Earlier today a report suggested that the launch of Apple's upcoming streaming music service deemed "iRadio" may be delayed due to difficult negotiations with Sony Music and Warner Music Group. CNET is offering some additional information on Apple's trouble with Sony Music, explaining that the fees to be paid for skipped songs have become a point of contention between the companies. Apple and Sony Music, the world's second largest music label, are still trying to hammer out details over how much Apple would pay for songs that people listen to a fraction of and then skip, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

Apple has released an update to its iTunes music and media application, bringing it to version 11.0.3. The update updates the compact MiniPlayer, adding album artwork and a progress bar, as well as better support for multi-disc albums and large iTunes libraries. This version of iTunes comes with several new features and improvements, including: - New MiniPlayer .

Apple CEO Tim Cook will testify in front of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation next week, Politico is reporting . The subcommittee is attached to the U.S

Apple's App Store today reached 50 billion downloads since its inception in 2008, and along with the milestone comes the end of the company's "50 Billion App Countdown" promotion launched thirteen days ago .

Reuters is reporting that Apple has responded to the Justice Department's accusations that the company colluded with publishers to increase e-book pricing, saying that it negotiated with the publishers separately and reached different agreements with each. But Apple said the publishers had decided, independent of Apple, to eliminate discounts on wholesale book prices of e-books, to sell lucrative hardcover books first to bookstores in a practice called windowing and to take other measures to push Amazon to raise prices. In a court filing dated April 26 but released on Tuesday, Apple said it had approached publishers to create an online bookstore that would eventually become the iBookstore and had demanded a 30 percent commission, that publishers would not undercut prices paid to Apple, and that "windowing" be scrapped

With one day to go before bidding closes, the CharityBuzz auction for coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook is at $605,000. Bidding has slowed considerably since the first couple of days, with only one bid -- the current winning mark of $605,000 -- since April 26th.

Apple has created a 'waiting list' for law enforcement requests to unlock seized iOS devices, according to a report from CNET . The article notes a case in Kentucky where the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was the lead agency, and investigators contacted Apple for assistance after they were unable to locate any law enforcement agency in the country with the forensic capabilities to unlock an iPhone crucial to the case

CIO reports on an Interop keynote presentation yesterday by PayPal chief information security officer Michael Barrett in which he discussed the future of account security and suggested that passwords and PINs will soon be a thing of the past. Barrett currently serves as president of the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance that is seeking alternatives to these traditional security methods. The FIDO Alliance protocol allows users a choice of authentication method while shifting control to providers who can make authentication user-transparent and limit the risk of fraud

A fourteen-year-old has discovered that the tiny magnets inside the iPad can inadvertently shut off pacemakers if the device is left on the chest, such as might happen if the user falls asleep with the iPad lying on them. Apple builds magnets into every iPad it sells for use with its Smart Cover accessory .

Amazon is developing a number of new hardware products to complement its Kindle line, The Wall Street Journal is reporting . Amazon hopes to release the devices, which are being developed at an Amazon lab in Sunnyvale, California , in the coming months, but the WSJ is quick to note that some or all of them may be killed at the last minute for a variety of reasons. One of the devices is a high-end smartphone featuring a screen that allows for 3-D images without glasses, these people said.