mp3

from engadget.com

Rhapsody, the digital love-child of Real Networks and MTV, is best known for its DRM'd subscription music service. As such, the globe's population of sheep-white-earbudded, sidewalk zombies have been completely off limits to its charms. Until today.

from appleinsider.com

In a direct challenge to Apple's dominant iTunes Store, music subscription service provider Napster on Tuesday launched a new a la carte download service filled with DRM-free tracks that are compatible with both the iPod and iPhone.

from ilounge.com

Amazon MP3 has announced the addition of Warner Music Group’s digital audio catalog to its DRM-free MP3 offerings.

from wsj.com

More than 100 million music fans know the joys of portable digital music players -- the ability to carry a large number of your favorite songs, arranged in playlists of your design, on a pocket-size gadget.

from macworld.co.uk

Most iPod and MP3 player owners don't fully exploit all the features of their devices, new research claims.

from engadget.com

In what seems to now be something of a trend, online music retailer PayPlay.fm is following in the footsteps of Amazon and -- to some extent -- Apple, by retooling its store to only include tracks encoded as DRM-free MP3s.

from engadget.com

Just as the Times Online predicted last month, Amazon.com is set to strike a potentially major blow against DRM by launching a download store later this year that will offer millions of songs in unprotected, MP3-only format.

from ipodhacks.com

PDASmart, today, announced a 100GB hard drive upgrade for the fifth-generation, video-capable iPod. 100GB of storage translates to approximately 25,000 songs or 125 hours of video storage.

From the press release:

March 26, 2007, Austin (Cedar Park), TX -- PDASmart , the leading developer of iPod performance upgrades and accessories, announced today the immediate availability of a 100 gigabyte hard drive upgrade for the iPod Video.

from ilounge.com

Record labels are considering a move towards finally offering unrestricted MP3 music files, according to industry insiders. The New York Times reports that executives of technology companies, in attendance at the annual Midem global trade show for the music industry, are apparently aware of “at least one of the four major record companies [that] could move toward the sale of unrestricted digital files in the MP3 format within months.”

from davidbyrne.com

What comes next, with MP3s and the solitary listening experience begun with the Walkman in the late 70s (it was that long ago!) —? Well, the cassettes that came with the walkmen were perfect for mixtapes. So albums began to be reconstructed, homemade compilations were passed around, and the mix tape as a personal statement, a thoughtful and considered gift and a journey came into being.

from gadling.com

Like a lot of people, I have fallen so in love with my ipod that, after my wallet, it's the one thing I HAVE to carry with me when I leave the house. And before I go, I always make sure that it is loaded up with the most recent podcasts from NPR, as well as my Charlie Rose subscription on Audible.com AND many audio books from audible. I was happy to see Iva blog about audible's content, especially about Rory Stewart's The Places in Between, which I actually have in its atom-based, tree-pulp form and am enjoying immensely.

from ilounge.com

After years of selling digital music with restrictive copy-protection technology, major music labels are beginning to make some songs available as unrestricted MP3 files. “The releases are part of an experiment to gauge demand for tracks that can be played on any digital music player capable of playing MP3s,” reports the Associated Press. “Normally, copy-protected tracks are only playable on certain devices.

from playlistmag.com

It may only be a fraction of the business that Apple’s iTunes Store has done, but eMusic reported Monday that it is nearing its 100 millionth MP3 download.

eMusic is a digital music retailer that claims to be the second-largest behind iTunes. The company specializes in independent music, and delivers content in MP3 format — that means it isn’t encumbered with Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, unlike iTunes and Windows Media-based services.

from Engadget.com

Sorry Microsoft, we think you have it backward. The killer app of having wireless in a portable media device isn't sharing DRMed files -- it's downloading music from a near infinitely large library no matter where you're at. That's why the MusicGremlin was and is so freaking cool. All the music, none of the bother with PCs. So to find out the Zune won't even match that device in terms of use for wireless is a little disappointing, to say the least. Granted this above is with regard to the feature list for launch (and Microsoft doesn't claim the Zune is feature-complete), so we can probably assume that we'll be expected to hold out for later Zune firmware releases where actually useful wireless capabilities will be added.

Dada Footwear is launching a wireless footwear system dubbed, "Code M." The Code M System delivers both audio and data—through your sneakers! Say goodbye to wires and carrying an MP3 player.

The Code M System is integrated into the basketball sneaker's heel and tongue. It can hold up to 100 songs, running on a 6-hour battery life. To transfer songs onto the system, just use the USB port on the side of the shoe. To listen to your music, use the included wireless headset, which picks up the music playing from your sneakers up to 30 feet away. Here comes the real kicker: the sneakers will also feature house speakers for listening to music out loud. If the Code M Sneakers prove successful, the company plans on expanding their line to a Get-Fit program in which you can receive workout-related data from a personal trainer's voice. It doesn't end there. The shoes may also be designed as a way to forward your phone calls to it. I think this is a really cool idea, although I hope they're sweat-proof out on the court. I don't know how well the sound quality will be, but Dada certainly knows how to think out of the box. Hopefully they'll come out with other colors.