Browse recent news and commentary related to MP3 player developments, using the links below.
MP3 News & Headlines
MP3 Player Commentary
Browse the Archives
MP3 Player News & Headlines
Tom Group to bring Spotify music service to China
(Reuters)
Reuters - Chinese media conglomerate Tom Group said on Wednesday it is teaming up with European Internet firm Spotify to bring the company's popular digital music streaming service to China.
Man Destroys iPod In A Blender
Blendtec, a company that makes heavy duty blenders, is destroying iPods to help sell $400 blenders.
Apple Intros 8GB iPod nano Red
Apple today announced a new 8GB model of the iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition. The new 8GB iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition holds up to 2,000 songs and is available for $249, joining the 4GB model priced at $199.
Gemini Announces iTrax iPod DJ Mixer
The iTrax joins the Numark iDJ, to allow users to mix the output of two iPods, with basic dj functionality.
Sony Moves To Open E-Book Market with ePub Format
(NewsFactor)
NewsFactor - The e-publishing market may be following the same steps as its relatives in the music industry as Sony announced Wednesday that it will adopt the open ePub format for its Reader e-book readers. The move could signal the beginning of a new phase of e-publishing for consumers and businesses.
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:
Product Review: Nextar T30 Portable Media Player Photo credit: Nextar
The Nextar T30 portable media player, despite its inexpensive price tag, is hard to recommend when put up against other devices similar to it. It has a few stand out qualities, but the overall experience it provides is marred by a small host of mostly minor issues. Were there but a handful of these it would be one thing, but it is hard to overlook so many challenges at the same time. Should you choose to purchase this player, it is best suited for those on a budget who want a portable media player which offers a wide range of mostly functional features...read more
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:
File Recovery Software: Get Your Music Back When Disaster Strikes If you've ever lost a favorite music track, or any other type of file for that matter, and didn't have a backup of it, then you'll know how disheartening it can be thinking that it's gone for good. However, if you act fast and don't write anymore information to your storage device, then there’s a good chance of recovery - this isn't guaranteed of course. In this situation you can use file recovery software to scan your hard drive, flash drive, or other type of storage device for lost files - there's also software that will recover files from your iPod or other type of portable player. If you've amassed a collection of music that has cost a lot of money, then using file recovery software can be a life saver; sadly not all digital music services allow you to download your purchased music a second time. For more information on free software for undeleting lost files, be sure to read our Top 5 Free File Recovery Programs article to discover the tools to quickly get your data back with the minimum of fuss. 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.
New Sony boombox looks like a saucer The ZS-E5, available next month for an undisclosed price, is said to be Sony's most personalized and least expensive boombox to date. It sports a compact body, four body color choices (pink, blue, red, aqua) and a rather unique design compared to more expensive devices in this category.
Features of the ZS-E5 include a built-in analog AM/FM tuner, an integrated CD player that supports CD-R/RW playback, and a line-in jack for digital music players. This is on top of the large LED display. More details, when available, can be found at the Sony Web site.
Photo Credit: Sony
The boombox, despite ever popular MP3 players such as the Apple iPod, will continue to remain a favorite for at least some. That is why Sony continues to trickle new models out – the latest being the rather saucer shaped ZS-E5.
Product Preview: Philips GoGear Opus - A New Portable Media Player The upcoming Philips GoGear Opus digital audio/video player is certainly no exception to this rule of potential innovation. The company has tossed a number of useful functions into this device...read more
The Philips line up of GoGear portable media players has churned out over the years a steady stream of quality devices known for their sleek looks and easy to use interfaces. These forward thinking products also tend to come with new audio enhancements from Philips, itself a major player in the larger consumer electronics market.
Past News Headlines:
August 9 - August 10 - August 11 - August 12 - August 13 - August 14 - August 15
