Apple fans Web-wide tuned in to an annual music-themed event Wednesday, where Steve Jobs unveiled an updated streaming TV device, funky new iPods — and a social network that’s all about music.

The main focus of the event was iPods, ostensibly — Apple claimed to have sold 275 million of them to date. And at the event, Apple chief Steve Jobs unveiled a slimmer new version of the Touch including “Retina display,” the 24-bit high-quality screen that Apple introduced with the newest version of its iPhone.

Jobs called the Touch “the number-one portable game player in the world,” noting that over a billion games and entertainment titles have been sold for it. Though the new Touch shares other hardware similarities to the latest iPhone (such as front and back cameras), it doesn’t have cellular connectivity, and therefore won’t share the radio issues that haunt the new iPhone.

Apple also unveiled a new version of the diminutive iPod Shuffle, with a square design and 15 hours of battery life; it will sell for $49. Jobs showed off a new squarish version of the iPod Nano as well, one that incorporates a multitouch screen. All three new iPods will be on sale next week, Jobs announced.

iTunes is a key part of the music package, and at the event, Jobs showed off the newest version, iTunes 10. It adds an intriguing new music-discovery function called Ping.

Ping aggregates posts from friends and artists you follow, a function similar to the social-networking features in Twitter and Facebook, and includes a new database with over 17,000 concert listings from those artists. Follow a person and get updates from him, with photos, concert dates, and new music he’s bought or added to iTunes. It also creates a custom, top 10 chart of music based on those people you follow.

“It’s a social network all about music,” Jobs said.

Jobs unveiled a redesigned, smaller version of the Apple TV product too, which he acknowledged had not sold as well as the company hoped. “We’ve sold a lot of them but it’s never been a huge hit. But neither has any competitor product,” he said.

The new product has no local storage, instead streaming videos and photos directly from iTunes. With it, you can rent first-run movies for $4.99 or high-definition TV shows for just $0.99, initially just from ABC and Fox.

“We think the rest of the studios will see the light and get on board with us pretty soon,” Jobs said.

Jobs wrapped up his demonstration by announcing a major price drop for the Apple TV, which will be available “in about 4 weeks,” from $229 to just $99.

He began the event by unveiling iOS 4.1, which fixes bugs and adds support for high dynamic range photos, HD video, rentals and more. High dynamic range photos combine images from three pictures taken almost simultaneously into one, incredibly detailed image.

The operating system update also includes GameCenter, Apple’s central point for game developers and players.

“If you don’t have any friends, GameCenter will automatch you with others,” Jobs said. Look for the free download for certain models of the iPod Touch and iPhone next week, he said.

Jobs also gave a preview of iOS 4.2, which brings wireless printing, GameCenter, high dynamic range photos and more to the iPad. Notably, it will also include AirPlay, which lets users send audio, photos, and video over Wi-Fi to other gadgets. Jobs said the update would come in November, and would be free for iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPads.

The event was streamed live from Apple’s website, though the “open” format Apple chose to use for the live stream (based on the new HTML5 standard) proved choppy, and was only supported in certain Apple devices, such as iPads, iPhones, and the latest version of the company’s operating system, MacOS X 10.6.

The gunman, identified as James Lee, was killed by police following four hours of negotiations but the hostages are all safe, said Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger.

Manger said the suspect had “metalic canisters” strapped to his chest and back. When Lee was struck by police bullets, one of the canisters “popped.” Police have not confirmed if the canisters were a bomb, but Manger said the “device may have gone off” when he was shot.

Manger said police will search the building looking for other potential explosives Lee may have left inside.

“All the hostages are safe,” Manger said, ending a four hour standoff in which some 1,900 employees were evacuated from the building as well as the company’s on-site daycare center.

Manger said police spoke with Lee “for several hours” during which time he expressed “a wide range of emotions during those communications.”

Law enforcement identified the suspect as James Lee, 43, from Washington, D.C., who has for at least two years called for protests against the company and who was arrested and found guilty of disorderly conduct for a protest outside of Discovery’s headquarters in 2008.

In a rambling manifesto on Lee’s website, believed to have been written by Lee, the writer rails against “disgusting human babies,” “parasitic infants,” and says people should “disassemble civilization.” The manifesto also calls on Discovery to “broadcast to the world their commitment to save the planet.”

The drama began when workers in the building got a bulletin from the building’s security.

“We have reason to believe there is an armed gunman at One Discovery Place. All employees should seek protection in a locked office on their respective floors immediately,” read an email sent to employees and read over the public address system.

“There’s a guy with a gun in the lobby. Police are swarming in — assault rifles and all,” one producer told ABCNews.com via instant message.

