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MP3 Player News & Headlines
Apple Launches iTunes Store with Mexican Artists
(NewsFactor)
NewsFactor - Palm may be complaining about an iTunes Store lockout, but music fans in Mexico are enjoying new access to Apple's popular digital-media store. On Tuesday Apple officially launched the iTunes Store in Mexico with a large selection of Mexican and international music from every major record label and hundreds of independent labels.
The Eight Thousand Dollar Piano-Shaped ipod Table
The Concerto Table, a piano-shaped table designed by Nicholas Lovegrove & Demian Repucci, has to be one of the most expensive and exclusive iPod accessories yet.
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.
(AP)
AP - Student who admitted downloading, sharing music ordered to pay $675,000 to record labels.
Two New iPod Games Announced
Electronic Arts today announced the availability of two new games for the fifth generation iPod – EA Sudoku and Royal Solitaire.
Apple working on digital albums, tablet PC: sources
(Reuters)
Reuters - The major music labels are planning a new digital album format that will debut with a tablet-like personal computer from Apple Inc in September, people familiar with the plans said on Monday.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Forum Question: What is your favorite portables gadget?
What is your favorite portable electronics gadget? An iPod? That shiny new PlayStation Portable? How about the hot selling Amazon Kindle 2 ebook reader? I've opened up a forum discussion on this topic in the Portable Electronics forums and would love to hear your opinions. Feel free to join the conversation!
New netbook can double as touchscreen portable media player The Touch Book is notable because it sports a detachable keyboard and 3D touchscreen user interface. This design choice, in effect, allows this netbook to become a touchscreen only device which can work as a standalone portable media player or handheld gaming machine. The screen size is 8.9-inches and it can run for up to 15 hours on its rechargeable battery.
Key features of this multi-form factor netbook include storage done by a micro SD memory card, built-in speakers, a headphone jack, multiple USB ports and open source software. It is said that the Touch Book will be available in late spring for a starting price of around $300. More details can be found on the Touch Book Web site.
Photo credit: Always Innovating
Netbooks – smaller, inexpensive laptop computers primarily designed for light functions such as Web browsing and checking email – are becoming extremely popular, especially in this downtrodden economy. Innovation is something possible in this category at the moment, and a small company by the name of Always Innovating is attempting such a feat with its new Touch Book netbook computer.
Free Music Downloads This Week In the music spotlight this week, we bring you another selection of promotional tracks that cover a wide spectrum of genres. The free music downloads this week are:
Repeaterbeater is an indie/progressive rock track from Danish band, Mew. Their forthcoming album, No More Stories is due for release in the U.S. on Aug. 25 (Columbia Records).
- Almost Never (3:23)
- Butter EP Version (4:33)
Related Articles:
Michael Jackson Fans Pay Ultimate Tribute Via Digital Music Services After the sad news yesterday of the untimely death of Michael Jackson, fans on digital music services have paid tribute to the king of pop by purchasing his albums in their droves. At the time of writing, 7 out of the top 10 albums on the iTunes Store are Michael Jackson compilations. Currently, the Essential Michael Jackson album is number one followed by:
The other albums in the top 10 include, Thriller (25th Anniversary), The Ultimate Collection, and Bad.
This shows the far-reaching effect that Michael Jackson has in the music world and his fans have paid the ultimate respect by purchasing his music.
R.I.P. Michael Jackson, 1958-2009
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- Top 7 Music Services
- Before you choose a digital music service
- Digital music service comparison chart
Crossfading in iTunes: Seemless Non-stop Music
iTunes and many other software media players these days have a whole host of extra 'tweakable' features that you can use to enhance your music listening experience. Crossfading is one such technique that you can employ to blend the end of one track into the start of the next; this effectively removes the silent gaps between songs. DJs extensively use this technique to create a smooth transition between music tracks - the volume of one song is slowly faded out as the next song's volume is faded in at the same time.
If you're annoyed by the gaps of silence between your songs and want non-stop music, then be sure to read our step-by-step guide on How to Crossfade Using iTunes.
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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.
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 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.”
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