Category: Music

Microsoft Announces Plans for Your Digital Living Room and 22 New Security Flaws in Windows Products

Microsoft began the latest phase of its big push for consumers’ digital lives by unveiling Windows XP Media Centre Edition 2005 (MCE) and a host of products designed to work alongside it.

Bill G and Queen Latifah demonstrated the most recent features in MCE at an event in Los Angeles, highlighting integration with Windows Media Player 10 and a compatibility with a range of new hardware devices.

To coincide with the do, Microsoft’s main press release describes a hypothetical family and how they might use digital media across the day – from recording TV programmes via their web browser to broadcasting music around the home using a Media Centre Extender.

The company also announced 22 new security holes in its Windows range whilst issuing an update to address them. One of the new flaws managed to affect Macintosh OSX users.

By promoting MCE as a digital hub, the company hopes to show consumers that they can view, share and store their movies, music and pictures around the home and on the move. To reinforce their view of the future, the company also announced a number of devices from partners like HP, Dell and Creative Labs.

Music is a very important part of MS’s plans, with Windows Media 10 and MSN Music receiving another PR boost. Amongst the devices promoted by MS were new Digital Audio Receivers from Dlink, Roku and MoniFi which are designed to play digital music from a central source in any room of the house. Creative, Gateway, iRiver and other also announced new digital media players for the Christmas season, with capabilities ranging from simple music to full video playback.

Will Poole, senior vice president for the Windows Client division at Microsoft said in a statement: “For years, many in the consumer electronics industry have viewed digital entertainment as a field of dreams: if you provide consumers with a solution, they’ll build it into a larger experience – regardless of cost or complexity. Windows XP Media Centre PC and all of these other devices and services make it possible, for the first time, for the average consumer to enjoy digital entertainment anywhere, anytime and in any way.”

Microsoft’s Media experience

Mattel’s Juice Box Media Player for Kids

Mattel are launching their new Juice Box media player on 17th October. The cute little gadget is intended to introduce kids between the ages of 8 and 12 to the delights of digital media.

Since the Juice Box will play MP3s, photos and video clips delivered through proprietary Juiceware media cards that store nearly three hours of content, you too can introduce your offspring to the frustration of proprietary formats and DRM schemes before they even get to secondary school. The cards will cost about US$10 (€8.11) for two episodes of an animated series, up to US$25 (€20) for a feature, and the format used is based on a technology developed by 4Kids Entertainment.

Initially, Mattel will be offering content from BMG Music, Cartoon Network, WWE and the Learning Channel for the Juice Box. If you don’t want your audio and picture content to be locked into someone else’s DRM, kids can buy a separate “MP3 Starter Kit” which comes with a standard SD card so they can play MP3s and view pictures from their PCs. No video though – and the kit will cost and additional US$45 (€37).

The 11.5 x 8.5 x 1.5 inch device has a 3 inch LCD and will run for six hours on three AA batteries (also not included), and features a built in speaker plus headphone connector. So that the US$70 (€57) Juice Box doesn’t get scratched to bits whilst tumbling around in the bottom of a rucksack, it comes with a flip cover to protect the display.

€20 for a low resolution film on a card that you can’t watch anywhere else? And how well is Nintendo’s cartoon player for the GameBoy Advance doing anyway? And the Zvue? I think you can already see my point here.

Mattel’s press release

Buy them from Amazon US
JUICE BOX Personal Media Player (Blue)
JUICE BOX Personal Media Player (Red)

Apple’s Colour Screen iPod by Christmas

Rumours of a new iPod are appearing – fuelled by a report on macintosh rumour site Think Secret. The new iPod is said to be built around a 60Gb drive and have a 2.2” high resolution colour screen. Users will also be able to view album artwork on the screen whilst listening to their music libraries, so let’s hope Apple have done something about the battery capacity then, because that sounds like about two hours of play time right there.

Better still, the screen is intended to display colour pictures from digital cameras copied to the the iPod – an extension of the photo storage facility introduced in a recent software update. Additional rumours state that the new player will be able to display pictures on a TV, perhaps even set to music.

As far as looks go, the casing for the new iPod will follow the design of its predecessors, although 2mm thicker… possibly to accomodate a new, higher-capacity battery.

There is no official confirmation about the new iPod from Apple, and nor will there be – the company never make statements about forthcoming products. Though some claim they do have a tendency to drop rumours here and there to stoke interest.

Several factors have combined to add a note of authenticity to the latest rumours: the new PP5020 processor from iPod chipmaker PortalPlayer features support for a colour display and TV output – whilst playing music. Toshiba, disk supplier for Apple’s iPod, has also just announced a new 1.8” 60Gb drive – and let slip that Apple had ordered a large quantity of them.

If a new colour screen iPod is on its way, then the timing is sure to lead to shortages as fans try to ensure they get on in time for Christmas, particularly at the rumoured price of US$499 (€402).

Think Secret

Rod Stewart to Webcast Invite-Only Concert

Little did I know when I woke up this morning that I’d be writing an article about pretend Scotsman and sometime popular singer, Rod Stewart – but then life’s funny that way.

Rod will be webcasting his next gig – an invitation-only affair at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre – on AOL. The concert will also mark the release of his latest album, The Great American Songbook, Volume III. Some tickets are available through radio station competitions and give aways, and through his fan club also.

The concert will be webcast live on October 18th at 9pm EST on AOL Music and you can find it using the AOL Keyword “Rod Stewart”.

Rod Stewart

BPI to Sue UK Filesharers

The British Phonographic Industry is about to begin action against illegal filesharers in the UK. The BPI has observed that similar programmes, notably the RIAA’s own action in the US, have worked in other countries and intends to crack down on Britain’s music pirates as early as this month. The rapid rise in broadband adoption in the UK has also spurred them into action before the problem gets out of control.

The BPI will be following a 15/75 rule in which individuals they sue – they believe that 75% of all infringing files on the internet are being shared by just 15% of the file sharing population.

A BPI spokesman, told NME.com: “There are a small percentage of hardcore internet users who are uploading material regardless of its illegality. It would appear that litigation is the only way to deter them. It’s becoming pretty obvious that litigation needs to be there as a deterrent.”

We have a call in with the BPI and will bring you more information from them as soon as we have it.

The BPI

NME

Sony Japan Rethinks Copy-Protected CDs

Sony has dropped copy protection from their CD range, as they believe they’ve educated the public not to make illegal copies – and that only a small proportion of people made the copies in the first place. So, if this is the case they won’t be introducing another form of copy protection later on, then? Sony had previously been amongst the most enthusiastic proponents of copy protection in the market and indeed only recently decided to support the protection-free MP3 format in their range of digital players.

My guess is of course that Sony are giving in to market pressure – piracy is still robbing artists of millions of euros every year but restrictive copy-protection turns the public off and harms revenues too. Sony has looked at the popularity of the iPod and other MP3 players, seen that it wasn’t the end of the world for recorded music and decided to jump on the bandwagon. Neatly avoiding potential legal action at the same time. Now, in order to avoid legal threats and criticism from its customers, Sony will supply all CDs after 17th November without copy protection.

Sony’s copy protection system was unpopular with the public as it sometimes prevented CDs from playing in a range of devices, such as car stereos, and also infringed some citizens’ legal rights to make copies of purchased media for personal use. The copy-protected CDs are not strictly CDs, and incorporate a technology for preventing computers from ripping the music on the disk, but contain a compressed and DRM’d version of the music for use on music players and PCs.

A guide to CD copy-protection schemes

Loudeye Launch Mobile Music Service in Norway

Loudeye and USArtPhone have launched a subscription-free mobile music service in Norway. Customers can buy music directly from their handsets, paying through their usual mobile bill. The bad news is that the tracks aren’t delivered to your phone – you need to get to your PC to access them. However, it’s a handy way for labels and music stores to sell content to people who don’t have credit cards – like the under 18s and insane.

The service, branded Mobster, will be available to all 4 million mobile customers in Norway, but Loudeye plan to roll the service out across Europe.

The service is simple for the user and requires only that they send a text message to a special number. The user is then sent an email with a URL in it linking to the file they have bought.

