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MP3 Player News & Headlines
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.
Griffin Intros PowerBlock Travel, International USB Power Adapter
Griffin Technology has introduced PowerBlock Travel, a package designed to simplify charging your USB devices (including iPods) while traveling.
Spector wants TV, music player for new prison cell
(AP)
AP - Phil Spector is hoping to get a few comforts of home in his new prison cell, and a television, iPod and computer access are at the top of his list.
Happy Birthday! The Walkman Turns 30
(PC World)
PC World - Sony introduced its Walkman portable cassette player thirty years ago this week, kicking off a revolution in the consumer electronics industry by changing the way people enjoy music.
Apple Intros iPod Phone
Apple today introduced iPhone, a new device that combines a state-of-the-art mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and an Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, searching and maps—into one small and lightweight handheld device.
iPods Pose Risk of Hearing Damage
Listening to iPods for as little as 5 minutes a day can cause hearing loss.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Amie Street: What's the Real Value of Music? Most 'paid for' music services on the Internet rigidly set the price of songs they sell. If you're an independent artist looking for a promotional platform to show off your hard work and reap the benefits, then you'll be interested to know that Amie Street offer its artists 70 percent of the profits. As a music fan, it’s a great feeling to know that most of the money spent on a song will be going where it should - to the artist. Music fans also get cash rewards on Amie Street for recommending their favorite songs - this can then be used to download songs that you would otherwise have to pay for. For more information, be sure to read our full Amie Street Review. Image © Amie Street, Inc. Related Articles:
Even though services such as the iTunes Store have recently introduced a variable pricing structure (blog)- it's still some way off from being a totally dynamic system. Amie Street for example is one such service that uses a community-driven pricing system that reacts to how popular songs are. This in effect gives music fans the power to set song prices depending on how many people buy a particular song. Most new songs start off as free downloads, or very cheap, and increase in price as they become popular. The maximum price a song can be is 98 cents which keeps the service competitive; albums too have a maximum of $8.98 - unless you see a new one that you can grab for free.
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!
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
Related Articles:
- Top 7 Music Services
- Before you choose a digital music service
- Digital music service comparison chart
Organizing Your Music Library: Cover Design Software If you have a collection of music, photos, or other types of files that you have transferred to CD or DVD, then you can better organize your media by using cover design software. Unless you are a very organized person who knows exactly what's on each disc, then finding what you need from your collection can be difficult, especially if you only have the words, "backup 1", written on the case, or disc for example. Most CD and DVD cover editing software provides various design options that you can use to indentify your collection; typically you can make jewel case inserts, disc labels, and even booklets. One of the most useful features of this type of software is being able to add text to your designs - this is useful for listing what's on the disc such as music tracks for example. Some software can even automatically add a list of files that are on your CD or DVD - saving you the pain of inputting by hand. If you're lucky enough to have a printer that can directly print onto disc, then labeling your CDs and DVDs becomes even easier - not to mention paper-free. Even if you don't have this facility, using software to create and print covers is a great organizational tool. Read our guide on Free CD and DVD Cover Design Software for more information. 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.
Free Music Downloads This Week Starting this week, we're planning to bring you cutting edge digital music by providing links to free promotional music tracks. As well as showcasing forthcoming releases from major bands and artists, we'll also be highlighting new and up-and-coming talent that offer free music in order to gain that much needed exposure. One of the great benefits of using free music discovery resources is being able to 'try before you buy' without the financial risk of a blind purchase. The promotional tracks that we're going to showcase every week will hopefully give you a wide variety of styles and sounds to experience. Here are the tracks in our spotlight this week:
This 17 minute monster mix showcases DJ Paul Oakenfold's new 21-track album, Perfecto Vegas, which will be released by Thrive records on July 7 - available in stores nationwide and via digital download.
- Little Wildcat (3:48)
- Sleepwalking (3:40)
Related Articles:
- Top 5 streaming music sites
- Free music download services
- How to use iTunes to listen to thousands of free radio stations
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.”
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.
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