Apple Inc

Apple Inc., the company that popularized selling songs online for 99 cents apiece, now hopes to buoy interest in albums, giving customers credit for purchases of full albums from which they have bought individual tracks. Apple introduced the Complete My Album feature on its iTunes Store. It now gives a full credit of 99 cents for every track the user previously bought and applies it toward the purchase of the complete album.

Apple Inc. said Google Inc.'s YouTube Internet video site will soon be available on its Apple TV set-top box. Starting in mid-June, Apple TV will stream videos wirelessly from the Internet on YouTube, the company said. Thousands of the most current and popular YouTube videos will be available then, it said.

Apple Inc. cut the price for its iPod Shuffle by 38% as demand for the music player slowed. The 1-gigabyte device, Apple's smallest model, will have a retail price of $49, the Cupertino, Calif., company said. The previous price was $79. Apple also introduced a version with double the storage for $69. The bigger Shuffle, which clips onto clothing, can hold about 500 songs.

According to a regulatory filing, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs exercised options to buy 120,000 shares for $5.75 each and may reap a potential profit of $13.7 million. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company gave Jobs the options under a 1997 plan. Jobs hasn't sold the shares and has no plans to do so at this time, Apple said.

Mobile-phone maker Motorola Inc. sued a former executive now working for Apple Inc., accusing him of disclosing its trade secrets to aid in the marketing of Apple's iPhone. Michael Fenger left Motorola in March as vice president for the company's mobile-device business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is now Apple's vice president for global iPhone sales, according to a complaint. "He was privy to the pricing, margins, customer initiatives . . .

Apple Inc. was given more time to respond to a lawsuit by Cisco Systems Inc. as the companies work toward an agreement on the use of the iPhone brand. The extension, which comes three weeks after San Jose-based Cisco sued Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple for using the iPhone name, may allow the companies to agree on rights to the brand and ways their products can work together, they said in a joint statement.

With the lure of every song for 99 cents, Apple Inc.'s iTunes upended the retail establishment to become the nation's top music seller in less than six years. But the digital media powerhouse said Tuesday it would follow one of the oldest tenets of capitalism: The more someone wants something, the more you can charge for it. Apple finally bowed to a long-standing recording industry demand and agreed to sell music downloads at three prices -- 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29.

The long and winding road that would allow music lovers to finally meet the Beatles via digital downloads still has a few miles to go despite a copyright settlement Monday that raised hopes it would happen soon. Although the Beatles' Apple Corps record label made peace with computer and digital media company Apple Inc. over their uses of the fruit as a logo, there are hurdles to clear before "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" can be purchased on iTunes.

Apple Inc. is warning users of its iTunes software about compatibility problems with Microsoft Corp.'s new operating system and has recommended against a switch to Windows Vista until a fix is complete. "Although iTunes 7.0.

Apple Inc. signed agreements with three mobile-phone operators that will give them exclusive rights to sell its new iPhone in Europe, the Financial Times reported. T-Mobile of Germany, Orange in France and O2 in Britain each will give Apple 10% of sales from phone calls and data transfers made over the devices. The pacts would give the iPhone its first overseas foothold. The IPhone went on sale in the U.S. on June 29.