11/04, 7:05am
Sonos S5 enables wireless control via iPhone
Sonos has begun shipping its all-in-one wireless music system controlled by iPhone or iPod touch, Sonos ZonePlayer S5. The device is designed for those who only need the player and provides two tweeters, two mid-range drivers and a subwoofer. Users can wirelessly stream music from either iTunes or the Internet and control what music is playing using the company’s free iPhone app (App Store).
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10/02, 2:15pm
Dell PCs to include Napster subscription
PC maker Dell and online music service Napster have come to an agreement that will see the two offering Inspiron and Studio models in Germany, the UK and the US with preloaded content from Napster's music service. Through the agreement, these models will include 60 MP3s of the buyer's choice as well as 12 months of unlimited music streaming from Napster's service. Dell estimates it should save buyers at least the $60 for the individual tracks.
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09/04, 1:15pm
Sonos apps, gear get Twitter support
Sonos on Friday announced through a Twitter post that its CR200 touchscreen controller, Sonos CR for iPhone and Sonos CRs for Mac and PC will get the ability to post tweets on Twitter directly through a given device. The feature should come through a software update that, on the Controller or an Apple device, will bring an onscreen keyboard.
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09/01, 1:00pm
No Napster iPhone app
Napster's streaming and download music service will not be coming to the iPhone via a downloable app in the App Store after all, according to a recent MocoNews report. A rep from Napster said the service, which would be offered at Best Buy stores, is not being sent out for Apple approval because of the high licensing fees involved.
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08/10, 4:50pm
Sonos iPhone app udpated
Sonos has released an update to its iPhone app that works with the company's multi-room music systems. Version 3.0 adds a new "Info View" command that connects to a variety of extra content from sources such as Last.fm, Pandora, Rhapsody, Napster and Sonos Radio. While listening to last.fm, users can view artist information, similar artists or upcoming concert dates.
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08/09, 4:35pm
Sonos Bundle 250 Review
Sonos was founded with the dream of building a reasonably affordable whole home audio solution in an era where many systems did (and often still do) cost several thousand dollars or more. Now on its second generation of hardware and with much more mature software, it's possible the company's music system may have reached its zenith. We want determine just how true that is in our larger review.
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07/20, 12:30pm
RIAA declares DRM dead
Long-time proponent of digital rights management (DRM) protection for music files, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has finally acknowledged that DRM has become obsolete, according to a recent report from TorrentFreak. DRM prevents buyers of digital music tracks from copying them to other devices in an attempt to curb illegal copying. But now, with major music retailers abandoning the format to appease the wishes of the paying public, RIAA chief spokesman Jonathan Lamy says the protection's death is now a matter of fact.
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06/09, 8:35am
Napster Wants iPhone App
Napster is likely to be hiring for possible iPhone and Mac OS X apps based on a job listing at Craigslist. The Los Angeles software engineer position would require both experience with OS X iPhone elements, such as Cocoa Touch, as well as Mac OS X-specific features. What projects the recruit would work on are unclear, but Napster says part of its goal would be to have its products "work more effectively and natively" in Mac OS X.
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05/18, 8:10am
Napster 5 Track Stream
Napster this morning tried an alternative to its struggling unlimited and per-track download services by offering an especially low-cost plan. The new plan limits unlimited access to streaming through the web but gives users five MP3 songs to keep each month; in return, subscribers pay just $5 per month. Napster continues to give access to radio stations and playlists and sees the new plan as a way of letting users explore music in a platform-independent way for those who prefer singles instead of whole albums.
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05/14, 3:45pm
Apple in Shazam lawsuit
Apple and AT&T are two of several companies being targeted in a new patent infringement lawsuit, court documents show. The case was initiated by Tune Hunter, a company which owns a patent titled Music identification system, granted in September of 2005. The patent describes "a method for marking the time and the name of the radio station in portable device such as a key holder, watch, cellular phone, beeper or the like which will allow the user to learn via internet [sic] or regular telephone the name of the song, artist and/or music company by matching the stored data with broadcast archive."
