Real have announced the launch of its new online music service, imaginatively called, err, RealMusic.
Claiming to be the first online subscription service to offer radio, music videos, ringtones, downloads and user-generated content, Real are billing the subscription service as a “one-stop browser-based service”, offering music fans a simple way to “search, discover, buy and sell the music they love.”
Subscribers to RealMusic get access to more than 300 CD-quality, ad-free radio stations, hand-picked by Real’s global team of music editors, as well as artist radio stations.
Naturally, there’s been a lot of flesh-pressing and business card flipping going on behind the scenes, with “exclusive partner stations” like the Ministry of Sound, Carl Cox and GMG Radio (SmoothFM, Real Radio, JazzFM and Hed Kandi) forming synergistic partnerships.
Sadly for Apple Mac users, the service “is currently being optimised for Mac users. Please check back later.” How long you’ll have to hold your breath is unclear.
The service also provides on-demand access to more than 4,000 music videos from major and indie label artists, with related downloads or ringtones available on the site to keep users spending.
RealMusic will be creating a chart of the top ranking tracks and ringtones created, submitted, and rated by users, with an editorial team producing content and commentary on artists, music releases and videos.
“Music lovers are looking for new ways to create, discover and share music anywhere, anytime” insisted Gabriel Levy, Head of Music, RealNetworks Europe.
“RealMusic is the first comprehensive music service to give users access to radio, music videos, downloads and ringtones – plus the ability to play and buy original user-generated music,” he continued.
The site will incorporate advanced search capabilities, letting users shuffle through thousands of radio stations by language, country or genre, with subscribers able to access all of the available radio stations, downloads, videos and ringtones featuring their fave artist.
Approximately 20% of the digital radio audience listens online,” intoned Marco Menato, Vice President EMEA & Latin America, RealNetworks.
“This demonstrates that there is a strong demand for services that mix the way in which consumers access music, from downloading the latest chart hits and ringtones to sharing tracks from unsigned bands. RealMusic gives music enthusiasts all these options as well as the opportunity to effortlessly discover music to suit their mood,” he continued.
A subscription to RealMusic costs £8.50 ($15, €12.6) per month, with downloads expected to be priced at £0.99 ($1.76, €1.48) per track or £7.99 per album.
The RealNetworks’ TonePass ringtone subscription service is available through RealMusic at an additional cost of £4.99 ($8.85, €7.41) per month.
Sprint and MSpot, have announced the launch of MSpot Movies, a new service which streams mobile-optimised feature films to mobile phones.
The streaming content will be cut up into ‘chapters’ (short segments optimised for a mobile audience) and will also include music concerts and stand-up comedy specials.
Although there’s no denying that mobile video is set to grow – Strategy Analytics reckon they’ll be 150 million viewers by 2008 – we really can’t raise much enthusiasm at the prospect of burning up our bandwidth by watching a selection of crap movies on a tiny screen in 5 minute chunks.
A UK company is introducing a “StealthText” service which sends self-destructing mobile phone text messages.
“The ability to send a self-destruct message has massive benefits for people from all walks of life, from everyday mobile users, through to celebrities and business people, but this is just the start,” said Staellium CEO Carole Barnum, adding that the company intends to extend the service to include self-destructing email, voice and picture messages in spring 2006.
Pocket PC software company SPB ran a survey of its users during November 2005, and discovered that a staggering 96% of those taking part were blokes.
As for accessories, memory cards, unsurprisingly, were the essential purchase for 85% of respondents, with 69% forking out for screen protectors.
The vast majority of Pocket PC users (85%) connect to the internet with their machines, with 72% browsing the web, 65% checking email and 35% using instant messaging.
A US federal appeals court has upheld the mammoth $22,500 (£12,760, €18,930) fine slapped on a 29 year old Chicago mother caught illegally distributing songs over the Internet.
After Ms Gonzalez rejected an earlier proposed settlement from music companies of about $3,500 (£1,950 €2,950), a federal judge later filed a summary judgement ordering her to shell out $750 (£425) for each of 30 songs she was accused of illegally distributing over the Internet.
Ms Gonzalez’s case was part of first wave of civil lawsuits filed by record companies and their trade organisation, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), back in September 2003.
Ofcom has published its Digital Television Update for the third quarter of 2005, revealing that two thirds of UK households now watch digital television.
The number of households with Freeview as their only source of digital television viewing was estimated at 5,775,000 – up by 600,000 homes during the quarter.
Digital cable subscribers now account for more than 2.6 million of the total cable television homes, increasing by more than 43,300 in the quarter, while subscriptions to analogue and digital cable television decreased slightly to just below 3.3 million in the quarter (due to a fall in analogue cable subscribers outweighing the increase in digital cable subscriptions).
When we saw MSI’s feature packed StarCam 370i knocking out for a mere £15 online ($26, €22), we thought it would make an ideal replacement for our elderly (and somewhat battle-weary) Sony cam, currently gazing out over the delights of Brixton.
A rudimentary software control panel lets users fiddle about with image/video parameters (gamma, brightness, contrast etc), and budding Jean-Luc Godard’s can select the black and white option for arty scenes.
The cam also features a built in microphone which was, as you might expect, fairly basic and lo-fi, but good enough for Internet calls.
We can, however, recommend it for anyone looking for a basic, cheap as chips Webcam for video chats with friends and relatives.
California based telecoms company, SureWest Communications, is set to become the first company in the USA to offer HDTV commercially over its Internet Protocol (IP)-based fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) network.
“Through our HDTV channel lineup and launch of HDTV over IP, we are showcasing our dedication to providing customers with the highest-quality programming, sharpest picture available and a variety of emerging video products,” he added.
On HDNet, SureWest viewers can, err, thrill to original series like “HDNet World Report,” “Face 2 Face with Roy Firestone” and “HDNet Concert Series,” and if that lot doesn’t set you packing your bags for Sacramento, there’ll also be showing Warner’s “Smallville” series and a load of live sports productions include Major League Soccer games.
NBC Universal and Apple have struck a deal to make NBC-owned television shows, such as “The Office” and “Law & Order,” available on the iTunes music store.
The shows will be available from next week, downloadable from the iTunes Music Store the day after they air for $1.99 (£1.15, €1.70) per episode
Say hello to the LG SB130-KB1300 handset, a clever-clogs, do-it-all device that can do play and pause live TV as well as deal with every multimedia-type task you can lob at it.
This memory can apparently fit up to an hour’s worth of broadcasting before it starts writing over the oldest bits with new content.
The aerial’s a bit of a beefy affair too, but we doubt if the geeky market the phone’s aimed at are going to mind.