This news post is directed at you, iPhone-carrying-R.E.M. fan. That’s right, if you own an iPhone and you love all things R.E.M., check this out. The band have launched a new iPhone/iPod Touch application that’s available free of charge.
The iPhone App allows fans instant access to R.E.M. music and online content direct from the band’s headquarters in Athens, GA.
The iPod touch has upgraded to a new level of fun — for less. If you’re a music-lover like us then you probably already have some type of MP3 player sitting around in your room, and for all of you Apple-savvy people, here’s a deal you’re going to want to hear. The already great iPod Touch has new 3.1 software, which means you get more GB space, more web and email access, as well the enjoyment of games and movies whenever you want. You know what the best part of this is? It’s only $199!
Yesterday was a big day for Apple. The iPod Nano got outfitted with video, the iPod Touch doubled in size, and most importantly, Steve Jobs was back from his liver transplant and in full fighting force. While there was no official announcement of The Beatles coming to iTunes, there was still plenty of excitement, and thanks to Wired we have the whole rundown.
After all the rumors, we finally have a confirmed date for the Apple event, September 9, according to an article on Crunch Gear. The event has a musical theme based after the Rolling Stones song “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It)”. When it comes to Apple events, the music theme means only one thing, new iPods.
According to the rumors, the new line of iPods will be adding cameras to their feature list. I know, I know, the touch already has one but the classic and nano will be getting them as well, according to Electricpig. The digital imaging specialists OmniVision singed a deal that will make them the sole suppliers of the 3.2 megapixel CMOS imaging sensor for the new iPod lineup, says Digitimes.
If that’s not enough evidence for you, insiders at Apple Authorized Resellers have told Ars Technica that current iPod stock is running low and the 08-09 models have been discontinued. Now that truly means only one thing (unless Apple has decided to give up on the most ubiquitous media player one the market,) new iPods.
Will you buy into the new round of iPods?
According to “multiple music industry sources,” MediaMemo reports that Apple is planning a music-centric keynote event for the week of Sept. 7, possibly to debut the new “Cocktail” format that Apple has been working on, which bundles full-length albums with special features and interactive content like album covers and liner notes.
That Apple floated the ‘news’ to music industry executives has rumors swirling about what the tech company might be unveiling.
You would think that Apple would give you a refund if your iPod exploded and gave you burn scars. Well, that’s not really what Ken Stanborough (in Liverpool) and his daughter, Ellie (pictured above with the deceiving iPod) got. Instead, what they got was a gagging order.
What does that exactly mean? This means that Apple tried to give them their money back ONLY if they were to stay hush-hush about the incident. Gagging orders can be seen as another form of blackmail if you think about it and there are sure a lot of companies that try to get away with it in order to save their good name. However, when people are getting scars from one of their devices which burst into flames and burn their skin, people will just not stay silent.
Sony is jumping into the online music distribution market, as sources told CNET that Sony is attempting to deal with other major recording companies to provide music downloads through the PlayStation Network.
This comes after Sir Howard Stringer, Sony Chairman, President and CEO, said that the company can compete with iTunes by providing “something that Apple can’t” and will “grab that opportunity before Apple begins to provide support for other hardware and blocks [Sony] out.” Digital music served on the Playstation Network seems to be the answer.
TuneUp, an iTunes plugin that provides artist names, genres, track numbers and cover art for you music collection, is launching a new user interface today with some added features. Since its launch in 2008, TuneUp has over 200,000 registered users, and you can try a free version of the software at tuneupmedia.com.
Launched in 2008, the plugin does what you don’t have time to do: it homogenizes your entire iTunes library. The free version corrects 100 songs and downloads 50 album covers, but the “Gold” version, purchased for $30 or for an annual subscription of $20, give you unlimited access to the Gracenote Global Media Database of more than 100 million songs.
Penny Arcade is usually a gaming webcomic, but today, music is the focus after Microsoft aired a new commercial for the Zune Pass, which gives you unlimited music for fifteen dollars a month. The catch? If you stop subscribing to the service, all of your music gets erased. Penny Arcade says it best in today’s comic: “It’d be like you murdered all of your favorite artists.”
Granted, since a few major deals in Nov. 2008 (press release), the Zune Pass lets you choose ten songs to keep every month for your collection, but if you stop paying, the “obliteration” of the remainder holds true. Penny Arcade writer Jerry Holkins owns a Zune, and said that the new marketing campaign is “dumb”, while the rest of the internet is more intent on bashing the new face of Microsoft’s Zune, Wes Moss, and his lack of musical credentials. Watch the infamous advertisement after the jump:
