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MP3 Player News & Headlines
Apple Intros New Mac minis; More Expensive, More Powerful
Apple today unveiled two new Mac mini computers with the Intel Core Duo processor. The new models are more powerful, and at $599 and $799, more expensive than ever.
Griffin Intros 2007 Line Up
Griffin Technology today announced their 2007 lineup that will debut next week at the MacWorld Conference & Expo.
Student ordered to destroy downloaded music files
(AP)
AP - A graduate student who must pay four record labels a combined $675,000 in damages for downloading and sharing songs online has been ordered to destroy his illegal music files — but a judge declined to force him to stop promoting the activity that got him in trouble.
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.
Nokia to launch new music phone model
(Reuters)
Reuters - The world's largest mobile phone maker Nokia is preparing to launch a new music-bundled phone, photos from the firm's website showed on Friday.
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.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Gadget Sales Down; eReaders the Exception Just in case you didn't know, the economy isn't exactly in the best shape. But for those of you holding out hope, market researcher IBISWorld is throwing some cold water onto your head with its Holiday Gift Sales report. Out of eight categories tracked by the report, seven are predicted to see drops. That includes gadgets and electronics, which are expected to have a sales drop of 2.5 percent from $10.80 billion in 2008 to $10.53 billion this Christmas. While that doesn't sound like a huge drop, do keep in mind that last year's holiday sales weren't exactly a stellar moment in capitalism (you can basically thank the timing of the implosion of the not-so Super Lehman Brothers for that). One reason for the forecast for slow sales is that retailers are expected to reduce the number of significant discounts this Christmas, Apparently, a similar move last year really did a number on profit margins. Oops. One of the exemptions for electronics? That would be eBook readers, which are just doing gangbusters. Others include cheaper devices such as iPod Nanos and small point-and-shoot cameras. Oh, and that one category that is expected to see growth? That would be clothing. "Parents are using this Christmas season as an excuse to update their children's wardrobes, still filling space under the tree and ultimately saving money in the long run," said Toon van Beeck, senior analyst with IBISWorld. I guess we'll find out soon is Mr. van Beeck is correct. Photo by Jason Hidalgo Gadget Sales Down; eReaders the Exception originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 00:08:51.
Free Music Downloads This Week This week we bring you another selection of free tracks for your listening pleasure. As always, the free MP3 music is full-length and will hopefully give you a good idea about the sound that the artist/band produces before you purchase their music. This blog is also about trying to bring you new music that you might not have otherwise discovered; listening to the following free music will hopefully broaden your musical tastes and introduce you to some new undiscovered genres. The free music downloads this week are:
- Apple Jelly (4:17)
- Salvation (3:23)
Related Articles:
- Top 5 streaming music sites
- How to use iTunes to get free radio and TV shows
- Jamendo music service review
Free Music Downloads This Week originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 09:00:53.
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Is Apple Finally Jumping Into The Streaming Music Business? Apple has announced that it has completed its acquisition of the streaming music service, Lala. With streaming music services being increasingly popular with music fans these days, it's no surprise to learn that Apple is potentially dipping its toes into a technology that provides music lovers with a smörgåsbord of endless tracks. We say, "Potentially", because there's no word from Apple yet on what their business model will be. Interestingly, Lala also provides 'cloud storage' for its users -- this means remote storage for your music that you can then use to stream to anywhere. The big question now is, "what is Apple going to do with its latest acquisition?" For many consumers, the obvious answer would be an integrated streaming music element in the iTunes Store. Arguably, this is something that Apple should have done a long time ago, rather than sticking to an outdated pay-per-click only service. But wait a minute? Could Apple also be thinking of using cloud storage? There's little doubt that if they also implemented this, it would cater for consumers who want to be able to stream their music and have a secure remote storage solution.
Related Articles:
Is Apple Finally Jumping Into The Streaming Music Business? originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 09:11:40.
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Borders to Launch New eBook Store, Also Targets Mobile Devices Amazon and Barnes & Noble may be getting all the eBook press these days thanks to their own eReaders, the Kindle and the Nook. But guess which book seller was partnered with Sony when it launched the first E-ink Reader in the U.S. market in 2006? That would be Borders. Borders may now seem forgotten in the wake of all the Amazon and B&N eBook hoopla. But the bookstore chain managed to re-insert itself into the eBook conversation after Borders announced plans to launch a new eBook store. More specifically, Borders Group Inc. will be partnering with Kobo, Inc. for the new eBook store endeavor, which will be integrated into Borders.com. As part of the deal, Borders will also launch an eBook service that targets multiple mobile devices. Devices included in Borders eBook delivery list include the iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Android-powered devices. (Hey, isn't the Nook technically an Android device?) Unlike its two other rivals, however, Borders apparently has no plans to release its own eBook reader. "Kobo's global, device neutral and open approach will allow Borders-branded software applications to be downloaded on a variety of devices and is the right move for Borders as the digital market continues to evolve," said Borders Group Chief Executive Officer Ron Marshall in a statement. As someone with a 6-year-old niece who always asks me to take her to Borders, I'm certainly intrigued to see what kind of impact Borders' latest plan will have on the company. Either way, it looks like Borders is finally starting to get serious about this whole eBook thing. Photo © Borders Borders to Launch New eBook Store, Also Targets Mobile Devices originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 00:24:16.
