Technology News

Hands On: Audio Bone Bone-Conduction Headphones

Source: PC Magazine
November 2, 2008

"Ludwig van Beethoven, the famous 18th century composer who was partially deaf, discovered Bone Conduction," asserts the Audio Bone Web site. “Beethoven found a way to hear music through his jawbone by attaching a rod to his piano and clenching it in his teeth. There have been many attempts at bone conduction listening since Beethoven, but none have provided true high fidelity quality sound--until now." Following in Beethoven's footsteps is certainly a lofty prospect. Attempting to one-up him just seems ...

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David Cook Proves iPhone Apps Are a Trojan Horse for Music Pricing

Source: All About Jazz
October 30, 2008

Steve Jobs' dogmatic “one price fits all" for music sold at the iTunes store faces an unlikely challenge -- from Apple itself.

Jobs has held firm to his 99-cents-per-song rate with one brief exception despite pressure from the major labels to charge different prices for music depending on demand and other factors. But Apple's own App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch already allows artists and labels to do an end-run around those pricing restrictions and experiment with alternate ...

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Google, Microsoft, Yahoo Forge Free Speech Pact

Source: PC Magazine
October 29, 2008

A joint effort between Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo might seem like an awkward encounter waiting to happen, but the three Internet giants confirmed Tuesday that they will work together on an initiative aimed at preserving free speech on the Web. The Global Network Initiative (GNI) is intended to provide guidance to technology companies with regard to advancing freedom of expression and privacy in countries with laws and policies that interfere with these goals. In addition to the three tech companies, ...

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iPhone Apps Could Be the New Myspace Page

Source: All About Jazz
October 27, 2008

Artists and labels have a new way to strengthen ties to fans and make them buy more music: mobile phone apps, which could be the new MySpace page.

An iPhone app might seem like an awkward way to distribute music when the device also supports podcasts and the iTunes music store, but the apps' versatility gives bands a great way to draw their fans closer.

Recording artist Pink is the latest to make waves in this area with a free ...

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Publicist/Publisher Seizes Opportunity in Micro-Blogging Craze to Promote Blues Music

Source: Just Roots PR
October 27, 2008

Micro-blogging is a craze that is sweeping the globe. Described as “like a blog, but much smaller," users are normally limited to a maximum of 140 per post. These messages can be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3, or the web.

“When we were introduced to micro-blogging, we knew that it was the answer ...

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Apple is Ready to Take a Bite of Silicon Valley

Source: All About Jazz
October 26, 2008

Apple is Flush with Cash $

Comments from Apple CEO Steve Jobs this week suggested that the cash-rich computer and phone maker might be in a good position to start snapping up struggling tech companies. During Apple's earnings call Tuesday, Steve Jobs proudly reported that Apple had $25 billion “safely in the bank" -- and zero debt. More interestingly, he said he saw a bright side to the economic meltdown.

This downturn may also present some extraordinary opportunities for companies ...

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'Father of the MP3' Teaches Machines to Parse Music

Source: All About Jazz
October 26, 2008

Mufin, the latest music-recommendation engine, is going to tell you what to listen to, and it doesn't care what you think.

Computers have been telling us what to listen to for years -- at least since Amazon first told us that if we like X, we might like Y. But humans always have a hand in those recommendations: Pandora hires music experts, while Apple's Genius and CBS's Last.fm use collaborative filtering that notices when songs, artists or albums appear in ...

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Twitter, Tagged Users Surge, but Lag Myspace

Source: PC Magazine
October 24, 2008

Twitter is expanding beyond the Web 2.0 elite. The micro-blogging site logged a 343 percent growth over the last year, according to a Thursday report from Nielsen Online. Twitter had about 2.4 million unique visitors in September 2008, up from 533,000 in September 2007. Following closely behind was Tagged.com, which grew by 330 percent over the last year to grab about 3.9 million new users last month. Rounding out the top three was Ning with almost 3 million unique visitors. ...

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