Everything big happening to Apple seems to be going on next month. The rumors of the iPod Touch and MacBook series was reported on yesterday. Now it looks like another big happening will be going down in September.

I was working at Best Buy when Apple first started integrating itself into the electronics retailer. It wasn’t a whole lot, but the Apple section had some demos and an Apple specialist was generally there to answer questions. The marriage of Apple and Best Buy isn’t a weird fit, but Apple always tends to be a maverick or a loner. So their addition to the Best Buy supply is kind of surprising, but overall a good business decision.

Apple looks to add to the partnership even more when the iPhone goes on sale at Best Buy. Starting September 7th Best Buy will begin carrying Apple’s handset. Before this the iPhone could only be found at an Apple store or an AT&T carrier. As the fight for electronics grows on, and places like Wal-Mart and Target become more viable; Best Buy will have to find a way to differentiate itself from the competition.

Partnering with Apple is a good place to start.

According to PcWorld.com we could be in store for some major announcements come September. The rumors involve mostly the iPod Touch and MacBook series. There are rumored announcements about lower prices, and new models for Apple’s most popular lines.

The iPod Touch is hopefully going to receiving a significant price cut, and could drop from $299 to $199. Some other rumors presented on PcWorld is that the iPod Touch will be getting a makeover, to resemble the 3G iPhone. It’s also being reported that we could be in store for some storage space upgrades as well.

Some of the more significant rumors are about the Macbook model. The prices are rumored to drop from $1,099 to $999. Some of the significant hardware upgrades, is that there’s a small chance we could see a slimmer model announced. Probably the most intriguing rumor is Apple’s development on the MacBooks with touch screen capabilities.

“Selling like hotcakes” can be the only saying I can think of when talking about the iPhone App Store. In a recent interview with Steve Jobs, by Wall Street Journal, Jobs uses this saying only in different words.

If you’re to believe Jobs’ numbers about the App store, then the digital download service is making $1 million a week. This isn’t even including all of the free apps that are available. Going by current projections, Apple can look to see revenue in the $1 billion in close to three years. Of course Apple doesn’t get to keep all of this money though. 30% of the money made from the App store is kept by Apple, while the 70% goes to the App makers. Some of the most popular apps have been Super Monkey Ball, with 300,000 downloads at $9.99, and Epocrates Inc drug encyclopedia which has seen 125,000 downloads.

Steve Jobs put it simply with this quote, “I’ve never seen anything like this in my career for software”

For iPhone or iPod Touch users, some of the biggest news to surface on the devices has landed (atleast in my opinion). It looks as though Apple is applying for a patent on a technology that would stream your iTunes library automatically to your handheld device.

As of now, if you want your favorite songs to play on your iPhone or iPod Touch, you have to transfer the music files to your handheld. With the new patent, users could instead just set up a stream so their iTunes library could play through Wi-Fi or cellular networks.

Apple hasn’t released any comments on any future uses for the patent. They have been able to pull off a similar feat with Apple TV, streaming iTunes over local wifi. Hopefully more details will be released soon about this much wanted advancement.

Check out this video from Cnet on how the iPhone 3G stacks up against the Samsung Instinct. Just don’t get distracted by the massive blonde streak going through the dude’s hair.

Back in April, iTunes took the lead as music retailer from Wal-Mart. The first half of year is now officially over, and iTunes is still in command of the lead. According to the NPD’s latest release of music retail rankings from January 08 – June 08, iTunes remains on top while Amazon moved up from the fifth spot, to fourth place.

1. iTunes
2. Wal-Mart (Walmart, Walmart.com, Walmart Music Downloads)
3. Best Buy (Best Buy, Bestbuy.com, Best Buy Digital Music Store)
4. Amazon (Amazon.com, AmazonMP3.com)
5. Target (Target and Target.com)

Russ Crupnick, an analyst of NPD had this to say about the recent rankings, “We expect Apple will consolidate its lead in the retail music market, as CD sales continue to slow” … (on the rise of Amazon from #5 to #4) “Amazon’s CD buyers tend to be older, so they haven’t abandoned the CD format to the extent seen in the average music buyer. Plus Amazon’s successful introduction of its digital download store will help the company improve its position in the future”