Real Networks mounts a big challenge to Apple’s iTunes in an effort to win market share at Apple’s expense, according to a BBC News report yesterday: BBC NEWS | Business | Real in online music price war Then, one post by Steve Rubel on his Micro Persuasion blog reported that Real had set up a […]
Category: Music
Windows Media Player 10: Very nice!
Just installed Windows Media Player 10, released by Microsoft today. For Windows XP only. First impressions: Easy install, very easy to set up (takes already-configured options from Media Player 9, if you had that installed), fresh and updated look, seems to load faster than MP 9. The presentation of various features is very different to […]
Windows Media Player 10 – 4 issues in 2 days
Whoops!! Not good news re Windows Media Player 10, reported by Neowin today: Neowin.net – Where unprofessional journalism looks better | Windows Media Player 10 – 4 issues in 2 days I’ve been running MP10 for the past few days, not encountered any issues. But I tend to use it mostly for playing radio station […]
Windows Media Player 10 ditched
Windows Media Player 10 drives me nuts. So I’ve uninstalled it and rolled back to Windows Media Player 9. I don’t have anything against MP 10 per se. Indeed, when it came out I wrote a positive post about it. It’s a good evolution of the player with lots of additional and improved functionality to […]
iPod US marketshare rises to 82 percent
After clothes, money and a car, an iPod is what US teenagers want most this holiday season. A survey of 600 high school students by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster found Apple‘s digital player No. 4 on their wish list. And the iPod wasn’t even among the items Munster suggested – the kids wrote it […]
Podcasting defined
Scoble’s linkblog points to a good definition of podcasting from Wikipedia: Podcasting is the creation and aggregation of discrete, downloadable media files. Typically, audio files are created on a computer and then uploaded to a web server on the Internet. An RSS 2.0 feed with enclosure tags is then amended each time a new media […]
iPod your Saab
Engadget: Word is out that Saab is going to be the next automaker to offer a factory-installed iPod adapter as an option on some of its models, including the 9-3 saloon. Engadget quotes a Mac Network News report that the setup will allow drivers to control their music using steering-wheel-mounted controls, similar to the system […]
iPod Shuffle: The new Official Cool
This could be a no-brainer decision for anyone (like me, for instance) contemplating getting a digital music player – get an iPod Shuffle. Launched this week at Macworld in San Francisco, the iPod Shuffle is a USB flashdrive-based player that costs just $99 for the one with 512 megs capacity and $149 for the one-gig […]
Yet more signs for podcasting growth
BBC News: One in 10 adult Americans – equivalent to 22 million people – owns an MP3 player, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. […] MP3 players are still the gadget of choice for younger adults. Almost one in five US citizens aged under 30 have one. […] People are beginning to […]
Brits invade US again at SXSW
My RSS reader this morning is full of posts about SXSW, the South by Southwest Festivals and Conferences taking place in Austin, Texas, from 11-20 March. Most of these posts are about the SXSW Interactive Festival, which runs from 11-15 March. This event “brings together uber-geeks and digital innovators from around the world for four […]
Easy podcast tag editing
If you do podcasting on a Windows PC, you’ll find AudioShell extremely useful. AudioShell is a freeware Windows Explorer shell extension plugin which allows you to view and edit music file tags directly in Windows Explorer. It adds tag editor and viewer tabs to the properties page of music files. You can edit tags file […]
The future of radio arrives
BBC News: DJs Paul Gambaccini and Tony Blackburn are backing a new website offering radio shows for digital audio players. Podshows will offer shows to download to iPods and other players for between 49p and 99p each. Gambaccini, Blackburn, Steve Penk and former Radio 1 DJ Wes Butters are among the hosts lined up. Last […]
Manage your iPod with Winamp
News earlier this week that the next version of iTunes will enable you to sync your podcasts directly with your iPod, without needing separate podcatching software, has been eclipsed by this news in Wired News about Winamp: iPod users are raving about a plug-in that makes the Winamp digital jukebox a better way to manage […]
iTunes gives you podcasts on a plate
Apple has now released iTunes 4.9, the new version that supports podcasts. I’ve installed it and tried it – and it rocks. Let me tell you – for podcasters and podcast listeners, this is what simplicity looks like. With literally just a couple of mouse clicks you can subscribe to a podcast within iTunes, get […]
Apple podcast subscriptions top a million in two days
In just two days, people using the new version of iTunes have subscribed to more than a million podcasts, TechWeb News reported late yesterday. On Tuesday, Apple launched iTunes 4.9, the latest version of the free digital music player software, that includes support for podcasting. For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, the bi-weekly […]
Mobile phone growth key driver for videocasting
Mobile phone sales will exceed one billion handsets a year by 2009 as they become the most common consumer electronics device with 2.6 billion people worldwide using one by then, according to a survey by IT industry analysts Gartner published yesterday, says a Reuters report. Many of these devices will be smartphones with big colour […]
Don’t believe everything you read in the media
I like listening to Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code as background listening as I’m working. That’s how I usually listen to radio – background listening while I’m doing something else. So it is for me with podcasts like the DSC, which I play on a PC in my office and listen to through the PC’s […]
The judgment of Michael Jackson
BBC News: Michael Jackson’s latest greatest hits album has sold just 8,000 copies in the US in its first week of release, reaching number 128 in the chart. The Essential Michael Jackson is the star’s first release since he was cleared of child abuse a month ago. […] Jackson faces a struggle to repair his […]
Spoiled for choice for getting podcasts
I use Winamp as my default media player. I also have iTunes as well as Windows Media Player that comes with the operating system. But I use Winamp when I want to listen to podcasts on my PC. It’s a compact program with a minimalist display that scrolls the show title and has a nice […]
iPod nano… Hot cakes
Now this is sexy! Today Apple announced the iPod nano, a very elegant, slim digital player that supersedes the iPod Mini (which is no longer listed on Apple’s website but is there if you know the URL). Super slim, light and a bright colour screen are three of the great form factors of this cute […]