Not content with having a café on every street corner in the known universe, Starbucks has announced that it’s considering expanding its entertainment business to offer a MP3 download service at their stores.
The coffee giant already offers compact disc sales and in-store CD burning, but Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, says that his customers are “asking for device fill-up” (do people really talk like that?) and that the company intends to “go forward and do that.”
There’s no firm plans yet, as Lombard went on to say that Starbucks are still talking to various companies about the technology and that a date hasn’t been set for the introduction of their MP3 download service,
Starbucks – the US’s biggest coffee chain – boasts 10,000 retail outlets globally and Lombard stated that their decision to get into MP3 music sales represented “perfect” timing, seeing as he believed that the music industry currently “found itself in the midst of a tremendous amount of chaos.”
Starbucks have already stuck their espresso-scented tentacles deep into the music business and established themselves as a major CD outlet, shifting around 3.5 million CDs in their fiscal year ended 30 September.
They also co-produced Ray Charles “Genius Loves Company”album of duets, and have announced plans to promote movies and offer DVDs and soundtracks at 5,500 of their US and Canada stores.
The CD burning service will remain on offer at Starbucks coffee shops (via the in-store Hear Music outlet) with the company keen to continue striking deals to exclusively offer artists’ CDs before they go on general release.
Being old punk rockers at heart, we can’t imagine what could be worse than forcing fans to visit an expensive multi-national coffee shop instead of their local record shop and it seems that some retailers don’t like it either.
Last year, HMV Canada refused to stock Alanis Morissette’s records (good move anyway, we say!) in protest at the wallet-stuffing exclusivity agreement she’d signed with Starbucks.
Of more concern to music fans is the growing influence of mainstream retailers who can wield their corporate buying power to influence record sales – and even the bands themselves – by refusing to stock records that don’t appeal to their ‘values.’
Way back in 1996, Sheryl Crow had her record shunted off the shelves of Wal-Mart because one of the songs contains an unflattering comment about the company’s gun sales policy, and the Fugees lost all credibility by releasing a Wal-Mart friendly version of their album, ‘The Score’ with all the naughty words taken out.
And it’s the same story at Starbucks, who recently decided that seasoned rock’n’roll veteran Bruce Springsteen’s new record was too racy for their stores, refusing to stock the album because of its challenging, explicit lyrics.
If the Starbucks service takes off, we can expect more pressure on artists and record companies to conform to their wholesome values – and this can only be bad news for music fans.
Quietly oiling the wheels of his global-domination tank, Lombard also added that Starbucks will test selling books at its stores later this year.
Lord help us.
BT’s dominance of the UK home telephone is coming under fresh pressure as the phone call market becomes the most liberal in Europe. Previously, their pricing levels have had to be agreed in advance with the UK regulator Ofcom, but with it understood that this is going to be lifted soon, price cuts are expected.
Technical-savvy Skype callers have for a long time taken advantage of VoIP calling to obtain free or cheap calls.
A few years ago, you’d be greeted with a blank face or a call to the local psychiatry service if you started going on about ‘listening to your downloaded podcasts’, but figures released from the BBC show how the format is continuing to grow in popularity.
The chart also revealed that nearly two million downloads took place during the BBC podcasting trials over December.
Simon Nelson, controller of BBC Radio & Music Interactive was enthusiastic: “It’s fantastic to see how the demand for radio downloads has grown since we first offered them in 2004. These figures underline the enduring relevance of radio in the digital world.”
A heady mix of ever plummeting digicam prices, larger memory card capacities and more capacious hard drives means that it’s easy to end up with photos and videos scattered to the four corners of your PC, making it nigh on impossible to find your pictures.
A start-up screen gives new users an overview of features to help them get started while upgraders will be glad to see the program sticking to the tried and trusted three-paned interface, coupled with a useful ‘image basket’ function.
Unlike many other image management programs, you don’t have to ‘import’ images into the program before they can be viewed, so the program also doubles up as an excellent image file browser.
At times, the sheer weight of features can prove a little overwhelming to new users, but for keen photographers keen to keep a vice-like grip on their growing photo collections and looking for a strong, all-round image management solution, we strongly recommend ACDSee.
UK TV broadcaster Channel 4 is joining the podcast steam train by launching their first podcast presented by the very excellent, Jon Snow, the front-man for the highly-regarded Channel 4 News.
Big Chief, Channel 4’s Chief Executive, Andy Duncan, speaking at the Oxford Media Convention today (19th January), said: “We’re delighted Jon has agreed to present Channel 4’s first podcast. It’s great to be creating a genuine public service offering for new users on different platforms. And, as part of a possible bid for the new DAB national multiplex, it’s important that we start to explore the considerable potential to create cross-over content from the best of Channel 4’s output.”
With a high-end feature set offering auto, scene, aperture and shutter priority modes plus full manual exposure controls, Panasonic’s beautifully sculpted 8 megapixel LX1 is clearly aimed at the discerning photographer who knows their ISO from their f-stop.
On most compact digcams, exposure adjustments are invariably achieved by fiddly excursions through endless sub-menus, but the LX1’s design affords fast, direct access to a host of vital functions like ISO rating, shutter speed, aperture and file size/quality – essential for those looking to capture the ‘decisive moment’.
Although some cameras mimic a 16:9 shooting ratio by cropping off the top and bottom of the picture, the LX1 has a true 16:9 sensor, with users able to switch formats via a handy switch on the lens barrel (no sub-menu burrowing needed).
Camera controls
Photographic modes
Of course, the capable image stabilisation goes some way to compensate for these serious shortcomings, allowing handheld longer exposures at low ISO ratings, but that’s going to be a dead loss if you’re trying to freeze action in low light.
Conclusion
According to figures released by French Web metrics firm XiTi, the open source Mozilla Firefox browser has now grabbed a massive 20% average market share in Europe, creating a growing challenge to the current leader, Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Over here in Blighty, it seems that the Brits are yet to be wooed by the might of Mozilla, with the country recording one of the lowest proportions of Firefox users in Europe – just 11%.
Other Web metrics companies have produced somewhat less spectacular estimates of Firefox’s market share, with OneStat.com reporting in November last year that the browser had notched up a global market share of 11.5%.
Way back in October last year we reported that Samsung was 
Still, it’s a very capable camera, offering a 6 megapixel sensor, 2.5-inch screen (210K pixels), expansive ISO range from 200 to 3200, a host of shooting modes and a Pentax AF lens mount.
Although some may not see the point in Samsung announcing what amounts to an already released product under a different name, there are clear benefits for both companies.
With more units shifted, Pentax benefit from lower production costs, increased sales and a greatly increased user base for their lenses and their system, thus ensuring the future of its system.
Then there’s the awesome might of Samsung’s marketing budget to consider, with some suspecting that the new camera will be sold as a “loss leader” to help establish the brand.