VS

Get ready to rumble!

Last week, Nokia announced that it was buying the digital music site Loudeye, a US firm that is active in Europe through its affiliate OD2. This means competition for Apple, who so far, is the leading name in the music downloading business. According to Nokia, the acquisition will "offer consumers a comprehensive mobile music experience, including devices, applications and the ability to purchase digital music".

Nokia's move is definitely bad news for the fruit company, who initiated a technical revolution with its iPod products. It doesn't help at all, either, to know that Apple incurred the ire of several European governments for monopolizing its propriety technology by creating a software that would limit the iPod's downloading capacities exclusively to iTunes.

Because of this development, Apple may just be forced to work double-time on a new iPhone to fend off the threat. Furthermore, experts believe that the company might have to be forced to offer iTunes to other companies under license. Steve Jobs of Apple has already initiated steps to work with mobile phone manufacturer Motorola, but the results were inconclusive.

But while this turn of events is making Apple break out into cold sweat, this is certainly a boost for Nokia. Mark Mulligan of Jupiter Research explains, "This is all about boosting Nokia's digital music footprint, primarily though not exclusively across mobile."

Oh, but we all need some good competition every once in a while.

Line 6 is still aiming on fueling your creative freedom as it recently released the GearBox plug-in Silver and Gold bundles at the Summer NAMM convention. This contraption is targetted to computer-based musicians who record guitar, bass, and vocals. The GearBox plug-in bundles deliver tone from PODxt (another Line 6 product designed for guitarists) and vintage effects in a flexible software plug-in format.

The Silver and Gold plug-ins feature Mac AU and PC VST plug-in support and a USB guitar interface, as well as Line 6 ToneDirect monitoring. And if those aren't enough for you, the bundle will also include a wide array of professionally programmed presets, plus presets created during the recording process are easily imported into other Line 6 products.  Both packages include the TonePort DI USB guitar interface, and are compatible with most popular recording programs.  As for their price tags, the silver bundle will cost you $420 while the gold bundle could go as high as $700.

crispSofties has recently release iPod.iTunes v.3.2.6 - a popular synchronization tool for your music. iPod.iTunes evaluates the source for songs, videos and/or playlists (either from your machine or from the iPod) and only adds these, avoiding duplicates and ultimately saving your time!

Also, unlike iTunes' auto update function, iPod.iTunes generally does not delete the content in the target and can also transfer song dependant data like 'my rating', 'last played', album artwork and more. iPod.iTunes is updated regularly as a new version of iTunes becomes available, but v3.2.6 also added the feature to check the iTunes library for disconnected tracks.

Think of iPod.iTunes as .Mac for your iTunes music and it is yours to own for US$35, or feel free to try before you buy by downloading the trial (skips about 50% of the songs during syncronization).

Download [iPod.iTunes v3.2.6 for MAC]

In a recent lawsuit filed by Apple in an E.U. court, the French government had been accused of "state-sponsored piracy." At the heart of the matter is an European Copyright law governing digital music downloads.

Despite Apple's cry of "foul!," the intention of this law would require that any music downloaded from any online music merchant needs to be playable on any digital music device. This could potentially rob Apple of a monopoly. On the other hand, it would be helpful to those downloading music if and when they chose to switch to a different portable music player, or transfer their downloads to a PDA or cell phones. The law is an attempt to create a standard music format that is playable on any device or platform.

Otherwise, users would be required to re-purchase the same tunes each time they wished to change devices.

The issue is far from simple; like laws in any democratic society, it must balance the needs and desires of both sides. From Apple's perspective, it is being forced to make its proprietary music format compatible with devices manufactured by rival companies. The French law does contain some loopholes; French artists whose performances are sold exclusively though iTunes may require that their works be made available solely in the iPod format. Additionally, the law must take patent protections into consideration. However, if Apple fails in its lawsuit, it may pull out of the French market.

Every new piece of technology that is developed is a two-edged sword. At one time, the ability to play music live was considered a valuable and useful skill. David was retained by King Saul to play the harp for him. In ancient Celtic society, bards were at the right hand of the King and could pass judgement on him. More recently (18th and 19th centuries), musicians were retained by wealthy patrons as household servants and nearly every town had its community band or orchestra.

Thomas Edison changed all of that. Now, anyone could have music any time - without the expense of live musicians.

The format in which recorded music has been kept has changed dramatically in little over a hundred years. Since 1900, we've come from bulky, spring-driven, wind-up machines the size of packing crates to slim, pocket-sized devices - and the sound quality has improved immeasurable.

Still, up until the compact disk, the format was uniform. A wax disk playable on an Edison gramophone was playable on an RCA Victrola. Audio reel-to-reels worked with players manufactured by Teac or Sony. CD's could be played on your JVC home stereo or your Sony Discman.

None of these companies seemed to suffer much from an interchangeable format. Quite the contrary, most of them prospered, and consumers wound up getting better and less expensive machines.

