The good news: CNET has sources saying the three largest music labels will allow Apple to offer music downloads free of copy-protection. And the bad news might not be that bad.

In exchange for the DRM-free tracks, Apple will reportedly allow labels to push three tiers of pricing. Older songs from the archives will likely get cheaper than 99 cents, songs that are newer and “midline” (i.e. not big hits) will inhabit the familiar 99 cent mark, and newer, bigger hits will fetch higher, unnamed dollar amounts.

If announced at the Macworld conference today—which our gadget-obsessed cousins at Gizmodo are, of course, covering live—there could also be over-the-air 3G downloads coming to iPhone owners, and DRM dropped from everything in the iTunes store on launch. As Greg Sandoval at CNET points out, though, that leaves a question mark on tracks already purchased through iTunes.

Will variable, DRM-free pricing make you a (new or returning) iTunes customer? Tell us your take in the comments.

• Source: Lifehacker

Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): The Flickr Gallery Plus Firefox extension or Greasemonkey script make browsing galleries faster and easier in Flickr.

Once installed and set up, Flickr Gallery Plus automatically grabs larger versions of each image in a set so you can view each picture waiting for another page to load. It even turns sets into nice slideshows that fade between photos. Like to navigate photos from the keyboard? You can advance between images with the right and left keys.

If you’re a Flickr junkie, Flickr Gallery Plus is a great add-on to view Flickr sets. For more spicy Flickr improvements, check out our very own Better Flickr Firefox extension. Flickr Gallery Plus is available in both Greasemonkey script form and as an experimental Firefox extension (that means it hasn’t been vetted by the folks at Mozilla yet and you need to log in to download it), works wherever Firefox does. Photos by Qole Pejorian.

• Source: Lifehacker

Google has officially released their popular photo management application Picasa for Macs, after years of offering Picasa as a free Windows download.

It’s an exciting announcement for anyone who’s looking for a good photo management app on OS X that isn’t iPhoto or for anyone who’s used and fallen in love with Picasa on Windows or Linux. This release still sports the beta tag, so you can expect a bug here or there, but overall it appears to boast most of the same features as its counterparts. That includes:

Photo Management

Picasa scans your entire computer for new photos and keeps them neatly organized, with great timeline features, tagging, and folder organization.

Image Editing

Picasa sports simple but impressive editing capabilities, including non-destructive editing of photos. The Mac version offers a few smart options for users looking to run both iPhoto and Picasa so that neither application stps on the other’s toes.

Integration with Web Albums

Just like Picasa for Windows and Linux, Picasa for Mac offers seamless integration with Picasa Web Albums, Google’s online photo sharing site.

---

There’s no telling what Apple has in store for us at Macworld, but right now the Picasa release looks to throw down some serious competition for iPhoto. It may be a bit soon for an informed judgment, but what do you think so far?

Which Do You Prefer?
( polls)
Let’s hear more specific thoughts in the comments.

• Source: Lifehacker

iPhone/iPod touch only: Free application Craigsphone puts the popular online classifieds site Craigslist on your iPhone, complete with click-to-call, history, and mobile posting.

At first blush it may not seem like a Craigslist-focused app could offer much beyond what Craigslist on mobile Safari does, but you may be surprised. Craigsphone can post directly from your phone, including photo uploads and location sharing (instant missed connections, anyone?) and a Nearby feature that uses your iPhone’s location awareness to find classifieds nearby (San Francisco Bay area and Manhattan only for now).

Craigsphone is distributed for free by the same people who develop the very cool Dial Zero app (which helps you skip directly to an operator when you dial a customer service line), works on the iPhone and iPod touch only.

• Source: Lifehacker

Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): The Tabhunter Firefox extension adds quick keyboard-based tab switching to Firefox—sort of like Launchy for Firefox tabs. Just invoke Tabhunter, start typing, and Tabhunter searches for a match through all your tabs.

Tabhunter searches only the titles of your open pages, but the search is very fast and works as advertised. You can invoke Tabhunter from the keyboard (Ctrl+Alt+T by default), start typing, and find the tab you want more quickly than you can likely switch over to your mouse and back.

