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MP3 Player News & Headlines
Man Destroys iPod In A Blender
Blendtec, a company that makes heavy duty blenders, is destroying iPods to help sell $400 blenders.
Apple Tries To Bury Stock Options Controversy
Based on an analysis of the findings of the independent investigation, Apple has recognized additional non-cash stock-based compensation expenses of $84 million.
Griffin Intros Hi-Way Case for iPod Hi-Fi
Griffin Technology today announced Hi-Way, a versatile, custom fit, roadworthy carrying case for the iPod Hi-Fi compact stereo.
Sony Fine Tunes Its E-Book Strategy
(NewsFactor)
NewsFactor - Sony is turning to a combination of tried-and-true and innovative marketing strategies to boost the appeal of the company's e-book offerings to price-conscious American consumers.
Apple, Labels Stir Up Deluxe, Digital Cocktail
(PC Magazine)
PC Magazine - The mysterious music deal Apple is working on with the major labels is reportedly a digital music format known as Cocktail, which will bundle photos, videos, lyrics and other assets with an album's music.
Gretchen Wilson, Sony Music Nashville part ways
(AP)
AP - "Redneck Woman" Gretchen Wilson and her longtime record label, Sony Music Nashville, have parted.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Michael Jackson Song Downloads Top 1.9 Million In a Week Following on from Michael Jackson's death almost 3 weeks ago, digital sales of his music continue to be buoyant. According to the latest sales figures by Nielsen SoundScan, over 1.9 million songs were downloaded in the U.S. this past week. Overall, global digital sales have exceeded 8.1 million tracks since Michael Jackson's passing. Another interesting analysis of Nielsen SoundScan's sales figures is how quickly sales of his digital albums eclipsed physical ones shortly after his demise; 57 percent of albums purchased were in the digital form. However, this has now shifted back this past week to 90 percent physical sales versus 10 percent digital. These figures highlight the important role that digital music services play when consumers want to instantly own music. Even though physical sales remain strong there is a growing trend for music fans to turn to digital tracks for their on-demand needs. Data Source © Nielsen SoundScan Related Articles:
Free Music Downloads This Week In our music discovery slot this week, we bring you a whole album of free music. There's also a selection of free tracks covering various genres that you can listen to or download. The free MP3s this week are:
The HDTracks music service has compiled a free album consisting of various Jazz and Blues artists. The Jazz & Blues Experience album can be downloaded in various high resolution formats such as AIFF, FLAC, or 320 Kbps MP3.
- Tonight (Day + To-Nite Mix) (4:48)
- Beach House (3:53)
Related Articles:
Product Preview: Digital Foci Photo Book - A New Portable Digital Photo Viewer The Digital Foci Photo Book is a portable digital album with an eight-inch, 800 x 600 LCD display set in a soft leather-like case. This case, described as a portable album, doesn't completely address the desires of a more traditional photo album in digital form, but its design is better suited for passing around while sitting in a living room or during a business presentation...read more
Image copyright: Digital Foci
A problem some have with the look and feel of portable digital image viewers is that, as cold metal devices, they don't capture the warmth of the images they are displaying. Some hope instead a digital photo viewer could look a little more like photo albums of old. Digital Foci is trying to capture at least part of that sentiment in a new “digital photo album.”
Apple's 'iTablet' Touted as Revolutionary According to an article by the San Jose Mercury News, Apple is on the verge of launching a touch-screen device that could revolutionize digital music once again. The name of the new device isn't known for sure yet, but the most popular one floating around in the blogosphere is the iTablet. Apple's gadget, codenamed 'Cocktail', is expected to sport a 10-inch screen and will be a complete multimedia experience. The user will be able to watch movies, play games, read eBooks, and download albums that have extras like music videos and liner notes, etc. Currently, digital music albums can be purchased from the many music services, but the majority don't provide the extras that physical media offers. CDs and vinyl records for example offer artwork, liner notes, etc. which gives a more complete experience for the purchaser; this is something that the record labels want to include for digital albums. Whether Apple's new device will actually see the light of day remains to be seen, but it's important for the record labels to come up with a digital music album format to give music fans the same material that is offered when buying physical media. Related Articles:
Publisher Hearst said to be preparing "periodicals" ebook reader Now comes word today, via the magazine Fortune, that mega-publishing empire Hearst is planning to launch a wireless e-reader of its own. What is reportedly different about this reader from other ones already offered is that it will be around the size of a standard piece of paper and targeted towards publishers like Hearst. The end result? A specialized, larger screen format reader which lets you subscribe to magazines and newspapers for wireless delivery.
It is said this new ereader, perhaps available by the end of this year, will be able to serve up ads mixed amongst the print content you are reading on the display. This may help throw a lifeline to print publications, most of which are seeing sharply declining revenues in the changing economy as well as how people look for information today. A number of well known publications have already folded, or are close to folding, so any additional ways for them to reach readers might be worth consideration.
Ebook readers continue to draw interest in the news and among consumers, mostly because of Amazon's newest model now available for purchase. The Kindle 2, which was previewed here recently, is drawing some early praise from consumers and reviewers alike. It has highlighted this product category so much, in fact, that we now have a buying guide for related products and features to consider.
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