MP3 Headlines & News for February 1, 2010

One of the niftiest things I saw at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show actually wasn't even electronic.

Yurbuds are a set of rubberized covers that help earphones and earbuds stay in place. If you've ever struggled with earphones falling of your ears, Yurbuds may just be something worth looking into.

For a closer look at how the device performs, read my Yurbuds review.

Photo © Yurbuds

Review: Yurbuds Earbud Covers Are Quite Fitting originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 00:23:10.

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And the eReader party keeps getting bigger.

The Interweb was aflutter today after word broke out about computer maker Asus' new eBook reader, the DR-950. Given the plethora of eReaders unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, you basically have what amounts to a feeding frenzy for the sector.

According to Web site Electricpig, Asus' DR-950 sports a 9-inch touchscreen with a 1024x760 resolution display. It's also only 9 millimeters thin and will weigh less than the juggernaut in its sights — Amazon's Kindle DX.

Other features include either 2GB or 4GB of internal memory, SD slot, Wi-Fi, USB port, an audio port, RSS feed software and text-to-speech. (The juvenile in me now can't wait to test the text-to-speech function by typing "To get passed around like a bad cold, please press one. To get stuck in an endless loop of pressing buttons, please press two. If you think Jason Hidalgo is da bomb, press three...")

With the latest addition to the eReader fray, I can't help but wonder if the market is truly getting oversaturated. Seriously, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if McDonald's released its own eReader, the eMc-Squared (Get it? eMC squared as in — um, just forget it). Yeah, laugh all you want now but I'm telling ya...

Photo © Asus

Asus Joins Fray with DR-950 eReader originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 00:01:18.

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Artist/Band: Rich Hil
Genre: Hip Hop / Rock
Free Music Download: Lady in The Hall (3:40)
Extras: More information and additional free MP3s from the official Rich Hil Website

Artist/Band: Groove Armada
Genre: Electronic
Free Music Download: Shameless (feat. Bryan Ferry) (4:47)
Extras: Free additional Groove Armada track (Pull Up (Crank It Up) (Mad Decent Remix)) via RCRD LBL
Album: Black Light (OM Records), slated for release March 2, 2010

Artist/Band: Yes Giantess
Genre: Pop / Electronic
Free Music Download: The Ruins (3:04)
Extras: More free MP3 tracks (published previously) via our free music downloads blog

Related Articles:

• Free and legal music download sites
• Free DJ software to create your own remixes
• How to download music files faster

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Free Music Downloads This Week originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 06:48:04.

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Artist/Band: Rob Swift
Genre: Hip Hop
Free Music Download: Rabia - 2nd Movement (3:31)
Music Video:Rabia- 2nd Movement
Album: The Architect (Ipecac Recordings) due for release Feb. 23, 2010.

Artist/Band: Annie Mac
Genre: Dance
Free Music Download: Annie Mac's Man Mix (32:38)

Artist/Band: Autokratz
Genre: Electronic / Dance
Free Music Downloads: Always More (YukSek Remix)(4:44) ¦ Swastika Eyes (4:17)
Album:Animal (The Hours / Kitsune) available digitally from the iTunes Store.

Related Articles:

• Top 5 streaming music sites
• Free music download services
• How to use iTunes to listen to thousands of free radio stations

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Free Music Downloads This Week originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 06:35:11.

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DJ software also typically enables you to record your mixes and save them in various file formats -- MP3 being the most popular. This is a great tool if you want to show off your creativity to your friends and family -- especially if you intend on being the New Year's Eve party DJ!

If you fancy having a go at mixing up your music library, then be sure to read our Free DJ Software article that showcases some of the best free DJ software that you can download from the Internet.

Related Articles:

• Free audio editors
• Top 4 free audio format converters
• Free music creation software

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Free DJ Software: Use Your Digital Music To Mix Like a Pro! originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 09:00:30.

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It's go time, boys and girls.