Granted, Tabhunter is decidedly for keyboard shortcut lovers, but if you fall in that group and you regularly have a browser full o’ tabs, it’s a great extension. Tabhunter is a free download, works wherever Firefox does. If you’re not quite into the idea, I’ve always liked previously mentioned LastTab for boosting my tab-switching skills. Unfortunately it’s been buggy for me ever since Firefox 3, so Tabhunter is a welcome entry. Either way, your mileage may vary. Let’s hear what you prefer in the comments.

• Source: Lifehacker

Windows only: Free application Disable Startup keeps just any old app from adding itself to your list of startup applications, keeping your boot time snappy and RAM happy.

At its core, Disable Startup is a startup manager similar to the built-in Windows System Configuration Utility. It does the trick if you just want to use it for that, but it’s really nothing special strictly as a startup manager. If you’re willing to run Disable Startup in your system tray (which will cost you about 4MB), it’ll closely monitor your startup applications for new additions. The app gives you the option to disable all new startup entries, warn you when new startup apps are added, or allow any new additions. Likewise, Disable Startup can prevent new software installations from changing your IE start page. It may not be worth the added system tray app for some, but if you install a lot of software that ends up sneaking entry after entry into your list of startup apps, this simple utility is perfect. Disable Startup is a free download, Windows only.

• Source: Lifehacker

iPhone/iPod touch only: Free online sharing service Soonr has launched an iPhone/desktop app combo that gives you 500MB of space to keep your Windows or Mac documents synced to your device.

After signing up at Soonr’s site, installing the desktop software from an emailed link, and installing the free iPhone app, you’re pretty much on your way. Soonr’s “Desktop Agent” software lets you choose what folders or types of files get synchronized to your device and how much bandwidth gets used doing it. Soonr’s app lets you preview Microsoft Office, PDF, text, and image files, and even lets you print to networked printers if your iPhone/touch is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Soonr is a free download and sign-up, requires a PC or Mac computer and an iPhone or iPod touch. Looking for a less cloud-based, controllable solution? Try the previously mentioned (and previously free) Air Sharing.

• Source: Lifehacker

Windows only: A small background app can give XP and Vista users part of the functionality of “Aero Peek,” a smart way of previewing windows and showing the desktop in Windows 7.

Unfortunately, that part is just the desktop showing aspect, available from a tray icon installed by the Aero Peek app—though it likely won’t be long before we see the windows previews, whether from this developer or elsewhere. In the meantime, it’s an intriguingly different way for users of desktop gadgets, or those who have to head back to their desktop often for files, to minimize their active windows. Unlike hitting the Windows Key+D combo, restoring your windows from Aero Peek always keeps whatever windows you had active in the front, and shows what windows you have open in shaded outlines.

Not for everyone, especially those inclined toward keyboard shortcuts, but an intriguing attempt at getting yet another one of Windows 7’s features into your Windows desktop. Aero Peek is a free download for Windows systems only.

• Source: Lifehacker

Most anyone using Ubuntu Linux has to install Adobe Flash, Java, DVD playback, and other plug-ins to actually enjoy it. Super Ubuntu packs all that essential in from the get-go.

It’s basically just a re-compiled version of the official Ubuntu distribution, but with a whole bunch of features included that save you the time of grabbing them yourself. File-sharing apps, multimedia codecs, Windows compatibility tools (including WINE and support for PortableApps installations), and lots updates that haven’t hit the official repositories are included, but you’ll still get official security and application updates through Ubuntu. The creators seem pretty intent on keeping Super Ubuntu up to date, and offer a constantly-seeded ISO torrent and live USB creation tools for anyone looking to try it out.

Super Ubuntu is a free download for most any computer running on x86-based processors. It appears to be a 32-bit-only affair at this point.

• Source: Lifehacker

Wondering if your cell carrier can support your jailbroken iPhone 3G after unlocking it? PC World rounds up a great collection of unlocking tips, and points to a extensive list of carrier results.

• Source: Lifehacker