Microsoft offers subscription music via their Zune service, and now another iPhone and iPad rival, RIM’s BlackBerry, might be joining the party. Kevin from CrackBerry.com has the scoop:

• Users will have to download the new standalone BlackBerry music app from App World
• Once installed, there should be a free trial (may vary by country/carrier – but expect a month free)
• Once the free trial expires, the service will cost $5/mo.
• With the app installed, you can choose up to 50 songs of your choice. Apparently the catalog selection is pretty good!
• From there, you invite your contacts via BBM, etc. to also download the app if they don’t have it and join your music sharing network (invited contacts must pay the $5/mo. also to take part and remain part of the service).
• From there, you can listen to not only the 50 songs you’ve selected), but any of the 50 songs from your music sharing network. So if you have 20 contacts, you’ll have access to 1,000 other songs in addition to your 50. We’re not sure yet if there’s a limit to how many people you can share with, but essentially the more people in your music sharing group the more music you’ll have access to.

While Apple offers music downloads via iTunes, and will offer a music locker via iTunes Match, they don’t currently have a subscription service nor do they have a way to share music (though they do have a network of sorts — Ping).

That means iOS users who want subscriptions need a third party service like Pandora, Spotify, Slacker, Rdio, last.fm, etc.

Are Apple users missing out here?

[CrackBerry.com]

Oh my, could iOS 5 finally fix one of my longest standing pet peeves? If the latest betas are any indication, it might! Tap buy (download or install) in the App Store and instead of being torn out and thrust back to your home screen, the app simply starts to download in the background and the button greys out when it’s done.

iTunes has also been improving over the last couple of betas. Now, if you buy an album, you can see the download progress of each track right in the list.

I’m so happy, I might even update when it’s finally released!

UPDATE: It seems to still throw you out if you’re in the main store, not if you’re in your previous purchases tab. Which is something, just not everything we wanted. Apple, make it happen!

UPDATE 2: Some of you are telling us you’re seeing this on iOS 4.3.x as well. iTunes and App Store pull their content from the web, so Apple can update them whenever they want without having to release new firmware. So, it’s possible some of this was or is being pushed out to everyone. Let us know what you’re seeing!

UPDATE 3: So sometimes it’s working and sometimes not. The App Store has been flaky the last two days so let’s wait and see how this pans out. (Fingers crossed!)

Seeing as Apple seeded iOS 5 beta 6 today, a lot of users want to know if they’ll need to wait in order to update and re-jailbreak. The answer to that is no. Go ahead and update. The existing version of Redsn0w for Mac and Sn0wbreeze for Windows will work just fine. I’ve confirmed this working on a 4th generation iPod Touch. iDB has confirmed it working as well.

The process should be the same as previous versions of Redsn0w and Sn0wbreeze. Just use the new beta 6 firmware file in place of beta 5 or earlier.

As always, remember that not only is iOS 5 in beta, these jailbreak tools are also beta. Unless you’re a developer or jailbreak developer, I’d probably hold off on doing this. Not all regular apps are compatible with iOS 5 let alone jailbreak apps. So be advised to proceed at your own risk.

Time was a developer could call the UDID (unique device identifier) for your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and do with it what they would, from beneficial things like keeping your data allocated to you, to evil things like tracking you and your behavior for advertising and giggles. Now with iOS 5 beta 6 Apple aims to make it no longer so.

Deprecated in iOS 5.0

uniqueIdentifier

An alphanumeric string unique to each device based on various hardware details. (read-only) (Deprecated in iOS 5.0. Instead, create a unique identifier specific to your app.)

Which means devs will have to find a way around it, though according to TechCrunch some reckon Apple might not cotton to their own rules when it comes to first party services like Game Center and iAd:

"I guarantee Apple will not stop using UDID," predicts one mobile industry CEO. If Apple does continue to use UDID for itself but denies it to developers that would be an "extremely lopsided change."

For those concerned about end user privacy, this change will no doubt be welcome. For those who care more about convenience, it could cause some frustration. If the language makes it into the final release, that is.

[TechChrunch]

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

• Cute Shoot!: Dood the Cat is angry! Join him in his great space adventure to save his girlfriend who’s been cat-napped in this classic side-scrolling shoot ‘em up title for iOS. [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

• Jane Austen – Fan Kit: Quotes, eBooks, Movie suggestion, Trivia… everything for a Jane Austen's Fan! [$0.99 for iPhone and iPad - App Store link]

• 4Eyes: Your iPhone on steroids! Take command of the web with the unique command line interface and dramatically speed up your internet searches. [$0.99 for iPhone - App Store link]

• MerlionWords: An application to enhance your English and Chinese word recognition, writing, and pronunciation skills. [Free for iPad - App Store link]

• TalkBox Voice Messenger: Talk message and get your emotions delivered instantly. No more typing hassle; no more uploading and downloading voice notes. [Free for iPhone - App Store link]

Any other big app or game releases or updates today?

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Apple has just released iOS 5 beta 6 for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV to developers, along with iTunes 10.5 beta 6, and Xcode 4.2 Developer Preview 6.

As with the previous 2 iOS 5 betas, this one is available over the air (OTA) via Software Update in Settings.

No word yet on changes, so let us know if you see anything interesting and jump on over to our iOS 5 Forum for more!

Halfbrick Studios’s popular iPhone and iPad adventure game, Age of Zombies, is on sale for the weekend.

Details and screenshots after the break.

[App Store link]

The evil Professor Brains has sent hordes of undead to the furthest reaches of time to destroy mankind, but Steakfries won't be taking that lying down. He'll take it with a gun, a Zombie T-Rex and a whole repertoire of cheesy one-liners!

• Shoot up ninjas, mummies, cavemen and massive bosses with a huge variety of weapons and explosives!

• Bonus Survival mode to take your zombie-blasting skills to the next level, with Game Center leaderboards and achievements!

Age of Zombies is available on the iPhone and iPad and is on sale for $0.99 (originally $2.99).

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

From the Forums is a great way to see what all of the current hot topics are on the TiPb forums. In order to create any new threads of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now!

• Are you an webOS user looking to jump ship for iOS?

• What will the next iPhone be called?

• If you are running an iOS 5 beta, how is your battery life?

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See you in the forums!

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To answer a ton of questions we’re getting, if I had to guess I’d say iOS 5 will likely be launched in the first week of October. Apple traditionally releases a new version of iOS to the public alongside the release of new iPhone hardware, if not a couple of days before to help balance server loads. If iPhone 5 ends up being scheduled for October 7, then iOS 5 could be scheduled for any time that week up to and including the same Friday.

That’s speculation on our part, but given that last week TiPb heard Apple was moving up their internal launch date for iPhone 5 from October 14 to October 7, 9to5Mac heard likewise, and now BGR has heard the same launch window from an AT&T source, it’s starting to seem more likely.

If that’s the case, based on traditions, we can probably expect to see a GM candidate for IOS 5 released to developers a couple of weeks or more before that, possibly at Apple’s fall special event that also introduces the new hardware.

Again, Apple hasn’t announced anything and typically doesn’t announce their events until a few days before hand. That also means Apple is free to change any of these timelines up until the send out invitations for the vent and announce the official launches. So new mothership headquarters-sized grains of salt all around.

But that’s part of the frustration and fun of Apple.