Interesting news/reviews/deals from the portable audio market
FoxiPod: neat Greasemonkey hack which I’ve discovered recently (OSX only, though). Once installed a little icon is placed next to any MP3 file on a webpage; click it, and the song is downloaded and automatically transferred to iTunes.
Bertelsmann is to launch Gnab later this year, a platform that will allow the distribution of music and movies. If I’m reading the article correctly, there will be two parts in Gnab—whose ridiculous name comes by reversing ‘bang’, by the way—: a centralized server that will handle all the evil DRM’ing of the available content, [...]
The fruit of collaboration between Stanford and iTunes is a unique educational gem. It’s meant for distributing recordings of faculty lectures, presentations and other content related to the university (music recorded by students, podcasts of sport events, etc.). Some of the course-based material is available to students and faculty only, but there’s still lots of [...]
Comfort Stand Recordings: “a community-driven label where all releases are free with artwork and liner notes. We strive to bring you recordings that we find interesting, compelling and downright enjoyable.” Woot! Also see: Magnatune (though not exactly free). [via]
iTMS Australia is live: officially expected to launch tomorrow. Tunes cost $1.69 AUS, videos $3.39. Sony BMG hasn’t licensed their catalog—remember the problems we had reported early last month. UPDATE: ThinkSecret has got a few more details on the launch and the available content.
Deal: Vamp VP-325 MP3 for $50: flash-based, 256MB, a color screen, tons of features and lots bugs and misses we’re sure, but you can’t go wrong when it costs $50. Plus, your nephew will love it. Product page. [via]
amaroK: a LiveCD music player, that comes with preloaded music (including tunes from everyone’s favorite label, Magnatune). It’s not lacking in eye candy (screenshots) and if it’s as stable as they say, you could use it to turn that dieing PC into a music jukebox (and increase your geek/nerd quotient while you’re at it); if [...]
The rating sounds right; “A-” for first-time iPod buyers, “B+” for current owners and power users. The “Audio Quality” section is where it’s at: hard drive stastic—fixed, bass deficiency—slightly improved, piano distortion—fixed. iLounge’s and Ars Technica [via] are the only iPod Video reviews you’ll want to read. Also: our presentation on the iPod with video. [...]
Some landline connection problems kept me offline for most of last week. I spent the weekend scanning the stories I missed—here are some worth noting: DVD Jon comes to the US to work with MP3.com founder: why, oh why, would a wiz kid would want to partner with a man who may be bold but [...]
Comparing the front page of several online music stores: the iTMS, Rhapsody, MSN Music, and Napster with the latter sucking the most: “the company is so busy selling itself it doesn’t spend much time selling music.” [via]