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MP3 Player News & Headlines
Griffin Intros Evolve iPod Speakers
Griffin Technology today announced the unveiling of its new lineup of powered speaker systems. Evolve is a speaker system with a flat charging base that holds your iPod in a Universal Dock.
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?
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.
Apple Intros New Mac minis; More Expensive, More Powerful
Apple today unveiled two new Mac mini computers with the Intel Core Duo processor. The new models are more powerful, and at $599 and $799, more expensive than ever.
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.
China without Google: 'a lose-lose scenario'
(AP)
AP - China without Google — a prospect that looks increasingly likely — could mean no more maps on mobile phones. A free music service that has helped to fight piracy might be in jeopardy. China's fledgling Web outfits would face less pressure to improve, eroding their ability to one day compete abroad.
MP3 Tech Commentary
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.
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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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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.
Accell AVGrip Pro Locking Cable Doesn't Screw Around Some locking HDMI cables literally rely on screws for a tight connection. Not so with Accell's AVGrip Pro locking HDMI cable. Once you plug this device in, it's just about as secure as the old ball and chain, thanks to its T-shaped groove. The question is, does it actually deliver a good signal? Check out my review of the high-speed Accell AVGrip Pro locking HDMI cable to find out. Photo by Jason Hidalgo Accell AVGrip Pro Locking Cable Doesn't Screw Around originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Thursday, March 18th, 2010 at 00:01:16.
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.
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Touchy Details on Microsoft Courier The iPad hogged even more attention last week after Apple revealed the official release date for its self-proclaimed magical and revolutionary device. But one potential competitor also managed to generate some buzz recently, thanks to some tasty morsels dug up by tech site Engadget. That would be Microsoft's clamshell tablet, the Courier, which is shaping up as a potential competitor for the iPad. According to Engadget, the tablet/eReader hybrid features a 5-inch by 7-inch touchscreen with a pen-based interface and handwriting recognition. Both screens also feature LCD displays, which means no E Ink a la the iPad. The "digital journal" will be powered by Nvidia's Tegra 2 processor and has the same operating system used by the Zune HD, Pink and Windows Mobile 7 Series. Microsoft has apparently been mum on this subject so far, which means no details yet on pricing or a drop-dead release date. Rumblings so far, though, indicate a release sometime in the second half of this year. Either way, it looks like the Old Evil Empire and the New Evil Empire might have new devices competing against each other soon (cue evil laugh). Photo from Engadget Touchy Details on Microsoft Courier originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 00:01:46.
Free Music Albums: Pretty Lights to Release Trilogy of Free EPs Colorado-based Pretty Lights (aka Derek Vincent Smith), has announced a trilogy of EPs due for release in 2010. The first album, Making Up a Changing Mind, is already available (released March 2) and can be downloaded from the official Website. Even though Pretty Lights' albums can be downloaded for free, there's also a donate button for each EP should your conscience get the better of you. This isn't the first time that we've seen bands and artists offering their music to the masses in this way. In 2007, British rock band, Radiohead, offered music fans their In Rainbows album for whatever price they wanted to pay. Nine Inch Nails also offered fans an exclusive deal for its Ghosts I-IV instrumental collection rather than going through the traditional route of using a record label. As well as Pretty Lights' upcoming trilogy of new EPs, there are also other albums that can also be downloaded for whatever you deem as a fair price. Related Articles:
Free Music Albums: Pretty Lights to Release Trilogy of Free EPs originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 09:00:00.
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iGamble: Web Site YouWager.com Taking Bets on iPad Sales Wanna bet on how fast the iPad sells 1 million units? Not quite sure there's an app for that. But there is at least one web site that's taking wagers for it. Seriously. Folks have apparently placed bets on how fast the iPad reaches 1 million unit sales at YouWager.com, with the pessimists gaining the upper hand so far. As of mid-March, 72 percent of prognosticators believe it will take the iPad more than 74 days to break the million barrier, according to a release sent by the site. This bet apparently pays -250 at this point, with the bet that the iPad will sell 1 million under 74 days paying +125 so far. Already, YouWager.com itself is describing the first-day iPad pre-order numbers of 120,000 as underwhelming. Then again, Apple Insider is now reporting that based on the latest numbers, some sources believe iPad sales in its first three months could eclipse sales for the iPhone during its first three months. In case you wanted to know, the iPhone sold about 1.2 million units in its first three months. But three-month sales are for 90-plus days so I'm not quite sure what the final breakdown would be for the iPad for 74 days, even if it outpaces iPhone sales by a certain amount. Thank goodness I don't gamble. Photo © Apple iGamble: Web Site YouWager.com Taking Bets on iPad Sales originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Friday, March 19th, 2010 at 01:18:38.
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