News Archive for 05/05/10

Choose an article from the archive listing on this page or refine your selection using the controls in the gray box below.

Yahoo subscription service takes on Apple's iTunes

05/10, 9:10pm

Yahoo Music vs. iTunes

Yahoo on Tuesday said it would launch a new music subscription service, taking aim at Apple's iTunes and others in the digital music industry, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. "Yahoo’s service, which underprices competitors such as L.A.-based Napster Inc., will debut on May 11 for as low as $4.99 a month with a one-year subscription (or $6.99 per month on a monthly basis). The service, Yahoo Music Unlimited, boasts a catalog of 1 million songs, along with a menu of add-on services including the ability to build personalized music libraries." Apple's stock was down more than 2 percent, while "the stock of smaller players perhaps more directly in Yahoo!'s line of fire fared worse" Napster fell more than 20 percent and RealNetworks dropped nearly 12 percent during Tuesday trading.

Apple offers videos via iTunes Music Store

05/10, 7:15am

Videos at iTMS

Apple has begun bundling videos with some of the music albums available via the iTunes Music Store, following the release of iTunes 4.8 yesterday morning (still only available via the web). As noted yesterday, Apple's iTunes 4.8 music jukebox software adds security fixes, improved iPod sync, and support for video, including fullscreen playback (as well as video window preferences). In most cases, the videos appear to be marketing incentives offered along with the albums; however, purchasing The Warning Shots video adds a $0.99 premium to the purchase of the song (total is $1.98), while the song alone is available for $0.99, as noted by MacRumors. Readers note that the videos do not contain DRM restrictions, as they were able to transfer them to non-authorized computers for playback; the videos do not transfer automatically to the iPod.

Sendstation ships PocketDock Line Out USB

05/10, 12:05am

PocketDock Line Out USB

Dr. Bott today announced that SendStation's PocketDock Line Out USB is now available through authorized resellers worldwide. SendStation's thumb-sized iPod adapters, the PocketDock Line Out USB, features a standard USB 2.0 interface for instantly charging and syncing as well as a 3.5 mm (1/8") jack, offering stereo line out from the iPod. The company says that a Line Out jack provides superior audio quality, when compared to the iPod headphone jack. The PocketDock Line Out USB Pack includes two 6 ft. ultralight and ultra-compact white audio cables; it is available for $30.