With Apple's big Jan. 27 (hey, that's today!) announcement now upon us, I'm hoping to serve up tasty bites of Apple's mystery device (wink, tablet, wink) today as I get info on it.

Now I won't be at the event due to myriad reasons, one of which is unruly Sierra weather. And work. And my wallet. But I digress.

Anywho, I'm banking on live reports online to get me close to the action today (call it, um, liveblogging the liveblogs. What a "great" concept, eh?). If not, an Apple rep says an announcement should be made available to press folks immediately.

In the meantime, expect to have info start trickling in here one way or another before 10 a.m. Pacific Time.

Photo © Apple

9:09 a.m.: I'm all set up and ready to go. Are you ready for some Apple tablet news? Man this Apple tablet sure has everyone psyched out. I can't believe Apple is finally releasing its tablet! This Apple tablet is gonna change electronics as we know it — and the world! Apple tablet, tablet, tablet, tablet ... ... ... ... ... ... TABLET!!!

You know what would be funny? If Apple ends up not releasing a tablet after all this buildup. I'm gonna laugh my socks off. (I might cry, too. After all, I'm a sensitive guy who also happens to suffer from allergies. I might even laugh and cry at the same time. I'm awesome that way. By the way, did I ever say that waiting around makes me ramble incessantly?)

9:14: Looks like the folks at Gizmodo have gotten started early. You can read their discussions about facial hair at the Gizmodo liveblog. I'm telling ya' waiting plus a computer keyboard plus space to fill makes people ramble on about strange stuff. It's practically taking me all my willpower to stop myself from talking about my brother's cat right now.

9:19: Engadget's joined the Apple party as well. At least that's what the atmosphere apparently feels like, they say.

9:30: Looks like they've got one of those Continental breakfast spreads going on to feed the hungry media folk. One thing I've learned in all my years as a reporter is that journalists love free food. I mean just love it. You can't take any free stuff. But free food is apparently OK for the most part (one of the few exceptions being business lunches at a restaurant). So if you've ever wanted to attract journalists to one spot, set up a table with a Continental breakfast spread. They'll be flocking in from miles away.

9:41: The Gearlog Apple liveblog is up and running as well.

9:48: Pics of the stage are now coming out. Check out the iChair and the iTable on the stage. It would be hilarious if that's what they're unveiling.

9:53: Macworld's Apple liveblog is up and running. Apparently, Apple likes Bob Dylan. Livebloggers apparently like taking pictures of those Apple splotch logos as well.

9:57: The announcer has just asked for silence and for cell phones and pagers to be turned off. The popcorn must cost a fortune in this place.

9:59: Here's CNET's liveblog of the Apple event.

10:02: Some dude named Steve Jobs apparently just took the stage. Never heard of him. Looks like good, old Steve is wearing his good, old presentation uniform.

10:08: Looks like it's main event time. They just showed a slide with a Wall Street Journal quote about tablets. Could it be...?

10:10: Jobs' comment about Netbooks not being better than anything is getting a lot of chuckles from the audience and the blogosphere.

10:11: It's official. Apple's new tablet is called the iPad. Basically, it looks like a bigger iPhone. Like its little brother, it essentially has the same type of interface, an accelerometer, touchsreen (with a larger touchscreen keyboard that Jobs says is "a dream" to type on), same flicking action, and, of course, all sorts of apps.

10:15: Jobs is now demoing the iPad's browsing capabilities. He visits several sites first, then moves on to demo it's e-mail capabilities. Basically, Apple's goal is to create a device that serves as a middle ground between an iPhone and a laptop and does certain things better than both (that's where the netbook burn basically came from). Whether or not Apple succeeds with the iPad is something we'll find out eventually, I guess.

10:20: Maybe it's just me, but I think Jobs really likes Bob Dylan. The iPad's music interface apparently is closer to iTunes than it is to the iPhone. Given the extra real estate and what have you, it does seem to make sense.

