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MP3 News & Headlines for March 11, 2010

By Robert B.

MP3 Players today are extremely popular amongst everyone from teenagers to hip seniors. New and old companies alike are constantly releasing newer and better models.

Browse recent news and commentary related to MP3 player developments, using the links below.

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MP3 Player News & Headlines

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.

Summary Box: OnLive game streaming to come in June (AP)
AP - THE SERVICE: OnLive will let you "stream" popular high-end games over the Internet, using a mechanism similar to watching TV shows or listening to music online.

Billboard CD reviews: Jimi Hendrix, Holmes Brothers (Reuters)
Reuters - There are unending reasons why "genius" will forever be attached to Jimi Hendrix -- not the least of which is the voluminous amount of first-rate material that's been released in the 40 years since the guitar legend's death. "Valleys of Neptune," an hour-plus of unreleased material that marks the first foray in Experience Hendrix's Jimi Hendrix Catalog Project with Sony Legacy, is one of the most satisfying and illuminating of these posthumous exercises.

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.

Griffin Intros PowerBlock Travel, International USB Power Adapter
Griffin Technology has introduced PowerBlock Travel, a package designed to simplify charging your USB devices (including iPods) while traveling.

Pink Floyd battles EMI in online royalties case (Reuters)
Reuters - Pink Floyd on Tuesday launched legal action against record label EMI in a case that centres around royalty payments and how music is sold in the digital age.

Phantom of Opera sequel opens amid "phan" disquiet (Reuters)
Reuters - The sequel to "Phantom of the Opera", one of the biggest musicals of all time, opens in London on Tuesday amid disquiet among die-hard "phans" who have been posting opinions online since previews began two weeks ago.

NAMM Update: Denon DJ Intros DN-S3500 Tabletop CD/MP3 Player
Denon DJ introduced the DN-S3500 tabletop CD/MP3 player, featuring a powerful 12-pole Direct Drive motor, 7 on-board effects and intuitive control.


MP3 Tech Commentary

Apple iPad Release Date Now April 3

ipad_wifi

Just updated the iPad Central and iPad Availability sections with the official release date from Apple, which is now April 3. According to Apple, folks can start pre-ordering the iPad from the online Apple Store or making reservations at retail outlets starting Friday March 12.

With talk about a launch delay panning out, albeit by just a smidgen (the iPad Wi-Fi version was originally slated for a late March launch), does this mean that rumors of a May launch for the iPad Wi-Fi+3G version — originally slated for an April release — have some credence as well?

Photo © Apple

Apple iPad Release Date Now April 3 originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 13:12:14.

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A $150 eReader This Year? Plus AP, Conde Naste Eye eReaders and iPad

Rejoice, literate cheapskates!

Chip maker Freescale, which counts Amazon and Sony among its customers, recently announced that it has created a faster processor that will lower prices of eBook readers. The i.MX508 processor, which is twice as fast as the ones currently in use, should result in an eReader hitting the magical $150 price point as early as this year, according to Wired.com. (The company claims that it supplies 90 percent of the processors used by eReaders on the market.)

A separate report by Reuters estimates the savings from the device to equal about $30, which doesn't sound like a lot. But every little bit certainly helps a sector that's seeing both phenomenal sales growth but is also under siege from new slate tablets such as Apple's iPad.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press and magazine publisher Conde Naste are both planning to provide more content to electronic devices such as cell phones, eReaders and Apple's iPad.

According to eWeek.com, the AP considers the move as a way to free itself from the constraints of the Web and deliver news to consumers directly. Conde Nast, meanwhile, hopes that putting more resources on digital content will help boost revenue streams.

As a young dinosaur who's nowhere close to retirement and works in what's now considered the prehistoric field of print journalism, anything that can boost revenue streams is certainly worth a shot to me.

A $150 eReader This Year? Plus AP, Conde Naste Eye eReaders and iPad originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 00:01:07.

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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?

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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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iPad Availability Update: Launch Still a Go, 3G Delayed Until May?

In response to ongoing talk this week concerning delays and non-delays of the Apple iPad, I've updated our iPad availability page with the latest information so far. This includes denials from suppliers about a delay and talk that while the Wi-Fi version should launch as scheduled, the 3G version might be delayed until May.

iPad Availability Update: Launch Still a Go, 3G Delayed Until May? originally appeared on About.com Portable Entertainment on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 13:10:11.

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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.

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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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Arctic Sound E361 Headphone Review, Plus iPad Tethering Update

arctic-sound-E361

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.

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Touchy Details on Microsoft Courier

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.

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Free Music Downloads This Week

The free music downloads in our spotlight this week are:

Artist/Band: Erik Hassle
Genre: Pop / Rock / Soul
Free Music Download: Following on from last week's free Hurtful track, here's another free track from Erik Hassle -- Be Mine (featuring Ellie Goulding) (2:44)
Extras: More cover song videos from Erik Hassle's offical YouTube channel.
Album: Hurtful single available from the iTunes Store.


Artist/Band: One eskimO
Genre: Indie / Rock / Shoegaze
Free Music Download: Kandi (4:05)
Music Videos: Kandi (Band Version) ¦ Kandi (Animated Version)
Album: One EskimO (Shangrila Music LLC) available now from iTunes, Amazon MP3, and other digital music services.


Artist/Band: The Disco Biscuits
Genre: Jam Band / Electronica / Experimental
Free Music Download: On Time (3:35)
Extras: You and I (The Juan MacLean Remix) (10:11) via RCRD LBL.
Album: Planet Anthem due for release March 16, 2010. You can get an autographed copy of their new album by pre-ordering.


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Free Music Downloads This Week originally appeared on About.com Digital Music on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 08:41:35.

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