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MP3 Player News & Headlines
Intel Antitrust, 'Net Bug, Coding Error
(PC World)
PC World - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed federal antitrust charges against Intel this week, with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission expected to follow suit. Security problems yet again snagged a lot of IT headline attention, including news about yet another flaw affecting Facebook and MySpace users. To mix things up, we've got IT angles to Beatles music and the Boston Celtics in there, too.
Watch concerts free online at BillboardLive.com
(AP)
AP - A new Web site allows music lovers to watch concerts for free online, choosing from five different camera angles as they watch.
Man Destroys iPod In A Blender
Blendtec, a company that makes heavy duty blenders, is destroying iPods to help sell $400 blenders.
NAMM Update: Numark Announces HDX HD/CD/MP3 player
Numark announced the HDX, a tabletop HD/CD/MP3 player with an high torque, motorized 12-inch platter.
iriver clix: iPod/iTunes Killer?
iriver has introduced the clix portable media player, a new media player that integrates with the new Windows Media Player 11 and the public beta of MTV Networks URGE digital music service
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.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Should Amazon Collect Sales Tax? Amazon's fight against an online sales tax came to the forefront yet again after the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report slamming the online giant's arguments against being subjected to such a tax. According to the nonpartisan center, Amazon's contention that collecting a sales tax would be "administratively burdensome" and also "unfair" in states where they don't have a physical presence pretty much doesn't hold water. For one, the retailer already collects taxes in practically every state for merchants that do business on its site. The center also contends that Amazon does not pay tax even in some states where it has a physical presence. As someone who lives in a state that has an Amazon distribution center and has also bought tons of stuff from the retailer, I can confirm that I have yet to pay sales tax for my purchases. I must also admit that the lack of a sales tax is a big incentive for me to shop at Amazon, especially for bigger ticket electronics that qualify for free shipping. If all things were equal, I'd likely go to a brick-and-mortar store due to the instant gratification factor. Meanwhile, the aforementioned report also says that states lose more than $7 billion in revenue a year due to uncollected sales taxes online. To be honest, I'm actually quite torn on this issue. I love the savings I get from not paying sales tax online but I also understand the point that state advocates make, along with the gripes of brick-and-mortar retailers who have to pay sales tax. What do you think? Should Amazon Collect Sales Tax? originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 01:17:54.
Are You Missing Album Art in Your Music Library? Whatever software media player you use for organizing and playing your digital music, you may have already been annoyed at seeing incorrect album art assigned to your music collection -- or even worse, no album art at all! This annoying problem can happen for a number of reasons but thankfully can be easily fixed using your software media player's built-in tools. If you have a large amount of album art to fix then you may find that using a dedicated software program is a much easier and faster solution for filling in this missing information. Media Monkey is a good example of a third party software program that can automatically fix album art as well as being a good music manager. If you use Microsoft Windows Media Player and are having album art problems then our guide on How to Download Missing album Covers Using Windows Media Player 11 will hopefully prove an invaluable aid in fixing your issues. Related Articles:
Are You Missing Album Art in Your Music Library? originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 09:35:12.
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Thinking of Buying an MP3 Player This Holiday Season? With Thanksgiving nearly upon us and Black Friday just around the corner, you may already be thinking about purchasing electronic gadgets this holiday season. For more information on budget MP3 players, be sure to read our guide on Top Portables for Less Than $100. Image © Camila Schnaibel. Related Articles:
However, if you have suffered financially this year (due to the world recession for example), and money is tight, then you may think that purchasing any electronic gadget is way off base -- not so! For instance, if you're looking to purchase an MP3 player, then you may be pleasantly surprised to know that you can pick up a budget player for as little as $20. In fact our Budget MP3 Players guide lists a series of top portables (iPod and MP3 player alternatives) that retail for well under $100 -- in our guide you'll also find in-depth reviews to read before taking the financial plunge. Whether you're thinking about purchasing an MP3 player for a friend, family member, or even yourself, there's a whole range of 'cheap and cheerful' portable players on the market these days to fit practically any budget.
Thinking of Buying an MP3 Player This Holiday Season? originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 09:00:25.
