May 13 - 4:50pm EDT   Emmis Communications has announced a new affiliate deal signed with Apple, under which its Interactive division's Storefront technology will be tied to the iTunes Store, and in turn sold to other companies. Storefront lets radio stations -- mainly those owned by Emmis -- create custom online shops, particularly for the purpose of selling tracks as they are played live on air. The company claims that many alternatives only direct listeners to separate sites, instead of letting them pull music straight into local software. [full story]

April 29 - 1:10pm EDT   Three of Logitech's networked music hubs -- the Squeezebox, Squeezebox Duet and the Transporter -- will soon gain direct support for Sirius' Internet Radio service, the latter company has announced. Using a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection, owners will be able to select from over 80 different stations, including talk programming such as Howard Stern and NFL Radio. More critically, the support will come as a software update, and will be controllable away from a hub or a computer, via remote. [full story]

April 24 - 3:45pm EDT   An iPod can store your entire music collection, and keep it with you wherever you want to go. While the iPod is great for listening to music through ear buds by yourself, it’s not so handy when you want to play your music so others can hear it too. If you want to broadcast your music throughout a room, consider plugging your iPod into a device such as the iH12 alarm clock. [full story]

March 28 - 3:10pm EDT   XM and Sirius are putting pressure on the Federal Communications Commission for a quick merger approval, legal documents show. A filing submitted to the FCC by an XM lawyer shows that counsel for both XM and Sirius visited the FCC on Wednesday, and discussed matters not only with chairman Kevin Martin, but his chief of staff and senior legal advisor. The filing was required by FCC regulations, and is likely meant to ensure that all lobbying efforts are above-board. [full story]

March 24 - 1:35pm EDT   Memorex has begun shipping a new clock radio for various iPod models, includin the iPod Touch, Classic, nano and mini. The device, dubbed iWake, features a digital AM/FM radio, dual alarm function and a gradual volume increase for the alarm. There's also a clock backup capability that is invoked in the case of a power failure -- that function requires 2 "AAA" batteries (which aren't included). Other standard features include a snooze function. The iWake powers and charges any iPod with dock connector. The iWake clock radio is priced at $80. [full story]

March 21 - 12:30pm EDT   The FCC is indeed moving closer to a decision on the merger of Sirius and XM Radio, according to the group's chairman. Kevin Murphy is cited by Reuters as saying that draft documents are being put together, which will outline the choices the FCC can make on particular details of the merger. "I have asked the staff, after we've gotten all the final information that we needed, to be doing drafts, and when there were issues outstanding to do a range of options for us," he states. [full story]

February 16 - 2:20pm EST   Open Reel Software recently unveiled Aether, a new application designed to log ham radio sessions. Aether provides tools to quickly and easily log contacts while on the air, as well as organize, search and track contacts after the fact. Features include instant search, automatic callbook lookup, serial rig control, cocoaModem integration and more. Aether is available for $40 and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. [full story]

January 2 - 5:45pm EST   Alternative rock band Radiohead has added its latest album, 'In Rainbows,' to Apple's iTunes Store. The musical group's recording contract with major label EMI ended in 2004, and the band recorded as well as produced 'In Rainbows' without the help of a major label. The band sold copies of its album digitally online in October, allowing customers to choose their own price for the work. Radiohead was silent on official sales figures, but one report placed 1.2 million copies of the album on the hard drives of consumers on the first day of its release. [full story]

December 17 - 4:35pm EST   Universal Music and XM Radio have settled a lawsuit over a piece of third-party hardware, reports say. The item of contention was Pioneer's Inno player, which is able to record XM broadcasts in addition to playing MP3s; the problem is that it can naturally record Universal artists without permission, something the record label objected to. Under the terms of the settlement, Universal will be the first company signed to a multi-year agreement covering all XM radios with "advanced recording functionality," potentially opening the door to safe recording on many other devices. [full story]