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MP3 Player News & Headlines
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 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.
Apple Pumps Down the Volume
Apple today announced a software update for the iPod nano and fifth generation iPod, that lets customers set their own personal maximum volume limit.
Child pornography hidden in Swiss hip-hop website
(Reuters)
Reuters - Child pornography was downloaded from a Swiss hip-hop music website to around 2,300 computers in 78 countries, Swiss police said on Monday.
New iPod shuffle Available Worldwide This Friday
Nearly half the size of the original, the new iPod shuffle is just half a cubic inch in volume, weighs just half an ounce and features a minimal aluminum design with a built-in clip, making it the most wearable iPod ever.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Forget Portables, Why Not Wear Your Music? If there's something that gets people's attention, it's news that you can now carry music around with you on a T-shirt! Now, before you get too excited, it will come as a big disappointment to learn that the said T-shirt...doesn't actually play any music?!? At this point, you may be wondering if it's all just a gimmick? Not so. When you buy the T-shirt, a hang tag will provide you with a unique code that you can use to download the full album.
The Music Tee which has been created by Invisible DJ and LnA is an innovative merge of fashion and music. The hip hop artist, Mos Def, is the first to launch his new album, The Estatic, in the new 'fabric format' which will go on sale from July 7th. The T-shirt's design will feature the album's artwork on the front and a list of songs on the back. The cost of the Mos Def T-shirt will be $39. If you're a fan and want the new album via a more traditional route, then you can still purchase The Estatic from digital music services, and on physical media (audio CD, vinyl). Related Articles:
New High-definition Zune on the Horizon Zune users in particular will be interested to learn that Microsoft have announced a new Zune music player. 
The new Zune HD is Microsoft's next generation portable that focuses on high-definition (HD) entertainment. As well as being able to display HD video, the new Zune will also have a built-in HD radio receiver, Wi-Fi, Internet browser, OLED touch screen, and access to the Zune Marketplace online store. The announced specifications are:
The Zune HD will be available in the U.S. this fall.
Image © Microsoft Corporation.
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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.
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.
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.
Voice Removal Software: Eliminate Vocals from Your Songs Have you ever listened to a song and thought, "love the music, hate the singing". In this situation, you can use a software audio tool that specializes in trying to filter out the frequencies of the human voice. Vocal removal can be a time consuming process that involves experimentation with various audio sources, but satisfactory results are achievable. The biggest stumbling block with voice removal is the nature of the music source. If you have a highly compressed song for example that has low quality audio data, then the chances of removing the vocals are poor. On the other hand, if you are working on a high quality audio file that has a good stereo image with vocals that are center-panned, then your chances of vocal removal are much higher. Overall, it really depends on how the song has been mixed and the frequencies involved.
There's a lot of fun to be had experimenting with the songs in your music library, and with an investment in time (and a little luck), you can produce some great results. For more information on removing vocals from songs, why not read our guide on Free Software for Removing Vocals. Related Articles:
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