Cupertino, Calif. - Confirming a report from yesterday, Apple on Wednesday announced that it has cut the price for DRM-free tracks at its iTunes Plus store from $1.29 to 99 cents, and expanded its catalog to include tracks from independent labels and distributors including Sub Pop, Beggars Group, IODA and The Orchard.

Los Angeles - Apple is planning to add a number of independent label catalogs to the offering at its iTunes Plus store, which offers DRM-free music tracks, and lower the cost of all tracks sold at the store from $1.29 to 99 cents, Ars Technica reported, citing "people familiar with the matter."

Milpitas, Calif. - Consumer electronics maker Creative on Wednesday introduced the Creative ZEN, a credit card-sized music and video player with a 2.5-inch color screen. The player supports MP3 and WMA formats, in addition to AAC and unprotected iTunes Plus tracks from the iTunes Store. The Creative ZEN will ship to retailers next month in 4GB ($149), 8GB ($199) and 16GB ($299) capacities.

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital civil liberties group, said this week that, after examining information embedded on the DRM-free tracks sold on Apple's new iTunes Plus -- first reported on by Ars Technica and TUAW, which found them to include user names and e-mail addresses -- it found significant differences in the sizes of the files.

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple on Wednesday announced the launch of its iTunes Store DRM-free music offering, iTunes Plus, which will sell songs in high-quality 256kpbs AAC format for $1.29.