Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Posted by Roberto
5:31 PM
0 comments
APPLE LAUNCHES ONLINE MUSIC STORE: Apple Music
The iTunes Music Store puts 200,000 songs at your fingertips. It's built right into iTunes 4 and lets you search or browse genres, new releases, exclusives and more. Preview any song for free, when you find a song you want, buy it for just 99 cents. Other interesting features of the new software include support for a new audio format called AAC, or Advanced Audio Code. Songs in this format sound terrific and are supposed to take up less space than MP3 files. Apple digital-rights management software technology called Fairplay, allows creating a custom mix, make a copy of a CD for backup purposes, put a song on an unlimited number of iPods or on other computers. In the case of computers, you're limited to three, which should be enough for a computer at home, a computer at work and the laptop you travel with.
"Consumers don't want to be treated like criminals
and artists don't want their valuable work stolen"
Steve Jobs
The AAC format:
AAC is the MP4 standard, the reason why it sounds better at lower bit rates (compared to MP3) is because the newer compression algorithm allows variable bit rates (the compression adjusts itself depending on the "density of sound"). MSFT also claims better sound quality from its variable bit rate proprietary standard known as WMA. Bottom line is: AAC is the MP4 standard and WMA is proprietary.
AAC and DRM vs. WMA:
Apple extends AAC with their own DRM specification which has been approved by the music companies for online sales. Microsoft's proposed DRM is too obtrusive and has failed to catch on.
MP3 Players:
It is safe to assume that other MP3 Player manufacturers will adopt the standard MP4 AAC with Apple's DRM extensions. Apple is really in a good position!
Monday, April 28, 2003
Posted by Roberto
9:04 PM
0 comments
P2P WINS BIG IN COURT
A federal judge has ruled that P2P (peer-to-peer) software companies Grokster and Streamcast (Morpheus) are not liable for copyright infringements by users of their software. The ruling is the first by a federal court to find that makers of Internet file-swapping software are not liable for copyright infringement. As such, it puts considerable pressure on Hollywood and the music industry to offer alternatives to P2P sites!
Full Article
Friday, April 25, 2003
Posted by Roberto
7:26 PM
MORE SMARTPHONES AND FEWER PDAs
ARC Group forecasts:
| 2002 | 2007 | |||
| Smartphones Annual Sales | 3.5 million | 45 million | ||
| Percentge of the handset market | 0.3% | 5% |
The interesting aspect is that 5% market share could have a value comparable to 20% of the total handset market (given the higher price of the devices).
:: Full Article
:: PDA Statistics
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Posted by Roberto
8:24 PM
0 comments
FROM MOBILE PHONES TO MOBILE CATHEDRALS
I've just taken this picture to prove to myself that I wasn't tripping out!
hi-res picture
Friday, April 11, 2003
Posted by Roberto
7:18 PM
0 comments
APPLE + UNIVERSAL?
Billionaire oilman Marvin Davis would drop his $15 billion bid to acquire the entertainment assets of Franco-American conglomerate Vivendi Universal Entertainment if Vivendi sells Universal Music to Apple Computer Inc.
Apple Computer seems in talks to buy Universal Music for as much as US$6 billion, according to a Los Angeles Times report. Apple would become one of the biggest music publishers in the world (Apple-branded music download service), as well as the maker of one of the best-regarded portable music devices (iPod).
Full Article
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
Posted by Roberto
7:09 PM
0 comments
GOOD QUALITY DIGITAL CAMERAS ON NEW I-MODE MOBILE PHONES :)
NTT DoCoMo unveiled specifications of its new 505i mobile phones, a series of six enhanced-PDC (2G) compatible models equipped for advanced i-appli? applications based on Flash? and technology. Each 505i model also comes with a camera (with a resolution of 1 mega to 1.3 mega pixels), infrared port and external memory slot. DoCoMo expects to introduce the models one by one beginning in mid-May.
Full Article
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