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Name That Portable DVD Player In looking at portable DVD players as About.com's portables guide, one of the things I've learned is that companies who make the devices apparently hate names. And when I say names, I mean just basic names. Forget simple names like Wii or Walkman. Instead, all you get is a mish-mash of letters and numbers that is just about as easy to remember as the name of that bad guy in the Superfriends cartoons who you have to trick to say his name backwards. Now, I'd tell you what the dude's name is. But I honestly can't remember it — just like the name of many of these portable DVD players out in the market today. I don't know about you but I'm guessing there's probably a reason why Apple didn't name its iPod the JXCSF1000945@. Kindle, BlackBerry Bold, PlayStation — those are all easy-to-remember names that help establish mindshare within the market. But (insert generic letters and numbers here)? Hold on while I get a pen and paper. Which brings us to my latest portable DVD review: Toshiba's SDP93S. Like the Sony DVP-FX930 I reviewed before it, the SDP93S is an excellent player. I just hope you can remember what either those two are called when you try looking for them at your favorite retailer. On that note, please feel free to check out the Toshiba SDP93S review. Photo by Jason Hidalgo Name That Portable DVD Player originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 14:23:03.
Free Music Downloads This Week In our music discovery spotlight this week, we showcase another selection of free promotional tracks that cover a wide range of genres designed to broaden your musical horizons :
- Blinking Pigs (3:39)
Related Articles:
- Top 5 streaming music sites
- Top 5 MP3 Tag Tools
- How to use iTunes to listen to thousands of free radio stations
Free Music Downloads This Week originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 09:00:14.
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Free Music Downloads This Week In our music discovery spotlight this week, we showcase another selection of free promotional tracks that cover a wide range of genres designed to broaden your musical horizons :
The free promotional track, Repetition, is a taster of the type of sound that garage rock band, The Willowz produce. This free music download is from their new album, Everyone, which is now available digitally from the iTunes Store; the physical will be available to purchase from stores on Dec. 15 (Dim Mak/Downtown Records). If you want to take a look behind the scenes, there's also an interesting video of the making of Everyone that you can watch via YouTube.
- You've Changed (3:10)
- Hand Me Down (3:22)
Related Articles:
- Top 5 streaming music sites
- Free music download services
- How to use iTunes to listen to thousands of free radio stations
Free Music Downloads This Week originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 09:18:32.
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Fade to Black: The Real Deal With Black Friday? As someone who typically ends up frustrated on Black Friday, I must admit that I couldn't help but check many of the Black Friday "leaks" that have been bombarding the Internet. It's like pressing a button that says "DO NOT PRESS!" I just can't help it. Apparently, though, I'm not the only one. Google data shows that the "upswing" for Black Friday searches started two weeks earlier this year, according to an article in the Advertising Age. Meanwhile, the number of shoppers who plan to get their Christmas shopping started on Black Friday rose to 16 percent this year from 10 percent last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (there's an International Council of Shopping Centers?). Still, some are projecting Black Friday to be just that — black. Nielsen, the NPD Group and the National Retail Federation have all released buzz-killing predictions as far as sales. I'm no economist but I don't need to sleep at a Holiday Inn last night to figure out why. (As Bill Clinton once so eloquently put, "It's the economy, um, you not-so-smart person!") Meanwhile, Retrevo's Director of Content Andrew Eisner is predicting many "mediocre deals" masquerading as Black Friday bargains. These include discounts that aren't as big as they seem to be and the pushing of outdated items. Now, one can't fault someone for thinking Eisner's comments may have to do with Retrevo promoting its own product and pricing analysis (not to mention its Black Friday Real-Time Resource Center). Still, I know from personal experience that the man actually has a point. Fortunately, Google and the entire Interwebs is your friend so you can do your due diligence in researching products before pouncing on a deal. As for me ... well, while I'm always tempted to line up in the cold with complete strangers just for a chance to get a good bargain, the reasonable person that resides in the little room in my mind always steps up in the end and tells me that it's better to go to bed and sleep on these things instead. Still, I understand the allure of the ever-powerful Black Friday deal. What about you? Photo by Jason Hidalgo Fade to Black: The Real Deal With Black Friday? originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 04:37:50.
Google to Launch 'Search and Buy' Music Service According to an article published by NPR, Google will shortly be announcing the launch of a new music search service that you can use to buy songs. Rather than directly providing a music library, Google will be extending its search facilities to provide links to songs that can be purchased from select digital music services. Google are hoping that consumers who already use the popular search engine to find resources on the Internet will like the familiarity of their interface and use it for purchasing digital music too. Google is certainly a mighty power on the Web, but can it really compete with the king of the digital music services - namely the iTunes Store? Related Articles:
Google to Launch 'Search and Buy' Music Service originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 11:52:10.
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