Monday Apple Rumors: No More 99-Cent Rentals

Here are your Apple news items and rumors for Monday: No More 99-Cent Rentals:
Viacom (NYSE: VIA ), News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS ) and Disney (NYSE: DIS ) were
among those television companies that fumed and roared when Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL
) introduced 99-cent TV show rentals to the iTunes store in 2010. Those
companies and others threatened to yank their wares off of Apples digital
distribution outlet, claiming the Cupertino, Calif.-based company was devaluing
television content on the Internet even further than it already had been. Almost
one year later, and Apple has yanked the 99-cent rentals from iTunes of its own
accord. Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told All Things Digital on Friday, iTunes
customers have shown they overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows. It is more
likely that the low-cost rentals were ended not because customers were more
intent on purchasing, but because of Apples steady preparation for opening a
streaming video service to compete with Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX ). Samsung Bobs,
Weaves With New Smartphone, Tablet: Refusing to go down for the count after
receiving numerous litigation-based body blows from reigning champ Apple,
Samsung (PINK: SSNLF ) swung back on Sunday by announcing two new products in
its Galaxy line of mobile products. The Korean company announced the Galaxy S II
smartphone for LTE 4G networks the kind used by Verizon (NYSE: VZ ) and AT&T
(NYSE: T ) and the new Galaxy Tab 8.9. New to both is a beefy new dual-core
processor and, for the smartphone, a bigger, 4.5-inch screen. While cosmetically
similar to existing Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab models, it will be interesting to
see if these new devices are different enough to protect Samsung from Apples
relentless patent infringement claims. iPhone 5 Only Looks Bigger: A new report
at DigiTimes (via MacRumors ) comes with new details on the look at and design
of the upcoming iPhone remodel . The article called out a new video that
appeared on a Swiss Apple website purportedly leaking the look of the iPhone 5.
In calling the video a fake, DigiTimes report said its sources indicate the new
iPhone will have a screen that is the same size as the one in current iPhones
but that the case itself will have thinner bezels that effectively make the
screen look larger. The report also said the glass backing on the iPhone will be
replaced with a metal casing. As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not
own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at