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MP3 Player News & Headlines
Silicon Storage takes Microchip Tech's buyout bid
(AP)
AP - Silicon Storage Inc., a maker of flash memory cards used in digital cameras and MP3 players, said Wednesday that it has agreed to be acquired by Microchip Technology Inc. for $273 million in cash.
NAMM Update: Denon DJ Intros DN-S3500 Tabletop CD/MP3 Player
Denon DJ introduced the DN-S3500 tabletop CD/MP3 player, featuring a powerful 12-pole Direct Drive motor, 7 on-board effects and intuitive control.
Omnifone signs music deal for Google's Android
(Reuters)
Reuters - Omnifone, the digital music service provider, is to make its MusicStation offering available to all mobile handsets which carry Google Inc's Android operating platform, it said on Monday.
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 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.
MP3 Tech Commentary
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.
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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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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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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.
iPan: Bill Gates Unimpressed by Apple iPad Count Bill Gates (gasp!) among the throngs of iPad nonbelievers. According to an article by Brent Schlender of BNET.com, Gates still believes that the netbooks Steve Jobs (gasp!) panned at the iPad unveil are still the devices to beat when it comes to whatever Apple is trying to accomplish with its magical and revolutionary tablet. In other news, the sun is hot. Gates offered his assessment about Apple's iPad thusly: "You know, I'm a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard — in other words a netbook — will be the mainstream on that. So, it's not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where I say, 'Oh my God, Microsoft didn't aim high enough.' It's a nice reader, but there's nothing on the iPad I look at and say, 'Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.'" Although comments such as this are oftentimes brushed aside as competitive sour grapes, there's been enough criticism about the iPad to give Gates a bit of covering fire for his statement. At the same time, Apple has successfully pulled off enough iPods and iPhones for every one of its Apple TV's and Cubes to get some benefit of the doubt. So who's going to be right? That, my friends, is why I don't get paid the big bucks (i.e. I don't know) Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that Apple has made agreements with some content providers to provide TV shows at the iTunes store for $1. No word on whether that's just for standard content or if HD video is included. The new low price is apparently part of an upcoming test to see whether the increased affordability will be enough to tempt digital cheapskates to drive up demand for paid video. Are $1 videos enough to stave off BitTorrent downloads? That, my friends, is why — well, you know the drill. Photo © Microsoft iPan: Bill Gates Unimpressed by Apple iPad originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 00:01:16.
Omniphone to Use Dolby Laboratories' Cloud Music Format Omniphone, which provides cloud-based music services for major consumer electronics vendors, has annouced that it has struck a deal with Dolby Laboratories to use its new Dolby Pulse audio format. Boasting up to 4 times more bandwidth and data rate efficiency compared to other file formats, Dolby Pulse is a multi-platform file format especially suited for music delivery from the 'cloud'. If you're not familiar with this buzzword, then it's simply just another term to describe Internet-based solutions. In the case of Dolby Pulse, this file format is particularly suited for delivering streaming music to mobile devices, and other consumer electronics that use streaming audio -- home computers, in-home or in-car devices that use digital music services are examples.
Omniphone intend to use the software that Dolby Laboratories supply (Dolby Media Generator) to encode their entire music catalog that currently contains over 6.5 million tracks. Looking at the inner-workings of Dolby Pulse, the file format is basically the same as the HE-AAC (High Efficiency AAC) format, but differs by the integration of Dolby metadata -- this ensures the quality and consistency of the broadcast is maintained. Kevin Yeaman, who is the president and CEO of Dolby Laboratories said, "As digital content services and networked devices become part of our day-to-day lives, the ability to deliver digital content in the most efficient file format becomes increasingly important." So far this is the second article this year concerning new music formats --will this year see the largest change in how digital music services deliver audio? Related Articles:
Omniphone to Use Dolby Laboratories' Cloud Music Format originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 07:36:14.
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