10:31: Now it's time for some specs: The iPad is 0.5 inches thin, weighs 1.5 pounds, and features a 9.7-inch, "full-capacitive multi-touch" IPS (In-Plane Switching) display. Powering the device is a 1GHz Apple A4 chip. The device will come in three iterations that feature 16GB, 32GB and 64GB of memory. For networking, the device will have WiFi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 plus EDR. Besides the accelerometer, it will also feature a compass in case you get lost admiring your shiny, new iPad. Other features include speakers, a mic and 30-pin connector.

10:33: Battery life is apparently 10 hours, including when watching video. For a videophile such as yours truly who takes long trips, that's actually a big deal. Standby is also over one month, Apple claims.

10:36: Now it's time for one of Apple's golden geese: apps. Apple's showing several games, including a first-person shooter. It would be interesting to see how this stuff controls (which is supposedly customizable). Then Apple showed the New York Times app. All I can say is, if Apple can make reading newspapers cool for the younger generation (which the industry has struggled with mightily for a loooong time), then newspapers will kiss Jobs figuratively and literally.

10:45: Hey look, a paint app. As a former art minor who switched minors to English because I flat ran out of money for art supplies, this app will, well, likely not help too much from an art supply standpoint but it's still a nice thing to have.

10:48: Check it out. EA's demoing its racing game Need for Speed. Where's Tom Cruise when you need him? (I feel the need ... the need for speed!) I feel like watching Top Gun all of a sudden. They squeeze in some baseball, too.

10:54: Oooh, iBooks. Jobs' credits Amazon for really kick starting the field. "Now we'll crush them like the tiny, little rainforest ants that they are." Actually he didn't say the latter but I wouldn't be surprised if his inner Jobs was thinking the exact same thing. Looks like Apple will support the EPUB format. Interface for iBooks also looks iTunes-ish.

11:00: Now they're demoing iWork. I think I'll start adding that little "i" when talking to people about my job. "Yeah, I'm iWorking right now on an iArticle about iFalafels." Notice how my credibility suddenly went up a hundredfold with that little change. Anywho, they're demoing how to create presentations, spreadsheets. etc.

11:13: Time for some networking talk. Though Wi-Fi is standard, some iPads will also come with 3G. There will apparently be two data plans — a 250MB plan for $14.99 per month and $29.99 for unlimited data, both with AT&T. Both don't require any contracts and you can also get free use of AT&T's WiFi hotspots. I wonder if there's any synergy for folks such as myself who already are AT&T customers... Incidentally, a data plan was the biggest buzzkill for survey respondents in a recent Apple tablet survey.

11:18: Money talks so it's time for some pricing info. iPad pricing will start at $499 for the 16GB version, $629 with 3G. For the 32GB iPad, the two price points are $599 for the Wi-Fi version and $729 for the Wi-Fi+3G version. Pricing for the 64GB iPad is $699 and $829 respectively. (I wonder if you can plug an external hard drive to this thing?). The Wi-Fi-only iPad starts shipping in 60 days while the Wi-Fi+3G model starts shipping in 90 days.

11:20: For accessories, it looks like there will a be an iPad dock, a keyboard dock and a case. Pretty sparse for now. I'm sure third-party manufacturers are licking their chops...

11:27: A few loose ends now. The iPad features a backlight display so it will be interesting to see how eBooks look on it, given how many folks prefer the look of E Ink. The multi-touch screen also features 1,000 hardware sensors. Oh yeah, not only is the device "revolutionary," Apple says it's also "magical." And no, I don't think the latter has anything to do with all the unicorn pictures some sites ran with their iPad rumor stories.

11:33: Jobs ends the presentation surrounded by a screen of paint splotches. So what do you think of Apple's new iPad? Personally, I think it looks pretty solid but I also wasn't incredibly blown away by it. That may change when the platform matures and more stuff becomes available for it. In the meantime, I've also put together an iPad first look recap with specs and features. Thanks for tuning in!

Following Apple's Big Jan. 27 Announcement (cough, Apple Tablet, cough) originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 00:01:34.

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