portable media players
Articles about portable media players:
Zune owners everywhere are cursing the day that they cheaped out and bought a Microsoft portable media player, because Zunes around the world today are dying.
Locking up and turning into bricks!
Call it the Zunepocolypse. Call it Y2K 9 years late.
Chances are, though, if you’ve got a Zune 30, it’s a doorstop.
Here’s Microsoft’s official word:
We were made aware of a widespread issue facing owners of Zune 30 devices this morning. We have a technical team working hard to isolate the issue right now and will update everyone as much as possible. Thanks for your patience while we get to the bottom of this.
Got a Zune? Feel free to vent about it in the comments!
Sony today announced the release of musika, an original music visualizer game, on the iTunes Store for play on Apple’s fifth generation iPod.
musika creates beautiful visuals using the title of any song. Users can play along by pressing the center button in time with the letters in the song’s name to advance to more difficult levels displaying different visual effects.
musika was created by NanaOn-Sha President Masaya Matsuura, the creative force behind the music video game ‘PaRappa the Rapper’ for the original PlayStation. The title has been developed in collaboration with Method Solutions for the iPod.
“The iPod is a device that revolutionized music and it is now poised to be a progressive gaming platform,” said Masaya Matsuura, President of NanaOn-Sha. “Many years ago Apple’s tools first opened my eyes to the power of music and multimedia, so it’s exciting to release my first game for this device.”
musika is now available for purchase through the iTunes(R) Store for $4.99.
Apple has released a video introduction to using the iPhone, below.
Based on what I’ve seen, it looks seriously droolworthy.
This is what cell phones are going to look like in five years, intelligently combining mobile features with music and Internet services. It’s too bad we’ll have to wait five years for something like this to be affordable, though.
Apple iPhone Debuts June 29th
Apple has announced June 29th as the debut date for its iPhone.
The iPhone combines three products — a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a cutting-edge Internet communications device. Based on what we’ve seen so far, it looks like it will redefine the state of the art of both mobile phones and MP3 players.
While the iPhone’s price ($499 plus a 2-year contract) may put it out of the reach of many musicians, it’s clear that the technology is something that musicians will have to face. Digital music is becoming more important than ever, as is mobile technology, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the technology in the iPhone is copied by other manufacturers within a few years.
The iPhone has been one of the most hyped new product introductions in recent years, but, in this case, it looks like the technology really is revolutionary.
Here’s Apple’s ad introducing the iPhone:
iTunes Downloads Top One Billion
Apple has announced that one billion songs have been legally downloaded from the iTunes Music Store since it was launched less than three years ago.
The billionth song Speed of Sound was purchased as part of Coldplay’s X&Y album by Alex Ostrovsky from West Bloomfield, Michigan. He will receive a 20-inch iMac, 10 fifth generation iPods and a $10,000 gift card good for any item on the iTunes Music Store. In addition, Apple will establish a scholarship to the world-renowned Juilliard School of Music in his name to commemorate this milestone.
“I hope that every customer, artist and music company executive takes a moment today to reflect on what we’ve achieved together during the past three years,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Over one billion songs have now been legally purchased and downloaded around the globe, representing a major force against music piracy and the future of music distribution as we move from CDs to the Internet.”
Hype or not, Apple’s milestone demonstrates both the increasing importance of digital downloads to the world of music, and the domination the company has achieved of this market.
