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MP3 Player News & Headlines
London opera house struggles to make tweet music
(AFP)
AFP - Britain's prestigious Royal Opera House has launched a new bid to take high culture to the online masses -- by getting Twitter users to write the lyrics to a new work, line by line.
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.
Otafuku Rex; Mix Them, Mash Them Up
The new band Otafuku Rex has debuted their music video, Do Me, I'm the Best, and is inviting fans to get in on the action and create their own remixes by mashing up the groups video and music, adding in their own music and video, and sending the results to friends.
Apple: More than 70 Percent of 2007 Cars will have iPod Support
More than 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles will offer iPod integration.
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.
Digital music sales 'to nearly equal CDs next year'
(AFP)
AFP - Compact discs accounted for 65 percent of US music sales in the first half of 2009 but digital downloads are expected to nearly equal CD sales by the end of next year, market research firm NPD Group said Tuesday.
Britain's Royal Opera wants you to make tweet music
(Reuters)
Reuters - Britain's Royal Opera House (ROH) wants Twitter users to help create the "world's first online opera."
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.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Free Music Tracks This Week Here's another selection of free digital music tracks that you can either download, or listen to via streaming audio. In the spotlight this week we have:
Even though this first song isn't an MP3 download, you can have great fun by remixing it! It Don't Move Me by Peter Bjorn and John is an interactive track that enables you to use presets to change the way the song plays. The song is split up into 6 channels (vocals, drum, bass, keyboards, guitar, and percussions) which you can manipulate to create your very own remix. There's also a competition (closes Sept. 12) that you can enter for a chance to get your mix on the bands MySpace page.
- Pre-party Jamz Mixtape (28:07)
- Domino (3:01)
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
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:
Ultrasone Edition 8 headphones pop at $1,500 each The Ultrasone Edition 8 is a black and silver closed-back headphone which uses special acoustic technology to provide what Ultrasone feels is a very “spacious tonal perception.” Comfort on the interior ear cups is provided courtesy of Ethopian sheepskin.
Technical features of the Edition 8 headphones include an impedance of 30 Ohm, a frequency range of 6 – 42.000 Hz, 40mm drivers and a SPL of 96 dB. More details on these headphones, available now, can be found at the Ultrasone Web site.
(Note: Product mentions on the Portable Electronics blog do not certify endorsement of the product, but rather provide details on new products which might be of interest to consumers.)
(Photo Credit: Ultrasone)
Ultrasone, a maker of high end headphones, unveiled a couple of days ago some new special edition headphones which, considering the price compared to other Ultrasone models, may not actually be that different. It is called the Edition 8 and it prices for around $1,500.
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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