Hostage Drama at Discovery Headquarters

Employees at the building were told to take cover in locked offices and police have sent SWAT teams to the area to seal off nearby roads.The FBI and agents from ATF, including explosives experts, also rushed to the building.

One witness, project manager Ari Fisher said he returned to the building at 1 p.m. following lunch and peered into the lobby before being told to flee from the building.

Fisher says he saw the gunman holding a security guard at his side with other hostages lying on the floor of the lobby.

“We couldn’t see the weapon. We peered in and could make out his silhouette. We saw him holding a security guard at his side. There were other people on the floor, a dozen or so,” Fisher told ABCNews.com from locked building across the street.

Others were trapped inside the suburban headquarters.

“Friends, I am in work closet with workers here. There is a shooter here at Discovery. I am ok,” read a text from one Discovery employee.

Another employee said the Lee had taken a hostage. “The police are trying to get the situation under control!INSANE!” read the email to ABCNews.

Some employees were initially sent to higher floors and later evacuated, police said. Witnesses on the scene said another group of employees left the building around 1:44 p.m.

The building has a daycare center, which witnesses say has been evacuated.

“Crazy to see the babies coming out of childcare center piled into rolling cribs into the McD’s across the street, a safe zone,” said a witness via email.

The building, which houses the offices of Discovery Channel and its sibling networks including Animal Planet, is located just outside Washington DC.

Lee operates the Web site savetheplanetprotest.com and was arrested in 2008 following a demonstration held at Discovery’s headquarters. Lee was found guilty of disorderly conduct.

According to a post on his Web site, Lee said he was thrown “in the nut house” for four days following his arrest.

Lee has been demanding a boycott of Discovery Channel since at least 2008.

Discovery Channel Gunman Penned Manifesto

On his website, Lee posted a rambling manifesto under the title “My Demands,” which espouses a far-radical environmentalist and misinthropic philosophy and calls on the channel to cease programming about giving birth, war and weapons.

“The planet,” he wrote, “does not need humans.”

The document, which appears to have been created on July 17, is interspersed with references to esoteric philosophers, childish language, misspellings, and capital letters.

Lee writes that the channel should cease its current programming and replace it with a game show about reducing the global population.

The channel, he wrote, should produce a program about “how people can live WITHOUT giving birth to more filthy human children since those new additions continue pollution and are pollution.”

“The world needs TV shows that DEVELOP solutions to the problems that humans are causing, not stupify the people into destroying the world. Not encouraging them to breed more environmentally harmful humans,” he wrote.

“Saving the environment and the remaning [sic] species diversity of the planet is now your mindset. Nothing is more important than saving them. The Lions, Tigers, Giraffes, Elephants, Froggies, Turtles, Apes, Raccoons, Beetles, Ants, Sharks, Bears, and, of course, the Squirrels. . . The humans? The planet does not need humans,” he wrote.

ABC News’ Matt Jaffe, Devin Dwyer and Ryan Thomas contributed to this report

The radio and TV show host launched Monday a news and opinion website called The Blaze that he says will be “a place where you can find breaking news, original reporting, insightful opinions and engaging videos about the stories that matter most.”

In 2009, Beck is reported to have earned $32 million through a mix of books, radio, TV, digital media, and speaking fees.

The Blaze will be edited by Scott Baker, formerly of Breitbart TV, who told Mediaite that the site plans “news and information… commentary and opinion stories we’re interested in that are being under-covered or not covered.”

Beck said he was frustrated with the way the media covered his “Restoring Honor” rally this weekend.

“Too many times we see mainstream media outlets distorting facts to fit rigid agendas,” he wrote on The Blaze. “Not that you’ve ever heard me complain about the media before. Okay, maybe once or twice. But there comes a time when you have to stop complaining and do something. And so we decided to hire some actual journalists to launch a new website.”

Beck added that the website “will be about current news — and more. It’s not just politics and policy. It’s looking for insight wherever we find it. We’ll examine our culture, deal with matters of faith and family, and we won’t be afraid of a history lesson.”

How’d they come up with the name The Blaze?

“The image of flame is a powerful,” he said. “It has long stood for a burning truth. A truth that is not consumed. The Blaze will pursue truth. Of course we will make mistakes. Honest mistakes. And we’ll be quick with corrections. We intend to earn your trust and keep it day in and day out with hard work and a lot of transparency.”

Dr. Jacquelyn Kotarac, 49, first tried to get into the house with a shovel, then climbed a ladder to the roof last Wednesday night, removed the chimney cap and slid feet first down the flue, Bakersfield police Sgt. Mary DeGeare said.

