Tag Archives: music

Barnes & Noble promises B&N eReader app for iPad near launch

Need a bit more evidence that the e-book download business is a whole lot different than the music download business? Then look no further than Barnes & Noble , which has just announced that it plans to make its B&N eReader app available for the Apple iPad "around the time" of the device's launch. Details are otherwise a bit light, but the app will be free, and is apparently "designed specifically" for the iPad, giving you access to all of the books, magazines and newspapers available in Barnes & Noble's eBookstore. Could a Kindle app be far behind? Barnes & Noble promises B&N eReader app for iPad near launch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Pink Floyd Wins Legal Battle to Only Sell Full Albums Online [Downloads]

If any band could justify not selling individual tracks, its Pink Floyd . What, you just want Summer '69 but not Atom Heart Mother Suite? Come on. Now, you won't have that option. More
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Pioneer’s DJM-2000 Shows Why Every Digital Mixer Should Come With Multitouch [Music]

Pioneer is known to make digital mixers that leave us drooling and wishing for some DJ skills. First they gave us the CDJ-2000 with its beautiful LCD screen, and now they've given us the DJM-2000, a multitouch screen-having per-frequency-mixing beauty. More
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iTunes LP is a Bust. Time to Go Free? [ITunes]

Nobody cares about iTunes LP , reports Paul Bonanos . Six months into the format—one that Apple believed enough in to have a separate event —and nobody is buying. But what if it were free? We've been discussing it in our top-secret internet chat place. Mark is certain that the LP format can be redeemed—or at least given a proper chance—on the iPad. And indeed, some had speculated that iTunes LP would be the format by which Apple would distribute books and magazines. (Turns out it was ePub wrapped in FairPlay DRM, at least for books.) It's hard to say confidently that the format has had a proper chance.There are only 29 LPs on the iTunes store right now, certainly not enough to make any sort of platform judgement. But they also cost more than simply buying an album. So what if they were free? The "LP" format is a sort of hybrid of the old album art and DVD-extras. (For everyone that reads this site, "albums" were giant vinyl CDs that were packaged in cardboard sleeves a bit smaller than a pizza box—lots of space for art.) But it didn't cost anything extra to get that big art on an album, and most DVDs have at least a baseline special feature. That extra content is a value-add, an incentive to buy. Apple has released the format for iTunes LP for months, although LPs still have to be approved just like Apps. But for a smart band or label, one strong LP version ready for the iPad launch—for free—could make a band's release really stand out. Or maybe the LP format, asked for not by fans and customers but by the labels and the RIAA, wasn't really necessary in the first place.
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Music Planet waterproof speaker ball makes bath time more melodic

Remember that waterproof Bluetooth speaker that you picked up last summer after none other than Billy Corgan endorsed it ? Here's comes round two. Available exclusively in the Land of the Rising Sun ( surprised ?), the Music Planet speaker ball is IPX7-certified to shrug off water damage for up to 30 minutes at a depth of one meter, and it's designed so that the speaker itself sits just above the water line. Internally, you'll find an FM radio tuner, an SD / SDHC card slot for loading up MP3 files, a USB socket (good luck with that non-waterproof thumb drive) and an alarm clock. You know, in case you fall asleep underneath two feet of soapy water. Power comes from six AA cells, which provides enough juice for 13 straight hours of your own jams or 28 hours of whatever's on the radio; it's up for order right now at
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Pandora: In the Middle of the Music

The music and technology industries are still trying to figure out how we will listen to music online in the future, but Pandora is trying to capitalize on whatever business model eventually emerges.
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Enjoy Soothing Full Screen Ambiance at MoodTurn [Relaxation]

Not many workspaces sit on the edge of a babbling brook in an animal sanctuary, but if you'd like to pretend yours does, the visual and audio ambiance of webapp MoodTurn can help. Last week we shared MoodStream with you, a mashup of short and mixed together music tracks, images, and video, all sorted by your mood. Thanks to a suggestion by Lifehacker reader Rexem , we have another neat ambient mood site to share with you. MoodTurn—sometimes labeled TurnMood.com in its interface—is, like MoodStream, a mashup of visual and audio elements. It's radically more simple though, with no sliders or selection wheels in sight. You can pick from Rainforest, Birds, Storm, and Beach as your soundtracks. Each category has about half a dozen backgrounds you can choose from. The audio tracks for the moods are all an hour long, give or take a few minutes, which is great for uninterrupted listening. Hit F11 to switch your browser to full screen mode for maximum impact. One very minor complaint about the service: if you pause the audio but leave the tab open, after about 30 minutes MoodTurn will refresh itself and start playing the audio again. Something to keep in mind if you pause it and leave for lunch, lest you return to find your coworkers tearing the office apart, looking for birds. Have a favorite way to up the ambiance in your office and make it feel less like a cage and more like a beach front locale? Let's hear about it in the comments. Thanks Rexem ! MoodTurn [via #tips ]
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X-Tube DTS Surround Sound Sensation Laptop Dongle Gets Reviewed With Surprisingly Positive Verdict [Dts]

Curse the fact (again) I don't live in Japan! Akihabara News has greased their mitts all over Hanwa's dongle , which upgrades the audio on your laptop to that of DTS surround sound sensation. After admitting they were—understandably—skeptical about what the dongle would do to a laptop's audio, the Windows-only peripheral comes with DTS headphones, an installation CD and detachable USB port. Akihabara News says the dongle is "stylish and well-built," but "you won't get a sound like that produced by a real tube headphone amp since it's not a real vacuum tube." While the dongle may've gone down well with the site, the headphones were derided as being "cheap" (though with the whole bundle costing the equivalent of $45 it's not surprising really), so they used their own headphones instead. After installing the software, you have to set the surround effects for either music or movies, with both formats working well—"the result is far from being bad," though it's "more of an amplification of the sound than a surrounding simulation." It may only be available in Japan so far, but with Akihabara News saying it "may be the best alternative to your laptop built-in audio system," I can already sense all the Japanese export sites buying up stock. [ Akihabara News ]
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How Pandora Slipped Past the Junkyard

After a decade of near-death experiences, the Internet music service is attracting attention from investment bankers who think it could go public.
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Clavilux 2000 Keyboard Makes Music Look As Beautiful As It Sounds [Visualizations]

Learning to play the piano has lingered on my to-do list for a long time. But watching this video of the Clavilux 2000 keyboard generating a spectacular light show in real time, I might have to make it a priority. The Clavilux is a digital keyboard rigged up to a projector, letting the audience see the music they're hearing. And it really is the music they're seeing: each stripe of light corresponds directly to a key that is struck, the individual bands representing the velocity and length of each note played. The notes are assigned colors, as well, giving a visual overview of the harmony of the piece. Play a note that's out of key and its color will contrast with the bigger picture. The player can switch between two types of visualization. A 2D view results in the colorful barcode seen above while a 3D view resembles the cockpit view of some spaceship jumping into hyperdrive. The Clavilux 2000 is the brainchild of Jonas Heuer, the same guy who put together the Noteput, an awesome interactive musical table. Music has always been a joy to listen to, but Heuer's work lets the other senses get in on the action, to spectacular effect. [ Infosthetics ]
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