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MP3 Player News & Headlines
Mac Laptop Explodes Flames
Apple laptops are known for their tendency to run hot; apparently, they run hot enough that they sometimes burst into flames....
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.
Afrikaans rappers takes Internet by storm
(Reuters)
Reuters - A South African Afrikaans rap group has taken the Internet by storm with explicit in-your-face lyrics, provocative performances and using cyberspace to promote their music.
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.
Real Networks to manage Sprint ringtones, music
(AP)
AP - RealNetworks Inc., a provider of streaming digital music technology, said Thursday that it will manage ringtones and full-track music services for Sprint Corp.
iPods Pose Risk of Hearing Damage
Listening to iPods for as little as 5 minutes a day can cause hearing loss.
The moment is now for rising Lady Antebellum
(AP)
AP - It was a party to celebrate Lady Antebellum's success, and singer Charles Kelley thought the stream of plaques and praise would never stop.
Ailing music industry eyes revenue in streaming
(AFP)
AFP - At its annual French Riviera gathering this week, the ailing music industry considered whether legal streaming services that offer millions of tracks via the Internet might offer a breakthrough.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Touchscreen Company Purchase Fuels Talk of Kindle Touch Apple's entry into the eBook arena has literally made life tougher for Amazon. But the Kindle maker isn't apparently taking the arrival of Apple and eReader manufacturers into its turf lying down. The company's recent purchase of a startup operation known as Touchcho has industry followers abuzz about Amazon's potential plans. As its name implies, Touchco specializes in touchscreen technology, naturally leading some people to speculate about a touch-enabled Kindle. The addition of touch functionality to the Kindle makes sense given how consumers have warmed up to the interface. Amazon, however, isn't spilling any of the details about its plans and declined to comment, according to the Wall Street Journal. As someone who has tried out different eReaders, one issue with touchscreen versions is that they tend to appear a bit grayer (for an example, check out our Sony Reader Touch review compared with our Sony Reader Pocket review). In fact, even Amazon has made this argument before. Interestingly, though, Touchco's tech is supposed to help with this issue, which likely explains Amazon's interest. So would a "Kindle Touch" help Amazon keep it's eBook reader crown? Perhaps we'll find out soon enough. Photo © Amazon Touchscreen Company Purchase Fuels Talk of Kindle Touch originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 00:29:06.
Web Radio: Tune into Thousands of Radio Stations From Your Desktop If you're old enough (like me) to remember when there wasn't an Internet, then you'll probably have memories of fiddling around with the tuner on your radio trying to find a decent music station to listen to. If you were really lucky, you may have also had a built-in analog tape deck that you could use to record radio onto compact cassette tape. These days, it's so much easier (and convenient) to listen to radio. With the invention of the Internet, we are now accustomed to listening to music on-demand via streaming audio, MP3 downloads, music services, and other Internet-based delivery methods. Web radio, or more commonly referred to as Internet radio, is very similar to traditional radio in that you can tune into radio stations that broadcast over the Internet; a lot of terrestrial-based stations also broadcast over the Web. However, one of the biggest advantages of using this technology, is that you can access thousands of stations from all over the world -- something that couldn't be done before the digital age. But how do we access this enormous resource of music? One of the most convenient ways is to use software that can play streaming music straight to your desktop. As well as popular software media players such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, and Winamp which can access Web radio, there's alternative light-weight applications that specialize in delivering Internet radio. The big advantage of using a dedicated Web radio software program is that many of them offer more functions such as being able to record what you're listening to -- similar to the old cassette tape. For more information on listening to and recording Internet radio stations, be sure to read our article on Free Web Radio Software. Related Articles:
Web Radio: Tune into Thousands of Radio Stations From Your Desktop originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 09:00:36.