“We’re very excited to be able to announce this new technology in what is rapidly becoming one of the world’s biggest industries – digital music distribution,” said USArtPhone founder and CEO, Sverre Fjeldheim. “Over the past five years we’ve seen a completely transformative use of the mobile phone for much more than just verbal communication. Consumers are taking and sharing photos, text messaging and using the web, and through this announcement today, they will be purchasing digital music directly from their mobile handset. We believe this evolution will continue and mobile phone functionality will expand to include many interesting business models in the future.”

Hopefully that functionality will expand to being able to download Loudeye-licensed music directly to mobile phones for playback and storage.

Loudeye

Jupiter Research: The CD Will Be With Us for a While Yet

A new report from Jupiter Research describes the European music market in 2009 – and shows there there’s still plenty of life in the CD format yet.

Jupiter estimate that the entire market will be worth €10.2 billion (US$12.55 billion), with digital downloads accounting for a mere €836 million (US$1.03 billion) or 8% of the total. Growth for digital music services such a s downloads and streaming has been increasing rapidly, from €10.6 (US$13.16) million in 2003 to an estimated €46.3 million (US$57.50)at the end of this year.

Jupiter claim that the CD will remain the format of choice for a long time yet. Recent attempts at revising the format with extra features and gimmicks have shown that the CD of 2009 may be slightly different from those in the shops in 2004. Copy protection techniques may have moved on by then, though news this week that Sony has dropped copy-protected CDs in Japan show that a rethink on this technology is due.

“Although Europe’s digital music market has finally begun to take off after a sluggish start, it will remain a relatively niche market, considering the total European music market in 2009 will be €10.2 billion. Even with the success of the new services, digital music spending will make up less than a half of a percent of Europe’s total music market at the end of 2004,” stated Mark Mulligan, Research Director at Jupiter Research. “In the context of successive years of declining music sales, digital music distribution will be an important alternative revenue channel for the music industry but it is not about to replace the CD,” added Mulligan.

Jupiter Research

Overpeer Launched in Europe

Loudeye have launched their Overpeer anti-piracy technology in Europe. The system, which uses a number of techniques to protect content, has proven popular in the US and Asia and currently protects 60,000 digital entertainment titles. This translates to millions of blocked downloads every month.

“As we enter an important stage in the legitimate distribution of digital media content, content owners around the world face challenges in managing the illegal distribution of their material across peer-to-peer networks,” said Marc Morgenstern, vice president and general manager of Loudeye’s asset protection and promotion business in a statement. “Our proprietary systems and technology are designed to interdict illegal peer-to-peer traffic, blocking illegal transmission of copyrighted material and helping content owners take control of piracy. These systems have been highly effective for our customers in the US and Asia, and we’re pleased that we are now launching the services in Europe through OD2, our European subsidiary.”

Overpeer uses content spoofing to distribute fake music, software and movie files across P2P networks – if downloaded, the file can then redirect a PC user to a legitimate source for the real content with the option of buying it.

Overpeer

3GPP Goes HE-AAC

Touted as the most efficient audio codec in the world, HE-AAC has been adopted as a standard by 3GPP, a collaboration between telecommunications standards bodies to produce global standards and specifications for mobile technologies.

It’s good news for the developing AAC format, and good news for those in the mobile industry – there’s now a good chance there’ll be a common file format for music stores and mobile music. Convergence fans will also be able to transfer music between AAC compatible devices, meaning that it’s less likely they’ll have to buy the same track more than once. Furthermore, the adoption of a standard should encourage more publishers to venture out into mobile music.

aacPlus can store a reasonably high-fidelity single track in just 500kb – obviously hand for the current generation of handsets that are doubly constrained by available bandwidth and memory capacities.

Richard Poston, director of corporate communications at mmO2 said about the news: “As the first operator offering mobile music downloads, we are very happy about the final standardization. We’ve been really impressed by the excellent balance of good audio quality combined with efficient use of bandwidth.”

HE-AAC uses a spectral band replication system from Coding Technologies to reconstruct high frequency sound from hints in the encoded file. By stripping out the high frequencies, only low-frequency sound needs to be encoded and stored, meaning that music can be encoded at roughly half the bit rate of standard AAC.

Perfect if you listen to that “bang bang bang” music, but we’ve yet to test if the high-frequency substitution wheeze can encode other music types, such as those with lots of strings, accurately.

3GPP