DRM, or Digital Rights Management, never did go over well in the court of public opinion. To the music industry at large, DRM was a mostly futile attempt to lock music down to certain players or systems, thus making it something harder--in theory, anyway--to freely distribute. In reality, however, those who were circumventing the rules in...Read more...
Done with Bose? Looking for something new to strap on your cranium? Audio-Technica has just the thing. The company--which is known for designing cutting-edge, high-end cans--has just issued its ATH-ANC7b QuietPoint active noise-canceling over-ear headphones. Sure, they're just improvements upon an earlier model, but aside from providing 85%...Read more...
LaCie Introduces the First Mobile High-Definition Multimedia Player: LaCinema Rugged HD Enjoy HD movies on any HDTV One cable connection to HDTV via HDMI User-friendly graphical interface Shock-resistant and designed for mobility LaCie announced today its LaCinema Rugged multimedia hard drive is now available in High Definition – LaCinema...Read more...
A vast majority of iPhone applications may end up abandoned, but we know of at least one app that a Los Angeles-based band simply can't do without: FourTrack. As the iPhone continues to push the envelope of what's possible on a smartphone, the band--which goes by 'The 88'--has managed to record an entire track using Apple's smartphone. It's...Read more...
Record label done you wrong? Not a problem if you're Danger Mouse. In a rather bizarre story, the famed music maker and producer (who is one-half of the group Gnarls Barkley) has decided to release a blank CD as his next album. Yes, a blank CD. If you'll recall, group System Of A Down released an album a few years back entitled 'Steal This...Read more...
Napster unveiled its latest plan to compete in the subscription music space by offering a $5 per month service that is similar to what Zune users enjoy. Through Napster’s latest offering, you’ll enjoy a combination of on-demand music streaming and five tracks to download and keep each month. At that price, you basically buy five tracks each...Read more...
Apple has rolled out the 100% DRM free iTunes, otherwise known as iTunes+. With this change also comes variable pricing; songs now cost $0.69, $0.99, or $1.29. Most albums still cost $9.99. Users who have purchased music via iTunes prior to the upgrade have the option to upgrade their songs, albums, or their entire library for a cost of $0.30...Read more...
It's happening everywhere, really. Movie set-top boxes around the world are growing functionality at an alarming rate. Boxee has arrived on the Apple TV. Amazon Video on Demand is on Roku. And now, Pandora -- the world's most loved internet radio source, unscientifically speaking -- is on Vudu.Aside from boasting one of the largest high definition...Read more...
Astoundingly, it looks like the darkest DRM days are behind us. As more and more companies digest the fact that DRM only hurts the legitimate buyers and gives pirates even more incentive to plunder for illicit bounty, we're seeing the DRM shackles removed from music stores across the web. The latest major company to cast aside the chains...Read more...
Although Nokia isn't the hippest brand in America -- in large part due to its reliance on unlocked sales rather than subsidized sales like with the iPhone and BlackBerry Storm -- it does have one differentiator that sets it apart from the competition: "Comes With Music." Said service launched in the UK just months ago, and generally speaking,...Read more...
We've all heard it before -- "turn that music down, or you'll lose your hearing!" According to a European Union scientific body, said phrase has never been truer. According to new data released this week by the EU Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (what a mouthful!), up to ten million young Europeans are "in...Read more...
Line 6, Inc., the industry leader in modeling technology for music products, announces POD Studio KB37, a powerful USB audio interface that combines a 37-key MIDI controller and multiple inputs and outputs with a complete collection of pro audio software that includes POD Farm, the premium tone plug-in."POD Studio KB37 will revolutionize the...Read more...
Just as blogging makes everyone a writer, and digital cameras make everyone a photographer, Microsoft is now looking to make everyone a musician with its new Songsmith software. Songsmith is actually a relatively simple program with some very complex technology behind it. Using "signal processing and artificial intelligence techniques developed...Read more...
Hewlett-Packard's ready to release its latest MediaSmart servers, and, for a change, they don't hate the Mac.The EX485/EX487 are designed for home or home office use, in large part to enable you -- or your friends and family -- to access any media (music, photos, videos, etc.) via the Internet. You can network all your media files from all...Read more...
Early Saturday, Warner removed all of the labels music videos from YouTube after negotiations broke down regarding its licensing agreement with the Google owned video website.This development came as all four major labels including Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and EMI are in negotiations about their licensing deals with YouTube."We are...Read more...
Rivals of Apple's iTunes store and technology rights groups are speaking out. They believe Apple may be unfairly blocking rival software makers from selling music on the iPhone and new iPod Touch. Currently, four out of every five songs purchased on the Internet come from the iTunes store, according to a release from Reuters. This...Read more...
Songbeat has released a new version of its online music search, allowing users to search more engines simultaneously, along with the ability to play, export, and download songs. It can stream from SeeqPod, Project Playlist, Spool.fm, and iAsk, along with downloading music from your last.fm stations. To "download" the music, the Songbeat application...Read more...
We haven't played with this yet but it looks pretty promising. Those of you that struggle with Apple's rather restrictive practices when it comes to taking your music that is on your iPod to another machine, might want to check out the freeware package, SharePod. An intuitive utility for the iPod, iTouch and iPhone, SharePod gives...Read more...
If you are old enough to remember what MTV was like back in the 80's, then somewhere in the far recesses of your mind--sandwiched between memories of Pet Rocks and scrunchies--you once knew that when MTV first launched, "MTV" actually stood for "Music Television." With seemingly back-to-back reality shows and teen dramas now, you'd think that...Read more...
MySpace Music was expected to be successful, but this successful? It was launched at 12 AM EDT on Sept. 25th, and despite that short period of time, it has already streamed over a billion songs (and yes, we have contributed to that streaming). In comparison, (though obviously not fair as iTunes is a pay service, while MySpace Music streams...Read more...
It's no secret that music sales comprised of physical media (i.e. CDs) are down in the face of huge competition from iTunes and other digital distribution channels. At the same time, no one ever said the record labels would give up on physical sales easily. Today SanDisk, along with the four major record labels (Warner Bros., EMI,...Read more...
All right, readers, we're sure some among you participate in the downloading of somewhat dicey material (read: copyrighted). If you could have a license to illegally download as much as you wanted - and yes, we suppose, if you had a license, it would no longer be illegal - how would you feel about it?On the other hand, if you had to pay such...Read more...