UPI is reporting that Paul McCartney has recently signed a $400 million deal with Apple for the distribution of the the Beatles' back catalog via iTunes. The deal doesn't just acquit the former Beatles legend, but former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr (drummer) and the families of late Beatles stars George Harrison and John Lennon as well. Sadly for McCartney, the list doesn't stop here.

According to the report, Michael Jackson, along with the EMI and Sony recording groups, who each own certain Beatles recording or publishing rights, will also be getting their cut. While McCartney is still the one cashing in the big check, the former Beatles star will, however, (probably) have to hand some of that money over to Heather Mills, on behalf of whom he is facing a costly and bitter divorce.

As dreadful as it may sound, UPI, quoting The Daily Mail, says that the former model may want to "increase her settlement request to include a portion of the singer's newfound fortune."

In other Beatles news, Apple has recently updated the packaging for its iPod touch lineup, stamping Lennon's face on pretty much all its iPods' packaging.

Both the $279 8GB model of the iPod touch without the January Update and the $299 8GB model including the new Mail, Maps, Stocks, Notes, and Weather applications, are Lennon packed. The 16GB model, available for $380 without the extra features, along with the 16GB iPod touch ($399) that comes application-packed also bear Jon Lennon's face, while newly released $499 32GB iPod touch sports the same package artwork.

In typical Apple manner, the company did little to inform the public of their initiative, which makes it even worse given that no one knows whether the soon-to-be-phased-out inferior iPod touch models will feature the same packaging or not.

The new 32GB iPod touch is currently available for 499 American currency, while the old 16 GB and 8 GB versions of the multimedia combo gadget still cost 399 and 299 bucks respectively.

The latest iPhone and iPod Touch models ship with the latest firmware update, which includes the new maps application and the ability to watch movies from the iTunes movie rental service.