SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Computer Inc. released new software Tuesday designed to make it easier for users to listen to the increasingly popular, but largely unstructured podcast offerings.

TOKYO - In just four days, 1 million songs have been downloaded at Apple's new iTunes Music Store in Japan, the fastest pace for the service's launch in any of the 20 nations it's now available, including the U.S., a senior executive said Monday.

CUPERTINO, Calif. - "American Idol" fans will be able to download their favorite performances thanks to a new agreement between the Fox talent show and Apple Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO - Swarms of online shoppers armed with new iPods and iTunes gift cards apparently overwhelmed the Apple’s iTunes music store over the holiday, prompting error messages and slowdowns of 20 minutes or more for downloads of a single song.

PARIS - French lawmakers gave final approval Friday to government-backed legislation that could force Apple Computer to make its iPod music player and iTunes online store compatible with rivals’ offerings.

PARIS - French lawmakers gave final approval Friday to government-backed legislation that could force Apple Computer Inc. to make its iPod music player and iTunes online store compatible with rivals' offerings.

CUPERTINO, Calif. - Allen Evans of Middlesex, Vt., is no stranger to digital music. About two-thirds of his music collection comes from free copies on file-swapping networks. The remainder was ripped from CDs he and his family already owned.

DETROIT - Bob Seger turned the page, and Metallica finally found justice for online fans. Now, only a few remaining big-name musical acts refuse to make their songs available on Apple Computer's popular iTunes Music Store.

LOS ANGELES - Hard rockers Metallica, who long refused to make available individual songs from its albums for sale online, has begun doing so on the iTunes Music Store.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - NBC Universal has approved a deal with Apple Computer Inc. to become the latest network to sell television shows a la carte on Apple's online iTunes store, the companies said Tuesday.

LONDON - Apple Computer launched its highly anticipated iTunes Music Store in Europe on Tuesday, expanding the popular digital music service to users in Britain, France and Germany.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Could the company that helped catapult the legal music download market with iPods and iTunes now kick-start the online movie market?

Q. I have a Sony VAIO running Windows Vista and a Mac laptop. I have an iTunes library on both computers but want to transfer all songs from the Sony to the Mac iTunes library. How is this done? - Michael

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Computer Inc. released new software Tuesday designed to make it easier for users to listen to the increasingly popular, but largely unstructured podcast offerings.

PARIS - French lawmakers gave final approval Friday to government-backed legislation that could force Apple Computer to make its iPod music player and iTunes online store compatible with rivals’ offerings.

Q. I have all of my music stored in iTunes on my PC. As you know, they are in the form of (AACs). If I want to burn anything onto compact disc, do I have to convert each music file into an MP3 first? If so, is there an easier and quicker way than converting them file by file? - Bill

Q: I saw your video on how to turn off in-app purchases (http://youtu.be/9P4wFB6d7gM), but what if I want to allow my son to buy age appropriate items on his iPod touch but limit how much he can spend? — Daniel

If you own an iPod, you use iTunes to manage your music collection. But iTunes 7 can do more than you realize. Here are five great tricks to get more out of iTunes 7:

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A hacker known for cracking the copy-protection technology in DVDs claims to have unlocked the playback restrictions of Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod and iTunes music products and plans to license his code to others.

NEW YORK - Nearly half of the short films being screened at this month's Sundance Film Festival will be available for purchase at Apple's iTunes store under a deal announced Friday. The digital downloads will supplement the free streaming at Sundance's Web site.

Q: I have thousands of songs in my iTunes at home that I would like to listen to at work and I don’t want to pay Apple to use iTunes Match. Any other suggestions? — Nicholas

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Apple Inc.'s recent rollout of songs without copy protection software at its iTunes Store has given consumers new flexibility, but questions have emerged over the company's inclusion of personal data in purchased music tracks.

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”: An unlikely hero (Shia LaBeouf) and his foxy girlfriend (Megan Fox) return to assist the Autobots in another epic battle against the evil Decepticons.

It's debatable whether the best things in life are free. But some of the best songs definitely are.