While she was trying to break in, the man she was pursuing escaped unnoticed from another exit “to avoid a confrontation,” authorities said.

DeGeare said the two were in an “on-again, off-again” relationship.

The man’s identity was not revealed by police, but the man who resides in the home is William Moodie, 58.

“She made an unbelievable error in judgment and nobody understands why, and unfortunately she’s passed away,” Moodie told The Associated Press. “She had her issues – she had her demons – but I never lost my respect for her.”

Reached by telephone, Moodie did not dispute the police’s characterization of his relationship with Kotarac. He would not comment on the circumstances that led to her death, saying it was more important to focus on the good she did in life.

Moodie, who runs an engineering consulting firm, said Kotarac was a superb internist who often provided service and medication free of charge to her patients.

Kotarac apparently died in the chimney, but her body was not discovered until a house-sitter noticed a stench and fluids coming from the fireplace Saturday, according to a police statement. The house-sitter and her son investigated with a flashlight and found Kotarac dead, wedged about two feet above the top of the interior fireplace opening.

Firefighters spent five hours late Saturday dismantling the chimney and flue from outside the home to extract Kotarac’s body, DeGeare said.

Officials said Kotarac’s office staff reported her missing two days prior when she failed to show for work. Her car and belongings remained near the man’s house.

A cause of death has not been determined, and an autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday. Foul play is not suspected, though investigators have been looking into the incident as suspicious.

Watch:

In “Dirty Sexy Politics,” Meghan McCain portrays conflicted feelings about her father’s surprise choice for a running mate. She reveals that she called Palin “the Time Bomb.”

“I was waiting for her to explode,” McCain wrote. “There was a fine line between genius and insanity, they say, and choosing her as the running mate was starting to seem like the definition of that line.”

But McCain also praises the Palins as “nice and down-to-Earth” and says she was impressed with Palin’s ability to captivate and inspire women.

In the end, she writes, her father lost because “Obama was unbeatable” — the electorate and the news media were too enamored with a fresh new face who represented a monumental change from then-President George W. Bush.

McCain, 25, lives in Phoenix and is the oldest of John and Cindy McCain’s four adult children. John McCain also has three children from his first marriage.

In her book, released by Hyperion, Meghan McCain shows an itch to adopt her father’s persona as a “maverick” delivering “straight talk.”

She calls religious conservatives the “intolerant far right,” evoking her father’s famous remark a decade ago that GOP religious leaders were “agents of intolerance.” The elder McCain has since backed off from those statements.

Meghan McCain chronicles her struggle to fit in with the Republican Party, and she challenges the party to focus on promoting individual liberties while being more inclusive.

“Being Republican is not a lifestyle choice,” she writes. “And it doesn’t mean you can’t be young, or gay, or black, or anything else.”

John McCain said he was proud of his daughter and enjoyed the book.

“Reality is that we don’t agree on every issue, but that makes it even more interesting conversation around the dinner table,” he told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Governent volcanologists said 2,460-metre (8,000-foot) Mount Sinabung was not spewing as much ash and smoke into the atmosphere as it had for the first two days but it was still extremely dangerous.

The mountain erupted for the first time in 400 years on Sunday, sending around 30,000 people into temporary camps as authorities ordered everyone within a six-kilometre (four-mile) radius to leave.

Officials said about 7,000 people had returned to their villages Tuesday but those from within the evacuation zone were not being allowed to go home.

“People are asking us if they can go home to tend to their animals and guard their homes but they’re not allowed to leave the camps,” disaster response official Mohammad Agus Widisono said.

Government volcanologist Agus Budianto said: “The volcano continues to spew smoke and ash but the cloud is only 50 metres high compared to 2,000 metres yesterday. Visually, its activities have significantly reduced.

“But our instruments have recorded continuous tremors in the volcano, which means that there is magma trying to push upward.”

He said the situation remained too precarious for people who live closest to the volcano to go home.

“We predict that there’s still a possibility that it will erupt again,” he said, adding there was “no plan” to downgrade the threat level.

Airlines have been warned to avoid Mount Sinabung in northern Sumatra but the area is remote and the ash cloud has caused minimal flight problems.

Sinabung is one of 69 active volcanoes in the sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago.

Indonesia straddles the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity. It has more active volcanoes than any other country.

Earlier this month four people went missing after the 1,784-metre Mount Karangetang erupted on the island of Siau, North Sulawesi province.

ESPN blowhard Jay Mariotti was arrested overnight by Los Angeles police officers on a “suspicion of felony”. The rumor going around right now is that this involves a domestic dispute with his girlfriend.