Considering that the "Law of the Marketplace" seems to drive everything and is fervently embraced by everyone nowadays, perhaps Apple should simply stop fighting the issue and let the marketplace decide what's best.

The IS201 is the newest iPod docking station to be introduced to the Apple-crazy community from Marantz. This is designed as a stand-alone product that will connect to a hi-fi system.

As this is an approved "Made for iPod" product, the device's cradle that connects to a hi-fi system is compatible with iPod Photo, Video, Nano, Mini, U2 and 3rd and 4th generation iPods with a dock adaptor. Oh, and it can be mounted on the wall too. The IS201's docking station and wall mount designs are ideal for custom-installing Hi-Fi systems. By just switching the "cover" of this device, you can then use it either on a desk top or on the wall.

Other features of this docking station include an RC-5 system control terminal, a discrete IR Command (OSD mode only), a built-in IR receiver that can also be used as an external IR eye, an S-Video output for video, OSD and photo data, a universal AC adaptor, a wireless remote commander, and, an IR Flasher Input.

The IS201 iPod docking station from Marantz will go on sale next month.

Well, this is not the first time that this kind of dispute has happened. Apparently two musical groups -  the Allman Brothers Band (left pic) and Cheap Trick (right pic) claim that their label, Sony Music, is duping them with their iTunes royalty. The bands added that instead of getting 30 cents, they are only getting 4.50 cents, an amount way below the agreed royalty fees.

The people at the label claim that this is largely a contractual argument - with it being unclear what category in the contract an iTunes download falls under. Although this is nothing new, what could make this latest dispute stand out is if the bands prevail - prompting more musicians to come forward and dispute their royalty earnings, which is of course bad news for record labels. Wherever the wind blows, this latest royalty brouhaha is simply an evidence that the recording industry's and the musicians' interests are quite often not towards one direction.

In an effort to curb the continual leak of trade secrets, Apple is going against some of its own employees who it believes may have been involved in distributing sensitive information to websites without permission.

Apple is in court in San Jose, Calif. trying to get permission to ascertain the identities of people it believes leaked news of its music product, Asteroid, to journalists and bloggers in 2004. Named in the suit are 25 former employees of the company. Apple would like to gain access to computer records to back their claim.

According to Geek.com, Apple has to convince judges why its argument is valid: Judge Franklin Elia questioned why Apple went directly to e-mail records instead of trying other methods: "All you want here is the name of a snitch, so you're saying you have the right to invade the privacy of the e-mail system and to trump the First Amendment ... just to find out who in your organization is giving out inappropriate information?"

If you've ever heard a song in a commercial that you love (I'm down with the new Budweiser tune), you know how difficult it can be to track it down.  Apple is here to lend a helping hand with a new feature in the iTunes Music Store.  Called, "Commercial Success", you'll find songs for purchase and download that are featured in various commercials.  For now the selection isn't huge, but as with all new iTunes offerings, it's sure to grow quickly. 

Another new feature in iTMS is "As Heard On".  Right now it only highlights songs that you may have heard if you were watching American Idol.  Not my cup of tea, but it may be just what you're looking for.  Hopefully this feature will evolve into something similar to what the WB network has been doing for a couple years now - highlighting music featured in each episode's soundtrack.  Right now you can browse the "As Heard On American Idol" songs by week.


Hat tip to Pixel at iPodBank

For some time now the Recording Industry has been trying to up pricing on music.  Despite illegal downloads, their profits have continued to increase year after year.  Most recently they've been after Apple's wildly successful iTunes Music Store and the $.99 price point for all individual songs.  They've been banging on Steve Jobs' door for Variable Pricing - where a well known or popular song is going to cost consumers more than a less well known song.

That's all well and good for the people who may like the not-so-popular stuff, but what about the rest of our purchases?  Well it seems Steve is quite a force, and you'd better think twice before trying to take him on - at least in the media industry.  Or so it seems.  The news coming from The New York Post is that the Recording Industry big boys are set to forget about variable pricing and allow the iTunes Music Store to continue business as usual. 

It's not a done deal yet, but regardless, that seems an impressive feat, as it's about the first time the Recording Industry has backed down from anything in the past few years!

You know, I was out today looking for a dock for my iPod. I didn't anything that really made me feel all 1950s, which is what I wanted. Lo and behold, I came upon this little puppy: a full-on Wurlitzer Jukebox with an iPod docking station.

The unit makes full use of a Bose Acoustimass setup to deliver the type of full sound most people are looking for in a jukebox/dock/charging station. Of course, the price might be a little steep, but, hey, who cares when you're packing this much glitz.

"We recognize that a $9500 list price targets a narrow consumer segment, but our research indicates that there is a market for the ultimate iPod accessory and we're excited to bring this wonderful jukebox to market", said General Manager Doug Skor of Wurlitzer Jukebox and Vending, Inc. in America.

See, even he agrees.