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MP3 Player News & Headlines
UK pop sale for Haiti raises $80,000 so far
(Reuters)
Reuters - An online auction of pop memorabilia from some of Britain's biggest acts has raised around 50,000 pounds ($80,000) so far for survivors of the Haiti earthquake, organizers Oxfam said on Monday.
Muzak Holdings emerges from Chapter 11
(AP)
AP - Muzak Holdings LLC said Monday that it has completed its financial restructuring and has emerged from bankruptcy protection.
NAMM Update: iKey Plus Turns Audio Into MP3s
iKEY-Audio introduced the iKEY PLUS – a device that records live audio and converts it into high quality MP3 and WAV files and saves them directly to an iPod or another USB compatible storage device.
SpeckTone Retro Stereo Speaker System for iPod
The SpeckTone Retro is one of the few iPod accessories that has caught our eyes recently. The fifties look of the all-wood speaker cabinet is finished with a high-gloss lacquered piano finish, and is a surprisingly nice complement to the modern look of iPods.
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.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Free Music Downloads This Week The free music downloads in our spotlight this week are: Artist/Band: Stacy B Artist/Band: Motor Artist/Band: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour Related Articles:
Genre: Pop / R&B / Club
Free Music Download: Do It Now (download Code: 1688).
Genre: Techno / Alternative / Electro
Free Music Download: Kick It (4:46)
Additional MP3(s): Kick It (Malente Remix) (4:25) via RCRD RBL
Album: Hyper Machine (Dim Mak Records) available from top digital music services.
Genre: Electronic / Pop
Free Music Download: The Sun Ain't Shinning No More (33 Hz Remix) (5:55)
Additional MP3(s): 2 more versions via RCRD RBL
Album: Fruit (Small Giants Records Ltd.) now available digitally
Free Music Downloads This Week originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 09:00:40.
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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.
Google Slate? Google Tablet Mockup Fuels Speculation Apple hasn't even had time to bask in the afterglow of its iPad announcement when the Interweb got all aflutter thanks to one major party pooper. A tablet mockup from none other than Google is now fueling a wave of speculation online on whether the tech giant has designs on releasing an iPad competitor of its own. The Google tablet concept showed up on Google's Chromium Web site, where it was used to show potential uses of the Chrome operating system. Among the features discussed were variations on the multi-touch keyboard, using a launcher to create multiple browsers, and a zooming user interface for multiple tabs (cough, multi-tasking, cough?). The development is an interesting one as Google certainly has the cache to stand up to a titan such as Apple. And if comments from anonymous sources in this Wired article about Steve Jobs going off on Google is true (apparently, he criticized Google for getting in the smartphone arena even though Apple decided not to get into the search arena), then a Google Pad will likely have Apple's head honcho going nuclear. Meanwhile, TheStreet.com posted comments from a Google spokesperson who basically says the company is commitedly non-committal to a Google Pad, Slate or whatever. The plot thickens... Photo © Google Google Slate? Google Tablet Mockup Fuels Speculation originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 00:42:10.
Soundcheck Offers Free Corinne Bailey Rae MP3 Download Walmart's Soundcheck service, which showcases select artists by providing exclusive content, is offering up a free Corinne Bailey Rae MP3 download. The free track, I'd Do It All Again, is taken from the British Singer/songwriter's new album, The Sea, which is due for release 26. Jan, 2010. To get your free track, simply go to Soundcheck's Corrine Bailey Rae page and click on the highlighted free download button. You'll have to be quick though -- there's only a limited number of downloads available. Related Articles:
Soundcheck Offers Free Corinne Bailey Rae MP3 Download originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 15:59:06.
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Will The New MusicDNA Format be MP3's Nemesis? A new music format called, MusicDNA, has been developed that could potentially replace the ageing MP3 format. Bach Technology, who co-developed MusicDNA with the Fraunhofer Institute of Digital Media Technologies (IDMT), say the new format will provide the user with a far richer media experience when compared to standard audio formats. The new technology makes use of an enhanced set of metadata tags to increase a user's interactive experience. Some examples of how these tags could benefit a consumer are: accessing the artist/band's latest videos; following links to related blogs; discovering related music on media-orientated services and social networks, etc. For a long time now, the music industry has been trying different methods to reduce online music piracy -- the most notable being (the almost defunct) DRM technology that prevents files from being copied, shared, etc. The problem with this however was it often restricted the user so much that even major music services like iTunes eventually phased it out. However, this new format potentially offers the consumer a great deal more entertainment for their money than just music. This could be just what the music industry needs to try to increase sales and reduce online piracy via file sharing networks. The big question now is, will the new MusicDNA format 'persuade' consumers to migrate from the trusted MP3 format with the promise of an enhanced multimedia experience? Related Articles:
Will The New MusicDNA Format be MP3's Nemesis? originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 09:00:30.
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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.
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