Two Publishers Delay eBook Versions of Books If you like to exclusively get your new books via their "e" version, be prepared to wait, at least if they're coming from these two publishers. According to the Wall Street Journal, Simon & Schuster and Hachette Book Group will be delaying their eBook version releases — 35 big titles for Simon & Schuster in early 2010 and a "vast majority of titles" for Hachette. Lead times for hardcover books will be four months for Simon & Schuster and about three to four months for Hachette. The news comes at a time when the eBook reader industry is experiencing huge sales growth. Simon & Schuster says the delay is a move that must be done now before the eReader install base reaches a level that would make implementing a delay impossible (I guess it's kind of like how newspapers now are having a hard time charging for online content after offering it for free for so long. I'm specifically talking about changing the consumer mind set, of course). The CEO of Hachette sounded even more dire, calling the move necessary for the preservation of the industry while describing the $9.99 typically charged for eBooks as "bargain-basement" pricing. In short, they're not making as much money off eBooks as they do with real books. 'Kind of reminds me of the ruckus raised by the music industry when digital music downloads first started to take off. So what do you think of the move? Regardless, it would be interesting to see if more publishers follow suit. Photo © Barnes & Noble Two Publishers Delay eBook Versions of Books originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 02:37:25.
Hercules XPS 2.140 'Slim' is No Lightweight Back in the day when mullets and acid-wash jeans didn't cause people to point and laugh, boomboxes were the hot thing when it came to moving your music from room to room. My, how times have changed. With the advent of digital music, yours truly has since switched to listening to music via a laptop or MP3 player connected to portable speakers. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Which brings us to our featured review for the day, the Hercules XPS 2.140 Slim (I dare you to say that really fast 10 times). Yeah, the "Slim" feature for the left and right satellite speakers is nice and all. But being the typical guy that I am, it's that subwoofer that really has my testosterone flowing. So did the speaker set fulfill my oh-so manly, Herculean expectations? Find out in my (take a deep breath) Hercules XPS 2.140 Slim review. (Boy, that's quite a mouthful to say.) Photo © Guillemot Corporation S.A. Hercules XPS 2.140 'Slim' is No Lightweight originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 01:52:25.
Paper Bag Records Celebrate Anniversary With Free Album Download This week we bring you a whole album to download for free! The Toronto based music label, Paper Bag Records, is offering up a free 12-track album to celebrate their upcoming 7th birthday. The suitably named album, The Seven Year Itch, is a compilation of songs from some of the record label's artists - a few unreleased tracks have also been included. To get your hands on the free album download, simply visit The Seven Year Itch download page on Paper Bag Records' website. Related Articles:
Paper Bag Records Celebrate Anniversary With Free Album Download originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 05:13:08.
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'7 Habits' Author Shifts eBook Rights to Amazon Traditional book publishers suffered another blow in the eBook arena as a popular business author moved the rights to electronic versions of two of his works to a company that will sell them exclusively at Amazon. Stephen R. Covey, author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," has shifted the eBook rights of the aforementioned work and a book yet to be published to RosettaBooks, the New York Times reports. The eBook rights used to be held by Simon & Schuster — the same company that recently announced it would delay eBook versions of 35 big titles in 2010 by four months after the hardcover release. One of the big winners in the deal is Amazon, which will have exclusive rights to selling the eBook versions of the two titles for one year. Upping monetary gains for authors is apparently one habit of highly successful eBook publishers when it comes to getting rights. Covey is set to earn "more than half of the net proceeds" that RosettaBooks rakes in from the Amazon deal. In contrast, the normal digital rate from traditional publishers is 25 percent. Even Covey's son said the higher royalty rate was a factor in the switch. With eBook readers gaining even more popularity, it would be interesting to see how traditional publishers respond. One thing's for sure: Those contracts they write up now are definitely going to include "eBooks" and "digital distribution" in them. Photo © Amazon '7 Habits' Author Shifts eBook Rights to Amazon originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 00:58:48.
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