TechBytes: CBS & Disney To iTunes

Dec. 22, 2009— -- Apple's plan to offer subscription TV is getting some nibbles from big producers. CBS and Disney, which owns the ABC network, are considering signing on. Apple has been courting the networks for a monthly subscription service on iTunes to compete with cable TV. Customers would get unlimited access to tv shows for about $30 dollars a month.

E-books are one of the hottest gifts this holiday season. Amazon says its Kindle is on track to break all sales records this month, but it's offering a new holiday incentive anyway--free expedited shipping. Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble is struggling to keep up with demand for its Nook reader. Customers who ordered before November 20, but who won't get their order by Christmas eve, will receive a $100 dollar gift certificate.

Shopping for toys? There's a new iPhone app to check how safe they are. It's called simply the Toy Safety App and it comes from the same organization that produces the Trouble in Toyland safety report every year. Users can search particular toys while they shop and get the latest news and alerts in their email, too.

Electronic games are always a popular gift. Rabbids Go Home is a new action-adventure game from Ubisoft for the Wii and Nintendo DS. Rachel Fishman of Parenting.com says, "Rabbid go home is a really funky little game. The Rabbids are these funny little characters who roll around in shopping carts and are trying to collect junk so they can make their way to the moon. It's kind of a silly story line, but in reality it's kind of a physics challenge. When you describe it as a physics game it sounds kind of boring, but it's actually silly and fun and fast- paced and challenging, and it's just a great game."