Don't forget that MTV's new online music site, Urge, launches today. Be the first on your block to download the beta at www.urge.com.
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Always lots of noise about satellite radio like Sirius and XM, but how about HD Radio?
Anybody buying into that format? Anybody know that much about it (seems like a pretty quiet new technology roll-out, doesn't it?).
Sometimes you wonder why brands associated with one particular slice of life take so long to figure out how to extend themselves into new (but not foreign) territories.
This is how I see MTV's announcment today that it will enter the online music business with the launch of its new download service called "Urge." Remember, this is the cable network group that helped popularize music videos two decades ago ("Video Killed the Radio Star").
Making its debut (albeit a public beta) on Wednesday, Urge comes integrated into the newest version of Microsoft's Windows Media Player, which users of Microsoft's Windows will receive in coming weeks as an upgrade. Prior to that, the player upgrade will be available for download at the Urge and Microsoft Web sites.
At the time of launch, Urge is scheduled to have more than 2 million tracks, which can be purchased individually at 99 cents or as full albums starting at $9.95. The service also will offer unlimited downloads at a monthly rate of $9.95, or $14.95 for the ability to transfer songs to any of more than 100 compatible portable music players. Initially, URGE will also feature streaming videos, with video downloads becoming available for purchase later this year.
Urge will also be the featured music service on Microsoft's media player, which will continue to have built-in links to several other services. The company has begun clearing content from its vault of exclusive appearances by recording artists on staples such as "TRL" and "MTV Unplugged" for sale on Urge.
To read more about it, check out any number of Web sites; the Detroit News had particularly good coverage.
Much ado earlier this week about Apple Computer winning a British court case that enables it to keep its bitten-apple logo on iTunes.
Seems that Apple Corps (representinng living and deceased members of the Fab Four) thought that symbol infringed on their own logo.
After one company sends some money to the other company as penalty, legal fees, etc., the ultimate question remains: Why can't you legally download Beatles songs from iTunes or any other music site? Can an agreement be reached sometime soon ...
The iPod Nano is still selling like hotcakes and Case Closed Bags is still one of my favorites for iPod cases (as well as other stuff, like laptop bags and cell phone cases.
Can't go wrong with their selection of red, black, pink, green, purple, orange and lime leather Nano cases for $24.95 each.
Check it out. www.caseclosedbags.com
Yes, once again, one of the most famous (or notorious) music download sites -- Napster -- is free.
However, things are a bit different now as Napster moves to an advertiser-supported model that allows users to listen to songs for free five times before paying for a song or monthly subscription. Walt Disney Co. and Guitar Center are among the site's new sponsors, and record labels will get a cut of the advertising revenue.
Check out the blurb on the IAB SmartBrief newsletter or the whole scoop at www.usatoday.com.
It’s interesting how the hottest of hot technologies gradually cools and fades away.
I’m thinking about this after visiting Best Buy to buy a cassette player for my elderly uncle who loves to listen to books on tape. Now Best Buy is a big store and after wandering around awhile, I had to ask a salesperson, who carefully directed me to the “Personal Audio” section. This single row of products featured a sparse selection of CD players – mostly Sony – and only one cassette player with headphones (also a Sony); lots of hanging space, not too many products. Just one cassette player! And only a couple of CD players!
Now we’re talking about two technologies that were once the reddest of red hot technologies – the mobile cassette player (which made the Gadgets Hall of Fame when Sony introduced the Walkman) – and the mobile CD player, which turned digital music into something that we could take with us wherever we wanted to go. It’s an ongoing equation: no Walkman = no CD player = no iPod. (See www.ieee-virtual-museum.org for a walk back in time.)
It’s hard to imagine and look into the future with any certainty – especially in consumer electronics and gadgets – but don’t be too surprised in a decade or two in the future that the iPod and other MP3 players will occupy that same lonely little area that cassette and CD players do today.
Only time will tell (and the voice of consumers, voting with our wallets) …
Didn't take Steve Jobs and Apple long to respond to my blog entry on "How to Prevent Hearing Loss" from a week ago.
Seems Apple just announced a software update for the iPod that would let users set a maximum volume limit. The update is available as a free download from Apple at http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ipodupdater20060323.html.
Maybe it wasn't the blog, but the class action suit; any steps to prevent hearing loss are a good thing ...
Like the old Mad Magazine’s Spy vs. Spy, we now have the latest version of Apple vs. Apple.
According to Newsfactor, Apple Computer will meet the Beatles' Apple Corps in court this week in London, where a judge will decide if iTunes violates a 1991 agreement between the two companies that supposedly blocked the computer maker from selling music.
Apple Corps, which represents the Beatles' business interests and markets their post-1968 recordings, wants the computer firm to stop using the "Apple" trademark to sell recordings online and it requests unspecified damages. The maker of Macintosh personal computers and iPods says the agreement permits using the Apple name to sell online data transfers, which are what downloaded songs amount to.
The judge hearing the case, Justice Edward Mann, has admitted to being an iPod user (how about that!), but neither side has asked him to recuse himself on account of this.
For details on the earlier two lawsuits between the companies, dial into http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=1300046L6SBY.
Loved the mobiBLU DAH-1500i Cube MP3 Player when I wrote about it last year. Now. there's a new 2 Gigabyte version, adding to the existing 512MB and 1GB versions.
With its unique cube form factor at less than one-inch on all dimensions, the Cube MP3 Player is the world’s smallest, full featured MP3 player -- and it weighs only 18 grams!
The 2GB Cube is identical to the original players and has the following key features:
- 2GB Flash Memory Storage – Holds up to 500 songs in MP3 (@ 128kbps bitrate) to 1000 songs in WMA (@ 64kbps bitrate)
- Sports an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode Display) that provides easy to read, ultra crisp graphics and text on the display screen
- Supports MP3, WMA, and Protected WMA (Digital Rights Management)
- Plug-and-Play -- A Universal Mass Storage Device, The Cube shows up as a removable drive when attached to a PC so files can be easily transferred to the player by simple drag-and-drop; non-music files, too
- Compatible with and synchronizes with Windows Media Player (required for protected WMA files)
- Outstanding audio quality and features SRS WOW audio enhancement
- Integrated FM Tuner and FM recording (record FM broadcasts on-the-fly)
- Voice Recorder (using the Cube’s internal microphone)
- Clock Function – displays date and time
- Unique single multifunction connector that handles USB 2.0 connectivity, charging and headphones
- Comes with a necklace style earbud set that allows the user to hang The Cube around the neck while and listen to music
- Colors -- Choice of four: Black, Blue, Silver and Pin
- Compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems
Price: $159.99