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MP3 Player News & Headlines
Apple's ITunes Store Serves up 10 Billionth Song
(PC World)
PC World - Apple's iTunes Store hit a landmark on Wednesday with the download of its 10 billionth song.
New free music sites learn from others' mistakes
(AP)
AP - Two new companies are giving consumers a way to download songs for free by watching a few ads. The idea has been tried before but this time it appears it might work, because the startups have found advertisers that are willing to pay around $2 to have a moment of your time.
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.
The Eight Thousand Dollar Piano-Shaped ipod Table
The Concerto Table, a piano-shaped table designed by Nicholas Lovegrove & Demian Repucci, has to be one of the most expensive and exclusive iPod accessories yet.
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.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Samsung to Collaborate With, Compete Against iPad It's not you baby, it's me. As the supplier of processors for Apple's iPad, Samsung says it has a lot of love for the latest gadget from the Cupertino, Calif.-based company. If so, it certainly has a funny way of showing it. Bloomberg reports that Samsung plans to release its own entry in the suddenly hot tablet market, putting it in direct competition with the iPad. "We will respond," said J.K. Shin, president of Samsung's mobile-communication division. That kinda, sorta almost sounds like a declaration war but you know what they say about that and love. Still, it's not like Samsung's interest in the slate tablet market comes as a complete surprise. It is a major electronics manufacturer at all (I remember the company having collaborations with competitor Sony as well). In fact, I would be quite curious to see how Samsung's iPad competitor would end up looking like. I would also be curious to see what kind of delicate tightrope dance Samsung ends up performing given its position. As for details on the prospective Samsung slate tablet, Shin says it's still a bit too early to provide details. Oh Samsung, you Casanova you. (For more Apple iPad-related content, check out our iPad Central page.) Samsung to Collaborate With, Compete Against iPad originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 01:31:29.
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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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 MP3 downloads in our music discovery spotlight this week are: Artist/Band: Rich Hil Artist/Band: Groove Armada Artist/Band: Yes Giantess Related Articles:
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
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
Genre: Pop / Electronic
Free Music Download: The Ruins (3:04)
Extras: More free MP3 tracks (published previously) via our free music downloads blog
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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Does The New Apple iPad Make a Great Portable Music Player? Since the official iPad announcement from Apple last Wednesday (Jan. 27), there's been a lot of talk in the blogsphere and gadget world about its features. According to an article from AppleInsider, the Apple iPad can play music for up to 6 days if you turn the screen off -- not ideal when browsing your music library! So, how about its other features? Does it have the potential for being a portable device that you can use for your digital music collection? An article from CNET, highlights deficiencies in the iPad that impact on its capabilities for being a great portable music player. For one, the iPad runs a version of the iPhone OS and not Mac OS, so it isn't capable of running the full version of iTunes. Instead, it acts just like an iPod or iPhone which you have to connect to your computer. CNET's article points out that wireless sync should have been a 'no brainer' when dealing with music files stored on your home network. Another downside according to the article was poor music playback via the built-in speakers. So, in light of these reported deficiencies, you might want to hold on to your portable music player a while longer before trading it in for a shiny new iPad. Image Courtesy of Apple. Related Articles:
Many have pointed out the advantages that the iPad has to offer when performing visual tasks such as: surfing the Web; reading e-books; writing email; and watching videos, but is it any good for listening to digital music?
Does The New Apple iPad Make a Great Portable Music Player? originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 09:00:17.
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