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
Parliament Report Stirs Lobbying Drive on Internet Piracy
(PC World)
PC World - Should teenagers who illegally download music, films and the like in their bedrooms be treated like criminal gangs counterfeiting everything from life-saving drugs to Gucci handbags?
Sony, Jackson estate ink 250-million-dollar deal
(AFP)
AFP - Sony and administrators for Michael Jackson's estate confirmed Tuesday they signed a 250-million-dollar deal that will include releasing new music the pop icon was working on before his death.
Mac Laptop Explodes Flames
Apple laptops are known for their tendency to run hot; apparently, they run hot enough that they sometimes burst into flames....
iriver clix: iPod/iTunes Killer?
iriver has introduced the clix portable media player, a new media player that integrates with the new Windows Media Player 11 and the public beta of MTV Networks URGE digital music service
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.
Sony in new music deal with Michael Jackson estate
(Reuters)
Reuters - The King of Pop is dead; long live the King of Pop.
Apple: More than 70 Percent of 2007 Cars will have iPod Support
More than 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles will offer iPod integration.
The Soundtrack to My First Semester
(BusinessWeek)
BusinessWeek - A first semester in business school is probably best summed up through some sort of interpretive dance.Refusing to be confined to words only, I am supplementing this entry with music."My B-school Playlist" (downloadable here) is a song collection recapping my first semester. 1) Jordin Sparks, Battlefield Business school is the most intense thing I have done -- and that includes fleeing a war-torn country. The pace of classes is brutal and the amount of learning intense. As a career-switcher, I've had to add researching companies and pursuing informational interviews to my plate. ...
MP3 Tech Commentary
Free Music Downloads This Week The free music downloads in our spotlight this week are: Artist/Band: Erik Hassle Artist/Band: Groove Armada Artist/Band: Scanners Related Articles:
Genre: Pop / Rock / Soul
Free Music Download: Hurtful (Penguin Prison Remix) (4:36)
Music Video: Hurtful (2010 Version)
Album: Hurtful single available from the iTunes Store.
Genre: Electronic
Free Music Download: Paper Romance (Clasixx Remix) (4:51)
Music Video: Paper Romance
Extras: More free Groove Armada tracks via our previous music download blog.
Album: Black Light due for release March 2010 (Om Records).
Genre: Alternative / Pop / Indie
Free Music Download: We Never Close Our Eyes (3:28)
Album: Submarine (Dim Mak Records) available now digitally from iTunes and other digital music services.
Free Music Downloads This Week originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 11:03:10.
Permalink | Comment | Email this
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.
Permalink | Comment | Email this
Free Music Downloads This Week The free music downloads in our spotlight this week are: Artist/Band: The Mary Onettes Artist/Band: Echo & The Bunnymen Artist/Band: Turbogeist Related Articles:
Genre: Indie / Pop / Rock
Free Music Downloads: Puzzles (4:35) ¦ Dare (3:48)
Music Video: Puzzles
Album: The above tracks are taken from The Mary Onettes full-length album, Islands, (Labrador) which is now available digitally.
Genre: Alternative / Rock / Indie
Free Music Download: Proxy (3:15)
Album: Their new album, The Fountain, (Ocean Rain Records) is now available from leading digital music services.
Genre: Powerpop / Thrash
Free Music Download: Alien Girl (3:37)
Free Music Downloads This Week originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, March 12th, 2010 at 09:50:39.
Permalink | Comment | Email this
Barnes & Noble, Samsung Announce eReader Partnership Among the many eReaders I saw at this year's Consumer Electronic Show, one of the devices that stood out was Samsung's slide out eReader — largely due to its interesting design. At the time, the device was supposed to be a prototype, although it looks like the same eReader was recently shown at New York's Time Warner Center. According to PC World, Samsung also announced a deal with Barnes & Noble for eReader content. That would be the same Barnes & Noble that offers its own eReader, the Nook, although the company apparently doesn't see any conflict in inking deals with rival eReader makers. "We want to enable e-reading everywhere," said B&N executive vice president of e-commerce operations, Kevin Frain. In short any device that brings extra business to the B&N online store is more than welcome to do so. B&N is the second content provider announced by Samsung, which also made a deal with Google Books previously. Anywho, Samsung's $299 slide-out eReader features a 6-inch E Ink display and is compatible with PDF, EPUB and TEXT files. It also throws in a MicroSD slot on top of its internal memory, a magnetic resonance stylus, and wireless connectivity via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It even has built-in speakers. No word yet on an actual drop date, although a release appears to be imminent. Photo by Jason Hidalgo Barnes & Noble, Samsung Announce eReader Partnership originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 04:29:33.
Have You Checked Your MP3 Library For Errors Lately? Just like any file on your hard drive, digital music files can suffer damage. If you're lucky enough to have only suffered minor damage, then you may just hear the occasional pop or click while playing certain music files. However, if some of the MP3s on your hard drive are more corrupt, then you might not be able to play them at all. Obviously, the best way to keep your valuable digital music library safe is to back it up -- but even then, how do you know for sure that all your files are error-free? If you've only got a handful of files, then you could listen to each one to find out, but what if you've got hundreds -- or even thousands? Listening to each one until your ears drop off is hardly practical in this case, so what's the alternative? Thankfully there are MP3 error checking tools that you can use to quickly scan your collection for corruption. This method not only saves an enormous amount of time when dealing with large MP3 collections, but also negates the need to check each one manually. For more information, be sure to read our tutorial on How to Check MP3 Files For Errors to quickly scan your music library. Related Articles:
Have You Checked Your MP3 Library For Errors Lately? originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 06:42:22.
Permalink | Comment | Email this
Arctic Sound E361 Headphone Review, Plus iPad Tethering Update Prior to getting a set of their headphones by mail, I've actually never heard of Swiss-based company Arctic Cooling. Formed in 2001, the company produces an interesting mix of electronics devices, including PC cases, CPU coolers, USB chargers and the aforementioned headphones. Since I wasn't familiar with the company, I wasn't expecting much after I unpacked the Arctic Sound E361 headphones and plugged them to my MP3 player. But after listening, well, let's just say that they've now got my attention. Check out my review of the Arctic Sound E361 with built-in mic. In other news, Steve Jobs — or whoever answers his e-mail — has apparently confirmed that the Apple iPad won't be tethering with the iPhone. According to site 9to5mac.com, Swedish DJ Jezper Soderlund got this answer after sending Jobs a question about iPad/iPhone tethering: "No. Sent from my iPhone." Short but perhaps not so sweet for our Mr. Soderlund. Hey, them's the breaks! For those unfamiliar, with the process, tethering is basically the use of a smartphone as a modem of sorts to connect a device such as a laptop to the Internet. Arctic Sound E361 Headphone Review, Plus iPad Tethering Update originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 00:01:51.
Past News Headlines:
March 12 - March 13 - March 14 - March 15 - March 16 - March 17 - March 18