSync, QuartzCore and graphic driver components, among others.

"You can't help but suspect this move is Apple's attempt at shutting down the growing and popular Hackintosh netbook community, since Apple has no product line that runs the Atom itself," according to a report on OS X Daily. "Mac OS X runs absolutely flawlessly on much of the PC netbook hardware, once it's configured you wouldn’t know you’re not on a Mac. Maybe it’s in effort to kill the Atom Hackintosh netbooks in anticipation of the rumored Tablet? Or maybe it’s something totally unrelated?"

Last year, an Intel executive publicly vouched for the Atom processor to be used on Apple's long-rumored tablet device.

Disney realized that it already had a huge audience of iPhone and iPod touch users for its content on its existing mobile application, said Jason Davis, vice president of Disney.com. The website reaches nearly 31 million unique visitors per month and ranks as the No. 1 entertainment mobile site, according to Davis.

The media company has a still expanding lineup of paid applications available in Apple's App Store including The Nightmare Before Christmas, Toy Story Mania!, Disney Fairies Fly and Breakspin.

"Our iPhone and iPod touch traffic is heavily made up of kids and moms. The iPod touch has a very specific demographic geared to the teen," said Davis. "Because the applications are self-contained, once you're in the application, you can't get into anything else."

Disney says that the new application will organize Disney-branded content within one destination on each device and that it will let users interact with characters through customizable photo frames and audio greetings, buy Disney music on Apple's iTunes Store, listen to Radio Disney live, and watch music videos.