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What you should know about Apple's tablet
(InfoWorld)
InfoWorld - After all these months of speculation, the iPad is now official: An oversized iPod Touch essentially, with access to the same capabilities of an iPhone (minus the phone) such as Web browsing, video and music playback, e-mail, contact management, game-playing, and map-based navigation.
NAMM Update: Numark Announces HDX HD/CD/MP3 player
Numark announced the HDX, a tabletop HD/CD/MP3 player with an high torque, motorized 12-inch platter.
China court sides with Baidu in music piracy case
(AFP)
AFP - A Chinese court has ruled in favour of the nation's top search engine Baidu, saying its links to music downloads do not constitute piracy, state media and a recording industry body said Tuesday.
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.
HP launches digital music venture in Europe
(AP)
AP - Hewlett-Packard Co. said Monday it was partnering with U.K. mobile music startup Omnifone Ltd. to launch a subscription music service on its personal computers in Europe, moving into a market dominated by Apple Inc.'s iTunes.
iTunes Hits Two Billion Sold Milestone
Apple today announced that more than two billion songs, 50 million television episodes and over 1.3 million feature-length films have been purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store.
MP3 Tech Commentary
Asus Joins Fray with DR-950 eReader And the eReader party keeps getting bigger. The Interweb was aflutter today after word broke out about computer maker Asus' new eBook reader, the DR-950. Given the plethora of eReaders unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, you basically have what amounts to a feeding frenzy for the sector. According to Web site Electricpig, Asus' DR-950 sports a 9-inch touchscreen with a 1024x760 resolution display. It's also only 9 millimeters thin and will weigh less than the juggernaut in its sights — Amazon's Kindle DX. Other features include either 2GB or 4GB of internal memory, SD slot, Wi-Fi, USB port, an audio port, RSS feed software and text-to-speech. (The juvenile in me now can't wait to test the text-to-speech function by typing "To get passed around like a bad cold, please press one. To get stuck in an endless loop of pressing buttons, please press two. If you think Jason Hidalgo is da bomb, press three...") With the latest addition to the eReader fray, I can't help but wonder if the market is truly getting oversaturated. Seriously, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if McDonald's released its own eReader, the eMc-Squared (Get it? eMC squared as in — um, just forget it). Yeah, laugh all you want now but I'm telling ya... Photo © Asus Asus Joins Fray with DR-950 eReader originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 00:01:18.
Acer to Release eReader, Plus New App Store and Google Netbook Is the eReader hot tub getting crowded or what? Say what you will about the viability of eBook readers as an industry. But the list of companies wading into the eReader waters just keeps goin' and goin'. The latest player to hop on the eReader bandwagon is computer giant Acer, Inc., which announced plans to launch an eBook reader by the middle of the year. According to Bloomberg News, the Acer eReader will feature a 6-inch monochrome screen and be available for sale sometime in June. Of course, when dealing with heavyweights such as Amazon and Sony, you're gonna need some "strategery." For Acer, the plan is to concentrate on European countries and Asia to take advantage of Amazon and Barnes and Noble's "U.S.-centric approach." 'Cause when one hot tub is getting too full, you can always hop into the less crowded tub at a neighboring house (provided you've got permission, of course). As part of the same announcement, Acer also announced that it will launch its own app store and a new netbook that runs on Google's Chrome operating system instead of Windows. In fact, the company plans to offer Chrome in at least 10 percent of the netbooks it sells. The latter is apparently part of a strategic attempt for No. 2 Acer to overtake HP as the No. 1 computer supplier in the world while also changing the current "Microsoft-Intel" environment. Looks like somebody thinks a certain couple is taking way too much space in the PC jacuzzi, if you know what I mean. Acer to Release eReader, Plus New App Store and Google Netbook originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at 00:11:16.
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.
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Free Music Downloads This Week As we near the end of another year, here is the last selection of free music downloads for 2009 - don't worry though, there will be plenty more in 2010! If you're planning on a New Year's Eve party, then be sure to check out the first freebie in particular that's over 30 minutes of non-stop music! Happy New Year to you all! Artist/Band: MoneyPenny Artist/Band: The Little Death Artist/Band: Dan Black Related Articles:
Genre: Club / Electro / Disco House
Free Music Download: Spandex Xmas Mixtape 9 (31:35). This mighty mixtape from MoneyPenny is a non-stop mix of electronic dance music which is ideal for any New Year's eve party! For more free mixtape downloads by MoneyPenny, check out their MySpace page.