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05/11, 4:15pm
Denon 2009 Lineup
Denon's American branch this afternoon bowed its core lineup for 2009 and headlined it with both Blu-ray players as well as network-aware iPod docks. The DBP-2010CI and DBP-1610CI both bring Blu-ray Profile 2.0 support for Internet-based special features and will play both AVC (H.264) and DivX video in HD. The higher-end 2010CI touts a higher-grade Anchor Bay digital imaging processor and a serial port for home automation. Both ship in July with the 1610CI costing $499 and the 2010CI asking a premium at $699.
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05/08, 4:05pm
Spotify denies rumors
UK-based music download site Spotify has denied it will offer unlimited downloads in an attempt to lure listeners away from established names that include iTunes and Napster, Pocket-lint reported on Friday. The rumor had Spotify planning to launch an "unlimited music download service" that cost £9.99 ($15) per month, but a Spotify spokesperson said these rumblings are "100% untrue."
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04/17, 9:15am
Best Buy Movie Store Rumor
If accurate, a rumor floated today will see Best Buy leap into its own online movie store. Entertainment magazine Variety claims to have heard from movie studio executives that the retailer is talking to CinemaNow and "other online movie services" to establish a link between itself and one of these services. While what's involved is uncertain, Best Buy is likely to arrange for a cut of the revenues for each movie viewed and may promote hardware with that movie service's features built-in.
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02/17, 4:05pm
Squeezebox adds Napster
Logitech on Tuesday announced its Squeezebox network music players will now offer the Napster subscription music service. Via their wired or wireless home networks, users will have access to Napster's roughly 7 million-song online library as long as they have active memberships. The service is available both for models with Internet radio support as well as simple network music playback.
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11/11, 2:55pm
Samsung a777 launches
A part of a recent leak, the Samsung a777 has surfaced on AT&T's website without a formal announcement. The quad-band slider phone includes 3G over the carrier's network as well as a 1.3-megapixel camera with 3X digital zoom and support for Bluetooth with stereo audio. An MP3 player app and microSD storage handle media playback.
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11/11, 8:20am
HTC Fuze at ATT
After repeated leaks, AT&T today finally but quietly launched the HTC Fuze. The carrier's adaptation of the Touch Pro brings a customized version of HTC's TouchFLO interface with an AT&T icon as well as support for several of AT&T's services over its tri-band HSPA Internet access, including HBO Mobile video as well as Napster Mobile and XM Radio for music purchases and Internet radio streams.
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10/15, 10:55am
Pioneer XMp3
Pioneer today officially took the wraps from the XMp3, the company's first portable satellite radio since the long out-of-sale Inno. The new handheld is unique in its ability to record five separate XM stations at once, guaranteeing that listeners can preserve more than one show at the same time. It also takes a cue from Slacker in an automatic buffering mode that holds as much as 30 hours of programming at any given time to keep radio going when a subway tunnel or other interference cuts out the satellite signal.
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09/25, 9:20am
iTunes/Pure Play deal
Apple has signed a deal which should see over 1.5 million new songs added to the iTunes Store, reports say. The company has forged an agreement with Pure Play Music, a site which specializes in hosting artists that are otherwise unsigned. The site currently lists a roster of over 6,000 artists from around the world, who operate under a set of non-exclusive rights agreements.
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09/15, 8:50am
Best Buy to Buy Napster
Napster this morning made the surprise announcement that it has entered into an agreement that will see the online store acquired by Best Buy, putting an end to the company's independence. The terms of the deal are largely unavailable apart from a $121 million price but has seen Napster indefinitely delay its annual shareholder's meeting from its originally scheduled September 18th timeframe.
