July 2 - 4:50pm EDT   MCS Music America has filed a lawsuit against Real Networks, Yahoo and Microsoft over alleged music copyright infringements earlier this week. The copyright administration company claims the defendants breached copyright on several pieces of music and their artists. MCS represents a large number of other plaintiffs and says streaming music services such as Rhapsody, Zune and Yahoo Music allow users to retain the copyrighted tracks for an extended period of time, saying the defendants are required to obtain the rights for such a form of distribution. [full story]

July 1 - 11:20am EDT   Pioneer on Wednesday brought out four new home theater receivers to its flagship Elite lineup, including the top-rung SC-27 and SC-25, as well as the slightly lower-end VSX-21TXH and VSX-23TXH. All four have a customized USB/composite cable that allow users to integrate their iPhones and iPods into their home theater audio systems. Once connected, the Apple devices can be controlled via the systems' remote controls, and their content sent to 2nd and 3rd zones setup in the home. The SC-series units are meant to reproduce Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks found on more advanced Blu-ray discs. Both have a Direct Energy HD Class D amp based on ICEpower. [full story]

June 23 - 10:25am EDT   VIZIO on Tuesday announced its VIA-badged TVs with access to Internet Apps will now have access to Real's Rhapsody music service. With the user interface, users can browse the near 8-million song library using VIZIO's Bluetooth universal remote control, which has a built-in QWERTY keyboard, while watching TV. Songs can be searched by title, artist or album and on-demand access to new releases and top albums is available. [full story]

May 11 - 4:15pm EDT   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. [full story]

April 6 - 2:10pm EDT   Yahoo today unveiled a reworked, public beta version of Yahoo Music that significantly changes the company's philosophy on content. The new version serves as a central hub for third-party music services and will let users buy songs from a number of sources, including Amazon and iTunes. It likewise collects Internet radio streams from Last.fm and Pandora as well as music videos on YouTube. [full story]

March 23 - 9:55am EDT   Verizon today made the rare addition of a Nokia phone to its stable in the 7205 Intrigue. The clamshell is a stylized music phone with a stealth external display and controls, a seamless back and a gradient-effect keypad. Functionally, it brings a 2-megapixel camera with a dedicated capture button and flash, a media player with support for Real Rhapsody music, and a microSDHC slot that supports up to 8GB of storage. Stereo Bluetooth allows wireless headphones. [full story]

February 23 - 9:05am EST   Verizon today put an end to a short run of leaks by launching the CDM8975. The self-branded phone improves on the earlier 8950 by adding EVDO Revision A-based push-to-talk access that helps outdoor travelers and workers talk to each other quickly. The 3G link also lets users share maps obtained through GPS mapping, which centers on the carrier's VZ Navigator subscription service. External music controls also turn the clamshell into a music player. [full story]

January 13 - 11:25pm EST   Haier tonight added two more players to the Rhapsody ibiza line that both share direct parallels to Apple players. The ibiza Touch (pictured above) appears a higher-end counterpart to the ibiza Theatre that adds a sharper, 2.8-inch 400x240 touchscreen and Wi-Fi, which lets it browse the web, download podcasts and Real Rhapsody subscriptions, and tune Internet radio. It shares the Theatre's Bluetooth for pairing wireless headphones. Battery life drops accordingly and sees the Touch run for just 15 hours of AAC, Audible, MP3, Rhapsody or WMA audio but a relatively long 6 hours of DivX, H.264, MPEG-4, VC-1 or WMA video. [full story]

January 12 - 9:10am EST   Haier in a low-key introduction has revealed its second and third major players in the ibiza line. The ibiza Theatre is the company's first real touchscreen player and serves as a lower-cost alternative to players from Apple and Samsung; while it has a 2.4-inch, 320x240 screen and doesn't appear to include Wi-Fi, the device includes Bluetooth for wireless headphones, an FM radio tuner and a microSD slot to add more space. It also supports Real's Rhapsody to Go for loading the device with music from the unlimited subscription service. [full story]

December 4 - 9:15am EST   Haier on Thursday has quietly released the second generation of its Internet-capable portable media players. The ibiza Rhapsody Sport is ruggedized compared to the original player and has both a more easily gripped, rounded body as well as a weather-resistant covering that partly protects against rain or snow. The player continues to center on an 802.11g Wi-Fi link that lets it download podcasts, download unlimited songs over Real's Rhapsody to Go service, stream videos from AOL and check specific news feeds. [full story]

November 19 - 3:40pm EST   Apple is discussing deals with the three major music labels yet to sign on to iTunes Plus to remove the locks on their music as well, alleged sources tell CNET. Two reported contacts describe "preliminary" negotiations that would expand Apple's deal for music without copy protection beyond EMI and independents to include Sony, Warner and Universal. The talks are said to have been spread over the past several months for at least two labels and aren't certain to result in a favorable income. [full story]

October 23 - 10:35am EDT   A previously hinted-at Facebook music service could be true after all, a claim made by VentureBeat suggests. Previously discredited, a now supported rumor asserts that the social network is allegedly planning to team up with a partner such as iLike, imeem, Lala or RealNetworks' Rhapsody to offer a way of at least streaming full songs over artist pages or those friends who bring up songs in the regular Facebook news feed. The service would potentially let users buy downloads, though whether this would involve the partner or simply linking to a third party such as Amazon or iTunes is unknown. [full story]

October 3 - 3:55pm EDT   Popular rap-rocker Kid Rock has chosen Rhapsody as the exclusive online sales venue for his music, the owner of latter party has announced. Real notes that Kid Rock's albums have not been available online in any legal manner in the past, whether for download or streaming; as of today, the artist's entire collection should be available for purchase or streaming through the subscription version of Rhapsody. [full story]

September 4 - 11:05am EDT   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. [full story]

August 28 - 12:20pm EDT   Logitech on Thursday turned its attention to wireless audio courtesy of both a wholly independent Internet radio and speakers built just for notebooks. One of the first fruits of Logitech's buyout of Squeezebox, the Squeezebox Boom can pull and play unprotected music from any recent Mac or Windows PC on a local 802.11g Wi-Fi network but also picks up Internet streaming radio services entirely on its own, including largely free services such as Last.FM, Pandora or Slacker as well as a user's memberships to primarily for-pay services such as Rhapsody and Sirius' Internet streams. [full story]