Genre: Rock / Blues / Soul
Free Music Download: Why My Baby (4:06). Taken from their self-titled new album, this track shows off the bands musical style which is a mix of rock riffs, blues, and soulful melodies. As an added bonus, there's also a second download this week from The Little Death's new album called, Won't Ever Let You Down Again (6:27). The new 13-track album is now available digitally from digital music services and via the band's MySpace web page.
Genre: Electronica
Free Music Download: Pass That Head Noize (Missy Elliot Cover) (3:21). Dan Black is a British electronica artist who is also a former member of 'The Servant' band. The free promotional track that you can download is a good example of Dan's electro-pop/hip hop style. Incidentally, the U.S. version of his new album, ((UN)), (Polydor Records) will have a bonus selection of extra tracks and is expected, spring 2010.
Free Music Downloads This Week originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 09:00:06.
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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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Lockheed Martin Locks, Loads and Fires New USB Drive Now what is this we have here, hmm? Aeronautics and weapons firm Lockheed Martin took off the stealthy shroud from its latest project and it's ... a USB drive? To quote one lady I saw at Pizzeria Bianco after being told the wait was three hours: "Huh?" Now, try as hard as I can, I can't seem to see a hidden missile bay or laser in this thing. Which can only mean that this thing truly is a USB drive. More specifically, it's called the "IronClad," which is exactly the opposite of the excuse one of my buddies had after his girlfriend caught him staring at another woman. ("Um, I was thinking about you the whole time?") Anywho, the IronClad USB is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and IronKey and is supposed to shrink "a laptop's hard drive - including the entire operating system, software applications, and files - onto a secure flash drive." Now that sounds a bit more Lockheed Martin-ish. Of course, given the company's haughty claims about the security of its new "PC on a stick," they're pretty much inviting every enterprising hacker to create a bug that could infect the darn thing. It's like walking around with a huge bullseye at a darts tournament. Then again, Lockheed Martin wouldn't be Lockheed Martin without the bravado. Photo © Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin Locks, Loads and Fires New USB Drive originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 00:01:18.
iPad Tweets Hit 7,400 Per Minute; Plus iPad Accessories Regardless of whether you thought the iPad is the best thing ever or slated for disappointment (Get it? Slated? As in iSla... never mind) one thing is true: It was certainly buzzworthy. According to the Retrevo "Buzzmeter" pictured above, the iPad reveal was a smashing success Twitterwise, averaging between 500 to 600 tweets per minute. At one point, Twitter activity actually peaked to 7,400 tweets per minute! This is not to be confused with twits per minute, though I'm sure Microsoft fanboys don't see a distinction at this point. In comparison, celebrity topics such as "Britney Spears" typically get 10 to 20 tweets per minute. I'm not saying that Britney is a passe example, but maybe they should've gone with someone like Lady Gaga (Quick Trivia: Did you know that "gaga" is Filipino for "foolish woman" while "gago" is the male version? In short, make sure you don't sing "Gaga, ooh la la" from "Bad Romance" in a Filipino store, especially around older women. Consider yourself warned.) Anyway, it looks like activity peaked at 10:30 a.m. when El Steve-o was going through specs. The Buzzmeter also hit 5,400 TPM when the device was announced in 10:10 a.m. and 4,900 at 11:30 as the event wrapped up. Other high points include the New York Times demo and the iBook store demo, proof that reading truly is fundamental. (Somewhere out there, the newspaper industry is crossing its downsized fingers.) In other news, iLuv just unveiled a who line of iPad accessories. Was that fast or what? It's almost like the commercials you see after the Superbowl congratulating fans of the winning team and saying commemorative shirts are available. The announcement was for a line of iLuv leather and fabric cases plus three kinds of screen protectors. Like I said in my blog of the iPad reveal, third-party manufacturers are likely squealing with joy right now. Photos © Retrevo; iLuv iPad Tweets Hit 7,400 Per Minute; Plus iPad Accessories originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 19:07:07.
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