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09/05, 4:25pm
Napster and Lenovo team up
Desktop and notebook PC maker Lenovo and Napster announced an agreement on Friday that will have Napster provide buyers of Lenovo PCs with a free 14-day trial to Napster's Napster To Go digital music service. The offer is valid for most of the models Lenovo sells in North America, and will give the customers access to more than 6 million songs and audio tracks in the Napster MP3 store introduced earlier this year.
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09/04, 11:05am
No iTunes subscriptions?
Regular shoppers at the iTunes Store should not expect any announcements on the content side of the equation in the near future, rumors indicate. CNET cites anonymous sources, who say that people should not expect Apple to announce any new music content at its special iPod event on September 9th. More specifically, the sources claim they are certain Apple will not introduce a long-rumored subscription option for iTunes.
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08/05, 10:30am
iTunes controls US music
Apple's iTunes Store continues to control the US music market, a new batch of surveys suggests. Following several polls of Americans 13 and older, conducted between January and June of this year, the NPD Group says that iTunes maintained an existing lead, despite competition from major, firmly established corporations. The results are are also notable in that they reflect all forms of music sales, including not just iTunes' digital specialty but online and retail CD sales. Excluded are non-permanent options like the subscription services offered by Rhapsody and Napster.
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06/30, 7:20am
Real Rhapsody MP3 Store
Real this morning opened a test version of the Rhapsody MP3 Store, its first store to go without copy protected files. The MTV co-owned outlet is web-based and, unlike the company's subscription service, promises to work with any computer or device, including iPods; a Mac download manager is available to let users download all their songs as a complete package, Real says. The company has also successfully secured the catalogs of all four major music labels.
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05/20, 6:25am
Napster MP3 Store
Napster today launched what it says is the world's largest MP3-based music store. Effectively turning away from its reliance on protected Windows Media files, the company is offering about 6 million unguarded MP3 songs through a web-based store accessible from any computer and playable through virtually any device -- including the iPhone and iPod, Napster is keen to note. Users with iTunes can auto-sync their Napster downloads to the jukebox software. Prices for tracks remain unchanged at 99 cents each, with most full albums selling for $10.
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05/05, 10:40am
LG Vu on Sale at ATT
Following the debut of the necessary mobile TV service on the weekend, AT&T's LG Vu today became available online and in shops. The handset is AT&T's first primarily touchscreen-driven phone since the iPhone and makes video its focus, with a built-in MediaFLO tuner providing live, over-the-air broadcasts of digital TV similar to Verizon's V CAST TV service. AT&T also stresses media playback support with support for Internet radio streams from XM as well as direct downloads from the company's own music store as well as eMusic and Napster.
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04/08, 11:10am
Ipsos: Hard grip by iTunes
Research firm Ipsos has released a new study on the digital music industry, the results of which position Apple as the leader. Some 82 percent of American music downloaders are familiar with iTunes, versus a next-best figure of 76 percent for Napster. Some 38 percent of downloaders think of iTunes first when it comes to digital music, and while most major online outlets have had their name recognition increase during 2007, only iTunes showed a substantial growth in use past the first 30 days, up to 24 percent last year from 18 percent in 2006. Services such as Rhapsody and Walmart.com saw their 30-day-plus use decrease.
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01/07, 10:25am
Napster to switch to MP3s
Online music service Napster, which has for some time only sold tracks in a protected Windows Media Audio format, will soon begin selling music in the form of unprotected MP3s, according to Reuters. Starting in the second quarter of 2008, at least a portion of the files sold or offered via subscription will be unprotected, in what may perhaps be the most significant such announcement since Amazon's digital store launch. Napster claims to have some 750,000 subscribers, who make use of both plans and permanent downloads.
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11/29, 3:45pm
Warner Music Profit Drop
Warner Music Group on Thursday reported a major drop in profits for its last financial quarter that it largely attributes to online music. Although the company noted that its purely download-based music income increased by 25 percent to $130 million, the company's overall profit dropped about 58 percent and resulted in just $5 million versus $12 million the year before. This income would have been worse still had the company not taken advantage of a settlement with Bertelsmann over a Napster legal dispute.
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