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Apple eBook Pricing Putting Pressure on Amazon Has the mighty Amazon met its eBook match? First came the news earlier this month that the online retail giant was raising its eBook royalty rate in response to the upcoming Apple iPad announcement. Now reports are coming in that Amazon is starting to budge on its $9.99 pricing for eBooks, no thanks again to — you guessed it — Apple. Apparently, Apple's willingness to let publishers raise the prices of eBooks sold in its iBooks store is putting pressure on Amazon to do the same. The latest to add heat on Amazon's collar is none other than media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who says his HarperCollins publishing arm just inked a deal with Apple that's apparently more favorable than the deal they have with Amazon, Reuters reports. It's interesting that Apple has opted to take this approach given how it pretty much mandated music companies to price their songs at the iTunes store at 99 cents for the longest time (kinda' like what Amazon's doing with its $9.99 price point). The extra leverage is certainly good news for the publishing industry, which fears that cheaper eBooks would negatively impact sales of physical books. But for consumers, it likely means that eBook prices will be turning a page upward. Photo © Amazon Apple eBook Pricing Putting Pressure on Amazon originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 00:53:54.
iPad Debut Disappoints Potential Buyers Apple's self-described "magical" and "revolutionary" device apparently wasn't magical and revolutionary enough for would-be buyers, according to a new survey. A followup survey by Retrevo found that interest in the iPad actually fell significantly after Apple unveiled the device as many consumers felt underwhelmed by its features. According to the survey, the number of respondents who said they were not interested in the device shot up from 26 percent prior to the official announcement to 52 percent. Likewise, the number of people who said they did not need an iPad jumped from 49 percent to 61 percent. The change in opinion is significant given the buzz leading to the iPad unveiling, which generated as many as 7,400 tweets per minute on Twitter at one point. Not only did the unveiling fail to convince new buyers about getting an iPad, it actually caused some buyers originally interested in the device to change their minds about buying one. Some of the device's shortcomings were addressed in our Apple iPad First Look article, along with other articles in our iPad Central page. In contrast, analysts actually were bullish on the iPad, with some predicting anywhere from 1 million to 5 million sales for the device in its first year. So who's right and who's wrong? I guess we'll start to find out after March. Photo © Apple iPad Debut Disappoints Potential Buyers originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at 00:01:27.
Nook Availability Update and v1.2 Software Update Hey, remember the Nook? Leading up to Christmas, the Barnes & Noble eReader was the hottest thing, and appeared poised to give Amazon's Kindle a run for its money. But a slew of bugs, along with the impending arrival of Apple's mighty iPad relegated the Nook to the backburner. Despite the Nook's launch woes, Barnes & Noble still managed to sell a ton of the devices, which has been practically sold out. Until, now that is. An announcement at the Nook blog states that Nook availability is finally looking up. The device is now in stock online and is also supposed to be arriving in Barnes & Noble stores by the middle of the week, according to B&N. Apparently, the ladies love to read as B&N was extra-motivated to make the Nook extra-available right before Valentine's Day. B&N is also throwing in a few deals this month, including a short story from bestselling author Adriana Trigiani and a Valentine's Day recipe for red velvet cupcakes from Anne Byrn. Yes, guys, you can now start running for the hills. (One married co-worker of mine, actually got super-depressed after seeing Wal-Mart's Valentine's commercial during the Superbowl. Nothing against Wal-Mart, though. Dude's just flat out traumatized from past experience.) Speaking of the aforementioned bugs, B&N also released its second update for the Nook, and this appears to be a major one. Cosmetically, the most noticeable difference involves the new icons. But B&N says the update also includes: Meanwhile, a look at the comments on the blog, reveal that some people are still having problems after the update. While page swipe now appears to be working every time for some folks, some are apparently still having issues with it. Other problems reported by people include dictionary issues, lost page numbers and progress bars (for books being read prior to the update), lost libraries and freezing. Not sure, though, if this is actually widespread or simply a case of squeaky wheels getting the most attention. On the plus side, at least the device is now as available as a bachelor — warts and all. Photo © Barnes & Noble Nook Availability Update and v1.2 Software Update originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 00:01:08.
Bear Hands Celebrate New Single With Free Music Downloads Brooklyn-based indie band, Bear Hands, are celebrating the imminent release of their new single, What a Drag, by giving it away as a free download on their Website. Until it's officially released (16 Feb. 2010 / Cantora Records), you can download it and another 2 free songs (Can't Stick Em, What a Drag (Cale Parks Mix)) simply by providing your email address and following the link sent to your inbox. As well as the new song, Bear Hands have also got a limited edition 7" vinyl that is being released at the same time. For more information, visit their Website. Related Articles:
Bear Hands Celebrate New Single With Free Music Downloads originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 07:25:33.
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