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MP3 Player News & Headlines
How they work: FreeAllMusic and Guvera
(AP)
AP - The hardest part about both FreeAllMusic.com and Guvera.com is clearing the waiting list to get invited to join. After that, there are two different ways of finding songs to download.
Performers see tiny returns from streaming music
(Reuters)
Reuters - As the music business continues to watch traditional revenue streams slow or even evaporate, a good deal of faith often has been placed in what's hailed as a panacea for the industry's ills: online streaming.
Man Destroys iPod In A Blender
Blendtec, a company that makes heavy duty blenders, is destroying iPods to help sell $400 blenders.
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.
Apple Intros 8GB iPod nano Red
Apple today announced a new 8GB model of the iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition. The new 8GB iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition holds up to 2,000 songs and is available for $249, joining the 4GB model priced at $199.
Thumbplay appoints Apple exec as technology chief
(AP)
AP - Thumbplay Inc., a company that provides content such as music and games for cell phones, said Monday it has named Apple Inc.'s Pablo Calamera its first chief technology officer.
The Strangest iPod Accessory Ever?
Thanko has introduced a bizarre iPod box speaker that may be the strangest iPoc accessory ever.
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.
MP3 Tech Commentary
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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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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Nintendo Gets on eReader Bandwagon Some people scoffed when Nintendo first announced its ginormous DSi XL. But all that extra real estate apparently comes with at least one benefit: better readability. This, um, "power up" apparently isn't lost on Nintendo, which will be releasing a DS eBook title on June 14, according to BusinessWeek. Called "100 Classic Books," the title will retail for $19.99 and put content in your DS that even your grandmother will love — or at least recognize. The eBooks should be especially fitting with the larger DSi XL, which will be released in the U.S. on March 28 for $189.99. Still, it's important to note that while the DSi XL screen looks particularly hulking compared to the old DS "phat," DS Lite and DSi, it's still relatively piddly compared to even the smaller dedicated eReaders. But hey, if people actually use an iPhone as an eReader, then there should be no reason why the same thing can be done with the DS, right? Anywho, get ready to start squinting in about four months. (For more info about the Nintendo DS, check out About.com's DS site.) Photo © Nintendo Nintendo Gets on eReader Bandwagon originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 00:01:28.
Web Radio: Tune into Thousands of Radio Stations From Your Desktop If you're old enough (like me) to remember when there wasn't an Internet, then you'll probably have memories of fiddling around with the tuner on your radio trying to find a decent music station to listen to. If you were really lucky, you may have also had a built-in analog tape deck that you could use to record radio onto compact cassette tape. These days, it's so much easier (and convenient) to listen to radio. With the invention of the Internet, we are now accustomed to listening to music on-demand via streaming audio, MP3 downloads, music services, and other Internet-based delivery methods. Web radio, or more commonly referred to as Internet radio, is very similar to traditional radio in that you can tune into radio stations that broadcast over the Internet; a lot of terrestrial-based stations also broadcast over the Web. However, one of the biggest advantages of using this technology, is that you can access thousands of stations from all over the world -- something that couldn't be done before the digital age. But how do we access this enormous resource of music? One of the most convenient ways is to use software that can play streaming music straight to your desktop. As well as popular software media players such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, and Winamp which can access Web radio, there's alternative light-weight applications that specialize in delivering Internet radio. The big advantage of using a dedicated Web radio software program is that many of them offer more functions such as being able to record what you're listening to -- similar to the old cassette tape. For more information on listening to and recording Internet radio stations, be sure to read our article on Free Web Radio Software. Related Articles:
Web Radio: Tune into Thousands of Radio Stations From Your Desktop originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 09:00:36.
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Accessorizing the Apple iPad Accessories complete the whole package. Just ask the ladies. Or Apple. Or the slew of third-party companies now ready to cash in on the latest sexy gadget on the block, the iPad. Want to know the latest on the iPad's supporting cast? Then check out our new Apple iPad Accessories page. Oooooh, new stuff... Accessorizing the Apple iPad originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 00:01:27.
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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