Mariotti’s bail is a whopping $50,000, making us wonder just how serious this really is. Felony plus a bail like that makes you wonder just what the guy did and how severe it might have been.

Jay Mariotti is best known for his ESPN work on Around the Horn, but he also writes for Fanhouse.com and used to write for the Chicago Sun-Times before they fired him, probably for being irritating.

More to come I’m sure, as details of Mariotti’s arrest continue to leak.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed a report by Fox Sports on Sunday night that the two will meet soon but he declined to say when or where the meeting would take place.

“The commissioner has stated that he would make his decision prior to the start of the regular season and that he would meet with Ben again as part of the process,” Aiello told The Associated Press.

Roethlisberger was suspended for six games after being accused of sexually assaulting a Georgia college student in March. He was not criminally charged in the case.

If Roethlisberger’s suspension is reduced to four games, he’ll be back for their game against Cleveland on Oct. 17.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be back until the Steelers play at New Orleans on Halloween night.

Either way, the Steelers will know before their opener against Atlanta on Sept. 12 how long they’ll be without their two-time Super Bowl winning QB.

Roethlisberger didn’t play very long in the Steelers’ game at Denver on Sunday night, giving way to Dennis Dixon after taking 11 snaps in the first quarter.

Roethlisberger was 4 for 6 for 67 yards, including a 47-yarder to Mike Wallace.

After he was pulled, Dixon got his first significant playing time with the starters. Dixon has started only one NFL game, and he is expected to be Byron Leftwich’s backup when the season starts and Roethlisberger’s suspension begins.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The racer, Peter Lenz of Vancouver, Wash., was pronounced dead by the Marion County coroner, who said Lenz had sustained “traumatic injuries.” Lenz crashed on a warm-up lap before his race and was struck by 12-year-old Xavier Zayat, who was uninjured.

Medical workers immediately placed Lenz in a neck brace, put him on a stretcher and began chest compressions while taking him to a hospital. The coroner confirmed his death about three hours later. It was the first death of a competitor at the speedway since the IndyCar driver Tony Renna was killed in October 2003.

A posting on Lenz’s Facebook page, signed, “Dad,” read: “Peter passed away early this morning when he was apparently struck by another rider. He passed doing what he loved and had his go fast face on as he pulled onto the track. The world lost one of its brightest lights today.”

It was not clear whether his parents were in Indianapolis, and no home telephone number for the family was listed. Track officials confirmed that Lenz was the youngest racer killed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which opened in 1909 and has been used by numerous series.

“We would like to thank Peter’s friends and supporters for all their help throughout the years,” the family said in a statement. “We are deeply saddened by the loss but know that Peter is racing even faster in the sky.”

The crash delayed the United States Grand Prix Racers Union event in which Lenz was to ride, but three races sanctioned by the MotoGP Series started on time.

Lenz had ridden six years, winning nine national titles, and appeared to be a rising star in a series that bills itself as a prep for riders 12 to 18.

The fatal accident could fuel a debate about how young is too young for racers to be competing on one of the world’s best-known tracks, whether inside a car or riding a motorcycle capable of speeds well over 100 miles per hour.

Speedway officials pointed out that East Coast Region riders also competed at Virginia International Raceway, and the West Coast Region holds races at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah and Portland International Raceway in Oregon.

Hot, dry weather this weekend made Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s bumpy, 2.621-mile course slick and challenging. The reigning world champion Valentino Rossi had fallen four times since practice opened Friday.

When Google announced the previously rumored phone call feature for Google Voice inside Gmail, we all got excited for a Skype-challenging VoIP service that’s already embedded in our email. But the most charming element of the announcement was yet to come.

Instead of a boring old ad campaign of TV commercials, YouTube videos, billboards, and what have you, Google decided to do something a little bit more fun. The company is constructing several old-style British phone booths that will be using the new Google Voice feature–all for free. The phone booths, modeled on a 1957 vintage example, will be installed in high-traffic areas, like college campuses.

The Google Voice phone booths seem to be completely free–there’s no way to contribute money, for one thing–so I suspect the calls will be limited to the States and Canada. There’ll also be a 20-minute limit on phone calls to discourage unscrupulous youngsters from yapping away on the phone for hours like they do in old-timey sitcoms from the ’90s.

Even better, at least part of the booth is solar-powered. There’s a big light inside the otherwise-spartan booth which is powered by a solar panel on the outside. It’s not clear if the phone itself is powered by solar energy or not.

Google hasn’t released information regarding the specific number of booths or the locations in which they’ll be installed. But keep an eye open–you might see a free, adorable phone booth on a college campus near you.

[Image credit: Mashable]