[NewsPoster]

Speaking at today's Web Summit in Dublin, Ireland, U2 frontman Bono dropped some more hints about the band's involvement in a new digital music format for Apple. The company "let us [U2] into the labs," he commented at one point, suggesting direct involvement in unreleased products. Apple is normally extremely strict about who it lets into its development labs, to the extent that even people with high clearance might be allowed in one lab but not another.

Bono also recounted a story from a decade ago, when he and then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs were in a house in France and a version of iTunes was being displayed on a TV. Bono asked why the app looked like a spreadsheet if Jobs liked design so much, suggesting it would be better with archival photos, lyrics, 3D band members, or simply anything that would make for a better visual experience. At the time, Jobs said that the OS and the technology to support that didn't exist yet; "but it does now," Bono commented on Thursday.

It's not clear how the new format would be distinguished from iTunes LP, Apple's mostly failed attempt at bolstering album sales through extras like artwork, photos, and videos. The industry as a whole has been shifting away from downloads towards streaming services like Spotify and Pandora, and indeed Apple appears poised to move into on-demand streaming.

[Inkling]

Let's see, now what would be more vital to the world that yet another music format?

* Stripped toothpaste.

* Bananas with zippers.

* Etc. etc....

Just about anything would be more important. I hope this lab isn't costing Apple that much.

[iBricking.com]

If that new format were to enable, say, lossless streaming and playback at ultrahigh resolutions, it would be very important to many people.