Browse recent news and commentary related to MP3 player developments, using the links below.
MP3 News & Headlines
MP3 Player Commentary
Browse the Archives
MP3 Player News & Headlines
Universal Music promotes Grainge to group CEO
(Reuters)
Reuters - Britain's Lucian Grainge will take the helm of the world's largest music company, Vivendi's Universal Music, after leading the firm's drive to seek new technology partners and grow digital sales.
iPods Pose Risk of Hearing Damage
Listening to iPods for as little as 5 minutes a day can cause hearing loss.
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.
Sensory Speech Chip, Listens, Talks, Plays Music
(PC Magazine)
PC Magazine - Sensory, which manufactures speech recognition chips for consumer electronics, on Tuesday announced the NLP-5X, a next-generation chip that recognizes and plays back speech, sound samples, and MIDI files, all for as little as $2.
Apple Offers $10K in Music for 10 Billionth iTunes Download
(PC World)
PC World - Time to start loading up on music: Apple has announced it will give one lucky customer a $10k iTunes gift card once it reaches 10 billion iTunes song downloads. Apple calls the event a "huge milestone for music" and "our way of saying thanks" to the boatloads of people who depend on iTunes for all of their music needs.
MP3 Tech Commentary
OpenTablet 7: New iPad Competitor Throws in Flash, Extra Features Much has been made about the Apple iPad's lack of support for Flash. OpenPeak Inc. has apparently taken note, making sure to highlight Flash capability in its press release for the new OpenTablet 7 slate. As its name implies, the OpenTablet 7 features a 7-inch multi-touch, LED backlit touchscreen that's nearly three inches smaller than the iPad. Like the iPad, it offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and "cellular connectivity." Unlike the iPad, however, the OpenTablet 7 features an HDMI output, two cameras for capturing high-definition video and photos, USB connectivity and a MicroSD slot. The OpenTablet 7 also has phone capabilities, allowing users to give iPad lovers a dose of their own superiority complex by placing a phone call right next to them and telling the person on the other line all the things their device can do that the iPad can't. Naturally, the OpenTablet 7 features all sorts of applications including YouTube, Facebook and Flickr. Serving as the brains of the device is Intel's Moorestown platform, which is designed for handhelds and tablets. Unfortunately, the release doesn't say anything about pricing, which would be the million-dollar question. Some say keeping the price down was likely a key reason why Apple passed on some of the missing features in the first-generation iPad. Unless OpenPeak goes for a smaller profit margin than Apple (who apparently will make quite a nice profit with the iPad according to folks who have looked at the device's components), all those added features must come at a price. Still, competition is always good. Photo © OpenPeak OpenTablet 7: New iPad Competitor Throws in Flash, Extra Features originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 02:26:12.
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.
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.
Permalink | Comment | Email this
Free Music Album: Download to Donate For Haiti The non-profit organization, Music Relief, which helps victims of natural disasters is offering a free 9-track music album for download. As part of the Haitian relief effort, Music Relief has released the album, Download to Donate For Haiti which contains previously unreleased tracks from major artists and bands such as: Linkin Park, Alanis Morissette, Enrique Iglesias, Slash, and others. Founded in 2005 by the music band Linkin Park, Music Relief is currently providing aid to victims of the Haiti disaster. If you do decide to download this free music album, please remember to be kind and donate whatever you can afford. Thank you. Related Articles:
Free Music Album: Download to Donate For Haiti originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 09:30:14.
Permalink | Comment | Email this
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.
Free Music Downloads This Week The free music downloads in our spotlight this week are: Artist/Band: Rob Swift Artist/Band: Annie Mac Artist/Band: Autokratz Related Articles:
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.
Genre: Dance
Free Music Download: Annie Mac's Man Mix (32:38)
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.
Free Music Downloads This Week originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 06:35:11.
Permalink | Comment | Email this
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.
Permalink | Comment | Email this
Past News Headlines:
February 12 - February 13 - February 14 - February 15 - February 16 - February 17 - February 18